What Labor is Really Like

My mom is in town, which we are so grateful for. She took the kids to the library and I was desperately trying to sleep, but alas, TRYING to sleep has never worked for me. If I fall asleep reading to the kids or something it's a lot easier:)

We were SO happy that everything went well and Mackayla was healthy, but don't we look EXHAUSTED?

Yep, pretty tired...

I had it all planned to be induced on Aug. 20, 5 days before my actual due date. In my mind I was going to get my epidural, rent a movie and we would watch it while I peacefully dilated. Ha ha! I don't know what I was thinking, honestly. This is labor, not a vacation!

And this is what really happened:

I woke up at 5 am to horrible cramps, like the worst kind you have monthly. They lasted all day. Then during the day I would have actual contractions but I couldn't concentrate to time them and they weren't even close to every 5 minutes apart.

Meanwhile Cody and Macey took out every book, toy, and thing we owned (I'm not even joking) and poured them throughout the house:)! I called my mom crying and my sister crying periodically throughout the day. Then I finally decided around 3 pm to call the doctor and get some advice and she told me to go to the hospital and get checked because I was probably in labor.

I had talked to Ben periodically throughout the day and he came home from work right away. I called a friend and she came at the drop of a hat 5 minutes later and grabbed the kids. She also took them to dinner with her 3 and 5 year old that night and made them pancakes the next day. Basically I think she is the most amazing person.

When we got to the hospital we went to triage. I went in a wheelchair which I never pictured doing, but I was in so much pain it was nice and I felt like people were staring. But I felt like that when I was pregnant and Ben says I was paranoid:)! The woman didn't seem hopeful that I was in labor-but I was dilated to a 4-5 so I was staying and having a baby! But she was being slow because she figured I was slowly going into labor. I warned her a couple times that I go fast but my contractions still weren't regular. Meanwhile she tried SEVERAL times to get an IV in, all the while talking about how she missed and fished around (my hand is so swollen in the picture from all her misses). I hate needles and I finally had to tell her to stop talking. I fainted last time for crying out loud. I also told the anesthesiologist not to tell me what he was doing and he was fantastic.

I was getting pretty desperate because no one believed I would dilate that fast. I finally made Ben go out to get someone to rush things, which isn't necessarily Ben's style, but like I said I was getting desperate. I dilated to a 7 before the epidural finally was put in. Then once it worked, I felt like a MILLION BUCKS. I was even going to take a nap but the doctor came in to break my water and I missed my chance. It still hurt when I pushed because she came out "sunny side up" instead of face down and that makes it more painful. It also made it harder to push, even though it wasn't that bad. The nurse told me not to push until the doctor came in because she would just slip out. And she didn't just slip out because of that. Oh well, she came!

When the doctor put her on my stomach as soon as she came out I don't even know what happened. Something about them cutting the cord, blah blah. I just remember thinking how tiny she was and how beautiful she was and how much I loved her. I know not everything thinks that and there's nothing wrong with that either, but I do just love newborns. Even with all the stress I associate with them. It is probably the most stressful thing I do, giving birth and having newborns and hormones and no sleep, but at the same time, one of my favorite times of life because newborns are so sweet. I think I could hold her all day if that was realistic.

And I don't know why I'm going to end with this but she poops like 10 times a day. I had forgotten about that part, but my goodness that is a lot.