Sophia's Birth Story

I wanted to post this while it is still somewhat fresh in my head. My labor was super quick, so some things are a little jumbled, but here goes...

Monday February 27 was a normal day. I felt great! I went to work and came home to spend time with Dave - who was off for the evening. I went to bed around 10:30 and woke up to cramping around 11:30. I was not sure if this was the start of labor, but I went downstairs to tell Dave that we may be headed to the hospital sooner than we thought. I decided I should put the few things in my hospital bag that still needed to be packed. Contractions started and intensified pretty quickly. Around midnight I spent some time in the bathroom getting sick.
I don't know when my water broke - there was no gush - but I was going to the bathroom more frequently so I am going to guess that my water broke right around 11:30 when I woke up. We started timing contractions around midnight and they were about eight minutes apart. We called the admissions nurse when the contractions were five minutes apart.
This is where things get a little blurry.

After the foggiest car ride ever we got to the hospital at 1:52. For the record - contractions while seated in a car are NOT fun. Dave wanted to drop me off at the entrance but I made him park in the lot next to the entrance. I did not want him to leave me! We walked in to the admissions desk and she called for the nurse. While we waited for what seemed like ten minutes (but was probably two) I had a major contraction and laid across the desk. The nurse walked us back to one of the triage rooms. I stopped to lay against the nurse's station while I had another contraction. I went into the bathroom to put on a gown. The contractions continued and I threw up for the third time. Dave scooped up my clothes and I crawled onto the bed to wait for the midwife. The nurse began my admission and the midwife arrived to check how far I was dilated. She told me that my water had already broken - news to me! As soon as she told me I was nine centimeters I felt the urge to push. The midwife asked if I planned on having a natural childbirth - um, NO! But I realized it was too late to hope for an epidural. They moved my bed to a room and bounced off a few walls along the way.

I was aware that there were a lot of people in the room, but not aware of much else. The nurses were asking if we were having a boy or a girl and got very excited when Dave told them it was a surprise. Dave told them the names we had chosen.
I did not want to push since I knew that the medicine for Strep B was not in my system. Due to the amount that I had thrown up I was dehydrated and they were not able to find a vein. Sophia probably would have arrived a lot sooner if I had not been worried about getting the medicine. Once they found a vein to administer the medicine I felt comfortable to actually push. (I know the meds were not in my system long enough before she was born but it made me feel better knowing that the medicine was in.) I think Sophia arrived after my sixth contraction. We had only been at the hospital for 62 minutes. Dave told the room that our sweet baby was a girl and cut the cord. They put Sophia on my chest and all I could think was how much she looked like Dave.

Holding Sophia Mae for the first time.

After about a half hour they measured and weighed her.

Sorry for the angle - blogger and I are not getting along!

Dave got to hold Sophia for the first time.

The proud papa.

Headed to the nursery for a bath...and returning with her pink hat.

Four hours after we arrived at the hospital they completed my admission and Dave took a nap. I was too excited to sleep :).

We've already been home for a little over two weeks and I feel so lucky to be a mom to Sophia. Dave makes such an amazing Dad and I just feel so blessed.