Monday, December 13, 2010

Anna Kate - Weeks 1 and 2

After 39.5 weeks of being pregnant with our little daughter, it's hard to believe she is actually here as an "outside baby" with us! Our little angel is 13 days old today, but as anyone who has had a newborn can attest, knowing the date is the least of our concerns at this point!

Anna Kate was born at 8:37 am on Tuesday, November 30 weighing in at 5 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long. She was eager to get out in the world and decided her mom should only push for about 6 minutes before she came screaming into this world. Our nurse had me practice push and then very quickly told me to stop practicing - turns out our little girl thought the practice was the real thing! I guess I should back up and start at the beginning our our birth story.

We went in for our weekly appointment on Monday, November 29. Since little Miss Anna Kate had been measuring smaller than our doctors would have liked, they were planning on letting me go to the next Monday, but after that, they would want to induce. So, I decided to have our doctor try to move things along and strip my membranes while we were there in the hopes of going into labor within the next day or so. After that was done (not so comfy btw), we waited around for our final growth scan to be sure Anna Kate was still growing along her curve. The ultrasound tech did her thing and then the doctor walked in and said "What day is today?" followed very quickly by a "a good day to have a baby." Within 30 minutes (I think around 4:30 pm), Reece had me checked into labor and delivery and was off to the house to grab our bags. Turns out our little girl had not grown much (if at all) since our last growth scan three weeks prior and it was time to get her out in the world to start growing and thriving.

Due to the membrane stripping, my contractions, though weak, were coming every 1.5-2 minutes, so they couldn't give me pitocin at that point. Instead, they decided to put in a balloon that would concentrate my contractions and help dilate me. Even though I had originally hoped to have a pain med-free birth, after around 6 hours of the balloon and a bout of throwing up, I decided to get a bit of relief from some Nubain (non-narcotic pain med). Throughout the night, I slept in 15 minute increments and by 4:30ish the next morning, I was dilated to a 6. I stayed at a six for quite a while and ended up getting an epidural around 6:30 am. The doctor estimated that it would be at least 3-4 more hours before I was ready to push, so Reece went to grab some breakfast with his parents in the hospital while my sister and mom stayed with me. A bit later, I started feeling the urge to push and the nurse came in to check me. Turns out - I was quite ready and Reece thankfully just walked back in the door! The room very quickly transformed with doctors and nurses and drop cloths and lights from the ceiling. Our doctor decided to take a gander at Reece's Texas Monthly and ran off down the hall to make a copy of the top Mex-Tex restaurants article :). When he came back in, we had just finished our "practice - oh wait - stop practicing" and it was time to push. I looked at the clock - 8:31 am. A few (maybe 3 or 4?) pushes later, Miss Anna Kate made her entrance into this world with a shriek and then steady cries.

We had such a great experience at St. Lukes. All of our caregivers were absolutely amazing and our sweet little girl never left our sight. Since we had been in the hospital since Monday evening, we decided by Wednesday that we were more than ready to head home. After both Anna Kate and I were checked out and cleared and a marathon feeding session, it was time to load up our tiny little girl and bring her home.

The past two weeks have been a bit of a blur, but an amazing blur. We have had so many amazing friends and family supporting and taking care of us in so many ways. We are blessed beyond words that God has chosen us as Anna Kate's mom and dad. Though what that responsibility truly means is just beginning to be revealed to us, we are continually amazed and grateful for this blessing and pray that we can offer our little girl a view of the wonder and love of our Lord and Savior.


1 comment:

Chrissy said...

Precious, precious. Love what you about 'what the responsibility truly means only just beginning to be revealed'... It took me a year and half to understand that! Love you friend and your precious family.