Sweet Macie Kate's Arrival

Okay, I know you all must have been on pins and needles wondering how this next part would play out, lol, so where did I leave off...oh yes, the nurse and resident had just declared I was in labor...

The big caveat was that I was only 3 cm dilated and to get a room you have to be 4 cm dilated. The resident and nurse told me to go and walk around the hospital for an hour or so and then come back and they would see if anything progressed. So, we left to run back home (rebels!) and grab any last minute items and tell Lilly bye. We walked around the block and I did some squats (lol) and then we headed back full of nerves! When we got there, they checked and, I'm still not sure if she was fudging a tiny bit or not, but they declared me 4 cm dilated with steady contractions. Phew!



Chillin with my Ice Chips



After that, things seemed to move in fast motion. We were given a room (fortunately we knew to ask for the "good" room and it was available) and about 2 minutes later the nurse came in asking if I was ready for my epidural. I was like WOAH, no, I am not ready just yet...I hadn't really started feeling any pain from the contractions and that just seemed way too soon. Honestly, for some reason I had this picture of myself getting nice and settled, reading my book or hanging out and then getting the process started a while later. I have no idea why, but that's just what I pictured. But, I promptly sent Justin out to the car to bring in all of our bags. We began making our calls and letting everyone know I was in labor. Luckily, my contractions, although getting closer and closer together, weren't nearly as gut wrenching as I imagined they would be. I can't exactly remember how they felt (the brain's way of tricking you into doing this labor thing again...haha...), but I distinctly remember saying, "hmm I wonder if I even need the epidural." About an hour or so later later, after the nurse's warning that sometimes you miss the chance to get your epidural, I decided it was probably time. I was so terrified to get the epidural. My heart was RACING and I kept picturing myself paralyzed and not able to feel my legs. Plus, the fact that Justin had to leave the room had me very nervous. But, similar to other things in my labor experience, it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. I could actually move and feel my legs almost completely, but it did manage to really mellow me out. I was feeling very relaxed afterward, which helped. I forgot to mention that, this being the day after Thanksgiving, we were all watching LSU play (and beat) Arkansas throughout this whole process-true Tiger fans. Anyway, I guess around 1:30 p.m. or so, family and close friends started rolling into the hospital.

By this time the process was moving slower and they decided to start a Petocin drip so I wouldn't be laboring all night (thank you!). I was also getting pretty darn hungry at this point since I hadn't eaten anything all day. At least they gave me the okay to have ice. I probably had 5 cups worth of ice throughout the whole process. I was very grateful for that because I've heard they only allow other people one cup of ice. I really think it helped to keep me calm, so I'm glad they didn't stick to the one cup rule for me.

 

Making a Poll: Time of Birth, Height and Weight



After a couple more checks  by our nurses..yes that would be plural-everyone and their mama was a member of my delivery team since it was the day after Thanksgiving and they had a ghost crew...it also didn't help that a lot of the other mom's having babies were in emergency situations. I was grateful to be an "easy" case, but it was a little strange and made me feel weird. Anyway, I guess around 7 or so I could really feel her pushing down and I honestly knew she was close. I made Justin go find our nurse who came back and, after measuring my progress, announced that everyone needed to leave the room because I would start pushing soon. Ahh! Things got REAL after that moment. I was so nervous, excited, anxious and a little scared about the labor process. After being so calm and mellow, my heart started beating fast, but I knew that we were almost to "showtime" and I needed to just suck it up. Justin was so incredibly wonderful and supportive throughout the whole process. He kept encouraging me and cheering me on, it truly made my heart feel so full and gave me the confidence I needed to get through the exhausting process. After everyone cleared out, Justin asked what I thought about getting Britt to come back in to take pictures (we had this big discussion earlier about it just being us in the delivery room, etc). I said YES and we "called her in." Haha! She was such a trooper and great cheerleader!

I think I actually started the pushing process around 7:50. The nurse said (and I'm still not sure that she was joking-in fact I don't think she was) that we would start the process just us since Justin was in med school and could help deliver if needed...um no thank you! haha-no offense Jus!
Honestly, the pushing part of the delivery process was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my entire life. Macie was "sunny side up" which meant that, although she was head down, she was flipped the wrong way over (or the "less ideal" way at least). My nurse said I could definitely still deliver, but if I wasn't pushing hard enough or progressing in the right way, we would have to go to c-section. I DID NOT want that because I was soooo terrified of the surgical aspect of it and I figured that I'd come far enough the other way that I would be frustrated to go back at that point. That gave me the extra strength I needed to REALLY push hard. Honestly, I don't know if my experience is different than other peoples, but I could feel almost everything, um, "down there." Phew, it was painful. Again, I can't really remember much of it now, but at the time I remember thinking, um what in the world!?! I'm not sure if my epidural wasn't intense enough or if I had a "hot spot" or what, but I don't think it was normal.

I can't say enough about the encouragement Justin (and Britt) gave me in the labor process. They were so positive and supportive. (LOL aside from Britt looking terrified! Haha, but actually I didn't even realize until she told me after the fact.) At one point I honestly felt like I would be pushing forever and ever, they just kept cheering me on and telling me that I was doing a great job. FINALLY, at around 8:30 they called in the doc (the residents and nurse had been helping me up to that point) and said they could see Macie's head. I pushed until I honestly could not imagine pushing any more and then, at 8:53 p.m., our little angel baby was born!!! Justin even cut the cord. :)

I cannot tell you the relief I felt when they put her in my arms and I counted all of her fingers and toes and saw that she was simply perfect. I definitely had to double check to make sure she was actually a girl-she was-YAY! [Side note: For some reason at the end I  was SO paranoid that the ultrasound people made a mistake and I was going to have a boy with a pink nursery and all super girlie things.] From the moment I held her in my arms, I knew I would love her forever. It really is true what people say about not being able to imagine such a BIG love. It almost made my heart hurt! She was so incredibly beautiful and perfect. All of the docs and nurses even kept saying that she truly was a beautiful baby-I asked if they said that about all the babies and they were like no, honestly, she's a pretty baby...haha...I'm still not sure if they have to tell all the parents that, but I am sure that they were 100% right, she was PERFECT. After getting to hold her for a while, my nurse took her for her measurements and to clean her off on the other side of the room. She announced that Macie was 7.14 lbs, 20.5 inches and healthy! She even had a little bit of hair. I kept saying, I can't believe she's ours. God truly blessed us with a miracle that evening.

Okay, phew, that is enough excitement for one post. I think I'll have to do yet another with the rest of the story (if any of you are actually still reading this...haha...)

XOXO,

K

P.S. For more pics from the birth weekend, visit my share site: http://photosbykatiemiller.shutterfly.com/847

Thanksgiving and a Little Turkey

Nearly 40 Weeks Pregnant...Thanksgiving Day!

Soo, as we were quickly approaching Macie's due date (the Monday after Thanksgiving) we were left with the question, "Do we sit around New Orleans wondering if I would go into labor or do we chance it and head to BR to celebrate Thanksgiving?" At first, I was paranoid and thought we should stay in NO, but as we got closer to Thanksgiving and my progress was still inching along at what felt like a snails pace, I figured it would be best to get out of the house. At that point I was going completely stir crazy!!! Case in point, I was baking my heart out. I baked about 10-12 loaves of pumpkin bread (white chocolate, raisin, walnut, etc) for family and friends, I deep cleaned the house and even made several trips to Target. My hospital bag was even packed to a tee (courtesy of an extensive list of "must haves" lol).

Justin definitely agreed and we packed up our bags to head out early Thursday morning, making sure to leave the hospital bag in a good spot if we needed to grab it quickly. We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house eating, playing cards and having a good time. The weather was simply divine and we spent a lot of time outside just having fun. I kept joking that maybe Macie would come soon, but everyone thought I was in for a lot longer wait. Figuring they were probably right, I decided that keeping my annual Black Friday shopping tradition with Brittany. We synchronized our watches and decided to meet in the Target parking lot at 5 a.m. the next morning. Around 10 I started getting so incredibly sleepy, and knowing I had to wake up at 4 a.m. for shopping, I decided to turn in early.

I woke up around 2:30 a.m. with contractions and just an odd feeling. It wasn't the first time I had noticed contractions, so I didn't know if they were more Braxton Hicks or the real thing. The previous couple of weeks I had been waking Justin up when I had those feelings, but not wanting to be an alarmist for no reason, I laid in bed timing the contractions and hoping they were real. Finally, around 3 a.m. I woke him up and told him how I was feeling and that I thought it was time. Although I honestly didn't know if it was or not. I kept telling Justin, okay I think it's time, but you can't get mad at me if this is just a false alarm. After some talking, he finally got out of bed and we went to let my mom know we were leaving and that we would keep her posted. I texted Brittany to cancel our shopping trip (lol) and Justin texted Lynn to tell her to be on standby. We were also supposed to go to their house that Friday to watch the LSU vs. Arkansas game with the Strohmeyer's and Riche's. Of course they were both anxious and excited to learn more (as were we!!).

When we got home, my contractions were still coming through at 5-7 minute intervals (I think), but they were getting closer and I was starting to get more uncomfortable. I couldn't fathom going back to sleep, so I decided to soak in the bath tub for a bit. After a nice soaking, I took a small cat nap and then got up and did my hair and make up and finally convinced Justin to wake up. I guess it was around 7 or 8 at this point.

Of course I was anxious to go to the hospital right away to see if this was it or not, but Justin wisely recommended we wait until the contractions were a bit closer together. He convinced me that I needed to get a good breakfast in because we would be in for a long day and night and I needed energy. We headed out to Chateau Cafe and had a really nice breakfast. I swear my delivery experience was NOT like what you see in the movies. In fact, it made me laugh because in Chateau Cafe this man was asking about the pregnancy and how I was doing and I really wanted to say, well I'm pretty sure I'm in labor right now...but I didn't because it seemed like such a dramatic saying for how calmly everything was going!

After calling Dr. Laypere's office and having the nurse confirm that we did need to come get checked, we finally arrived at Ochsner around 11 a.m. They hooked me up to some machines to measure my contractions and checked my dilation and confirmed that, yes, I was in the early stages of LABOR! Yippee!!! We were SO excited!!!

Tune in to the next post for what happened next... :)

XOXO,
K

Significant Pre Baby Moments

So gosh my last pre baby post was about Rock the Bump...which seems like a lifetime ago. I won't spend too much time reminicing about the last 8 weeks of pregnancy, but honestly I'm feeling pretty lucky to have been blessed with such an easy pregnancy. It was actually much less intense and stressful than I imagined and much more enjoyable and exciting! The only time I got really stir crazy was the last two weeks or so. That was absolute TORTURE. I was just waiting and waiting to meet Macie. The feels of excitement, anxiety and curiosity seriously got the best of me. But, thankfully, she would soon arrive and change our worlds, but I'll get to that next...