And check out the size of those feet!! We can't get over how big her feet are, and how her little toes are so long. She's perfect, though. We couldn't be more blessed. The delivery was as smooth as it could be. I went in on Sunday to get a cervidil to soften my cervix and open me up a bit. The cervidil ended up putting me into labor and by 4 'o' clock Monday morning, I needed that epidural. They had given me an ambien, but the ambien didn't help much with the contractions. I slept like a baby through the rest of the night. By 8 'o' clock the next morning, Dr. McClintock came in and broke my water. At that point I was dilated to a four or a five. I was making really good progress. Austin and my dad went to eat breakfast downstairs and my mom and Nicole came in and babysat me until it was time to start pushing. I don't remember much of that except for the fact that my belly and back itched like crazy from the epidural. I had Nicole itching my belly and my mom rubbing lotion on my back. Austin said I was pretty loopy and out of it from the epidural. He said I kept looking around with a goofy grin on my face and saying, "I love epidurals!" When they came in and checked me around 10 '0' clock I was about a six. An hour later I was a 7/8 and around 12:30 I was a 9/10. Nicole was calling Austin with the updates, and when I hit ten centimeters, he was back upstairs with me and Debbie (my surrogate mother and one of my best friend's mom's) who I was so blessed to get to have her be my nurse, told us we were ready to start pushing. I started pushing around 1:30 or so and Debbie kept telling me she thought I would have this baby before 2:00. I pushed for twenty minutes, and at 1:54 Annabelle arrived. They actually put a mirror in front of me so I could watch - amazing. Absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe she was here and she was mine, and I have never seen a prouder Poppa than Austin. That guy was smiling ear to ear and watched her every move until they put her in his arms to bring her to me. Check out the smile on his face.
The after delivery was a bit of a different story - not quite so ideal. Without going into all the gorey details, I had postpartum hemhorraging and for a while there, it got pretty bad. I didn't know what was going on, and neither did Austin, but when more and more nurses started piling into my room and I was being poked, proded, and pushed on...we knew things weren't going well. My uterus wouldn't contract which caused a lot of extra bleeding. I was pumped full of meds to stop the bleeding. It was pretty scary but luckily for me, ignorance is bliss and I didn't really know worst case scenario but luckily we didn't have to go there. Austin is the one who really had the scare because he had to witness everything and he could sense the concern in Debbie's and the doctor's voice. Luckily, the meds worked and after what seemed forever, the bleeding stopped. Debbie ended up telling me later, "You gave me a real scare...I know too much." God was good, though, and I didn't even end up needing a transfusion or anything. Here is the nurse of the year, herself!!
Couldn't have done it without this sweet girl's help. Nicole was there with me every step of the way. I may not have had a biological sister, but that is why God gave me Nicole.
Oh, what joy Annabelle has brought to our lives. We will never be the same...but in such a good way. Thank you, Lord, for your many blessings!!
- The Aldrich's :0)
1 comment:
So, so glad everything is going wonderfully! You are going to be the best mom and I am so glad God was right there beside you in that scary time. He was watching over you because He knew how much this little precious Annabelle needed you. So happy for you guys! We must visit with you soon!!!!! What about next week? Love you tons!
Post a Comment