Without further ado, here is her birth story!
Delaney's due date was February 20th so it was a bit of surprise that she arrived 4 weeks early. Well it was a surprise and then it wasn't. I spent my 35th birthday in December at 32 weeks in the hospital with pre-term labor. Very scary especially since my hubby was 6 hours north ice-fishing when my doctor sent me to labor and delivery at the hospital. We were able to keep her from coming into the world at 32 weeks and then was put on bedrest. We put little goals in place and met all of them from a timing standpoint. Just hold off baby girl until after the baby shower, hold off until after our breastfeeding class, hold off until after our childbirth class, hold off until 36 week, and then she arrived. I had a lot of braxton hicks contractions during this 4 week period of time and went to the hospital one other time because of intense contractions that lasted longer than 24 hours - we were sent home luckily. During this time I worked from home in my comfy bed with Tanner and Stella never leaving my side! It's like they knew and wanted to be there to protect me and the baby until her arrival. I went into work only 3 times during this period of time and 1 time was to find out I still had a job after announcing we were laying off 700 employees the very next day - talk about stress. It's no wonder she arrived early because I sure needed a break.
On January 24th I went into work all day and felt great. I worked late and got home around 8:00 and didn't feel like eating dinner so I didn't. I got into my pj's and read my childbirth book by Ina May Gaskin until about 11:00 and went to bed. At 12:00 midnight on the dot my water broke and I jumped up in bed very surprised that this was really happening. I woke up Dave and said "my water just broke" and he thought he was dreaming. Both of us jumped out of bed and began running around the house like 2 very excited but confused parents to be. We were giddy with excitement and tried to remember what they told us to do at our childbirth class when my water broke. I had been to my OB earlier that day and everything seemed fine, how quickly things change especially since he told me that day he was going on vacation the following week. What?!?!?! You can't leave town! I called the doctor, we frantically packed our bags, I ate some yogurt, and we headed out the door. Tanner and Stella were both very confused because we were leaving them in the middle of the night. I felt terrible abandoning them or at least that's how it felt at the time. I knew their world was going to change a lot very very soon.
We arrived at the hospital and I was still feeling great with no contractions yet. They brought us to our room and the preparation began after confirming that my water broke - there was no doubt in my mind because it was a lot of water! Then they wanted to put in an iv for when I would get the epidural I was most likely going to have and to have it there in case of any problems - the only problem was that I have the worst veins ever and they kept blowing. It took 1 1/2 hours to get the iv in along with 4 people attempting to get it in, and 7 sticks!!! Yup......7, SEVEN!!!! They had to bring in the big guns and have the rapid response team put in the iv. That was not fun but I was a trooper and knew the nurses felt terrible. Once that was over I got to relax a bit and chatted with David about the journey we were about to go through together that day. They checked my cervix when I got there and I was already between 2-3. I was thinking wow, no contractions yet and I'm already progressing nicely. I was feeling confident and very excited.
Around 3:00 a.m. my contractions began and were coming very regularly. We kept debating about when we should call my parents and our doula. My parents live 2 hours away and the plan was they would come in and watch the dogs for us. Around 5:00 a.m. the doctor came to check on me and my cervix was between 3-4 cm...progressing nicely. We then called my parents and our doula because the contractions had really picked up. Once our doula got there we began walking the halls and they encouraged me to walk for about 45 minutes or so. I barely lasted 20 minutes and had to get back to the room because I was beginning to struggle with the contractions and got very dizzy like I was going to pass out. I then tried relaxing on the exercise ball and absolutely hated it. I spent the next 30 minutes leaning over my bed in a lot of pain. The next couple of hours got increasingly difficult and I was grateful that I learned Lamaze breathing because it was the only thing that got me through.
The doctor checked me again at 9:00 and I was disappointed to hear that I was only 4 cm. This is the point I really started to doubt how long I could do this and whether or not I was going to maintain my positive outlook. Ask my hubby how I was during this time......he couldn't stop talking because he had a ton of nervous energy which wasn't a good mix with me - I
We elected to delay cord clamping and not have it cut right away so that she would get all of the blood from the placenta and during that time I got to start bonding with her right away as she laid on my chest. I was so overwhelmed with utter joy that I was balling.....yup tears of joy that made me look oh so pretty in those pictures. She was beautiful, healthy and my dream of becoming a mom had finally come true. It was the best moment of my life.
We were educated about "late pre-term babies" prior to delivery and thought to ourselves that as long as her lungs were mature she would be fine. We thought we were in the clear because the next 2 days in the hospital were wonderful and despite getting no sleep for 2 nights, we were in heaven. We were sent home 2 days later and unfortunately we were back in the hospital within 12 hours. Yup, my worst nightmare was beginning and I couldn't believe my baby girl was struggling with low body temperature, jaundice, and poor feedings. I have a lot to share about the next 12 days of Delaney's life but I'll save that for another blog post.
In the meantime here's a few pictures from the happiest day of our lives.
Delaney right after her arrival.
Weighed 6 lb 4 oz and 19 inches long - our little peanut
Bonding with her Mama after celebrating her birthday!
The best doctor and nurse I could have asked for.
Dr. Dan and Kris were phenomenal.
My doula Jen saw me during the toughest of times but helped David and I through it all.
I think her and nurse Kris became fast friends during it all.
After getting her bath, she was ready for her first nap. It's been an exhausting day for all.
So there you have it, the best day of our lives and my babies birthday.
