Isla's birth story:
40 weeks
We were ready for her to come!
Everything started with Spiderman. That's right, this guy right here
The baby was going on 4 days overdue and I was getting very antsy. I was to the point where I bashfully pleaded with Travis to strip my membranes! I know its a little weird, but if we had a clogged toilet and he was a plumber, we would use his skills to fix it... same thing! I just wanted her here! He finally agreed to do it, but not until after going to see Spiderman 2. "I don't want you all uncomfortable and going into labor during the movie, it will ruin it," was a direct quote from my loving husband, or maybe I took it out of context? (hormones). Anyways, I agreed. We would go to the 9:15 show and then spice it up after with him stripping my membranes. TMI?
We went with a big group of friends that night, in fact, Stewart, the Nurse anesthetist who was on call at the hospital, was a part of the group (small town). During the movie, I started getting pretty uncomfortable. I was having pretty regular mild contractions.
After the movie, Travis kept his end of the deal and indeed stripped my membranes which was extremely painful! But if it was going to work I was OK with it. He also checked to see how dilated I was, I was a 2. It was after midnight, so off to bed we went.
At about 2am, I started getting really uncomfortable. I was definitely having contractions and they were very painful. I decided to go into the living room and wait it out while rewatching episodes of Friday Night Lights. I was hoping Tim Riggins would distract me from the pain.
Didn't work. For two hours I was having contractions about every 4 minutes and they were getting pretty intense. I decided to go and get Travis and have him check me again to see if I was dilating and progressing. He checked me again, and I was at a 3, he said I was progressing pretty fast and he thought it was time to go to the hospital. I was ready!
We called Tammy across the street to come and sleep on our couch for Avery and Brooklyn, and off we went!
The car ride was pretty intense. Contractions were coming about every 2 minutes and lasting about 45 seconds. We got to the hospital about 20 minutes later and they put me into a room and checked me again, and I was at a 6! She was coming fast! And I was ready for an epidural! Travis wasn't sure if I would get one in time. They had to call Stewart (remember, the anesthetist we were at the movie's with earlier that night), get him out of bed and at the hospital. Luckily he lives close by and was there about 30 minutes later. He did his thing and I was at peace! It was wonderful. I could still feel the contractions, but it was very minor pain.
Before epidural
During epidural
After epidural
He was kind of my hero
Oh... yeah... and so was he
At that point, Dr. Andrade arrived and checked me again, and I was at an 8. Almost there! Another hour went by and I was ready to push. Normally, I push about 3 times and the baby comes out, but she was a bit harder, I probably pushed for 25 minutes, the reason was because she decided she wanted to come into this world sunny side up! It was tougher than normal, but still I can't complain!
They got her out at 8:31am and she cried and cried and cried. It was beautiful!
She had pooped in the womb, and so there was meconium everywhere, but we still thought she was beautiful, poop covered and everything! They took her away to do all the tests and measuring, and I think she was crying the whole time. Travis followed her and was able to cut the cord. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces. Biggest baby so far! She also measured 19 inches long. Her head was a little cone shaped due to the coming out the wrong way, but other than that she had 10 fingers and 10 toes and was perfect!
After she was all cleaned up, we decided to try to feed her. She latched right on like a pro and hasn't had any problems since! We were lucky enough to have her all to ourselves for most of the morning and afternoon.
Then we got visitors.
These two young ladies waited a long time to see her
Brooklyn gasped when she saw her. They were so excited! They brought her binkies and head bands, and she gave them the movie "Frozen." (She brought it from my womb).
We still hadn't named her and honestly weren't sure what it was going to be. With a lot of thought we decided on:
Isla Jane Charles
Now we are a family of 5! It was a crazy 36 hours. I'm so happy I was able to have the experience of going into labor naturally, it really was like the movies! Also I'm so happy I had a makeshift husband/doctor.
We are so happy she is here and healthy. We love her so much!
