Y’all, I had a baby!
This post and video is a bit delayed since I spent a bit of time in the hospital and then the first week (er, or two) recovering and taking care of our new addition.
Since I’ve been trying to do more vlogs lately I decided to try and create a vlog of our labor and delivery experience and now I’m finally sharing that labor and delivery story Penny was born in April!
I was induced on the evening of my birthday. Heading to the hospital at 8:30 pm wasn’t the ideal ending to my birthday, but I was so done being pregnant that I almost didn’t mind. I was past my due date by my birthday so I honestly just wanted to meet our little one by that point.
We had a pretty good experience of induction with an epidural with some minor complications post birth. I was induced overnight and given pitocin the next day to start speeding up my contractions. I had been having contractions overnight that were so mild I snoozed through them but once the real contractions started… I asked for my epidural.
I had planned to get an epidural the whole time so I asked for it as soon as once was allowed. An hour and a half after the pain began I was given my epidural. It worked wonderfully well for the contractions but I did have my blood pressure drop and threw up from it.
Throwing up was a common experience during my labor – I threw up several more times as the baby moved her way through the process. Other than the nausea I didn’t have many complaints thanks to the pain medications.
I started my contractions that morning and ended up delivering baby at 5:43 pm. I felt the strong desire to give up during the pushing phase but knew there was no way out of the situation besides gritting through it. My blood pressure was watched closely and they gave me oxygen during the pushing. Unfortunately the baby was not positioned correctly and the doctor was minutes away from more drastic measures but managed to get her out naturally.
The whole process lasted almost a full day and I was completely wiped by the time it was over. Baby girl came out healthy but pale and she received oxygen too. I ended up having some minor complications with tearing, bleeding, and spiked blood pressure so I was monitored and spent an extra night in the hospital to recover and get checked out again by my doctor before being released with instructions to not do too much and basically just rest.
As a first time mom I didn’t know what to expect from labor and I was very apprehensive about being induced since there can be so many complications with that process, but ultimately I was ready for pregnancy to end and couldn’t wait to meet our little girl. Overall the labor wasn’t terrible and despite some complications it could have been a lot worse. I’m grateful that my very loose birth plan of “pain medicine desired and we all survive” stayed intact.
Penny came home with us a little over a two weeks ago and we have been getting to know our sweet baby. She’s already a delightful and beautiful baby who has brought so much happiness in a short amount of time. I can’t wait to share more about life with this cutie in the future!
Jan says
Congratulations!!!!
Mary says
Thank you!
Susan says
Congratulations- she’s adorable! Accept any and all help people offer, and don’t be surprised if you burst into tears over ridiculous things over the next several weeks. The stress of having a newborn is tremendous.
Mary says
Omg yes! I’ve cried so much… over things that matter and things that definitely don’t! I’m hoping since I’m past the two week mark it’s peaked and I’ll slowly get back to more regulated emotions. But the first two weeks have been insane with super high feelings and super low crying sessions. It’s definitely stressful having a newborn. I love her but I’m pretty sure I’ll love her more when she is older. :D
Susan says
Yes, you will. You kind of just survive until she starts giving you real smiles. Then it all suddenly seems worth it.
Mary says
Yes I can’t wait for real smiles and laughs and interactions!
Missy says
Congratulations!
Mary says
Thank you!