Wednesday, April 25

a baby story

if i don't write it it will be forgotten...

pregnancy:
let me just start by saying that i am one of the lucky ones who has really easy pregnancies. i am lucky, i know this. when i was almost 8 months pregnant i went to a little dinner get together with some couples from church. one of the girls was two weeks further along that i was, and let me just say she was miserable. she had a hard time standing up from sitting, she looked so tired and worn down, she was negative, and you looked at her and just felt bad. as we left the dinner party it was raining and as she hobbled down the path to get into her car i left the front door jumped over the planter and ran down the slope to our truck and jumped in. luke got into the car laughing saying how glad he was that i am not like that. i really don't even mind being pregnant, but that is only because i don't get sick and i feel like i can still live a normal life while i am pregnant. i go to the gym, i crawl around on the floor with velzy, i surf as long as i can until my belly is too big, and i really try to just be as normal as possible. oh and i can't forget that i love to be able to eat a little extra and not feel bad about it. although pregnanct is not super rough on me i have to say that it was not bad having this one a few weeks shorter...

labor:
on the morning of friday the 13th i wrote "dear baby please don't come today" so naturally when i started to feel a bit of discomfort in my lower belly region later that day i was not surprised. around 5 o'clock luke went to the gym and velzy and i went for a little walk around our complex. a couple of times i thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny if i was in labor?" in hind sight i am so glad that i didn't go with luke, i might have had the baby on the elliptical! velzy and i walked around until 5:30 when our pizza dough was done rising and our friend was going to drop off her little girl so that she could go paint her new town house. i made bbq chicken pizza and tried to ignore the pains that would come around every five minutes or so. when luke came home i told him that i thought i was having contractions but i didn't want to track how frequent they were coming because then i would know if i was really in labor. so we ate and played with velzy and ella for a while. ella went home around 8 and i was still having these pains in my belly- so i figured i guess i should write down how often they were coming, some of them were starting to be uncomfortable. we put velzy to bed and luke went and took a nap- which seems to be his favorite thing to do when i am in labor. i called my good buddie
tonya to ask some advice about labor and all of that good stuff. velzy's birth was not a fun experience for me so i decided that i would talk to tonya about the best time to get an epidural and just some other questions that i had on my mind. it was so nice to talk to someone that you trust and who knows what they are talking about when it comes to labor and delivery. she set my mind at ease about a few things and i felt ready for the adventure ahead of me. then i noticed that while i had been sitting talking to her that my contractions had mellowed a bit, so i got up and started cleaning. there was dishes to be done, a kitchen floor to sweep and swiffer and by the time those chores were done my contractions were back into a more regular and uncomfortable pattern. so i called my doc at around 10 on a friday night- i am sure she was stoked- and she told me to go on into the hospital.
we got a overnight bag together for velzy and dropped her off at our friends erin and jon's house and were off to the hospital. i called my mom on the way to the hospital to tell her that i was "going in." the rest of the family calls were made from the hospital once we were sure we were staying there for sure.
reston hospital is a five minute drive from our house, so we got there in no time. luke even stopped at a yellow/red light, and i had to give him a hard time about it, because when your wife is in labor you are supposed to run red lights and blow stop signs- it's funner that way. i got all checked in and after being asked every medical question possible- from have i done any hard drugs while pregnant to do i have any broken or chipped teeth, the nurse finally checked me and i was at a 4- i was going to be staying at the hospital and having this baby, hopefully not for a couple hours though until friday the 13th was over.
i had a great nurse named penny and she was super cool- i have a tendency to ask a lot of questions and she was great at answering them and keeping me clued in to what was going on, something i did not feel when i had velzy. i told her about velzy being born and she assured me that things would go smoother this time around and she would do anything she could to help us out. luke and i watched shawn of the dead for a little while, and i think penny liked that. then luke took another nap.
then i got an epidural, i have to say though, that i was not even hurting bad when i got it, but it was nice to not feel anything. after my epidural the contractions slowed a bit and my dr told penny to put me on some pitocin, but she only put me on a little little but because she didn't think that i needed it- like i said, penny took good care of me.
oh, almost forgot, after the epidual there was not no pain- ivy's cute little head had dropped onto the catheter and was pinching it so that there was no out going flow. i had the worst urge to go pee, honestly, it felt like i had been holding it all day and was about to explode. so penny ever so gently moved ivy's head so that we could get some flowage and relieve some of the pee pressure that was really uncomfortable. a few minutes later however, her little head had moved back and i was feelin that urge to pee. eventually, we just said bye-bye to the catheter, so what if the baby gets a little pee on her, right?

delivery:
after the catheter was removed ivy's head dropped and i was ready to push in a matter of minutes, guess the catheter had been holding her up too! so i had to breath through a few contractions while we waited for my dr to get up from her nap in one of the other rooms. when she got there it was rock and roll time. i was really excited, because with velzy everything got really hectic in the end, and they had to use the forceps and ripped me apart and it just sucked. this time around i felt in control, i knew when to push- the nurse even told me that i was an excellent little pusher! i pushed through two or three contractions and ivy was right there, and oh boy, it burned and stretched like only a mother knows. they told me that my next contraction would be in a minute or so and then she would be out. what? i have to wait in pain like this for a minute? yea right! so i asked if i could push without a contraction and get her out. they said yes and gave me the count. a few three count pushes later she was out and i felt a lot better. they placed a little crying slimy baby girl on my belly and i was the happiest mommy in the hospital. luke cut her umbilical cord and she was a free woman...

so that is ivy's birth story. it is one that i will not get mad about when i tell it, it is one that i will look back on and smile, and it is one that makes me not mind the thought of having another baby! it is amazing how much better i feel now than i did after velzy's birth. i got a minor little tear in the process, but everything has been great. i could walk like a normal person right after i gave birth- no shuffling! i could play on the ground with velzy as soon as we came home from the hospital- no sitting on a donut for weeks! so i do feel great and am so blessed that everything went well and i and my baby are healthy!

11 comments:

Meggan said...

I love it! What a great pregnancy, labor, and delivery. If I ever decide to have a surrogate mother bear my children, will you do it?

How were you feeling "the ring of fire" if you had an epidural?

I'm SO glad things went better for you this time around. There's nothing like smooth sailin' when it comes to bringing kids into this world. Congrats again. I can't wait to see (and hold!) little Ivy M.

ashley said...

i am pretty sure the epidural was pretty much nothing by the time it came to deliver cause i felt every little thing...i really just wanted the epidural to help me get to pushing and then i wanted to be able to feel everything- and i did. seriously, i could not have asked for things to have gone better.

Missy said...

I love it too! Ashley, this made my day to read all about it and I'm in love with tiny Ivy M already.

I had an epidural, but still felt the ring of fire {and my whole lower half} as well. I think it can just partically numb some people...

I hope the photo of your belly is framed somewhere.

Tonya said...

ASH! Thanks for posting. It was so fun to read the story as it unfolded. I'm so glad everything was so easy for you this time. It makes such a difference in your recovery and definitely makes it easier to take care of your kiddos.

I, personally, think you had a perfect epidural. It makes the pushing part go so much more smoothly when you can actually feel to push. I was so numb with Kaleb, I couldn't push, but had two "windows" on my belly where I felt EVERYTHING. It was terrible. It was the most helpless feeling ever, not being able to get my baby out!! (He had to be vacuumed.) Ugh.

Anyway, you look so beautiful in that pic with the fresh Ivy. Love it. Birthing babies should be that easy!

Lisa Michelle said...

Ashley - what a great story! I got really ripped up with Sophie, too, and my biggest worry about having #2 is that the same thing will happen again. I am SO GLAD TO KNOW that it didn't happen that way with you!! Gives a girl some hope... Congrats again on beautiful little Ivy -- she is so sweet!

Jen said...

That was beautiful. I'm so glad that everything went so great for you. After hearing your story about V that one day @ McY D's, I totally knew this one would be better!

All the pictures are great.

What's Shawn of the dead? Do I have to be a surfer to know? Sounds scary!

Robyn said...

Ashley, I felt like I was there reading this! It sounds like you had the best pregnancy AND delivery! You are destined to have many more children. How many do you want anyways? You look so pretty after giving birth. I can't wait to have a second child and do it all over again.

Erin said...

I love that pic of the fresh from heaven face. I love that feeling of seeing my baby's face for the first time! Great labor story and I'm so happy for you that you had no shuffling. You make me proud to be a woman.

Ryan said...

That is such a great story! I am so glad it went so perfectly. I could always feel when it was time to push, but not the "real" pain, you're AWESOME! Glad Luke got his naps- for Ryan its catching whatever games are on.
The pictures are wonderful. You're such an angel mama.
ANd wow- jumping over planters and running to get in the car is incredible! You are "Super Prego Woman"!

Trevor and Kimmie said...

Ashley -- I am so glad things went well for you! She is a doll. How far apart are your girls? Mine are 20 months and I LOVE all the sisterly love going on! So funny that you guys know Patrick and Alison. Small world.

Anonymous said...

congrats. I bet that miserable girl had an easier labor with hers than you did with her first. Must be paybacks for being so cocky about being able to "jump" into a truck.