Bringing Home Baby

a calm moment

When I think on Molly's birth I am left with one thought, perhaps the biggest understatement in the world, but yet somehow it is all I come up with-  birthing a baby is hard.  Not that I thought it would be easy, but I guess there is no way to understand the magnitude until you have lived through your own body ripping itself apart  spreading itself wide enough to allow a baby to come out of it.  I had hoped to go completely natural, but Molly had other plans!  Perhaps if she hadn't been so leisurely in coming out or positioned face down it would have been possible.  But after 23 hours of intense back labor and no sleep, I was pretty done.  I was no longer able to manage my contractions.  I was out of my mind and getting pretty hysterical. So I got an epidural.  The anesthesiologist stuck me like 6 times before he got it in- it was an intense and painful process.  In fact, a month later, the only pain I'm still recovering from is connected to the epidural.  I will no longer think that taking the drugs is the "easy" way out.   For those reasons, I wish I could have made it to the end drug-free, but I don't think I could have made it through the hour and a half of pushing without it.  Molly was born with meconium in her fluid, which I think is more proof of how hard the labor was on everyone.  Oh and the epidural did not make me numb- I still felt every bit of her coming out, but it did stop my back pain, which is what I really needed. 

Other thoughts on birth-  why do people get all worked up about your OB/GYN?  It clearly doesn't matter who that person is, since you see them for all of 5 minutes.  Praise God for my L&D nurse (well actually I was there so long, I had 3, but the last one was AMAZING).  She really supported and encouraged me, and when I finally ended up getting an epidural, she didn't judge me or make me feel like I was finally being "sane".  She told me I could go natural with the next baby.  She was so kind to me.  Thank you Vicki! 

mmm... cheese toast

And- I went rouge and ate and drank my way through that 25 hour labor- best decision ever.  I know that is what kept me going as long as I did.

Last but not least-  you cannot birth a baby alone!  I would have been lost without Nathan and my mom by my side.  They were attentive, selfless, and supportive.  They were the best coaches I could have asked for. 

7lbs 6oz of perfection

a natural from the moment she came out