Love Bean

It occurred to me today, that many of you might not know much about my little Love Bean. So I thought I'd share her birth story and give you an update of what she's up to these days.

I went to work on Monday, the 19th, as always. I had a few contractions during the day, but didn't think much of it. That night, I woke up at a couple times with contractions, but could always fall back asleep, until 2:00am. At 2 the contractions were coming pretty regularly and I couldn't sleep through them. I laid awake in bed thinking about the dirty dishes in our sink until 2:30. So I did the dishes and then woke Tim up and told him that I thought we needed to start timing contractions. At this point they were 7 to 10 minutes apart, not quite close enough to start heading to the hospital. Tim went back to sleep and I took a super long hot shower and then just tried to distract myself until they started getting closer together.

My weekly check-up was scheduled for Tuesday morning at 8:20 AM and by the time it was time for us to head to my appointment, my contractions had started getting a little closer together, at this point they were like 5 to 7 minutes. We made it to the appointment, and when my Dr. came in I told her I'd been up with contractions since 2, and that I felt like this was the real deal. I was dilated to 3.5 when she checked me. She called the hospital to let them know she was sending me over.

Tim and I arrived at the hospital around 9. Luckily for us another woman didn't show up for her scheduled induction and we got her room (the last open labor and delivery room at the time). I was checked in and in my room by 9:15 and the on duty Dr. checked me around 9:30, I had dilated to 4. Now it was just time to wait...she checked me every hour, but I wasn't progressing much. By 12:30 I was at a 4.5 and they wanted to start me on Pitocin. Since, Tim and I had decided that if possible we didn't really want to use any drugs to induce labor or manage pain, I asked if we could wait another hour or so before starting it. That next hour my contractions got a lot stronger and thought for sure I was progressing. She came back to check and I was still at 4.5 and hadn't thinned any further. I agreed to start Pitocin. I know 4 hours, isn't very long to be in labor and seems really fast to start Pitocin, but I don't regret that decision at all. I was very anxious about labor, and my contractions were 3 to 5 minutes apart, and getting closer and stronger.

At this point, I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle the pain, but didn't want an epidural, so before they started the Pitocin, I had them give me a narcotic through my IV. Within a minute I felt like I was drunk, and was much more relaxed. They started the Pitocin and immediately my contractions got even stronger and closer together. After awhile, it seriously felt like I was having one continuous contraction and it was incredibly painful. I was shaking and freaking out. I looked at Tim and said, "don't be mad, I want an epidural." He told my nurse I wanted one, but there ended up being 2 women ahead of me and only one anesthesiologist. The nurse turned off the Pitocin, and my contractions spaced back out a little bit, but were still super strong. Every time I had one I said to Tim, "I waited too long to ask for the epidural, I'm gonna be so mad because I'm not going to get it." Every new person who came into the room was asked, "are you gonna give me my epidural?" Of course, none of them could.

I don't know how much later it was, maybe an hour, if that, my water broke, they checked me, but I still wasn't at a 10. But like 10 minutes later, I felt the need to push. It was too late for the epidural. I freaked a little and told Tim, "I've gotta push. Get the nurse." The nurse and the Dr. came into the room, checked me and sure enough, I was fully dilated and thinned. The Dr. who was on duty left the room to call my Dr. to let her know I was pushing, so that she could come over to the hospital.

Pushing started. This might sound crazy, but it was kind of a relief. Contractions slowed and I got to use the contraction instead of just having to lay there and wait it out. I don't know how long I pushed, I don't think it was for very long, even though it felt like everyone was telling me, "almost there" for forever. Just when I was getting too tired, there she was. Our beautiful, perfect tiny little love bean.

Stella Marie made her debut at 4:03 PM after 14 hours of labor. She weighed 5 lbs. 15 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She looked just like her daddy and had a full head of blonde hair, and has blue eyes.

I'm so happy that the anesthesiologist never got to me. Because I had no epidural, no tearing, and not too much bleeding. Recovery was easy and uncomplicated. That pretty much sums it up. Hubs and I feel so fortunate and blessed to have had such a easy labor and delivery experience. Give me a few years and I might even do it all over again. There are no words to describe how one tiny little human can instantly fill you heart and change your life in the best way possible.

Now that you know how she made her entrance into this crazy world, here's where she's at today!

Love Bean had her 6 month check-up today! In the two months since her last check-up she's grown 3 inches and gained 1.6 pounds. That puts her at 15.6 lbs and 27 inches long. She's growing so fast! She had more shots, and unlike after the first two sets (which didn't seem to phase her at all) she was fussy and ran a little bit of a fever. So, my plan of being outside all day turned into comforting her and letting her nap on and off.

She's rolling over, can sit-up on her own for a couple of minutes, is trying to crawl and growls like an animal. She loves music, silly sounds and standing up (with help of course :). We're starting solids this week, I plan on making most of her food. Hopefully that all goes smoothly and we both enjoy it!