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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Charli's Newborn Pictures

We had Charli's newborn pictures taken last Saturday when she was 8 days old. She is going to look really cute in these, but just know that obtaining these types of pictures is not easy. At all. I have to give major props to the photographers at fotofly who do this nonsense all day long.


I loved this little outfit. Her headband had to be pinned back because it was too big for her head though ha ha. I love that she always has her hands near her face like this.

I knew that I would have a blonde mostly bald baby despite the hours of heartburn I suffered while pregnant.

The sash she is wearing is from my maternity pictures. This was a pinterest idea.

I love her tiny little features. Luckily she doesn't have her mama's big ears yet.. but time will tell. She did get her mama's chubby cheeks though.

Stubborn baby wouldn't keep her eyes closed.. that's okay though because I love her eyes.

This was by far my favorite picture. She is so grumpy and I love it.

She always looks serious when she is awake like this. She smiles in her sleep though. 

My love holding my world in his hands.

Love her tiny little baby feet. Funny enough this was one of the most difficult pictures because she hated having her feet wrapped like that.

I love my baby girl.. please stay little for as long as possible. <3 br="">

Charli's Birth Story

I had planned on my baby being late my entire pregnancy. I knew that if I kept this plan that I would stay more patient and not get upset if I went overdue. So, at 36 weeks, when my doctor checked me and told me that I was already starting to dilate I was shocked. I knew that it didn't necessarily guarantee that she would be early but I truly felt like she would be at that point. I remember telling people that it would be awesome if she was born on Friday the 13th and that was the date that I had kept in my head.

At 37 weeks, we went in for an ultrasound and found out she was already measuring about 7 lbs. This was just another sign to me that this baby wasn't going to stay in much longer. I felt like she was meant to come early so that I could actually deliver her without a c section. I declined getting checked that week because I knew there was no guarantee and I didn't want to get myself psyched up for nothing.

Tuesday the 10th of February I went in for my 38 week check up. I had been losing a lot of my mucus plug that day so I was hopeful that I was diated more than a 1 like I had been at 36 weeks. I found out I was 3 cm and 70% effaced and was feeling pretty crampy that day. That night I went home, walked 2 miles, and started having contractions that were pretty far apart. We ended up in labor and delivery that night because our baby wasn't meeting her kick counts and I was worried the contractions were putting her under stress. Of course as soon as we got there she started to have hiccups. It was a long uncomfortable hour of being hooked up to machines and I was sent home that night.

 The next day I had contractions pretty consistently all day long that were 5-8 minutes apart. I didn't feel safe going to work and I was pretty uncomfortable so I stayed at home all day. Once again, we went into L&D that night because surely after having them that long we had to be getting closer and i was honestly exhausted from being in pain all day. They told me to walk around the hospital for an hour and that they would recheck me and admit me if there was progress. We made a valiant effort and walked and clilmbed stairs the entire hour but unfortunately i was still at a 3, 80% effaced now, and the baby was at -2 station. So we were sent back home again.. this time with a morphine shot so I could finally sleep. 

I was pretty bummed out on Thursday because I didn't feel any consistent contractions all day. I was convinced that I was going to be in pain for weeks before the baby finally came. My mom decided to keep me company and took me over to her house. I decided to relax on a yoga ball and do some hip circes to work on bringing the baby down. At about 6pm I started to get some pretty intense contractions but they were still only 5-7 minutes apart. Although they were pretty intense I was convinced that it would be another long night of early but non progressive labor so I went home and took a bath and tried to relax. By 10 pm I was having trouble keeping myself calm and was feeling quite a bit of pain in both of my hips that was a lot different than before. My husband tried to relax me and told me they weren't intense enough to go to the hospital. I finally put my foot down at 10:45 and said that we had to go in because I was done dealing with it at home and I didn't think it could get any worse. I texted my mom and told her it was probably a waste of time but that we were going back in to labor and delivery. At this point, I felt like a crazy person.

The whole car ride there was pretty intense as was making it to triage. I just remember really hating all the bumps on the road ha ha. When the nurse hooked me up to the monitor I was surprised how quickly my contractions were coming. The nurse checked me and told me that I was still a 3 cm, 90% effaced, but that baby was at 0 station. I was panicking thinking they were going to send me home but was told that if I was planning on medication that they would admit me since my doctor was already there for the night. By this point I had already decided that I was going to get an epidural as I wanted to enjoy the birth and to be able to be in the moment. 

I was admitted and by 11:30 had my epidural. The epidural was pretty uncomfortable but not painful. I think it freaked me out more because I knew it was being placed in my spine. Soon after my doctor came in to break my water and i wasn't too happy about that as i had wanted to wait until i was farther. There were a lot of things that I quickly became flexible on. I remember telling the doctor he needed to wait until my epidural kicked in first to break my water. Yeah, I didn't feel a thing. I slept as much as possible for two hours after that despite being really nervous and excited. I remember being super shakey and terrified i would have to get pitocin. My mom slept on the couch and Kyle sat in a chair and stared at me because he was so excited. I had my birth playlist on my headphones and dozed on and off to that. I remember that we could see another mama's contraction monitor throughout the night and we kept checking to see how she was doing. Her birth seemed a lot more difficult as she had to go on piton so watching her contractions was super interesting to us. 

At 2 am, I was checked and was at a five. I found out that I would not have to get pitocin so far and was pretty happy. I was told that i would get checked again in 2 hours to make sure everything was progressing again. By this point I was exhausted and spent alot of time sleeping especially because i could hear my baby's heart on the monitor which was so soothing. 

The hospital was really busy that night so the nurse didn't come back until 5:30 am. I was starting to feel odd pressure at abut 4 am but i figured i was just nervous or needed to go to the bathroom(ha ha!).. or I figured the baby was closer to arriving but I didn't want to get overly hopeful. The first thiing the nurse said when i was finally checked was, "woah, I need to go talk to your doctor..." ha ha, I was already at a 10.... something I was super happy about because once again I would get my wish of no pitocin. It was surreal finding out that I was so close to meeting my baby already and I had only been admitted for 6 1/2 hours. I found out I was running a fever and was then worried I would be forced to have antibiotics. luckly, my doctor decided we would just push through it since it was low grade and the baby looked great on the monitor.

We started pushing around 6 a.m. It was grueling, exhausting, and my epidural was starting to wear off on one side. Mid push it didn't bother me because I was so focused but in between contractions it was super painful on one side. My contractions were spacing out so pushing took quite a while… I was okay with that though. It was actually really relaxing despite what I was doing.. I just felt so at peace the whole entire process. I was really encouraged by my doctor and nurses and told that I was doing really well and the baby was moving as she should. At one point I was given oxygen while pushing. It was so surreal because I could feel the pressure of the baby and knew when she was starting to crown. I could also tell by how excited my husband and mom were that my baby girl was almost here.

It was scary because just before she came out the heart rate monitor started having issues and wasn't working... the doctor wasn't concerned but I wanted her out just in case. it was the most beautiful and surreal feeling when I felt the doctor pull her out of me and immediately she was placed on my stomach. She was born at 8:23 am on Friday the 13th (February 13th, 2015). My husband and mom were both in tears but I was so dang excited I just grinned ha ha. She was perfect, pink, and loud and suprisingly had hair. I remember being a proud mama at how loud and strong she sounded. Her apgar was a 9 so she was never even taken from me in the room. 

Although it wasn't the hypnobirth I planned on, my birth to me was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. Everyone told me I would probably have to have a c section but I believed in myself and my body did so well. She was not a tiny baby. She was 18 inches and 7 lbs 6.5 ozs. Unfortunately I did have an episiotomy and some minor tearing but I would do it all over again for her. I give hypnobirthing the credit for keeping me positive and happy even though my plans had changed quite drastically. I absolutely would choose to do it the same exact way because i really enjoyed my birth.