Allie's Birth Story - Part 2

At 4 p.m., the nurse checked me and I was 5 cm dilated. She then looked at me and, with much sympathy in her voice, said "I would recommend the epidural." I guess between the coupling and how slowly things were progressing after 13 hours of labor, she thought it would be a lot longer until I was fully dilated.

So I got the epidural. And you know what? It's just like in the movies when you see a woman get the epidural and they think it's the greatest thing on the face of this earth. I could still feel contractions but they felt like minor period cramps which were laughable compared to the pain from before.

At that point, being up since 3 in the morning finally caught up to us. We were both able to sleep for about an hour and a half. Brian finally got a chance to eat and we watched Shark Week and When Animals Attack. So appropriate, right?

At 8 p.m. the nurse said I was 9 cm dilated so it would be time to push soon. When I actually did start pushing, after two pushes she was already crowning. But a few pushes later, she still wouldn't come out. The doctor decided to do an episiotomy which freaked me out. But in the end I was glad that I didn't end up pushing another hour or two to get her out. I had like one more half push and she slipped right out. She was born on 8/16 at 9:16 p.m. weighing 6 lbs 13 ounces. I didn't cry but I remember thinking "Maybe I should pretend to cry so the nurses and doctor don't think I'm cold and heartless." So I did.

They handed her right to me all gross and bloody, which is exactly what I was thinking. "Eww... she's all gross and bloody." Probably not a normal thought for mom's... it's probably something more along the lines of "She's so beautiful!!!" (which was my second thought) but whatev... I'm not a normal mom.

We had to move around 1 in the morning to our recovery room (which we shared with someone). My poor husband stayed by my side the whole time we were there. For two days he ate my leftovers, wasn't able to shower and did everything from changing Allie's diapers to helping me with whatever I needed.

I wanted him to be able to go home and shower but I also wanted him to be right by my side 24/7. I think he didn't really want to leave either. I really wished that the food in the cafeteria had been better (or free for that matter) so he could've had real meals but I made up for it by cooking him a good steak dinner our first night home. In fact, I've made it a point to remember to bring food to husbands in the hospital for any future friends/family that have babies. We had brought snacks but having a full meal is much better than eating snacks all day.

Brian's family came and visited us in the hospital and we had two friends from church visit us but other than that, our hospital stay was quiet which was really nice. We were able to hang out together - our new little family. Also, the number of people who saw me in a hospital gown were limited, which was also nice.

Bringing her home seems like such a long time ago now. I remember putting her in her car seat and thinking she would hate it, but as soon as she was in, she fell asleep. Everyone kept saying she was such a beautiful baby (totally puffing our heads up) and that she had a lot of hair. I didn't really think she had a ton of hair until I saw other babies and yeah, normal babies are bald. And wrinkly. Ours was adorable, non-wrinkly and had hair. Win!

Those first few weeks were so tiring. Handling her was such an ordeal. I remember holding her and thinking how tiny and breakable she felt. Everything she did was amazing. When she would cry or laugh in her sleep, we watched in awe. When she would smile, we freaked out and applauded. When she burped, we congratulated her. When she pooped, we were sad. (Seriously, the diapers we got ended up being not-so-great so almost every time she pooped, her clothes would get dirty.) When she cried, we did whatever we could to make her happy again.

Now, two months later, we throw her around like a football. Just kidding... but she's definitely sturdier so passing her off to Brian doesn't feel like I'm diffusing a bomb.

She already holds her head up and smiles when she sees us. She's starting to make her own schedule and sleeping for longer stretches at night.

She's outgrown her newborn clothes and we've already had to move the belt straps twice on her car seat. She's been sleeping in her crib for the past month but when she wakes up in the morning, we bring her into our bed and hang out and have family time.

She seems to enjoy baths and her bouncy chair. She's almost doubled her weight but she's all cheeks and belly. Seriously, the girl has some chubby cheeks.

We call her Allie and my husband is trying to persuade me to get her name changed officially since it sounds weird when people call her Alexa. She has changed our lives so much but we are so happy that God has blessed us with this little lady.

Brian is already talking about Baby #2. If looks could kill... he might be dead.