It is 5:40 in the morning, March 15. My sweet little girl isn't even 24 hours old. She stayed in the nursery last night so that Steve and I could get a good nights rest, but I have been up for a while chomping at the bit to go get her. I thought it would be a good time to write down Alexis' birth story so it's still fresh in my mind. I don't want to forget a single thing.
First, let me say that Alexis is 100% perfect! Her daddy and I are completely and totally in love with that 7lb 3oz bundle of joy!
About a week and a half ago, my doctor and I decided on March 14th for an induction date. This past Tuesday at my last prenatal appointment that date was confirmed. I was still only dilated to 2 cm and ready to meet my baby. The next few days I spent loving on Hudson and planning/cleaning. My parents would be/are watching Hudson while we are at the hospital and I wanted the house to be as clean as possible for when we came home. Anyway, Wednesday March 13th I was tying up loose ends: vacuuming, sanitizing, laundry... you know, the fun stuff! :) Around 5 that evening I went to the restroom and realized I was losing my mucus plug. There was no question. Up until this point I hadn't really even had a Braxton Hicks contraction so I was a little excited that my body had finally decided to do something to prepare for labor. I didn't think it meant much though because I have heard that once you lose your plug, it can still be weeks before labor starts.
My parents arrived around 7:00pm and Hud was beyond excited! He had been talking about "playing with grandma and grandpa" for days! Side note: I'm so glad Hudson loves his grandparents so much! Anyway, they arrived and Hud got to open lots of presents! He is such a lucky little boy. After that, we all went out to dinner. I called it my last supper because that was the last meal I would be able to eat before my induction the next day. When we got home, we put Hud to bed ( I may or may not have cried while kissing him goodnight for the last time as an only child...) and my parents, Steve, and I finished some laundry, did some packing, and put some baby gear together. We all went to bed by 11:00pm.
Around midnight I woke up with some mildly uncomfortable cramping. Again, I didn't think much of it. However, the cramping kept coming at intervels of 6-12 minutes. They weren't painful, but they did make it very hard to sleep. I spent most of the night trying to get comfortable. At 5am I called the hospital as instructed to see when they wanted me to come in to "get things started" and they told me that the hospital was crazy busy and said they would call me back when a bed was available. I went back to sleep for an hour or so then got ready. It was nice having the morning to visit with my parents and play with Hudson a little more. While we were sitting in the living room I told my mom that I had been having cramps the night before and that those "cramps" had turned into mild contractions. They were still happing consistently, just not regularly. I told her that I think that this was the real thing and that Alexis was gong to come soon no matter what. haha Then my phone rang. The hospital called to tell me that a bed would be ready around 10am. We gathered all our bags and got one last family picture of three before Steve and I made our way to the hospital.
We got there right on time and check in was a breeze. As soon as they took us back to our room, I changed, got hooked up to monitors and had an IV put in. Then there was a lot of questions to answer and things to set up and by the time the nurse checked me I was dilated to 4 cm! I was only at 2cm days before. The contractions I was having were getting stronger and so at 12:30 I was given an epidural. at 1:30pm I was at 5 cm and my doctor came in to break my water in hopes of helping things along. Well, it did because one hour later I was 8 cm!!!! If it didn't feel real before, it did now! We were soooo close! Over the next two hours I had to change positions a few times because Alexis' heart rate was fluctuating. It wasn't anything horrible, but enough to warrant some changes. At: 4:20 pm my nurse came in and was debating to check me to see if there had been any progress. She decided to go ahead and check and was SHOCKED! Alexis' little head was ready to come out!
The next few minutes were crazy! My nurse along with some other people came in my room and began to set everything up for delivery. We did one practice push at 4:42pm and my nurse said that was all we were going to do. She needed to call the doctor because our sweet baby was going to come any minute!!!! My doctor came in and after pushing through 3 contractions (less than 10 minutes) Alexis Grace was born at 4:51pm. She came into the world crying and hungry. Once she was placed on my chest she immediately started sucking her thumb and looking for food! haha
Alexis weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 20 inches long! O did I mention that she has a full head of long BLACK HAIR?!?!?! Steve and I (along with the rest of our family) were shocked! If I didn't watch that baby come out of me I would have some serious questions as to weather or not she was really mine! It is crazy how different Hudson and Alexis looked!
Steve and I got some time along with Alexis then my parents brought Hudson to the hospital. He was curious about her, but wasn't overly interested. He was more concerned about his presents that Alexis got him. :) It was so nice having just the four of us together to bond. I'm so glad we stuck to our plan of having it just be us for a while at the hospital before allowing any visitors.
The grandparents were eagerly waiting to meet Alexis, so before we got transported to mother/baby everyone got to come in and meet her. Alexis was then taken to the nursery and I was taken to my room to get cleaned up and get some of the tubes and wires removed. It was insane how many "things" I was hooked up to. My new nurse told me I could stay in the hospital gown or change into whatever clothes I wanted. Well, that was a no brainer! It was wonderful getting back into my own clothes! I felt human again.
All the family came back to the room to spend more time with Alexis. Everyone got a chance to hold her. We got some dinner and ate together. People stayed until about 10:00pm. Hudson was a champ! When everyone left, we tried nursing and I was amazed at how well Alexis has taken to it. It was so easy and she nursed for 30 minutes.
I am feeling great especially after getting some much needed sleep. I did have a 2nd degree tear during delivery, so I'm recovering from that. It isn't bad though. :)
We are so thankful and blessed to have had such a smooth pregnancy and delivery. Its so funny that I had planned on being induced, but ended up not needing to be because my sweet little girl was ready to come on her own! It was a completely wonderful and different experience than the first time around. I experienced going into labor naturally and contractions neither of which I had with Hudson's birth.
Alexis is perfect and we couldn't have asked for a better baby!
