ONE!

The babe is ONE!  That is crazy!  I remember April 9th, 2009 like it was yesterday...

{ps.  I really want to write this so I don't forget.  I realize this is the longest post ever.  You've been warned.}

Seeing that I was on bed rest for the last 5 weeks of my pregnancy, I was sooo ready to have Reese!  I was going to the hospital and the doctor's office twice a week those last weeks to make sure she was still growing like she was supposed to.  We had an ultrasound 2 weeks before she was born and they estimated her weight at 5 lbs 9 ozs.  {Ha.}

During my Tuesday appointment before she was born {April 7th, 2009} we met with one of the doctors in the practice who set up my induction for Friday morning -- Good Friday.  Well, about 10 minutes after leaving the office, my regular doctor called and said that she was upset no one told her I was there and she really wanted to deliver the baby, since we had a "connection."  She asked if we would be willing to come in the following night {Wednesday the 8th} to begin the induction process and we said SURE!  I should mention that our doctor is deaf and was talking to me about birth/labor things as I'm walking through TJ Maxx and I was repeating things she was saying to make sure I was hearing her correctly.  I'm sure the shoppers loved it.

So, that Wednesday night, after eating our "last supper" at Shogun and running to Target to buy pillows {forgot to pack those}, a piggy bank, and a nightlight {haha, random}, we were on our way to East Alabama Medical Center.  On the way there, we heard "It's the End of the World As We Know It" on the radio.  Couldn't have planned it better.  When we pulled into the parking lot, "American Girl" came on the radio.  We got to the hospital at 8 pm and our doctor was waiting for us.  She was in regular clothes and had come up there just to do everything herself.  After getting the show on the road, I was given 2 Ambien to help me sleep.

The next morning {April 9th} we started Pitocen at 8:00 am.  At like 8:15 I was ready for an epidural. Haha.  No, seriously, the back pain was immediate and intense.  I had always heard that you had to be a certain amount dilated before you could have the epidural, but that wasn't the case for me.  I really began asking for the epidural about 10 and was put on the {long} waiting list.  The anesthesiologist came in around 11:30 and even though the epidural hurt worse than what anyone tells you, it was soo worth it.  I immediately felt no pain.  I think I was dilated to maybe a 1 or 2 by then.

My doctor {who had been up to check on me multiple times} came in to check me and my water broke on it's own at 12:30.  I was dilated to a 2.  From about 12:30 until 6:30, I made very little progress.  It felt like my left leg was whale blubber and I kept asking Brandon if my leg was swollen because it definitely felt like it was.  Haha, he was only slightly aggravated after the 10th time of having to check my leg.  Also, I could feel every contraction at the very top of my stomach and it felt like my heart was beating right there.  It was weird.

At about 6:30, Reese's heart rate starts dropping and I'm flipping from my left side to my right side, having the oxygen mask put on and other fun things.  I was still only dilated to about a 4.  At this point, my doctor decided to do what's called an amnio-something {very scientific, I know}.  Since it had been 6 hours since my water broke, Dr. Cooper thought if we put water back in, Reese would feel more comfortable and would move down the birth canal.  I had never heard of this, but to say that it worked would be an understatement.  At 7:30, I was dilated to a 9.  There was a small argument that occurred between my doctor and a nurse about how much I was dilated, but my doctor was right! 

I have to say that I have read other birth stories where the doctor comes in at the last minute and catches the baby, and I know I am blessed to have had my doctor there the whole time I was in labor.  That doesn't happen very often and I really felt like she cared.

So, everyone left the room at around 7:30-ish for us to get the party started.  I started to feel very nauseous, but I avoided getting sick {Yay!}  I finally dilated to 10 about 8:00 and I remember looking at the clock at 8:17 and I started pushing.  At 8:34 she popped out!!  I pushed 7 times.  Apparently, all the other nurses and doctors at my doctor's office were nervous about me having to have a c-section, so Dr. Cooper kept track.

She was born smiling and didn't cry immediately, but as soon as she was weighed, she belted out.  She scored an 8 and then a 9 on her Apgar test.  Dr. Cooper asked how much we thought she weighed and Brandon thought she was 7 lbs.  Everyone in the room {ps, I didn't know there would be so many nurses in the room} laughed and a nurse announced she was 4 lbs 14 ozs.  I couldn't believe it.  Brandon and I just cried and held her for about an hour and then Brandon went to tell our families. {Who all thought something was wrong because he was crying so hard.}

We had friends and family in the recovery room with us until maybe 10:00 and then we went down to the postpartum room.  The nurses took Reese into the nursery to have a bath and some blood drawn.  At maybe 11:00, one of the nurses came in and said her blood sugar was low and we could either let her have formula or she would have to have an IV in her head.  We chose the formula.  They let us keep her in the room with us until about 2:00 am and then they took her back to the nursery to spend the night and monitor her temperature/blood sugar.

The rest of our hospital stay was exciting with a tornado on Friday night {do yall know I have a fear of bad weather?  Yeah, it wasn't fun} and an extra night in the hospital because of Reese's weight/temperature.  We had to keep her double-swaddled the whole time we were in the hospital because she had no fat on her to keep her temperature up.  Then the last night, her temp. shot up to 101.5!  I didn't even know what she really looked like until we were home.  We also didn't know that she had a bottom lip {only slightly kidding} because she kept it sucked up in her mouth for the first few days!!  We were discharged on Easter Sunday with Reese's weight at 4 lbs, 8 ozs.  I think we went to the doctor/hospital 4 times that following week!

So, if you're still reading {probably just my mom}, I commend you!  I really just wanted to have all of this down so I would remember her birth story!!