Ava has finally arrived and we could not be happier! She was born on her actual due date January 23rd, which came as a pleasant surprise to us all. She weighed a healthy 7lbs and measured 19.7 inches long. We are falling more and more in love with her each and every day, showering her with an unlimited amounts of hugs and kisses, but before we get into just how perfect she is let me tell you about how she got here.
It all started the day before her due date. I was running some errands and started feeling my belly tightening and loosening. Normally I would have just written this feeling off as Braxton hicks, but something about them felt different. When I got home I started having the same feeling but more intense. My stomach would tighten so hard that I would have to pause for a moment. Later that evening that same feeling of tightening grew stronger and started accompanying itself with cramping. I thought to myself this could be a false alarm, but clung to the hope that it wasn't. At some point during the evening I started timing them, but the intervals were so far apart that I decided to stop. The next morning around 1 or 2 am I started feeling the tightening and cramping again, but this time they were more consistent. At first they were ten minutes, then eight, until they finally reached five. Not only were they coming more often, they were getting stronger. At this point I decided to get out of bed because I was no longer comfortable laying down. I knew I needed to start getting ready because I was having some real contractions and realized this was it.
After laboring at home for a while I finally decide it was time for us to go to the hospital. The contractions were coming every 4 to 5 minutes and even more intense. We arrive at the hospital around 6:30 ish and get checked in. I was so super excited because I thought that since my contractions were so close together that I must dilated pretty far. I was also confused because If I was dilated as far as I thought I was, how come my contractions were not excruciating. Was this going to be an easy labor? Sadly I was mistaken once again, I had hyped myself up so much only to here the nurse tell me that I was only 1 to 2 cm. I thought I would be headed back home for sure, but they gave us the option to walk around for an hour to see if my labor would progress more, and boy did it progress. The more we walked the closer together they came and more intense they felt. After an hour (around 9:15 am) they checked my cervix again and I had progressed to 3 to 4 cm. I had the option to try to go back home and labor there or stay at the hospital. I chose to stay at the hospital for fear of having to sit through contractions in a moving vehicle. I'm glad I went with my intuition because my contractions immediately started kicking into high gear.
After waiting for what felt like an hour, we finally get placed into a birthing suite (around 10:00 am). Once we get in there I gravitate towards a chair in room, where I continue to labor hunched over and epidural free. All of a sudden my water breaks. I walk over to bed and start to feel this intense pressure, soon after followed by the intense feeling to push. At this point the midwife checks my cervix again and discovers that I am 7 to 8 cm dilated. The pain was so intense that I was ready to get in that warm birthing tub and push out this baby. Unfortunately, Ava had other plans. My labor was progressing so fast that they didn't have time to put me in the tub. They also couldn't put me in because Ava decided to leave a little parting gift ( meconium, better known as poop) before her grand exit. With pretty much no time between my contractions, the immense pressure on my buttocks region, and intense urge to push, I had no choice but to labor as is. I was left with no epidural, and no soothing water birth. As I finally started to bear down and push I began to feel the unfriendly beast we refer to as the "ring of fire." I wanted to stop the show pack up and go home, but then I realized that the sooner I pushed the sooner it would be over. Up until this point I had done pretty well managing my volume level, but all bets were off when I experienced a pain I had never felt before. Luckily, following right after Ava's head was her little body, so I immediately felt a huge relief. The worse part was over and I had my beautiful baby girl in my arms.
If someone would have told me that I was going to check into he hospital around 6:30am and give birth at 10:47am, on my exact due date, I would not have believed them. It just goes to show how much we are not in control of anything. I thank God for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. I also thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.
Stay Beautiful,
Dadi
Stay Beautiful,
Dadi