Labor and Delivery

I can't even describe how much we love our precious little girl. Kimberly Palmer was born on August 23 at 1:01am. She was 8lbs 1oz and 20 inches long. She will be two weeks old tomorrow, and she is already starting to outgrow all of her outfits that are newborn size. I figured I better get a post up while I'm thinking about it, otherwise I'm going to blink and wonder how my baby girl grew up so fast...

I started having contractions the night before my due date, but I didn't think anything of them because I'd been having very sporadic and fairly tolerable ones for several days, so I figured it was more of the same stuff. The next morning I woke up to some that were a little bit more intense, but not really anything to be alarmed over. I went about my day as usual, and tried to get some more cleaning in while I was feeling up to it.

I lost my mucus plug around noon right after I finished cleaning the upstairs bathroom, so I knew that the baby could come at any time. I assumed that it would be at least another day or two, but once my plug was gone, my contractions started coming closer together and became much more unpleasant. I texted my mom to let her know what was going on because I wasn't sure if I was in labor or not. Once I had showered and finished getting ready for the day, I decided it might be a good idea to actually time how far apart my contractions were so that I would know for sure whether or not things were progressing.

They were between five and seven minutes apart, so I decided I should maybe head to the hospital in case they got worse and I wasn't able to drive. I let my mom and my husband know that I wanted to go get checked to make sure I really was in labor, so I got into the car at 4 o'clock and sat in the driveway until my contraction was over, and then I drove three minutes (literally three minutes, we live right down the road from the hospital) and had another one just as I was pulling into a parking space.

I got all checked in and they hooked me up to monitor my progress. My mom and my husband showed up at about the same time, but it was kind of a waiting game for the next couple of hours because we all just sat there hoping that I would dilate further than the 2cm I had been at for the past several days.

I had a great view from my window.

I was effacing quicker than I was dilating, but I was definitely in labor and the nurse didn't really want to send me home, so after laying there for 2 hours she went to check with the Dr. to make sure it was okay that they watch me for another hour before they decided whether or not they were going to keep me.

I don't know how in the world I didn't progress faster with contractions like that!

About 20 minutes after she got the okay from the Dr. on call, my water broke. 

Needless to say, I was staying. :)

The contractions got so much harder once my water broke. :(

I was able to get my epidural just after 7pm thanks to all of the women that were in labor.
The anesthesiologist said she hadn't sat down once during her shift because there were so many of us.

Waiting...

I'm so glad I didn't feel that one!

I went from 4cm to 9cm in just over two hours, and by midnight I was feeling like I needed to push. 

I started pushing at 12:30, and she was born at 1:01am. 
She came out anterior (face up) instead of posterior (face down), 
so her nose kept getting stuck on my pelvic bone.
I pushed without a whole lot of progress because of her position,
and being in the birth canal for so long gave poor Baby Girl a cone head. 

They had the Respiratory Nurses in the room to make sure the baby didn't have meconium in her lungs.
(She had a bowel movement sometime during pregnancy.)

8lbs 1oz
20 inches long

Much happier after a night in the nursery

I have to say that it is the most incredible thing in the world to watch my sweet husband be a daddy. He was so loving and supportive throughout the entire pregnancy, and he was right by my side whenever I needed him during labor, but watching him with our little girl fills my heart with so much love and appreciation for the amazing man that he is, I can't even explain. He is my everything and I can't imagine life without him. ♥

We love our precious little angel.
She has brought such a sweet and beautiful spirit into our home, and we have enjoyed every minute.