Obligatory Story of Aubrey's Birth

 One of my favorite Aubrey photos so far.

I know it's super cliche, but I wanted to write about how Aubrey's birth went down. I don't want to forget all the details! So here goes.

Aubrey's due date was Tuesday, March 25th, but she had no intentions of coming "on time." At a week past her due date, we set up an induction for the morning of Sunday, April 6th. I figured there was no way she was coming on her own. But then at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, I started having mild but regular contractions. I got really excited thinking labor was finally beginning, and I lay on the couch all morning dozing between contractions and just waiting for them to get closer together.

But then, to my great annoyance, the contractions faded away. They became even less regular and for long stretches of time didn't even occur at all. So Daniel, my mom, and I watched the morning and afternoon sessions of General Conference for church. We had dinner. We played a game. And as the night progressed, the contractions came back. Again, they were fairly regular but still pretty far apart.

And then things got weird. The contractions seriously increased in intensity while simultaneously becoming incredibly sporadic--12 minutes apart, 3 minutes apart, 7 minutes apart. It was all over the map, and I was really frustrated and very convinced that I couldn't handle the new, much-worse pain until the next day when I was to be induced. But I had already called my midwife's office and been told that I couldn't come until the contractions were 5 minutes apart. So Daniel sat with me and helped me through each contraction, and we just waited for things to progress. My water started to leak, which I really should have called about now that I think of it... but I wasn't positive that was what was happening. It was confirmed to me only after we'd been at the hospital for awhile. Anyway, no position I got into helped with the pain, and I started freaking out. I knew the contractions were never going to become regular. I just knew it.

Thankfully, Daniel came to my rescue. As I was crying and doubled over in pain, he called the midwife's office again, explained what was going on, and somehow got me the green light to head to the hospital. I'd never loved him more than in that moment, haha. By the time we got everything in the car (except for the diaper bag with stuff for Aubrey, which we totally forgot and had to have my mom bring later), it was about 4:30 a.m. No one was on the road, so Daniel was able to bruise the speed limit pretty well. He also ran the last red light before the hospital. He could have waited, but no one was around. Plus he just really wanted to take advantage of a great excuse to drive kind of crazy. ;)

They checked me when we arrived at the hospital, and I was 4 cm dilated and about 80% effaced. Aubrey was still pretty high up (a -2 station, for those who know what that means). I was discouraged by that last part, but I was just glad to be at the hospital. Around 5:00 a.m., they got me in my own room and started giving me pain medication to tide me over before the epidural. I wanted to wait to get it until things had progressed a little further. So they gave me Demerol through an IV, and I pretty much immediately began throwing up. Then they gave me a shot of something in my hip/butt (I don't even remember what it was called), and the nausea went away. I fell asleep instantly.

The view of Boston from my delivery room.

For the next few hours, I slept painlessly while Daniel and my mom dozed in some reclining chairs. Around 9:00 a.m. they gave me Pitocin to augment labor and got me set up for the epidural. They kicked Daniel and my mom out of the room, and a wonderful nurse named Beth held my hands, put her forehead against mine, and talked me through the epidural placement to keep me relaxed. The whole process was really no big deal. I think the anesthesiologist was just really good, because it wasn't very painful at all.

I expected that from then on we'd all be hanging out, maybe watching some t.v. or playing cards or something. But things can never be simple, I guess, and I discovered that the epidural was only working on my left side. The right side of my body could still feel everything. They rolled me onto my right side to see if the drugs would work their way to that side, but they didn't. And long story short, I spent the next couple of hours doing a natural, unmedicated birth on my right side.

Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for the pain. I thought I'd be numb from the waist down! Thankfully, Daniel, my mom, and the previously mentioned wonderful nurse Beth were there to help me through the contractions while we waited for the anesthesiologist to come back. Beth had me mimic her breathing, Daniel held onto my shoulder and let me squeeze the crap out of his hand, and my mom tickled my arm and smoothed my brow and encouraged me. It was a long time waiting for the anesthesiologist, who was nowhere to be found for awhile, and Beth was angry about it on my behalf. Man, she was great.

After way too long (around 2:30 p.m.), the anesthesiologist came back, tried to adjust the epidural, and then eventually decided to replace it. So again I had to sit for the epidural, which was still not an awful process, but this time she had a really difficult time placing it. The space was too tight. Finally, I thought to mention that I have scoliosis, at which point she said, "Oh, let me try this" and instantly found a good space. Hallelujah.

Yes, I realize this is a terrible photo of us. But it's the only one we have of the labor process!

For awhile I was numb on both sides and feeling good, so again I slept for a few hours. A little after 6:00 p.m., the midwife did an exam and told me I was 8 cm dilated but that Aubrey was only at a -1 or 0 station. That last part was depressing. But the 8 cm part was encouraging! At least I had progressed somewhat. But eventually I started having pain again, this time on my left side. I kept pushing the button for more of the epidural whenever the light flashed green, but it would occasionally time out and make me wait. I didn't like that so much, but the pain was endurable at least.

Around 9:00 p.m., the midwife came and checked me. Aubrey had finally descended and was right there, ready to go. "It's time to push!" the midwife told me. Those are scary words to hear. I started getting all shaky, which was something I had experienced on and off throughout the labor process, but I was calmed by how relaxed everyone else in the room was. Daniel made a joke about pooping a refrigerator, and he surprised me by saying that contrary to what he'd been saying for the last 9 months, he was, in fact, going to cut the cord when it was time. I felt as ready as I was going to be, simultaneously terrified and really excited.

I started pushing. The midwife, the nurses, and my mom told me how good a pusher I was, so I was imaging Aubrey's head making serious progress with each push. Daniel was totally great and even looked down there to see sometimes, which surprised me. (He had been so adamant about not seeing any of it, so I said, "Wait, you're looking?!" to which he said, "Are you kidding? This is my daughter being born! Of course I'm looking!" Cute.) Anyway, after about 30 minutes or so, I made the mistake of asking how much of her was out, and when my mom said they could see the top of her forehead, I got really discouraged. That was it?! This is the point at which I started to get very grumpy. I growled, yelled at Daniel ("Stop saying 'That's it!' It makes me feel like she's finally coming out, and she's not!"), informed everyone that I was not able to push anymore, etc. Not my proudest moment, haha. But thankfully, everyone was patient and understanding.

The quintessential screaming newborn photo. Love it.

Finally, after about an hour of pushing, she came out (at 10:21 p.m., to be exact). Actually, it's more accurate to say she shot out. I mean, she made an actual popping noise (which Daniel compared to a lollipop sound). It made me jump. She had the umbilical cord around her neck, but the midwife (Jenn) was super quick to remove it. They hoisted Aubrey onto my stomach, and she was so gray and sprawling! We waited for her to cry as the nurses wiped her down, and I started saying, "Cry, baby, cry!" which totally made me want to follow up with "Make your mother sigh," a la the Beatles, but I thought it inappropriate under the circumstances. After longer than I was comfortable with, Aubrey craned her head toward me, opened her eyes right on me, and let out her first cry. It was amazing.

Proud (and tired) new parents!

The rest is pretty standard--I delivered the placenta and got stitched up (*shudder*) while Daniel saw Aubrey get cleaned off, weighed (6 pounds, 5.9 ounces), measured (19 3/4 inches), and wrapped up. He held her for awhile, took some awesome photos with her, and finally handed her off to me when I was done being tortured and squeezing my poor mom's hand to a bloody pulp. Aubrey was so wide-eyed and awake, red and puffy, tiny and precious. From the moment she stopped crying, she was sticking her little tongue out like a lizard. A week later, she still does that all the time.

Aubrey's first bottle.

Now we're at home with her, and she's such a doll. She has been incredibly sweet and good-natured so far, and we hope she stays that way! She hates being cold (and therefore hates having her clothes taken off), and she's able to sleep a lot of the time in her crib. She loves arching her back and tilting her head up when she sleeps, which looks really uncomfortable to me, but hey. We think she might be an early roller! She also has a really strong neck and can hold her head up really well. When she's awake, she has big, open eyes. Her pediatrician described her as very "alert." Oh, and she smacks her lips after she eats. It just kills me.

Aubrey at 2 days old.

And that's Aubrey! We can't wait to see how she changes over the next few weeks. :)