As i sat here snuggling my almost three month old baby i decided blogging her birth story would be a swell thing to do. goodness, i have already forgotten what it felt like to be pregnant! Give it a couple more months and i won't even remember giving birth. i think thats all part of the plan though.... or else there might be quite a few only children in the world.
Well here it goes, not sure how i do this exactly, seeing how this is the first birth story I've written.....
Nola Rae Lloyd, the day you were born was one of the very best days of my life, i had sort of expected you to come much sooner than you did, due to my low fluid levels the last month of pregnancy, but you knew January 6th would be the perfect day. After being monitored, and falling asleep while i listened to your heartbeat for an hour twice a week and my fluid levels were looking great, it looked like you would be coming closer to your due date, which really was wonderful.... just when you are nine months pregnant.... feeling huge, and so excited to meet your little babe it seems like it is never going to happen.
All throughout my pregnancy when people would ask my due date and I would tell them that it was January 7th, they would always say "wow you should have a new years baby!" (as if i had much say in the matter) however, i would assure them that i would sure try. On new years eve we went down to celebrate the new year with homemade pizza's on non, games, friends, and making numbers with our bodies. Super fun, except for the first contractions i began to have, during the game fact or fiction, which is a lame game, but while having a contraction its an even worse game! i wouldn't recommend it... we played some really fun games too though, don't get me wrong. Anyways I went to bed that night thinking that i could be having a baby within the next 24 hours.
Five days later, i was experiencing contractions on and off, & talking to my mom on the phone everyday giving her updates, she was a wreck being down in st george and was ready to leave at any moment, but i was still pregnant. I went to my 40 week visit on monday morning the 5th at 10 am, and low and behold no progress, i was pretty much at the same spot i was the week before. my doctor told me she would scrape my membranes and there was a very slight possibility that it would put me in labor within the next 24 hours. so slight that she had only had it happen to one patient. ever. i was positive i would never have that baby. so dramatic. after sulking on the couch for awhile zach and i decided we would run some errands, grab lunch at the corner bakery, and continue to live our lives. (all zach's idea, i would have been perfectly fine sulking on the couch the rest of the day)
As we were continuing to "live our lives" the contractions began. It was about 12 o clock noon and they just kept coming consistently, at least 20 minutes apart, sometimes closer for about seven hours. They came in the car, and while i ate my broccoli cheese soup, and they even came while i dropped my key off at work and said my goodbyes. Believe me, I know, because i wrote every single one down. (i later learned there is an app for that) As I was soaking in a hot bath reading my book, I would shriek "another one!!" and zach in the other room would record the time. They were getting closer, about eight minutes apart. zach called the doctor and was told that if they kept continuing like this for about another hour then we needed to head down to the hospital and they would check me out.
Seeing how i had a child about 9 hours later, those contractions must have continued. We packed everything up, and drove over to LDS hospital. we did not however bring our bags in, not wanting to seem too anxious. I had heard far too many stories where the overly pregnant contracting woman was sent home until a later date. Once we were in i changed into one of those fancy gowns and the nurse checked me. and what do you know i was dilated to a 3! a 3!!! they were impressed because i was only at a 1 that morning at my apt. maybe stripping those membranes really did help! she left to call the doctor to see what the verdict would be and when returned she said "it's a go!" you are having a baby!!!! those were the best words i'd ever heard well besides zachary telling me he loved me for the first time, or when he asked me to marry him... well some of the best words anyways. zach said he hadn't seen me smile like that in such a long time ( pregnancy is tough). i knew then that it wasn't long until i would hold me sweet bundle of joy, and that, my friends, gave me all the motivation in the world. i could do this.
After walking the halls, and running into a brand new baby named ruby- one of our potential names, we crossed it off our list. adorable name, just too popular. I was done walking and needed to lie down at about ten thirty, they hooked me up to the IV and on it went. I was still experiencing super intense contractions, but this time being able to watch them on the monitor, was so much more fun.... nope still painful. once my mother in law got there she reminded me i could get my epidural whenever i wanted. she was right, why continue in this awful pain? so i did a C curve (good thing i majored in modern dance) and soon enough i was numb, but not too numb, i could still move my legs which i was quite happy about. watching the contractions on the screen while eating a cherry popsicle, without the pain is the way to go.
The night progressed quite pleasantly. my mom arrived around 1 am hyped up on a few swallows of energy drink, and boy was i glad to see her! zach's mom, sisters, and zach were all crashed on the couch/floor and my mom and i chatted because i was much too excited to sleep. the nurses kept checking on me and i was progressing at a fairly good pace. At 3:30 she checked me and i had gone from a 6 to a 10 in an hour and a half. At this point baby girl was sunny side up. meaning her face was up and they wanted her face to be facing down. So they put my leg up in this cool harness thing. i was tilted on my side in hopes it would help the baby flip. while hanging out with my leg in the air my water broke. i know its strange but i remember being so thrilled about it and saying it felt like someone throwing a water balloon at me. so in the movies when their water breaks at the grocery store and they are standing in a puddle of water, thats not a completely false image.
It was suddenly crunch time. And i was suddenly exhausted. how did that happen? maybe because it was 4 in the morning. the sweet nurse let me rest for a half hour- i think she was worried about the one eye i couldn't keep open, giving me a sort of quasimoto look. while i rested, the others sat behind the curtain chattering quietly. my 30 minutes turned to 45 and then it was go time. for reals. the doctor arrived and i was getting all set when suddenly my husband was missing. he was in the bathroom. haha good of him to be prepared though, you never know how long those things can last. i got a little nauseous before we started, but nothing a little dry heaving couldn't fix. i honestly don't remember much of what happened next, only that i was squeezing zach's hand really really hard, pushing for ten seconds then resting, then repeat. Suddenly the nurses and doctor began to act a little panicky and told me i couldn't rest but that i needed to keep pushing. The babies head was right there, so close, but every time i stopped to rest it would disappear. what i didn't know then was that her heart rate was rising and they needed to get her out of there asap. i pushed and i pushed without a break for five minutes straight. which may not seem like that long, but when you are exhorting every once of strength you have for five minuets its extremely exhausting. Finally with a little snip and a push she slipped right out onto the table.
She was out, i was no longer pregnant, and had just became a mother, all in a matter of seconds. I had never been so relieved, and exhausted in all my life. The next thing i knew a beautiful baby girl was laying on my chest and i was looking down at her sweet little innocent face. I was watching her suck her tiny thumb, and I was holding her small small hand in my very own shaky tired hand. She was the most beautiful thing i had ever seen. I was overwhelmed with joy, but also completely and utterly dead from that thing we call child birth.
Resting there with her on my chest was completely wonderful. i was amazed at how perfect she was, her head full of dark hair, those full lips and wee little ears. It was equally wonderful when i saw my amazing, supportive, handsome, husband hold his new baby girl. in that very instant i was witnessed him become a dad.
After getting her all cleaned up and me all sewn up it was time to transfer to our recovery room. I sat in the wheel chair holding our little burrito and zach pushed us down the hall. not before they turned on the music though. It felt slightly like a parade, waving at all the nurses, and looking as beautiful as ever.... not really. but you know what, i could care less, i was the happiest i'd ever been. not to mention the tiredest i'd ever been.
We kept calling her a couple of different names that morning but it didn't happen quite like i'd pictured. you know, she's born and then a chorus of angles sing a harmonious "ahhhhhhhh" and suddenly it hits me her name shall be.... ya that didn't happen. So we told each other we needed to name her before we ordered our lunch. I know, that sounds crazy to put a deadline on such a thing, but it was an important deadline I hadn't eaten a real meal in 24 hours. and so her name became Nola. Nola Rae Lloyd.
