To my baby girl:
Here is the story of your birth, the best day of my life.
I debated on whether or not I wanted to put this story on our blog...it is so special and intimate to me and I know I won't do it justice with words. I need to write it down though, I definitely want you to be able to read it someday. Here goes nothing.
I had been having contractions for almost the entire month of December so when they came on the night of December 27th, I didn't pay much attention to them and went about my night as usual. Matt and I went to bed around midnight and I laid there for hours, unable to sleep. I realized these contractions were a little harder and a little more consistent and got out of bed at 4am. Matt felt me getting out of bed and asked if I was ok. I told him what I was feeling and that I was going to go upstairs to roll on the exercise ball and watch a movie upstairs to try and get a little more comfortable. I turned the TV on and started watching the movie, The Social Network. Matt came up a few minutes later to hang out with me while I rolled on the ball. Not too much after that, I started to realize this might be the real deal...the contractions kept coming and they were getting stronger. I decided to go sit in a warm tub to see if that helped. They persisted. Matt came down and asked if we should be getting to the hospital...not yet I told him. It was just uncomfortable at that point but I was still able to talk through the contractions. Matt started trimming his beard and getting his things ready to go while I finished in the tub. I got out and they were still getting stronger. I went to the bathroom and discovered that it definitely was the real deal so I started throwing last minute items into my hospital bag and Matt got in the shower. By the time he was out and we got all of our things together in the car, it was definitely time to go to the hospital...I was hurting.
On our ride up to Park City I was groaning and moaning with each wave of contractions. They were hitting me fast and hard...only 30 seconds apart. ouch. It was 6am when we arrived at the emergency room. As we walked in the door the receptionist looked up at us and Matt said, "I bet you can guess why we're here." He checked me in (thank heavens we pre-registered and it only took a second to get checked in) and while we were waiting on the wheelchair Matt had to go park the car. He was gone for maybe a minute and when he came back I was kneeling on the floor, hunched over the seat of a chair in pain. The wheelchair showed up and the girl pushing it was perplexed as she scanned the emergency room for a pregnant woman but only saw Matt. ha. Matt saw her confusion and pointed down. I transferred myself from the floor to the wheelchair and they wheeled me up to labor and delivery. The contractions kept getting worse. The nurse checked me and I was at a 5 and the baby was really low. Matt called our moms. I asked for the epidural and she went to call the anesthesiologist. She came back and reported that he was prepping some patients for surgery but would be up as soon as he could. Not soon enough! They were getting worse and I am embarrassed at some of the noises I made with each pain. Apparently the noises I was making got my nurses attention so she came back in to check on me. I was at a 7. She called for the epidural again and then she started trying to mentally prepare me for a natural birth....I was moving to fast. She asked if I wanted anything else for the pain and I said, "No! Just the epidural...I can't do it without the epidural!" I had heard if you got other pain medication before the epi you would have to wait til that medication wore off til you could get the epidural and that would just prolong the process and I didn't know if that was true or not but I definitely didn't want to risk it! Matt tried consoling me and giving me a little pep talk that I could do anything if I had to and the nurse went to call the anesthesiologist again. Finally, Will Shakespear, my anesthesiologist walked in. I bent over and squeezed Matt's hand while he worked. I was still in so much pain and couldn't help moaning and saying ow ow ow ow ow....over and over. He told me to hold still and try and breath through my contractions so I did my best but they had been coming so hard and fast (every 30 seconds for the past couple of hours) and I was having a hard time remembering to breath. Matt braced me and Will got it in. Thank you EPI!! Instant relief! I was moving so fast that he had to put something in first before the epidural to make it act faster and it made the world of a difference in my pain level! Once the epidural was in they checked me again and I was complete....dilated to a 10...PHEW, we got the epidural in the knick of time.
My doctor showed up and talked to me and broke my water. She told me the baby had pooped inside. She asked if I wanted to push but I really wanted our moms to be there so she checked the baby and she wasn't in any distress so she agreed to letting my contractions keep moving her down while waiting for our moms to come. As she was leaving she asked if I had any questions and I said, "yeah, where is my button...the one I can push if the epidural starts wearing off??" She smiled and replied, "It won't."
Our families came.
My mom, Noni, McKell, my dad, Steve and Joyce and my grandpa and grandma Chappell were all at the hospital. They all came in to see us and wish us luck. Then everyone but our moms went out of the room and waited while I started to push. My epidural was working a little too well at this point and I couldn't feel exactly how to push ( I maybe should have gone to a childbirth class...woops). They called Will back and he came to take it down a notch. I warned him not to take it down to much! I kept pushing. My mom held my left leg and the nurse held my right. Matt was up by my head comforting and encouraging me and his mom was on camera duty. My doctor came back in and checked the baby's position and starting putting a surgical gown on over her cute office wear of skirt and boots. It was baby time. I pushed with her until Sloane finally came into this world. 12:58 pm. One of my best friends told me that giving birth was a total adrenaline rush and I would agree. When I felt her leaving my body and entering the world was so surreal...the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. The whole process of pregnancy, birth and life is a miracle. I feel so lucky to be able to have that experience.
The doctor gave Sloane to my nurses and a respiratory therapist (a precaution since she had pooped while inside) while she finished with me. I loved my hospital because they do everything with the baby right there in your room so I was never separated from her. She was beautiful with quite a bit of dark brown hair. She weighed 6 pounds and 9 ounces and she sounded like a baby bird. She wasn't crying but squawking! Matt and our moms were watching with tear filled eyes as they measured and weighed her, suctioned out her mouth and nose, and wiped her off. I think I can count the number of times I have seen Matt cry on 2 fingers. 1) December 16, 2006; on our wedding day as I walked down the aisle and, 2) December 28, 2011; the day our first baby girl was born. The two best days of our lives.
It was amazing to see and hear our little miracle across the room. She was so loved already! I am so glad I invited our moms to be there as she was born. When Matt handed her to me I can't even describe the joy I felt. I had a perfect pregnancy but it is still hard to wait 9 months wondering all about your baby...the moment you finally get to hold her and stare into her eyes is like nothing else in this world. Of course, I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She looked just like her daddy's newborn pictures. perfection.
Once the room was clear of the doctor and nurses and both Sloane and I were taken care of, our families were basically begging to come back in so we had the nurses let them in to see her. There weren't to many dry eyes in the room. It was so neat to share our joy with our families. I was set on breastfeeding and I really wanted to be able to do that as soon as I could after she was born so I had my mom take the lead and get everyone out of the room for me so we could get started. It was just the three of us, a family. It felt so perfect.
I was pretty nervous about nursing because I had read and heard that it can be challenging. I locked eyes with Sloane as I prepared to nurse her and said, "we can do this." She latched on immediately and I started to cry...such a perfect moment. The instant bond of a mother and child is so real. (Just so I don't paint a false picture, nursing is definitely not easy and we have had our share of challenges but it is so worth it).
Once she finished eating we invited our families back in so they could finally get a chance to hold her. I was ravenous after giving birth and nursing so I ordered room service and ate while we all visited. (Best hospital food in the world, I still crave it!!) I feel like we had the best experience possible. I was very particular with the doctor and hospital I chose and even though they were 30 minutes away (Park City) it was so worth it. I love Dr. Falk and the whole nursing staff and the hospital was so nice (brand new) and the food was so fresh, organic and healthy. My pregnancy and delivery was so textbook perfect so that helps quite a bit too.
My nurses gave us the option to stay one or two nights and we chose to take full advantage and stay both nights. The first night we kept Sloane in our room and got a good taste of what it felt like to wake up every 3 hours with a newborn....Exhausting!! The second day was nice, it was just the 3 of us for a good part of the day so we took some naps as a family and just relaxed. That night the hospital hosted Matt and I to a really nice celebratory dinner.
We spent the next morning doing a lot of paperwork and our last check ups with each of our doctors before we were released. We had her first name picked out pretty much since we found out she was a girl at 16 weeks pregnant. The middle name didn't come as easy for us. When my nurse told us we had to fill out her birth certificate before we left we hurried and pulled out our iPhones that had our name lists on them and read them to each other over and over. Nothing was clicking for us. We almost didn't give Sloane a middle name. The nurse came back in and I told her we were struggling so she suggested that we use my name for her middle name. "It's cute and would be fun to keep it in the family," She continued, "Plus you know if it had been a boy you wouldn't second guess using your husbands name as his middle name...am I right or am I right?" She was right. When she left the room Matt said, "That feels right." and I agreed. In that moment her middle name finally felt right (Matt had suggested we use my name for her middle name during my pregnancy and I was quick to shoot that idea down...he also suggested we use Drama's name as Sloane's middle name so I was pretty good at shutting his name suggestions down). I am so proud to share my name with my beautiful daughter.
Once all the paperwork was done and we had packed everything up, it was time to go home. The nurse escorted us to the car to make sure we had a car seat properly installed and we were on our way home. To start the best journey of lives.
Here is the story of your birth, the best day of my life.
I debated on whether or not I wanted to put this story on our blog...it is so special and intimate to me and I know I won't do it justice with words. I need to write it down though, I definitely want you to be able to read it someday. Here goes nothing.
36 weeks: dilated to a 1+ and 50% effaced.
37 weeks: dilated to a 2 and 75% effaced.
38 weeks: dilated to a 2-3 and 80% effaced.
39 weeks and 4 days our baby was ready to join us.
I had been having contractions for almost the entire month of December so when they came on the night of December 27th, I didn't pay much attention to them and went about my night as usual. Matt and I went to bed around midnight and I laid there for hours, unable to sleep. I realized these contractions were a little harder and a little more consistent and got out of bed at 4am. Matt felt me getting out of bed and asked if I was ok. I told him what I was feeling and that I was going to go upstairs to roll on the exercise ball and watch a movie upstairs to try and get a little more comfortable. I turned the TV on and started watching the movie, The Social Network. Matt came up a few minutes later to hang out with me while I rolled on the ball. Not too much after that, I started to realize this might be the real deal...the contractions kept coming and they were getting stronger. I decided to go sit in a warm tub to see if that helped. They persisted. Matt came down and asked if we should be getting to the hospital...not yet I told him. It was just uncomfortable at that point but I was still able to talk through the contractions. Matt started trimming his beard and getting his things ready to go while I finished in the tub. I got out and they were still getting stronger. I went to the bathroom and discovered that it definitely was the real deal so I started throwing last minute items into my hospital bag and Matt got in the shower. By the time he was out and we got all of our things together in the car, it was definitely time to go to the hospital...I was hurting.
On our ride up to Park City I was groaning and moaning with each wave of contractions. They were hitting me fast and hard...only 30 seconds apart. ouch. It was 6am when we arrived at the emergency room. As we walked in the door the receptionist looked up at us and Matt said, "I bet you can guess why we're here." He checked me in (thank heavens we pre-registered and it only took a second to get checked in) and while we were waiting on the wheelchair Matt had to go park the car. He was gone for maybe a minute and when he came back I was kneeling on the floor, hunched over the seat of a chair in pain. The wheelchair showed up and the girl pushing it was perplexed as she scanned the emergency room for a pregnant woman but only saw Matt. ha. Matt saw her confusion and pointed down. I transferred myself from the floor to the wheelchair and they wheeled me up to labor and delivery. The contractions kept getting worse. The nurse checked me and I was at a 5 and the baby was really low. Matt called our moms. I asked for the epidural and she went to call the anesthesiologist. She came back and reported that he was prepping some patients for surgery but would be up as soon as he could. Not soon enough! They were getting worse and I am embarrassed at some of the noises I made with each pain. Apparently the noises I was making got my nurses attention so she came back in to check on me. I was at a 7. She called for the epidural again and then she started trying to mentally prepare me for a natural birth....I was moving to fast. She asked if I wanted anything else for the pain and I said, "No! Just the epidural...I can't do it without the epidural!" I had heard if you got other pain medication before the epi you would have to wait til that medication wore off til you could get the epidural and that would just prolong the process and I didn't know if that was true or not but I definitely didn't want to risk it! Matt tried consoling me and giving me a little pep talk that I could do anything if I had to and the nurse went to call the anesthesiologist again. Finally, Will Shakespear, my anesthesiologist walked in. I bent over and squeezed Matt's hand while he worked. I was still in so much pain and couldn't help moaning and saying ow ow ow ow ow....over and over. He told me to hold still and try and breath through my contractions so I did my best but they had been coming so hard and fast (every 30 seconds for the past couple of hours) and I was having a hard time remembering to breath. Matt braced me and Will got it in. Thank you EPI!! Instant relief! I was moving so fast that he had to put something in first before the epidural to make it act faster and it made the world of a difference in my pain level! Once the epidural was in they checked me again and I was complete....dilated to a 10...PHEW, we got the epidural in the knick of time.
My doctor showed up and talked to me and broke my water. She told me the baby had pooped inside. She asked if I wanted to push but I really wanted our moms to be there so she checked the baby and she wasn't in any distress so she agreed to letting my contractions keep moving her down while waiting for our moms to come. As she was leaving she asked if I had any questions and I said, "yeah, where is my button...the one I can push if the epidural starts wearing off??" She smiled and replied, "It won't."
Our families came.
My mom, Noni, McKell, my dad, Steve and Joyce and my grandpa and grandma Chappell were all at the hospital. They all came in to see us and wish us luck. Then everyone but our moms went out of the room and waited while I started to push. My epidural was working a little too well at this point and I couldn't feel exactly how to push ( I maybe should have gone to a childbirth class...woops). They called Will back and he came to take it down a notch. I warned him not to take it down to much! I kept pushing. My mom held my left leg and the nurse held my right. Matt was up by my head comforting and encouraging me and his mom was on camera duty. My doctor came back in and checked the baby's position and starting putting a surgical gown on over her cute office wear of skirt and boots. It was baby time. I pushed with her until Sloane finally came into this world. 12:58 pm. One of my best friends told me that giving birth was a total adrenaline rush and I would agree. When I felt her leaving my body and entering the world was so surreal...the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. The whole process of pregnancy, birth and life is a miracle. I feel so lucky to be able to have that experience.
The doctor gave Sloane to my nurses and a respiratory therapist (a precaution since she had pooped while inside) while she finished with me. I loved my hospital because they do everything with the baby right there in your room so I was never separated from her. She was beautiful with quite a bit of dark brown hair. She weighed 6 pounds and 9 ounces and she sounded like a baby bird. She wasn't crying but squawking! Matt and our moms were watching with tear filled eyes as they measured and weighed her, suctioned out her mouth and nose, and wiped her off. I think I can count the number of times I have seen Matt cry on 2 fingers. 1) December 16, 2006; on our wedding day as I walked down the aisle and, 2) December 28, 2011; the day our first baby girl was born. The two best days of our lives.
It was amazing to see and hear our little miracle across the room. She was so loved already! I am so glad I invited our moms to be there as she was born. When Matt handed her to me I can't even describe the joy I felt. I had a perfect pregnancy but it is still hard to wait 9 months wondering all about your baby...the moment you finally get to hold her and stare into her eyes is like nothing else in this world. Of course, I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She looked just like her daddy's newborn pictures. perfection.
Once the room was clear of the doctor and nurses and both Sloane and I were taken care of, our families were basically begging to come back in so we had the nurses let them in to see her. There weren't to many dry eyes in the room. It was so neat to share our joy with our families. I was set on breastfeeding and I really wanted to be able to do that as soon as I could after she was born so I had my mom take the lead and get everyone out of the room for me so we could get started. It was just the three of us, a family. It felt so perfect.
I was pretty nervous about nursing because I had read and heard that it can be challenging. I locked eyes with Sloane as I prepared to nurse her and said, "we can do this." She latched on immediately and I started to cry...such a perfect moment. The instant bond of a mother and child is so real. (Just so I don't paint a false picture, nursing is definitely not easy and we have had our share of challenges but it is so worth it).
Once she finished eating we invited our families back in so they could finally get a chance to hold her. I was ravenous after giving birth and nursing so I ordered room service and ate while we all visited. (Best hospital food in the world, I still crave it!!) I feel like we had the best experience possible. I was very particular with the doctor and hospital I chose and even though they were 30 minutes away (Park City) it was so worth it. I love Dr. Falk and the whole nursing staff and the hospital was so nice (brand new) and the food was so fresh, organic and healthy. My pregnancy and delivery was so textbook perfect so that helps quite a bit too.
My nurses gave us the option to stay one or two nights and we chose to take full advantage and stay both nights. The first night we kept Sloane in our room and got a good taste of what it felt like to wake up every 3 hours with a newborn....Exhausting!! The second day was nice, it was just the 3 of us for a good part of the day so we took some naps as a family and just relaxed. That night the hospital hosted Matt and I to a really nice celebratory dinner.
We spent the next morning doing a lot of paperwork and our last check ups with each of our doctors before we were released. We had her first name picked out pretty much since we found out she was a girl at 16 weeks pregnant. The middle name didn't come as easy for us. When my nurse told us we had to fill out her birth certificate before we left we hurried and pulled out our iPhones that had our name lists on them and read them to each other over and over. Nothing was clicking for us. We almost didn't give Sloane a middle name. The nurse came back in and I told her we were struggling so she suggested that we use my name for her middle name. "It's cute and would be fun to keep it in the family," She continued, "Plus you know if it had been a boy you wouldn't second guess using your husbands name as his middle name...am I right or am I right?" She was right. When she left the room Matt said, "That feels right." and I agreed. In that moment her middle name finally felt right (Matt had suggested we use my name for her middle name during my pregnancy and I was quick to shoot that idea down...he also suggested we use Drama's name as Sloane's middle name so I was pretty good at shutting his name suggestions down). I am so proud to share my name with my beautiful daughter.
Once all the paperwork was done and we had packed everything up, it was time to go home. The nurse escorted us to the car to make sure we had a car seat properly installed and we were on our way home. To start the best journey of lives.
1 comments:
So sweet Tatum! I love reading the birth stories. She is just so adorable! So glad you guys are parents!!
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