it's a girl!



jia eden tara entered the world on june 17 at 10:38am...father's day! she was 8lb 13oz, and 21.5 inches long! the day she decided to arrive made things extra special...father's day hasn't been the happiest for me since losing my dad a few years ago. so it was redeeming to remember my my dad, who would have become a grandpa, and to make my husband a papa on her special birth day.

everyone seemed to be guessing that this little one was going to be a boy, so jia was a fun surprise!

i can't promise with any certainty that i'll stick to this, but i'm hoping to keep up with the blog a little more over the next few months so that i can write down and remember all the little things that happened during jia's early days.

so i guess i should begin with her birth story...

she was running a bit late, and i'd put off induction as a last resort, so on friday, june 15, when i started having contractions on my own it was quite a relief.

they started around 10pm, and were about 10 minutes apart at that point. i drank a bunch of water, took a hot shower, moved around, etc... everything i could think of to make sure it was the real deal and not false labor. by 2:30am they were 5 minutes apart, so i called the hospital. the doctor said by the time they're 3 minutes apart i should come on in to labor an delivery. so at around 6am we loaded up the car and headed over.

we checked in at the hospital, where they hooked me up to all kinds of monitors to see if it was true labor. apparently it was, so we got all set to have a baby.



at that point i was more than 80% effaced, and the baby was really low in the pelvis and i was anterior. which all basically means that everything was pretty set for the baby to go ahead and pop out...except for my cervix. it was only dilated to 1.5!

however, with everything else ready to go, and contractions coming strong, the doctor didn't seem to think it would be long, and that i should just hang out a bit and give it time.

by noon things were still pretty much the same!! contractions, baby super low, but not more dilation! it was basically like this kiddo was just hanging out in the bottom of my pelvis waiting for the hatch to open!

however, since i hadn't made significant progress in several hours, the doctor decided then to send me home for a while. my own doctor wasn't there, so i was having to use the on call weekend doctor. she said that they couldn't really interfere with another doctor's patient unless they had significant reason. so since she couldn't do anything to help my cervix along she said i should go home, eat something (you can't when you're checked into the hospital for labor), and her guess was that they'd end up seeing me again in a few hours. so basically they told me just come back once your water breaks, or when your contractions get even stronger.

by about 8pm, shomik made us go back to the hospital. he could tell i was really in intense pain, but i was trying to hold out as long as i could to ensure that i wouldn't be sent home again! haha.

my mom was with us too, so between the two of them they convinced me that it was time.

so we got back to the hospital, where i was bummed to find that i was only dilated to a 2! however, i was also pretty much 100% effaced by then, so the doctor said it was enough progress that we should stay because it was time to have a baby!

my birth plan was to go natural....if it made sense and i could handle it. however, if i felt the need for the epidural then i would take it. so at about 1am i decided it was time. after more than 24 hours of labor, and no sleep, i couldn't imagine having enough energy to finish this delivery without a little rest.

so thank God for that! as a result i got a couple hours of sleep before it was time for the big pushing! in the mean time the doctor gave me meds to open my cervix more quickly while i was all numbed up.

that quickly got things going to a 5, and by the time i woke from my little nap i was at more than a 9! almost baby time!

so not too long later it was time to push. the OB on call was named dr newton, and she was a cute little lady probably just about my age who reminded me of my sister in law. when it was pushing time she said "let me go get on my party clothes...we're about to have a birthday!" and she came back all hair netted and super scrubbed out.

after a few pushes you could just barely see the top of her head...and after about an hour jia fully landed in the world!



when she crowned the doctor felt inside to check and make sure the umbilical cord was clear of the neck. it was...but then she mentioned, "wow, this baby has a really big head and shoulders...it will be very difficult to push out." at that point in labor i was sooooo exhausted that it was the last thing i wanted to hear, but i was so ready to be done so i just pushed like crazy! labor is truly exhausting, and the epidural had worn off enough for me to feel most of what was going on through that part too. also when she said that it had me thinking "ok, everyone is probably right...broad shoulders...guess it's a boy!"

but then a few pushes later our little girl popped out! it was the strangest feeling. about half way through the pushing they had me start wearing an oxygen mask to keep jia's heart rate up, and with all the deep breathing into the mask i was feeling pretty light headed and out of it by the end! haha. everything was kind of a blur. i'm sure the physical exhaustion of it all played a role as well. but i just remember that the first thing i was looking for was genitals...i think i might have been the first one to say "it's a girl!"  :)

shomik cut the cord while i held her for the first time, and then they took her off to get wiped down while i got stitched up...

if you don't know what a perineal tear is, you probably don't want to! the result of having a big headed baby was some massive ripping...3 different tears, one of them a level 3 on a scale of 4. not too fun. i'll be feeling that for awhile.

but totally worth it. i'm not going to lie...36 hours of labor was rough... even though i had pain relief some of the way. but i'd do it again for such a sweet blessing.



i was very very nervous about becoming a mom. well, of course excited at the same time. but on the day of delivery it felt like i was building up to an arranged marriage or something. i kept thinking that i was about to meet someone for the first time who would be a part of my life forever. so thankfully it wasn't hard at all to love her from the start. i never imagined i'd be this way, but i feel a bit obsessed with my little girl...so be warned that you'll likely be hearing about her a lot! :)


6 Comments

  1. thanks for sharing the story! So happy for you & Shomik!

    love aunt jenelle

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  2. so exciting! Now that you mention it, in my head I assumed that you would have a boy. But I guess not. :) Epidurals can be such a blessing, especially when fatigue sets in. I got one for the same reason you did - I was too exhausted to push at the end!

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  3. Congratulations!!!! How exciting and I am SO happy for you, Mandy!!

    PS. I've posted this on the G/P site so the other ladies can share on your AWESOME news.

    PPS. Take things easy and your tears will heal up!! OUCH. :-)

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  4. Congrats, Mandy! I knew it would be a girl. Ask Mihir; I told him :) I really hope that I can see you next week sometime if you are ok with having visitors!

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  5. congratulations! so happy for you and your baby!

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  6. Congratulations Mandy! I love the name Jia. Take care of yourself over the next few weeks. I also had a 3rd degree tear with my son and it was a while before I felt like moving around much. You should be back to your old self in two months. Just make hubby do all the walking when possible :)

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