Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Story...
*This is the long version. You can find the abbreviated version below.*
I had two due dates for Ava: March 12th and March 17th. As I said in an earlier post, I was fully expecting her to come late for many reasons. First, my mom’s babies were late. Second, I had not felt any braxton hicks contractions. Third, I was not progressing.
On Tuesday, March 2nd, the week of Ava’s birth, I went to the doctor and was only 20% effaced and had not started dilating. On Friday, March 5th 2:40am. I woke up with back pain. I went to the bathroom and then tried to fall back asleep. The pain didn’t go away. I got a heating pad and sat on the couch. The pain spread to my lower abdomen. I was sure at this time that I was experiencing my first set of braxton hicks. I figured I’d wait it out and they’d be gone in maybe an hour or so. The contractions were coming about 6-7 minutes apart but were not always a full minute long. I didn’t think it was labor because I was told real contractions involve your entire stomach, your stomach is very hard, and contractions should last a full minute or longer.
After an hour of this, I woke Justin up because I was very uncomfortable and had started shaking. The contractions were coming every 4-6 minutes. After seeing me go through two contractions, Justin was convinced that I needed to call the doctor and head to the hospital. I argued with him about it saying that first time labors are long, I wasn’t in labor, and I didn’t want to wake the doctor up and have him to tell me I was dilated to a 2 and would have the baby next week.
The pain persisted and Justin decided to call the doctor. The doctor said yes, we needed to go to the hospital. Because I was planning on her coming late, we didn’t have any bags packed. Looking back on it, it was comical. I was sitting there going through contractions telling Justin to grab some of these, pack that etc.
We arrived at the hospital at 5am, about 2 ½ hours after it all began. The nurse didn’t seem concerned after we told her it was my first baby and that I wasn’t dilated two days before. The nurse checked me, and then in shock said, “You are at a SEVEN!” She immediately called another nurse to get things moving faster.
I had to wait for my doctor to arrive before they would give me an epidural. I was terrified that I would have to go through the whole thing without it if my doctor didn’t get there soon!
About 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital, I got my epidural! I remember telling the anesthesiologist that I loved her. :) Just as I was getting the epidural my water broke. The drugs started to kick in, and for the next hour or so, Justin and I watched the contractions on the monitor and chatted. The epidural worked wonders!
Now it was time to push. I pushed for about 45 minutes to an hour. It wasn’t bad at all, the epidural was beautiful. I could feel the baby coming, but couldn’t feel any pain. At the end, they gave me the tiniest bit of pitocin to finish the job.
Ava was born at 8:05am, approximately 5 ½ hours after I woke up!
Crazy first baby labor story don’t you think? We were rather surprised and couldn’t believe we were holding our baby. The doctor said that for baby number two, we better come as soon as I feel the first contraction or Justin might have to deliver the baby!
I had two due dates for Ava: March 12th and March 17th. As I said in an earlier post, I was fully expecting her to come late for many reasons. First, my mom’s babies were late. Second, I had not felt any braxton hicks contractions. Third, I was not progressing.
On Tuesday, March 2nd, the week of Ava’s birth, I went to the doctor and was only 20% effaced and had not started dilating. On Friday, March 5th 2:40am. I woke up with back pain. I went to the bathroom and then tried to fall back asleep. The pain didn’t go away. I got a heating pad and sat on the couch. The pain spread to my lower abdomen. I was sure at this time that I was experiencing my first set of braxton hicks. I figured I’d wait it out and they’d be gone in maybe an hour or so. The contractions were coming about 6-7 minutes apart but were not always a full minute long. I didn’t think it was labor because I was told real contractions involve your entire stomach, your stomach is very hard, and contractions should last a full minute or longer.
After an hour of this, I woke Justin up because I was very uncomfortable and had started shaking. The contractions were coming every 4-6 minutes. After seeing me go through two contractions, Justin was convinced that I needed to call the doctor and head to the hospital. I argued with him about it saying that first time labors are long, I wasn’t in labor, and I didn’t want to wake the doctor up and have him to tell me I was dilated to a 2 and would have the baby next week.
The pain persisted and Justin decided to call the doctor. The doctor said yes, we needed to go to the hospital. Because I was planning on her coming late, we didn’t have any bags packed. Looking back on it, it was comical. I was sitting there going through contractions telling Justin to grab some of these, pack that etc.
We arrived at the hospital at 5am, about 2 ½ hours after it all began. The nurse didn’t seem concerned after we told her it was my first baby and that I wasn’t dilated two days before. The nurse checked me, and then in shock said, “You are at a SEVEN!” She immediately called another nurse to get things moving faster.
I had to wait for my doctor to arrive before they would give me an epidural. I was terrified that I would have to go through the whole thing without it if my doctor didn’t get there soon!
About 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital, I got my epidural! I remember telling the anesthesiologist that I loved her. :) Just as I was getting the epidural my water broke. The drugs started to kick in, and for the next hour or so, Justin and I watched the contractions on the monitor and chatted. The epidural worked wonders!
Now it was time to push. I pushed for about 45 minutes to an hour. It wasn’t bad at all, the epidural was beautiful. I could feel the baby coming, but couldn’t feel any pain. At the end, they gave me the tiniest bit of pitocin to finish the job.
Ava was born at 8:05am, approximately 5 ½ hours after I woke up!
Crazy first baby labor story don’t you think? We were rather surprised and couldn’t believe we were holding our baby. The doctor said that for baby number two, we better come as soon as I feel the first contraction or Justin might have to deliver the baby!
Abbreviated Version
2:40 am - woke up with back pain / contractions
4:00 am - woke Justin up
5:00 am- arrived at hospital, dialated at a 7!
5:45 am - got epidural (yay!)
7:00 am - started pushing
8:05 am - Ava was born
Total: 5 1/2 hours.... CRAZY!!
4:00 am - woke Justin up
5:00 am- arrived at hospital, dialated at a 7!
5:45 am - got epidural (yay!)
7:00 am - started pushing
8:05 am - Ava was born
Total: 5 1/2 hours.... CRAZY!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Surprise: She's Here!!!
Ava Kay Hawes
Our daughter, Ava, came into this world (a little early) on Friday, March 5th at 8:05am. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and is 19 inches long. We are so happy to have our little one here with us now! Here are some pictures of our sweet baby.
The labor story will come soon.
The very first picture taken of her. Justin almost forgot to pull out the camera. The doctor had to remind him. :)
Bright eyed in the hospital.
Finally home! Look how TINY she is in that car seat!
Proud Daddy.
Ava and Mommy.
Our Angel.
First bath at home. Dad did a great job bathing Ava while mom frantically snapped pictures. :) She screamed when we washed her body, but seemed to enjoy getting her hair washed.
I love this picture. It looks like she's hiding from us.
Yes, you've seen her in a lot of outfits by now. :) She's only been home for four days, and mom is enjoying dressing her up. However, she is a tiny baby (now 5lbs 15oz after the expected weight loss). I was told not to get many newborn outfits because they grow out of them so quickly. Well, I had to roll these sleeves up three times to fit her! 
This just shows how tiny she really is. Those pants are newborn size!! They looked small when I received them at a shower, but now they look huge!
So cute!
Sleeping so sweetly. This was the morning after she let mom sleep for a record amount of time... 2 hours! (I'll take anything I can get at this point.)
In reality, the days have been great, the nights, not so great. This is Justin sometime between the hours of midnight and 5am. This is Ava's most fussy time. We are working on adjusting her days and nights.
In reality, the days have been great, the nights, not so great. This is Justin sometime between the hours of midnight and 5am. This is Ava's most fussy time. We are working on adjusting her days and nights.Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Baby Corner
Justin and I live in a small one bedroom apartment and therefore have no formal nursery. I'm hoping that our whole apartment doesn't become one big baby chaos place (although it probably will be that way for at least the first few weeks, if not longer). So today I made a "baby corner" in our living room/hallway.
We don't have enough storage for things like blankets, toys, diapers, bath stuff, etc. So I made these "baskets" to hold the items I want accessible.
We don't have enough storage for things like blankets, toys, diapers, bath stuff, etc. So I made these "baskets" to hold the items I want accessible.
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