wingsofsong
My 3 little loves <3<3<3
Member since 1/09 7395 total posts
Name:
Maureen
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Birth story of my baby girl, Fiona Mairead
Finally getting around to writing this, now that I am days away from returning to work after maternity leave!
This was my 3rd baby. My first two were both late, 4 days and 9 days late, respectively. So naturally, I assumed #3 would be a latecakes as well. But our third Team Green baby, who turned out to be our first girl, decided to do things her own way.
My due date was May 5th (Cinco de Mayo- so fun even though I'm completely Irish!  ). I had a very smooth pregnancy, no complications at all. A brief hiccup at my 34 week appt when we realized baby had turned breech after having been head down for quite a while. I did every natural/home remedy/yoga position I could come up with to encourage her to turn and thankfully, by my 36 week appt. she had! So we were back to smooth sailing. Every appt was the same after that- Baby looks great, no progress. Then finally, at my 39 week appt, I was 1cm dilated! Being that this was my third pregnancy, I knew not to take that to mean a whole lot, but it still got me a little excited. Then, Saturday morning, May 3rd, I woke up and was feeling slightly crampy, but in a very dull way. We were all hanging out together in bed for a while and eventually, I got up to pee, and to my surprise, saw a chunk of mucus plug and bloody show! I was already planning to go my weekly prenatal yoga class that day, so I got ready and off I went. I got there, opened the door, looked at my teacher and said, "I'm in labor!" She was so excited haha. Throughout the class, she kept a pen and notepad next to her and said to tell her every time I had a contraction and she would write them down for me. I was so glad I was able to go, it was awesome, and really got me off to a smooth start. Contractions had picked up slightly, to about 10 minutes apart. After yoga, I headed back home. We were supposed to go to a family party at my mom's house around noon, so I made sure my hospital bag was fully packed and in the car, and I packed an overnight bag for my boys just in case. Contractions were becoming more clear and timeable, so I called my mom and gave her a heads up that I was in early labor but that we were still planning to come. She got so excited she started crying! So we headed over to her house (about 2 hours late because we were doing so much prepping and planning and packing!), and I continued timing my contractions. They got somewhat stronger throughout the day, but not really closer together. They mostly stayed around 8 minutes apart. So around 6:30 or so, my husband and I decided to go for a walk, while our boys stayed and played at my mom's. We walked for about 45 minutes and things started to pick up, contractions getting stronger, longer, and a little closer- now about 6 minutes apart. But once we got back and sat down again, they slowed down a bit again. So around 9:30, my sister offered for us all to come back to her house. She lives on the same street as our hospital, about a mile up the road. That way, we could put our boys to bed at her house, maybe get a little naptime ourselves, and then we'd be super close to the hospital when the time came. So that's what we did. As soon as we got there, we put the boys to bed and then my husband immediately laid down to take a nap, while my sister and I just hung out and timed contractions and chatted. Around 11:15, I decided I should try to sleep a little. I looked at the contraction app I had been using on my phone (I love modern technology!) and realized my last few contractions had lasted a full minute each and I knew they were getting stronger. At this point, they were about 7-8 minutes apart. So I decided to call the doctor before laying down just to give a heads up on what was going on with me and see what they said. The doctor on call was not my usual doctor. When he called, I explained that I had been in labor all day. He said, "Is this your first baby? Second?" I said, "Third." He said, "Go to the hospital right now. We don't wanna take chances with a third baby. Things can happen really fast!" Well ok then! Woke up my husband and off we went! We checked into the hospital at midnight. They put me in a triage room and checked me and I was 5cm! The nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural. I said I'd like to try going without, so I was gonna hold off for now. I was in that room about an hour or so before they got me into a L&D room. When I got in there, the doctor came in and broke my water and checked me. He looked at me and said, "Well, if you're going to get an epidural, now's the time because you're at 7cm and moving fast. But I'll tell you right now, you don't need it. You got this. It's gonna be intense. But you can do it." That was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. And that's when I made up my mind that I was gonna do it! And he was right. It was INTENSE! But, my God, was it amazing and so empowering! Contractions picked up really quickly and were coming one on top of the other. I went into this zone with each contraction. I started doing this intense inhale/exhale pattern and it worked, it just got me through each time. I was GBS+ and because I was progressing so quickly, they gave me a double dose IV bag of antibiotics and double speed. Holy mother of God that BURNED! My arm was seriously on fire for about 5 or 10 minutes. On the bright side, it distracted me from the contractions. Then it was over. And then, about a half hour after getting into the room, I knew it was time to push. Doc came in, got all suited up and I started pushing. 3 contractions and Baby was here, at 1:45am! He said, "We have a beautiful baby girl," and my brain didn't even hear it until my husband yelled, "It's a girl!!" Because I was GBS+ and because I had slight meconium when they broke my water, they had to take her over to the warming table right away for the ped to check her out. They suctioned the heck out of her and determined she was perfect. She weighed 8lbs.11oz. and had a full head of strawberry blonde hair. Our sweet little Fiona Mairead is now almost 4 months old and is the perfect addition to our family. Her big brothers, who are 4 and 2, absolutely adore her. They are the best big brothers to her. She is so so lucky. As are we  Here are a few photos. Thanks for reading!
Message edited 8/30/2014 12:40:45 AM.
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