Autumn's Birth Story Part II...

...didn't mean to leave you all in suspense so long but finding time to sit down and type a blog post between taking care of a newborn, visitors, keeping up a house and trying to figure out how, where, when to get her birth certificate has made it a bit difficult. Now on to what you've all been waiting for...

At 9pm, our nurse Ashley came in and got me ready to push. First off, Ashley was AMAZING!!! All of the nurses were awesome, even the ones I didn't care for weren't bad, just not personable. Matt and I were both kind of shocked because contary to movies/tv, it wasn't a big crowd...it was Matt, Ashley and I and that was it! It was so calm and just a laid back atmosphere, I wasn't expecting the baby to come any time soon since it was just the 3 of us. Before I even started pushing, Ashley informed us that this baby was going to have a full head of hair-she could tell when she was checking.

Basically, when I was ready to push (the monitors couldn't pick up the contractions very well so we did it based off of when I felt like I was having one), Ashley would hold one leg up, Matt would hold the other leg up and I'd grab the rails. Then Ashley would count to 10 and I'd push as long as I could three times then I'd relax. It really didn't hurt at all, just lots and lots of pressure. Ashley told me that pushing uses the same muscles as when you poop so basically I just pretended that I was pooping and I got great results using that idea.

Since it was just the three of us, I would whisper things to Matt like that I felt I was going to poop and Matt assured me it was okay. Seriously, when they say you lose all modesty when delivering that's 100% right. I was pantless for 24+ hours, could have cared less if I pooped during delivery and I didn't/don't care any more about nursing in front of others (well some others but for the most part, I don't care). 

Ashley was great about telling us both what was going on and letting Matt get involved. I could see his face lighting up when the baby started to crown. He'd whisper to me what was going on. She asked if I wanted a mirror to watch. At the time, I said no because I was so READY for this baby to get out that I didn't want there to be time to get a mirror but in hindsight, I kind of wish they had. I pushed until I was tired and then Ashley went to call my doc, who was on her way already. Doc told her to have me keep "laboring down" and she was on her way. I have to say that I was so flippin' tired that the whole time I was pushing, my eyes were closed and I could have probably fallen asleep. That's part of the reason I didn't want the mirror and I enjoyed having Matt give me the play by play.

So we "labored down" aka kept pushing but not as strong as I had been. Around 10ish, Ashley said she was going to see how far away my doc was because this baby was ready to be delivered! Luckily, doc was in the parking garage and BARELY made it. Once she got there, Autumn was about ready to come out and she was still in her regular clothes! I just remember once Dr. M took over that I did quite a few half pushes and then out came baby! They put her on my chest and I said, "It's a baby!" which sounds silly because yes, I've known for the past 9 months that I was having a baby but seeing a baby come out of you and being placed on your chest was like wow!

Here's Autumn being put on my chest, still didn't know boy/girl at this point:

I wanted a few seconds and looked at Matt waiting for him to tell me boy/girl but he was just smiling and watching the nurses wipe her off. I finally said, "Well, are you going to tell me?" He got flustered and said, "I don't know! I couldn't see..." In his defense, she came out with her back to him and then they started wiping her down. The doctor laughed and asked if he was ready, he nodded and she spread her legs. A huge grin came over his face and he said, "It's a girl!" I leaned my head up and said, "Really!?!" He laughed and said, "Yes, really a girl!" After that grin came on his face, it didn't go away. Then he cut the umbilical cord (which I have a picture of and while it doesn't show anything, I didn't think it was blog appropriate).

So that part of my birth plan (him telling me the sex and cutting the cord), worked out but I wanted them to clean her on my chest and I wanted to nurse right away. When she came out, she wasn't crying right so they had to take her under the warmer and put something down her throat to get fluid out. I'm not 100% how all this went down because I was waiting for my placenta to be delivered but Matt was right there the whole time and the nurses did a great job involving him and keeping him informed on everything they were doing. Before long, my baby girl was crying like she should:

The nurse and doctor were talking about me but I wasn't paying attention, I was just watching Matt and Autumn. Not even 2 minutes after she was born, Matt looked over at me and said, "She's already holding my finger!" That moment was priceless and will forever be etched in my mind. This was the view I had for the next few moments. Two more nurses came in after delivery to help with the baby.

I finally turned to my doc to find out what was going on. She was stitching me up because I had a second degree tear, which I totally didn't feel, and we were still waiting on my placenta to be delivered. The doc and nurse rubbed and pushed on my belly for it to come out BUT it didn't. Luckily, my doctor was able to retrieve it all (and by retrieve I mean stick her arm in to her elbow about 4-5 times and take it out in pieces). Otherwise, I would have had to have a D&C to get it out. While she was doing this, the nurses were done with Autumn so Matt was holding her and standing beside my bed grinning ear to ear, rubbing my shoulder telling me I'd done a good job and I was okay. I was trying not to freak out and luckily, it all worked out. I got a bag of antibiotics and had to watch for bleeding. After I delivered, I was so caught up in watching everything that I didn't hit the epi button (which I think I only hit it 2-3 times before/during) so when she was stitching and receiving the placenta, I could definitely feel the pain.

I don't really remember much after that. At some point, I changed back into a t-shirt and my parents and Matt's mom came in to meet their granddaughter (my mom shrieked when she heard girl). I had to have a catheter put in to drain my bladder. My nurse really wanted me to pee on my own and I finally did.

Matt and I both agreed it was NOTHING what we expected but it was an AWESOME experience, something neither of us will ever forget. Despite everything my body went through, I felt really good afterwards and only took like 3-4 Motrins while in the hospital. On Saturday, Autumn had her hearing test and passed in one ear but not the other. They re-tested on Sunday and she passed with flying colors. They also mentioned that one nurse heard a heart murmur but no one else did including her peditrician that checked on her twice. All the nurses doted over her how beautiful she was which I'm sure they do for all the babies but it still makes you feel good :) On Sunday, my doctor came to check on me and we laughed because at EVERY visit, I would say he this or he that and she knew the whole time it was a girl. She has a great poker face!

Now that I'm home, I'm still feeling pretty good. Matt was coming down with allergies/sinuses while we were at the hospital so when we got home I'm pretty sure I started to get the same thing. Let me tell you that coughing is NOT fun. I'm super sore in the nether region so sitting down, getting up is no fun. I broke down and took some ibuprofen today because I was just feeling ick. And that my friends, is how our baby girl was welcomed into the world! Again, thank you all for your love, support and encouragement!

Ms. Autumn Rose in her coming home outfit and in her crib with one of the seven quilts she has (my mom made 4/7 and now all of them are in the closet since we can't put any in the crib)!