Nellies birth story
Well, I guess I had better start writing this, and what is it that they say?....Not "now or never"....Ah, yes, "Nows as good a time as any"
Nope, just kidding, another time.
Well, over a year after our little girl entered our lives, we are preparing for another one, so it has motivated me to tie up loose ends like writing this out. We all know my memory isn't getting any better, so without further ado, Nellie Anne!
I remember having a hard pregnancy with Nellie, some of it actually being physical and some of it being the position of my mind. My varicose veins were considerably worse, and it seemed like at every appointment there was some other small thing, low iron, VERY low iron, these aura headaches, being lightheaded or dizzy, baby measuring small and going for an extra couple of ultrasounds, and all kinds of other little things I cant even remember anymore. Even though none of them were big things, it seemed like every time threw me into some kind of pity party- which is very revealing as to how accustomed I am to being healthy. Its funny how quickly morale goes down when things don't go as usual, as if I'm entitled to good health. Its a bit embarrassing actually. Which often made me feel worse because I could think of the next person who was struggling with this or that, or the next pregnant lady who was puking for 9 months straight, and felt like, "why am I such a wuss?"
So anyhow, towards the end I probably had 2 months of Braxton Hicks contractions, sometimes even fairly strong ones, so it made me think I was maybe going to go in early, and found myself disgruntled a time or two, but not terribly anxious. A few days before my due date I had an appointment with Joy and she checked me and said I was sitting at about 4 cm, and that she expected me in by that evening. Of course, I wasn't holding my breath, but did take some comfort in that. The last 3 days before labor started, I would have about 2 real contractions when I laid down for bed at night, and then they stopped. So when one night I decided if I had three, I would get up and have a bath. Kacey had told me the midwife said that relaxes your body, so it either expedites labor or stops it. So that night around 11pm, I had three and then had a bath, it kept going so I called the midwife, contractions were about 10 minutes apart and she said to call back when they were 5 minutes apart, and we would head to the hospital pretty quick. She said both hospitals, Chilliwack and Abbotsford were pretty empty last she checked, so where did we prefer? Oh Chilliwack I suppose, doesn't matter. I remember it wasn't quite an hour when I was phoning her back, and she said that all of a sudden Chilliwack was full, so "were headed to Abbotsford my friend!" I think by the time we got there and checked in it was 12:30am, and after me there were only 2 beds available. A sudden baby boom in the Fraser valley I suppose!
We first went to triage where they just checked me to see how dilated I was, I believe I was about 6 cm, and she thought she accidentally broke my water while checking, so it seemed like things were going to go pretty fast.
Funny interjection, while we were in triage waiting for something, we could hear another couple who had just come in and were behind the curtain next to us. Ill have to ask Rocky what it was exactly that she said, it was so funny. She was groaning a fair bit, and the nurse asked her something about whether she wanted to wait a bit before having laughing gas or something....and in a gruff voice she said something like "Hell no, hook me up to the good stuff!" Or something.....Ill have to ask Rocky.
After getting to my room at the end of the hall (it was so quiet, which was really nice) labor slowed down a bit and we walked a few times around the hall hoping to get things going. They were still moving but not rapidly, so I thought I would maybe lay down for a bit and try and sleep. For whatever reason in this labor, laying down really got things going. I started having some pretty hard ones right away and couldn't lay down anymore. I remember Joy was so nice to visit with in between the contractions, I was just sitting on the edge of the bed, Rocky there too, and would breath hard during a contraction, and then just continue visiting once it stopped. It was so quiet in our room I remember actually thinking it was getting awkward or something. I don't remember why, but sometime in there I stood up from the edge of the bed, and then it felt like the baby was going to fall out, I said something like "ooohh boy" and Joy knew right away, got me back to the bed, and I think it was like, two pushes later Nellie was born. The whole labor, or the whole "active" part, I had a bad attitude, and Rock could tell. I complained more than usual, and I remember while I was pushing saying out loud "I cant do this", of course met with lots of "yes you can"s, and within seconds she was born; it was 3:45am on December 28, 2016. She was 7lbs, 7 oz, and 20 inches long. She was born 4 days after my due date.
I think that in some ways, the way that our labor went (and pregnancy for that matter) was a really good "sample" so to speak, of how we were doing that year. We had encountered things in our marriage that were harder than before, I wasn't at a good place with it all, very insecure and unsure of different things, and I think in a way that transferred over into my overall attitude in the pregnancy and labor. Yes, I think it was just a very good indicator of my overall attitude in that time, which is very interesting to me in hindsight, especially as now we are waiting to do it all again for number 4, and we, as a couple, and I as an individual are in a very different, much better, place.
After she came out, I remember catching my breath and then saying something like "well, what is it?" And Joy just held her up to us so we could see, and I'm laughing as I write this, because both of us couldn't really tell! Babies are just so swollen, and the umbilical cord was still attached, it was really confusing! I remember saying "Wow" because I didn't know how to say I didn't know, and Rocky saying something like.."soooo....its a boy??" Since then we have talked with lots of couples who have affirmed to us that it is kind of hard to tell right away; though I'm sure that for a midwife, who sees babies all the time, we seemed a bit silly.
And that's that! Just shy of 5 hours from start to finish, and we had our little girl. My parents and Jordan were here for Christmas, and hopefully to meet the baby, and so that was nice that we could just leave when it was time to go, and they could bring the kids the next day. I remember the boys were a little out of sorts when they got to the hospital. Though they had never woken up to somebody other than Mom and Dad, I think that contributed to the oddness. They seemed kind of clingy and unsure of what was happening, and they didn't want to leave us which was hard for me, but Mom and Dad said they did good. I think we were home the next morning.
Nope, just kidding, another time.
Well, over a year after our little girl entered our lives, we are preparing for another one, so it has motivated me to tie up loose ends like writing this out. We all know my memory isn't getting any better, so without further ado, Nellie Anne!
I remember having a hard pregnancy with Nellie, some of it actually being physical and some of it being the position of my mind. My varicose veins were considerably worse, and it seemed like at every appointment there was some other small thing, low iron, VERY low iron, these aura headaches, being lightheaded or dizzy, baby measuring small and going for an extra couple of ultrasounds, and all kinds of other little things I cant even remember anymore. Even though none of them were big things, it seemed like every time threw me into some kind of pity party- which is very revealing as to how accustomed I am to being healthy. Its funny how quickly morale goes down when things don't go as usual, as if I'm entitled to good health. Its a bit embarrassing actually. Which often made me feel worse because I could think of the next person who was struggling with this or that, or the next pregnant lady who was puking for 9 months straight, and felt like, "why am I such a wuss?"
So anyhow, towards the end I probably had 2 months of Braxton Hicks contractions, sometimes even fairly strong ones, so it made me think I was maybe going to go in early, and found myself disgruntled a time or two, but not terribly anxious. A few days before my due date I had an appointment with Joy and she checked me and said I was sitting at about 4 cm, and that she expected me in by that evening. Of course, I wasn't holding my breath, but did take some comfort in that. The last 3 days before labor started, I would have about 2 real contractions when I laid down for bed at night, and then they stopped. So when one night I decided if I had three, I would get up and have a bath. Kacey had told me the midwife said that relaxes your body, so it either expedites labor or stops it. So that night around 11pm, I had three and then had a bath, it kept going so I called the midwife, contractions were about 10 minutes apart and she said to call back when they were 5 minutes apart, and we would head to the hospital pretty quick. She said both hospitals, Chilliwack and Abbotsford were pretty empty last she checked, so where did we prefer? Oh Chilliwack I suppose, doesn't matter. I remember it wasn't quite an hour when I was phoning her back, and she said that all of a sudden Chilliwack was full, so "were headed to Abbotsford my friend!" I think by the time we got there and checked in it was 12:30am, and after me there were only 2 beds available. A sudden baby boom in the Fraser valley I suppose!
We first went to triage where they just checked me to see how dilated I was, I believe I was about 6 cm, and she thought she accidentally broke my water while checking, so it seemed like things were going to go pretty fast.
Funny interjection, while we were in triage waiting for something, we could hear another couple who had just come in and were behind the curtain next to us. Ill have to ask Rocky what it was exactly that she said, it was so funny. She was groaning a fair bit, and the nurse asked her something about whether she wanted to wait a bit before having laughing gas or something....and in a gruff voice she said something like "Hell no, hook me up to the good stuff!" Or something.....Ill have to ask Rocky.
After getting to my room at the end of the hall (it was so quiet, which was really nice) labor slowed down a bit and we walked a few times around the hall hoping to get things going. They were still moving but not rapidly, so I thought I would maybe lay down for a bit and try and sleep. For whatever reason in this labor, laying down really got things going. I started having some pretty hard ones right away and couldn't lay down anymore. I remember Joy was so nice to visit with in between the contractions, I was just sitting on the edge of the bed, Rocky there too, and would breath hard during a contraction, and then just continue visiting once it stopped. It was so quiet in our room I remember actually thinking it was getting awkward or something. I don't remember why, but sometime in there I stood up from the edge of the bed, and then it felt like the baby was going to fall out, I said something like "ooohh boy" and Joy knew right away, got me back to the bed, and I think it was like, two pushes later Nellie was born. The whole labor, or the whole "active" part, I had a bad attitude, and Rock could tell. I complained more than usual, and I remember while I was pushing saying out loud "I cant do this", of course met with lots of "yes you can"s, and within seconds she was born; it was 3:45am on December 28, 2016. She was 7lbs, 7 oz, and 20 inches long. She was born 4 days after my due date.
I think that in some ways, the way that our labor went (and pregnancy for that matter) was a really good "sample" so to speak, of how we were doing that year. We had encountered things in our marriage that were harder than before, I wasn't at a good place with it all, very insecure and unsure of different things, and I think in a way that transferred over into my overall attitude in the pregnancy and labor. Yes, I think it was just a very good indicator of my overall attitude in that time, which is very interesting to me in hindsight, especially as now we are waiting to do it all again for number 4, and we, as a couple, and I as an individual are in a very different, much better, place.
After she came out, I remember catching my breath and then saying something like "well, what is it?" And Joy just held her up to us so we could see, and I'm laughing as I write this, because both of us couldn't really tell! Babies are just so swollen, and the umbilical cord was still attached, it was really confusing! I remember saying "Wow" because I didn't know how to say I didn't know, and Rocky saying something like.."soooo....its a boy??" Since then we have talked with lots of couples who have affirmed to us that it is kind of hard to tell right away; though I'm sure that for a midwife, who sees babies all the time, we seemed a bit silly.
And that's that! Just shy of 5 hours from start to finish, and we had our little girl. My parents and Jordan were here for Christmas, and hopefully to meet the baby, and so that was nice that we could just leave when it was time to go, and they could bring the kids the next day. I remember the boys were a little out of sorts when they got to the hospital. Though they had never woken up to somebody other than Mom and Dad, I think that contributed to the oddness. They seemed kind of clingy and unsure of what was happening, and they didn't want to leave us which was hard for me, but Mom and Dad said they did good. I think we were home the next morning.
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