Birth Story Part 4

Poor little Willow had jaundice. Since we live so far away they thought it was best if we just stayed in the hospital so she could be monitored rather than us driving back and forth for blood work. We ended up staying a week and by the end J and I were delirious. We totally had cabin fever and couldn't wait to get home. One minute we were laughing about nothing the next minute we were so annoyed with another. I feel for all of you parents who have had to stay in the hospital for long stretches of time. We kept reminding ourselves how lucky we were, it was only jaundice and we were only there for a week. The good thing about our hospital stay was our nurses were absolutely phenomenal and whenever I had a question or needed help they were right there by my side. J also needs to be commended for this. We started the routine in the hospital, when Willow wakes J brings her over to me to nurse and than when I am done I wake him and he changes her bum and puts her back to bed. He has continued this routine since we have gotten home. Not too shabby eh? I told you I'm a lucky gal!!

Sleep deprived daddy & Willow

Sleep deprived mommy & Willow

Although Willow looked darn cool in her foam glasses, she hated them. She didn't get much sleep when she was in the bed. Luckily, she only had to be in the bed for a couple of night and days. It was so hard not to snuggle her constantly.

Yep, already a daddy's girl.

I don't understand why they don't have daddy showers at the hospital. Poor J sponge bathed for a week! willow doesn't seem to mind the stench. JK you did a very good job bathing yourself J :p

YAAAYYY we get to go HOOOMMME!!!

During our entire hospital stay our FAB-U-LOUS friends Kathy, Doug & Aidan took care of our fur babies for us. We are soooo blessed to have such great people as friends. Thank You guys xo Also for all of the delicious treats that were awaiting us. Thank you to Anne for the yummy food too. You are all the best!

Birth Story Part 3

Birth Story Part 3

I had been in labor for 13.5 hours and the time had come to push with all my might. During the first sets of contractions I felt like I was doing it all wrong and not pushing "right". This didn't last long because I could feel the babe slowly moving lower and lower. Also, I am totally one of those people that needs to be praised so when the doctor and nurse told me how well I was doing and that I was a natural, the little teachers pet in me glowed. I wanted to show them I was the best damn pusher on this planet :p.  I loved the feeling of my body telling my brain to push at each contraction and then pushing with all my might. In the crazy state I was in I will never forget how in awe I was of my own body. I felt on top of the world, which is kind of crazy because you are feeling pain, pooping, peeing, sweating, and are totally vulnerable. But I had a goal and that was to introduce the most precious little being in my and J's life to our little world.

I had a thing about raising my hands into the sky when the contractions were at there peak. At one point I lifted them up so high I ripped the iv out of my hand and blood started pouring out. No one noticed and I couldn't seem to get the words out. Finally J noticed after me flailing my hand in his face saying "Blood..it's out... I'm bleeding" and he and the nurse put it back in. He said he really liked feeling needed then, because it is true the poor dad just sits there and feels helpless. So he was happy to help when he could. He did in fact help in more ways than he realizes. Just him being there by my side the entire time meant the world to me. Although I did yell at him once. He was doing the "push countdown" like a drill sargeant. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 at what seemed to be at the top of his lungs. I politely said "Would you shutup? You are too loud" he continued with light countdowns which I appreciated. I remember him being so excited to see her hair when her head was making it's first appearance. The excitement in his voice is something I wish I could have on tape and press repeat. It was way too sweet.

The pushing part seemed to fly by. It took just under an hour, I think 52min. The crowning of the head didn't hurt as much as I thought it would and people say the shoulders hurt a lot too but the doctor helped pop them out of there. It really isn't as scary and painful as everyone makes it out to be. Would I do it again tomorrow? No! It's not that easy, but the reward at the end makes it allllll worth it. J told me he was panicked when her head was coming out because it looked like a long skinny eggplant and than it just kind of popped into a normal shape when it was fully out. He said the whole birthing process was a life changing experience for him.

 J's intuition was right, I was shocked when he finally announced it was a girl. When she came out he said "IT'S A BOY, IT'S A GIRL, IT'S A BOY". The doctor quickly corrected him and told him it was a girl haha. I thought the whole time I was definitely having a little boy. What a sweet surprise!

 I would like to introduce WILLOW RAE HOPKINS!!

6lbs14oz & 19inches of pure perfection

I am so over the top happy about how my labor and delivery went. Right after Willow entered the world she was put on my chest and it was instant utopia. I was able to cuddle and love her with every ounce of energy I had left. She started breastfeeding right away and then the nurse and J took her to weigh her and check her and brought her right back to my chest. The only downfall of the entire experience is I did tear and require 4 stitches. I tore at a different spot which my dr didn't want to stitch as it would be waaay to sensitive. That was not fun. After I gave birth my eyes immediately turned to slits, they had never felt so heavy in my entire life. I also popped blood vessels from  pushing with my face, whoops! But, wow, what an experience. She is totally a J Jr. Every face that Willow makes I see J in her. She is too precious for words, we are soooo in love.

Pretty alert for a babe that's only a few hours old!

Birth Story Part 2

Birth Story Part 2

J was able to get some much needed R&R (bastard :p) and I watched him sleep from 4:00am until 7:00am. The doctor had said the day before she was going to induce me at 8:30am if my contractions hadn't started. Well they were strong all night and of course when she came in they slowed down and were light again. When she checked me that morning I was only 3cm dilated, UGH! She said she didn't want to induce me just yet and see if my contractions would pick up again. I was quite happy about that. I jumped out of bed and started walking the halls to try and walk that babe out of me. J and I did many laps around the hospital and my contractions were back to being fierce again. I was pumped! My nurse, Judy (who was absolutely amazing) suggested I have a warm shower to take the edge off. I hopped in and that really made my contractions closer and much stronger. The shower felt so good and I was so happy to feel such strong contractions, I highly recommend a nice warm shower during labour. After the shower I had to be monitored again to check my vitals, babies heartbeat and my contractions. The contractions were very close together and everything was looking great. The doctor came back and checked me again and I was dilated 6-7cm.

In my "zone" haha

 As soon as I could I jumped out of bed and hopped on the birthing ball. The nurse showed J how to give me a fabulous massage and he massaged me for over an hour while I was on the ball. The nurse told me that when I was experiencing a contraction to try and relax my shoulders and breathe in each breath for my baby. She said breath is your drug, let your breath touch your toes. I totally thought of yoga and kind of went into a meditative state. The power of breath is so strong. J was also the PERFECT partner. He knows that when I'm in my "zone" I don't like to be talked to, touched (except for massage), but I do need someone to squeeze & have lip chap ready for me when needed :p. He had his hand, arm, head and shoulders ready for me to squeeze at all times. He had said later he always thought I was a weakling but I have a dang good grip. I couldn't have asked for a better support person, and I think that's what made my labor such a positive experience.

After being on the ball for close to two hours I got back in bed to try and rest my body. My contractions had slowed again!!! They were still strong but were about 4-5min apart. The nurse suggested giving me pitocin which I really didn't want, but at this point I said what the hell?!

Getting the pitocin

 As soon as she put me on the "drip" my contractions were fierce. I was totally riding the wave, I would get this strong pain in my legs and then I knew a contraction would be there to follow. It would peak and pain would be at its worst but I just kept thinking surf this wave down with pride haha. So wacky, but it totally helped. The pain was getting harder and harder to just use the "ride the wave" method. Judy said she can always tell how strong a contraction is by how far back the toes curl into the foot. Well my toes were flexed almost all the way back to my foot. I got checked after an hour and was at a 8. I was slowly progressing. The nurse offered me to take some kind of pain relief, she said that I may progress more quickly if I had more rest. I had opted out of having an epidural because I like to be in control of my body. The thought of not being able to move my lower half makes me craazzzyyy. This definitely was never an option for me. She had told me about Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) earlier that morning. I had decided that a couple of inhales of that would do me good and I had the option of inhaling it whenever I felt necessary. Well you all know how that goes, I would inhale about every third contraction and then it felt too good so I started inhaling it with every contraction... damn drugs!! At one point I asked the nurse where I could buy it. It basically feels like you have had a couple of bottles of wine. I would inhale as soon as I would start feeling the tingle in my legs and would keep breathing into it until the contraction would subside. Than I would be able to fully rest in between contractions. Ooooh I could go for some laughing gas right now :p.

The nurse said I would know the moment I felt I needed to push and they didn't have to check me again. I was nervous I would not know or miss the feeling but ohhh boy you know!!! J helped me to go pee and I knew the time was near. I was digging my fingers so far into poor J's shoulder. When I got back to the bed the nurse was feeling my belly and was pretty sure the babe was sunny side up. So she asked me to get on all fours for just a minute. As soon as J helped me assume the position I screamed "I'M GONNA PUUUUUUUSSSSSSHHHHHHH" and pushed with all my might. The nurse quickly got me flipped over, called the doctor and it was time!!!

I have the Crrrazy look in my eye. (I don't know why I took my hair down, it drove me mad when I was pushing)

Birth Story Part 1

Sorry blog friends for my lack of blog posts lately. I have been super busy loving, kissing, feeding, staring, cuddling, changing, adoring my precious baby GIRL!

I didn't have a chance to write my 39 week post as I was giving birth that day but here is a picture of my hot bod in a bikini two days before. Ohhh yeaaaah, I was workin' it :p

 Birth Story Part 1

The entire week before I gave birth I was experiencing menstrual type cramps, was not feeling "right", and had little to no energy. Pretty typical for this phase of pregnancy. The end was so close I could taste it! I loved absolutely every part of pregnancy but when you get so close to the end you get pretty tired of the whole being pregnant bit and just want your  little babe in your arms. Anywho, at my check up my water actually broke in the doctor's office. As soon as I felt the pop and warm gush of fluid I made J run to the car to grab pants and full back undies. I was definitely wearing white capris and a thong. Ladies, when you are that far along don't wear white and thongs. I never realized how much fluid GUSHES out of you (and for a long time). It's so uncomfortable, every gush feels like a super heavy period or pee. Poor J was so frantic, when the doctor told us to head to the hospital he was in absolute panic mode and I'm pretty sure he thought I was going to give birth within the hour (which would have been nice). After being congratulated by people in the waiting room we headed to the car where J was running full speed too... he forgot the keys. I laugh thinking of what a mess the poor guys was.

When we got to the hospital the nurses checked my vitals. My temperature was pretty high but it's because it was so stinking hot that day and I had just walked up a hill to get to the hospital. So I enjoyed some cherry popsicles and ice water until my temp dropped.

 The nurse said I was getting pretty frequent contractions but I couldn't feel them. They wanted to keep us there for the night as we live two hours away from the hospital. So I headed to the recovery ward to get some rest and relax for the night.

 I didn't relax at all. My contractions were not frequent but when I would get them, they were pretty strong. At 12:30AM, July.12th they really started to pick up. They were about 3-4 minutes apart and very strong. They sent J and I over to labor & delivery. I definitely didn't want to just lay in bed, I wanted to roam free through the hospital. So as soon as we got down there J and I dropped off our stuff in the room and headed straight for the stairs so I could go up and down them. J was shocked at how "normal" I was acting. I had been texting my friend Bre and she had told me to walk lots and concentrate on my breathe so that's exactly what I did and that was my life saver. I was walking up and down the stairs and would break only for a small dance session or to breathe through my contraction. Every contraction I had I thought to myself, this is a good thing, you are one step close to meeting your babe. I was really in awe at how my body and baby were doing so much work to prepare, it was an amazing experience. After going up and down many flights of stairs we went back to the room to try and get some sleep as I hadn't slept a wink yet. However, my contractions did not want me to sleep!

38 Weeks

I didn't realize my eyes were half shut until I saw this on the computer. Woopsies

2 more weeks...
I can't even believe a whole week passed since my last post!!! I am getting HUGE

Size: Baby is as long as a leek, approx more than 19 1/2 inches long. Weighing at nearly 7lbs.

Weight: I gained a pound since last week. I am now up 32lbs...eeeek!

Heartbeat: The babies heartbeat was the same as last week, in the 140's.

Stretch Marks: I got a couple more on my hips this week.

Movements: Still a lot of movements, very BIG and slow. Watching the baby move around in my belly never gets old. Well that's not true, rib shots and cervix bumps don't feel so great, but everything else is amazing :) I was sitting outside enjoying the sun and J put a ice cold drink on my belly and baby went crazy!! It moved to the opposite side of my body and wouldn't stop kicking me.

Symptoms: A lot of cramping and pressure on my pelvis. It feels like the baby is trying to torpedo its way out sometimes. Peeing every 20 minutes. My belly touches my legs when I sit and my boobs rest on my belly. Very tired most of the time. My right boob is leaking quite a bit, I thought it was cool at first but now it's not so cool haha. My boobs and nipples are pretty sore, I can only imagine how they will feel when the milk comes in! I am kind of nervous about breastfeeding because I have very sensitive nips. I will try my darndest to power through!!!

J says he doesn't think I'll ever go into labor. He and I thought I would be much more crotchety and miserable. haha He constantly tells me I don't seem pregnant and than I flash him my belly and he says "Oh yeah"
 
Cravings: Why have I only just now discovered Wunderbar ice cream?! Ohhh myyy is it ever delectable. Pink lemonade and chocolate.

I had my first taste of fast food since I have been pregnant. Not going to lie, it tasted pretty good.

J has been awesome. Back rubs, foot rubs and shhhh don't tell him I told you but he even gave me a pedicure. We are both soooo excited to meet this little mixture of us. The waiting game is testing our patience that's for sure!! We finally have everything ready for the little one. Commmeee onnn baby!!!