Baby Valley's Arrival

So it's been a while. Life has changed a great deal  and our priorities have been shifted. There have been so many things I have wanted to share, but I haven't had the opportunity. Isabel is sleeping in her crib next to me so I better type quickly because I have no clue when she will wake up.

Here is the last belly photo we took:

We made it to 39 weeks and a few days before Isabel arrived a few days early. 

I want to share some highlights from her birth story - not the whole thing. If you think it's TMI, I figured you would stop reading. The reason I want to share some of the highlights are for my friends who are expecting. It's nice to know what's ahead of you. If you want more details, call me.

- My first contraction happened as the bell rang for school to start. Of course, I thought it was a false alarm so I stayed at work. 3 hours later I had my next contraction, which I also thought was a false alarm. An hour later I had another one. I finally started to think something was going on. Once my contractions were 30 minutes apart, I knew I had to leave. There were only 20 minutes left in the school day when I left. 

- I wanted to drive home, but my principal wouldn't let me so she drove me home. On the ride home, I called Chris to tell him to come home. At that time Chris was on a microscope in a room with poor cell phone reception. When I couldn't reach Chris, I called his lab. His coworkers were very concerned and sounded more panicked than me. They got the word to Chris and he was home shortly after I arrived. 

- The first this I did when I got home was shower and shave my legs. This was great advice my friend gave me.

- We labored at home for 3-4 hours. I waited as long as I could before going to the hospital. 

- When we got to hospital, I was already 5cm dilated, 100% effaced, and baby dropped. It was NOT a false alarm.

- Then started the 12 hours of natural labor. I wasn't super sure about going natural, but I am glad I did. Around 8 cm, I wasn't a happy camper to say the least. I really had nothing nice to say to Chris - sorry.  Here are the things that made labor bearable: 

- The tub ~ I spent hours in the tub.

- Our L&D nurse ~ she was more of a doula ~ we would have been lost without her!

- yoga ball

- Chris opening alcohol wipes so I could smell them ~ helps with nauseous - SERIOUSLY

- Chris

- ice chips

- relaxing music 

- I totally lost track of time. It hurt... really hurt, but you do forgot about the pain quickly. Isabel arrived and she was perfect. I got to hold her for a really short period of time. Then started the worst part, my placenta didn't detach so they had to manually remove it. OWwww! That really hurt and I couldn't hold Isabel again until after they were done ~30min. 

- I have been fortunate to recover quickly. We are even more blessed that Isabel is healthy and we think she is BEAUTIFUL!  We are doing really well, are so in love, and can't remember life without our peanut. 

Heading home as a family of 3!

Hopefully another solid nap time will happen again soon and I will have had "enough" sleep that night so I can try to write.