Scarlett Grace: A Birth Story

Scarlett Grace born May 27, 2015

2:11am, 7 pounds 4 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long

 The doctor had calculated Scarlett's due date as May 25 and said she thought she would be early. So, I was a little bummed when I showed up at my doctor's appointment on the 26th with no baby in sight. I was 2cm dilated so Calvo stripped my membranes. I had talked Kyle into coming with me because his car was in the shop and I wanted him at the appointment just in case. After the appointment, we went over to my mother-in-law's house so we could eat lunch with her and our nieces. No sooner had we sat down to lunch at Flanigan's than I felt a large gush. I went to the bathroom to check and sure enough, my water had broken. We asked them to rush our lunch, ate quickly, and Kyle and I went and picked up his car and our stuff and headed to the hospital. 

Right after my water broke                        On our way to the hospital

I was admitted at 2:30pm and was told my water had definitely ruptured. I got all hooked up and ready. At 7pm the nurse checked and I was only at 3cm dilated, we still had a long way to go. My contractions started getting extremely painful, our nurse said she was impressed because I only seemed to be in pain when they peaked. At 10 pm I was finally able to get an epidural and immediately felt relief. They checked me again and I was 7cm. At midnight, Calvo came in and I was 10cm dilated, but Scarlett's head was still high so they thought it would be awhile still. A little after 1pm I was ready to start pushing, but they had me wait until Calvo showed up. Her head was all the way down, but I had a lot of trouble pushing it out. It took over 30 minutes and was very painful since there was so much pressure from her head sitting right there for so long. Scarlett had pooped right before I started pushing, because there was a risk of her swallowing meconium we really wanted to get her out. I finally was able to push her head out and the rest quickly followed. She came right on the day I had originally calculated. They had to take her right away to get her checked so I didn't get to do skin on skin immediately, which was the only thing I had really wanted. Luckily, she hadn't swallowed anything and everything was fine. I made Kyle go and take pictures of her to show me while I laid there and cried. I was so happy she was here, but sad that I could hear her but not see her or hold her. I had to get stitched up because I had a partial 3rd degree tear so it was a little while before I finally got to hold her. Once they finally handed her to me I got to feed her. She latched right away and is a great eater!

It was a long, tiring, and extremely painful process. More painful than I ever would have imagined, but oh so worth it. I still can't believe that she fit in my stomach.

Baby Girl: 39 Weeks

Weeks:
39
 
Weight: 
36 pounds gained, although recently I lost a few which I thought was odd.

Symptoms:
The end of pregnancy is rough. I am so ready for baby girl to be here. At this point I think I have all the symptoms! Achy hips, pregnancy carpal tunnel, lots of swelling in my hands and feet, constantly having to use the bathroom, etc. By far the worst is the pregnancy carpal tunnel. My hands are always slightly numb and hurt to bend.

Stretch Marks/ Body:
No stretch marks! Hopefully baby girl will get here before any decide to show up!
Belly button has definitely popped out.
Very few of my maternity clothes fit, why they don't make maternity clothes that last all 9 months is beyond me. 
Lots of cramps, Braxton Hicks, and regular contractions, but no baby so far.

Movement:
Her movements haven't changed in awhile still very hard on the top and right side of my stomach.
However, she has dropped now so they aren't as high. 
She also gets hiccups at least once a day.

Cravings:
I'm not really craving anything still, I'm kind of ambivalent about food.

Aversions:
Nothing

Random Tidbits:
I had an amazing baby shower thrown by my MIL and SIL as well as one at work. We were able to get everything we needed for baby girl's arrival.

Looking Forward To:
Baby girl getting here!!! Please come soon!
Having more clothing options. 
Also, doing things that I can't do pregnant. It's so weird how things I don't normally do I really want to since I haven't been able to. I'd really like to sit in a hot tub and have a drink.

Baby Girl: 5 more weeks!

Weeks:
35

Weight: 
31 pounds gained

Symptoms:
Every week seems to bring about a new symptom. For awhile I was waking up to use the bathroom constantly through out the night. Then it switched to horrible hip pain. I couldn't sleep at all because I was tossing and turning from one side to the other because both hips hurt so badly. I would find a really comfy spot and then it wouldn't be comfy again. At 33 weeks I began swelling slightly, but by 34 weeks the swelling was a lot more noticeable and uncomfortable. It really freaked me out since it was only my left side! I also started having carpal tunnel and will wake up with one or both of my hands numb and tingly. The ridiculous heat here sure isn't helping anything!

Stretch Marks/ Body:
No stretch marks still, fingers crossed this continues as long as possible.
My stomach definitely seems to have dropped in the past week and everyone at work keeps noticing that it looks lower by the day.
At 33 weeks I had to take off my wedding band because my rings got stuck and I freaked out.
I was able to wear my engagement ring still, but that only lasted a week. Mid way through week 34 I had to stop wearing that ring as well. I could get it on and off, but when I got hot my finger would start to swell around it and I got really nervous.
My belly button continues to pop out, but it only around the outside. Its still hanging in there!

Movement:
Her movements have become a lot harder lately, but she has gotten too big to really kick.
She constantly is pushing on the top of my stomach and on my right side. Kyle enjoys lightly pushing on my stomach until she pushes back on him. He says he feels like he's "fishing" for her.
She also gets hiccups a lot now, probably daily to every other day at least. They are always really low so I'm hoping this means she's head down!

Cravings:
I don't really have cravings, but if someone suggests something that sounds good to me I have to have it! The other day Kyle suggested going to Flannigans and I couldn't let it go until he took me.
I'm also still craving LaSpadas Roast Beef subs. I told Kyle he's going to need to get one as soon as she's here.

Aversions:
Nothing

Random Tidbits:
 My sister-in-law did our maternity photos at 34 weeks and I love them!

Looking Forward To:
Baby girl getting here and telling everyone her name! It's killing me not being able to share it, but Kyle is adamant that he wants it to be a surprise until she arrives. 

Baby Girl: 2/3 of the Way There!

Weeks:
28

Weight: 
23 pounds gained

Symptoms:
Pretty similar to what I've been having.
The hip pain will be really bad for a few days then gone for a week or two.
It feels a lot better when I'm walking around, so Kyle's been going on short walks with me.
When I lay down a lot of times I feel like I can't breathe, it takes me a minute to feel like I can get a full breath in.
If I don't eat enough I start to feel nauseous again. I'm eating my normal amounts and not extra hungry, so it's hard to make sure I'm getting enough food.

Stretch Marks/ Body:
No stretch marks still, fingers crossed this continues as long as possible.
My stomach seems to be getting more ball shaped by the minute and baby girl is starting to stretch out my sides as well.
My belly button is starting to pop out on top and I know it's just a matter of time before its fully popped.

Movement:
She continues to kick and move all the time. Her kicks just keep getting harder!
I can now feel a lot of other movements as well. It's so weird to feel her slide across my stomach as she spins and flips.
She likes to dig random body parts into my side, as soon as I push on it she'll immediately retract it.
Baby girl does not like have things invade her space. She spends lots of time kicking the bed, seat belt, and waist band on my jeans. 

Cravings:
Right now my biggest problem is not craving anything. I'm hungry, but nothing sounds good to me.

Aversions:
Right now I'm pretty much up for anything.

Random Tidbits:
Kyle wall mounted our TV and moved around furniture in the bedroom so we have a corner ready for her. Now we just need to get everything set up.

Looking Forward To:
Starting to house hunt in the next few weeks.

Baby Girl: Weeks 15-25

Weeks:
15-25

Weight: 
18 pounds gained

Symptoms:
Hip pain. I am constantly having to switch sides at night due to my hips getting sore.
I've also had some mild heartburn and have gone through a few days of really bad headaches.
My feet swell a bit if I don't take time to sit during the work day. 
At 23 weeks I got a pretty bad cold.
I've also been pretty tired due to never getting very deep sleep. I sort of wake up a lot during the night and at least a few times for the bathroom.

Stretch Marks/ Body:
No stretch marks yet.
I have been very warm all the time. Everyone always told me you're never hot pregnant, but as someone who is always cold I never believed them. Oh how wrong I was! Kyle's loving it because I keep the house colder.

Movement:
On Christmas morning (18 weeks) baby girl kicked for the first time where I knew it was her!
I felt very little movement after that until 20 weeks. Halfway through 20 weeks she started kicking so hard my stomach moves. Now she kicks pretty consistently everyday, mostly when I am laying down. Although as I am typing this she is kicking away. Kyle was able to feel her by 20 weeks. Now if he puts his hand on my stomach and leaves it there for a bit she will kick him. 

Cravings:
All the things I'm not supposed to eat!
I would kill for a Laspadas roast beef sub.
Coffee/coke
Sweets
Fruit

Aversions:
Fast food in general, if Kyle ever suggests going somewhere I always tell him I want "real" food.

Random Tidbits:
I am all belly and loving it. I still can't believe how big my stomach is already.
However, I'm sad nothing fits. I had to officially move into maternity bottoms around 16 weeks. 
Now I can only wear maternity clothes.
We officially agreed on her name on New Year's Eve. It was a fun 3rd anniversary idea. However, we won't be sharing until she gets here and have a back up name in case we change our minds.

Looking Forward To:
Buying things for baby girl and setting up her area. AKA a corner of our room since we're planning on moving not too long after she's born.

Baby Girl: The First Trimester

I fully meant to keep up with posting pregnancy updates. 

I took all the pictures, sat down to do them, and the program I used wouldn't let me make shapes!

So I asked Kyle to help me with it. 

He got me photoshop, I couldn't figure it out. 

He got me on illustrator and walked me through it step by step. 

I sat down to do it by myself the next day and couldn't figure it out!

So here I am mid-way through 24 weeks and I finally found a different online program. 

The photos may not be exactly what I wanted, but I don't want to forget the details of this precious little one. 

Weeks:  
Well this is covering my first 14 weeks. 

Weight:  
By the end of my first trimester I had gained 5 pounds.  

Symptoms: 
I was lucky enough to have a fairly easy first trimester. I would get nauseous if I didn't eat something every few hours, but as long as I had some crackers I was typically fine. I did have to start eating a carb-filled breakfast, the only thing I could manage in the morning was a bagel. 

Stretch Marks/ Body:
No stretch marks yet. By 10 weeks I couldn't hide my belly. People at work started asking me if I was pregnant.  

Movement:
I felt one small flutter at 13 weeks 6 days, but nothing else. 

Cravings:
All I wanted was carbs and pizza. I can't tell you how many bagel bites I went through. We officially made Saturday night our pizza night. 

Aversions:
Before I even found out I was pregnant, coffee started making me feel sick. I kept trying to drink it every morning because I love coffee, but without fail I would drink barely half and stop. When I found out I was pregnant a few days later I completely stopped trying to drink it. 
Lunch meat
Sweets
Anything spicy smelling. 
Poor Kyle, I couldn't stand packing his lunch for months due to his sandwiches and spicy chips. I would bring him the bag and make him pour them himself. 

Random Tidbits:
Kyle and I were both completely convinced that it was a boy. All the old wives tales pointed at boy except for the Chinese gender chart. At 12 weeks, thanks to blood work, we found out we were having a girl. We can't wait to meet her!
We told our parents and siblings at 7 weeks, Kyle's extended family at 10, and mine we told at 14 weeks.

Looking Forward To:
Once I had my blood drawn I couldn't wait to find out the gender. It wasn't something super important to me, but as soon as someone somewhere knew it was all I could think about.
I also couldn't wait to tell our families. It got really hard to hid and a lot of people started asking me. A part of me wished we had told sooner.