In case you missed it, I had a baby! And now it’s been 9
weeks since she was born, so I figured it was about dang time for a blog post
about her.
Millie was due on April 25th, but of course
that day came and went without her making an appearance. My blood pressure had
been pretty normal and consistent until 38 weeks when it started to rise. It
was still within the normal range, but the doctor started to worry about it.
There were no other signs of pre-eclampsia so I wasn’t too concerned and did
think that they were freaking out about nothing. I had to go in to the office
twice a week for monitoring and they finally decided to induce. I REALLY wanted
to go into labor on my own. In fact, it was the only thing I felt passionate
about in regard to any type of “birth plan.” Since I had absolutely no signs of
going into labor on my own, was so over being pregnant, and with the doctors
getting antsy, I decided to agree to an induction.
On Sunday, April 28th, we checked into the
hospital to get the induction started. By the next morning the contractions
were coming steadily – well actually right on top of one another. It
suuuuuuucked. And it took all damn day to dilate to 3 cm. At that point I could
have the epidural, so I ordered that sucker right away. It helped me go to
sleep (well, if it wasn’t for the nurses coming in every hour. Grr), but it
also slowed my contractions. The next morning they started Pitocin and the
contractions started up again. By this point Millie was jammed up all on my left
side and must have been lying on some nerve because there was excruciating pain
on my left side that would not let up even after pushing the epidural button
repeatedly. The doctor came in to adjust
the epidural and put some extra special kind of drug in there (clearly I knew
exactly what was going on :) ).
It would take the pain away for a little bit, but it didn’t last. I was really
annoyed that the epidural wasn’t working fully. The first time in my life doing drugs and they
didn’t work! What a letdown.
Finally at about 3pm on Tuesday, April 30th, I
was able to start pushing. I was determined to get her out by 5pm. So I pushed
for about an hour and at 4:41 pm I pushed out an 8 lbs. 14 oz, 22 inch long
gooey, beautiful baby. To this day, I look at her and I think, “Holy hell. I
pushed that out of my body. Weird.” But man, the feeling after giving birth, not
being pregnant anymore, and still having some numbing drugs in your system is
amazeballs.
Now, 2 months later, I have a fabulous little girl whom I
love to pieces. We’ve had many sleepless nights and days where all she does is
nap. Times when she will suck down 2 bottles and still be hungry and others
when she just can’t be bothered to eat. Too many diaper changes to count, and
yes the occasional poopsplosion and pee fountain. Hours upon hours getting her
to smile and coo, and even more spent rocking her to sleep. She consumes all our time and we wouldn’t have
it any other way. I look forward to hearing her laugh, learning how to roll
over and crawl, and feeding her solid foods. I am also looking forward to going
back to work in 2 weeks even though it means Millie will be in daycare full
time.
It’s funny how a baby will turn your world upside down
and crazy how soon it becomes the new normal. Millie is pretty awesome and it’s
pretty awesome that I get to be her mom. It’s also pretty amazing that I get to
have Evan as my baby daddy. He is pretty much the best dad in the whole world
and Millie has no idea how much fun she is going to have with him.
