overdue.

 Yes, I really did have my baby (almost 3 months ago--not sure how that happened), I just decided it was time to actually blog about it.  I will post some pictures, and then you can read about my birth experience if you so desire!

Baby SJ

Born: March 7, 2012

6 lbs, 13 oz

19 inches long

Seriously looks like a basketball under there!

 Baby girl all swaddled up!

 Family of 5!

 Aunt Steph

I had both of my boys 2 weeks early, so when it was 2 weeks before my due date, I was ready for SJ to come!  I tried not to plan on having her early, but that didn't work out too well.  Spring forward to my actual due date, and I feel quite overdue already.  Well, then she decided to keep me waiting even longer!  Let's just say we ate out a lot and cried even more.  But deep down I knew she would come when she was ready (even though I wanted her to come when I was ready).  10 days later, my doctor wants me to go in for a non-stress test, because SJ was moving a lot less than normal.  Just so you know, it wasn't my doctor making me wait this long--I just didn't want to be induced.  After monitoring the baby and testing my fluid levels, my doctor encouraged me to be induced that same day.  Her fluid levels weren't dangerously low, but low enough that he feared a c-section if we continued waiting and her levels dropped too quickly.  So even though I REALLY didn't want to be induced, I wanted a c-section even less, so I decided to trust my doctor on this one.  I went home and got my kids packed up and sent off to my friend's house and then headed back to the hospital.  Once I was hooked up to Pitocin my labor started right up.  After about 2 hours, my doctor came to break my bag of waters just as The Hubby got there.  That really started to speed things up.  My 'real body' contractions started picking up while the 'fake Pitocin' contractions also continued to intensify.  Soon I could hardly breathe I was in so much pain.  I wasn't getting any breaks in between contractions.  I started to tell The Hubby that I wasn't going to make it and would need an Epidural.  But he was amazing, knowing I really didn't want one, and talked to the nurses about stopping the Pitocin now that I was in heavy labor.  They turned off the Pitocin, and I was able to cope much better.  My contractions continued to get stronger and closer together, but at least I was getting some time in between to relax.  The Hubby told the nurses to call my doctor (who was about 15 minutes away) and they said they would still wait a little bit longer.  He told them if they called him now he would barely make it.  They didn't believe him, because I was only dilated to a 7.  But they called him anyway, and when he was walking in the room to suit up, they nurses were trying to get me to stop pushing!  Good call Hubby!  :)  3 pushes later I was holding my sweet baby girl!  She pretty much came sliding right out.  I felt so much joy and so much relief.  Best feeling ever!  

Fast forward through all the pushing on my abdomen, after-birth, cleaning up, nursing, etc., and we are told we will have to move to the postpartum room shortly.  We are enjoying our new baby and everyone is happy as can be.  Then I get moved.  When I am situated in my new room, I start to have some pain and pressure.  It is very uncomfortable, but I figure it is just more of the after-birth pains.  The pain begins to intensify fairly quickly.  The nurses are asking me questions and trying to find out what is causing the pain.  I felt so much pressure, along with the pain, that I thought I might have another baby inside me that I needed to push out!  But the pain kept getting worse.  The nurses called my doctor and he said to give me some medicine through my IV to help with the pain while I waited for the doctor on call.  But whatever they gave me did nothing.  They called him again and he approved something much stronger.  This medicine made me feel very loopy and made me slur my words, but it still did nothing for the pain and pressure.  The nurses finally got the doctor in there to figure out what was wrong.  Because I had given birth to SJ so quickly, I had burst a blood vessel up in the birth canal and now had a hematoma (pooling of blood) that had grown quite large.  Because it was up inside, my doctor couldn't see it when she was born in order to stitch it up.  So my doctor is called in to do emergency surgery.  I have to wait for him to come in, but after he arrived, I still had to wait a little bit longer, because the operating room was occupied.  Pure misery!  The pain was way worse than the pain I had just felt giving birth to a baby.  And no reward after.  Finally, they were able to get me in and put me under.  They had to open me up, drain the hematoma, and then stitch it all up.  When I woke up, I was still hazy, but was ecstatic that the pain was finally gone.  They had to keep  me in the hospital for 2 days after that, but no more pain.  For the next few weeks, every time I would feel any kind of pain from healing, my body would start shaking and I would be scared that the pain would come back.  But I am all healed and healthy now, with a beautiful baby to make everything worth it.  Having a girl is such a treat.  I absolutely love her to death!