Here's the story behind Jillian's wonderful birthday!
Warning - this is a long post!
After our appointment with Dr B on Monday, June 15th, we're told to be at the hospital at 8am Thursday June 18th to start induction. We were SO excited and anxious; it was hard to concentrate the next few days. The night before, we surprisingly slept 'ok' and woke up the that morning, with calm nerves. I thought I was going to be nervous and anxious, but thankfully Jeff and I were so calm - an answer to prayers!
June 18th - Jillian's birthday!
Here I am at 39 weeks prego, in the hospital room, about to change into my lovely hospital gown. In a strange way, it's sad to no longer be pregnant with Jillian, I absolutely loved carrying her and feeling her kicks. I firmly believe pregnancy is a beautiful miracle, and after being pregnant and delivering a healthy girl, I believe it all the more.
By 8:30 am I was in bed, getting ready for the induction. My daytime nurse was Debbie - she was awesome (although a bit on the chatty side). She really calmed my nerves, answered any questions I had, and we felt very comfortable in her care. She was in her early 50's and had been an L&D nurse for over 20 years.So after Debbie took blood, hooked up my pitocin IV, fetal monitors, etc. she then asked if I'd like to move ahead with getting the epidural since that Dr was free right now. I was leery of getting the epidural so early for several reasons: 1. I wanted to feel some of the contractions so I'd know what they are like and get a taste of natural labor 2. I'd heard horror stories of epidurals wearing off after many hours 3. I didn't want to be a wuss
Debbie explained that the epidural meds are completely controlled by me with a pump so I can get as little or as much meds as I want and that an epidural wearing off is really a result of not pushing the pump enough to keep the meds moving. So.... I opted to move ahead with the epidural :) (I really didnt need much convincing!)
At 9:30 the epidural was in place - I must say, getting the epidural was one of the things I dreaded most. I got myself pretty worked up before the Dr inserted it, and I think my fears about how bad the pain might be, helped me. After he was done, I said 'that's it?' It took 30 seconds; I was happy that was behind me!
The next 3 hours were a waiting game until Dr B showed up to break my water. I had contractions all morning, but no resulting dilation. At 12pm, Dr B broke my water and my contractions starting getting stronger and into a better rhythm. The next few hours were quite uneventful - thankfully! I was happy with my epidural (they are amazing!) and could tell when I was having a contraction because my tummy would be so hard, but they were painless!
Here is my mom on 'contraction monitor duty' - someone was always watching it; we'd get so excited when I'd have a 'good' one and hoped that was helping dilate me. We'd also watch Jillian's heart rate monitor and see when she was sleeping or awake.
The rest of the day was spent waiting, hanging out with family, and letting me rest. Jeff ran into a nurse at the hospital he went to High School with, so she stopped by the room. She was really sweet, but proceeds to tell me that she's worked in L&D for 3 years, has seen both sides of delivery (C-section and natural) and she would never go natural like I am. She goes on and on about how a C-Section is the only way to go, etc. This in no way upset me or made me nervous (because what I can I now? little late. thanks lady). So I let her finish, and joke with her that that is probably not something she should say to me since I'm laid up here 7 cm dilated and about to deliver. I think she felt bad, but what an odd thing to say to a pregnant lady about to give birth.
At 7 pm, Debbie's nursing shift was over and she introduced me to my night nurse Alyson. Alyson was adorable, 25 years old, blond, and very friendly. I had been telling Debbie all day to make sure my night nurse was loud and not afraid to give me directives (I was terrified of pushing).
The last thing I wanted was a shy nurse - that's not what I needed. I was a little apprehensive of Alyson at first - she was really young and had no children. I quickly got over that, since she was MY nurse now and there was nothing I could do (and we ended up LOVING her!)
Around 9pm the Dr said I was close to 9 cm, so Jeff and I decided to kick everyone out of the room and just relax and enjoy some quiet time alone before Jillian arrived. We thought we had another hour or so and then who knows how long for pushing. Around 930, Alyson had me try a 'test push' and 10 minutes later I was pushing. We couldn't believe it, but 20 minutes later at 10:05 pm Jillian arrived!! What a beautiful sight she was! When they laid her on my belly I couldn't believe it! Her first cry was the sweetest noise I'd ever heard. Jeff and I were both crying; it's such a surreal experience to see your own child for the first time.
Jeff then followed Jillian over to the warm-up table where they cleaned her up. Jeff was SO cute - he kept asking if everything was ok. If her coloring was good, etc (she was a bit gray at first, but then got pink).
First time to hold her!
I told Jeff right then, 'Labor and Delivery was not hard, I'd do that over and over again for days just to have Jillian' (and I really meant that. For me, delivery was not very hard. Recovery.... well that's another story that I wont be sharing on this blog :) )
After things settled down in the delivery room and Jeff and I had a few moments alone with her, we invited all the family in!
At 11:30 pm they took Jillian to the nursery to clean her up, weigh her, inspect her and let our baby girl sleep! The rest of that night is a blur - they took us up to postpartum around 1am, and around 2:30 Jillian came into our room for her first feeding - which went really well (and has ever since, I'm so thankful nursing has gone smoothly!)June 19th - Jillian 1 day old...
The next morning, Jeff's parents came up the hospital and brought us breakfast before they took off. A few hours later my parents arrived to see their granddaughter. This was a fun day at the hospital - we got to spend most of the day with Jillian in our room, visitors stopped by, and we had nothing else to concentrate on except getting to know our little girl.
June 20th - Jillian is 2 days old
This was also Going Home from the Hospital Day!
We were discharged from the hospital at 6pm Saturday night, we had plans of leaving around noon, but Jillian had just a touch of jaundice so they wanted to keep her till the afternoon and run one more test.... she passed so she was ready to come home!
Here she is in her going-home outfit!
Now a family of 3!
Let me explain this picture. I was doing great the whole trip down the hospital, but when we got to the lobby, I was flooded with so many emotions. The greatest being thankfulness. I was so thankful to God that Jeff and I had this healthy baby girl. I had walked thru that lobby countless times for all my prenatal visits. So many times I'd be praying walking in, that everything would be ok with Jillian - that we'd hear her heartbeat, that she was doing well, the sonogram would be ok, etc. That lobby was such a familiar sight, and was a full circle moment for me to being leaving with Jillian after all our visits up the elevators to see the Dr.
I loved this moment!
Jeff then strapped Jillian in her car seat - and we were heading home!! My parents followed us to be our photographers.
Here is a close-up of her in her car seat - WOW is she tiny!!
So that is Jillian's birth story! What an indescribable experience. We love our little girl more than anything. What a precious and perfect gift from God! We are so thankful she is in our lives!
