time travel tuesday ~ birth story edition!

Join in to share your birth story!
What did you think when you first saw your bundle of joy?
How was the birthing experience for you? hubby?

I loved being pregnant, each time. Giving birth... not so much, but it was always so worth the outcome.

Amanda was our first baby. I didn't know her sex until she was actually born. They couldn't tell when we had our ultrasound and they didn't do multiple ultrasounds. I seriously considered (more than once) paying to have another just to find out. I never was good at waiting for surprises! I thought she was a boy. Her room was blue with rocking horses. I took boy clothes to the hospital. My dear Aunt Margie gave me a pretty little green dress with smocking I packed at the last minute because, well, I guess it could be a girl. After a few trips to the hospital and back home, it came the day for Amanda's arrival. I had done my grocery shopping for the week and was making dinner... doing laundry... you know, having lots of fun when I felt a pain that I just knew had to be the real thing this time! We waited a little while before heading back to the hospital. I really didn't want the disappointment again of being sent home. It made me feel like I was failing at giving birth. Why didn't I realize it had to come out eventually? They checked me and guess what? They gave me some pretty heavy duty sleeping pills (seconal I believe) and sent me home! UGH. Not again! I fell asleep before we made it home. Matt tucked me into bed and left to visit his mother who was about 45 minutes away at his grandmother's house. I just remember waking up and screaming. Being half in and half out of consciousness. My mom happened to come over about that time to check in on me. She called Matt's grandmother's house immediately to have them send him back home. Being in labor and being heavily sedated is not a good combination! After a few hours of in and out and pain we convinced the nurses to let me come back. I was dilated to a 7 when we arrived. I got to stay. YAY. By the time they got the epidural ready it was about time to push. I wanted to get this over with, quickly. I asked the doctor how many pushes to get her out (kinda like how many licks to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop) and she said a couple of contractions. I pushed as hard as I could. There was cutting involved, first with dull instruments and then with sharp... I didn't feel it or care at that point. There was much tearing involved. Turns out this doctor was on call and this was only her second delivery. My OBGYN was not available. This doctor btw is now highly sought out in the OKC area. I guess she has learned a thing or two... and out came baby girl Pettigrew. They rang the chimes in the waiting room to notify family the baby had been born. My SIL told me later that Matt's grandmother "marmar" cried and said those chimes were the prettiest sound she had ever heard. This was her first great grandchild. Matt went down to tell them "it's a girl!" and then shortly afterwards they all came in to say hello. I am going to try to post the pic right after this birth experience because Marmar always said that I should look at that picture when considering having another baby. I guess it didn't affect my reasoning, I had three more! I'll save their very different birth stories for another time, this post is already getting too long... but I have to mention the epidural kicked in after the birth and I couldn't feel my legs for hours. Matt changed the diapers and learned things from the nurse Rochelle while I slept. It took a couple of days to recover from the seconal. Amanda looked like her father's side of the family and was adorable with blond hair and a big nose. I admit I expected a gerber baby, not a little newborn. I hadn't had much experience with a newborn so she looked funny to me. Now I love that newborn look. She was a beautiful baby, child and now 17 year old! The worst birth experience I had was with Bailey. The funniest was Emelia, she was the easiest and fastest too! She was born with a full head of thick black hair and was fat! I laid there and laughed and honestly wouldn't believe she was mine after two almost bald blond babies unless I had seen it myself!

I just have to add the experience of giving birth to Emelia. Matt is a question asker! He always has a question and right as I was pushing Emelia out he said to the doctor, "Can I ask a question?" I said "NO!!!" After she was out I said, "okay Matt, what was your question." to which he replied, "I was just wondering if it is normal for the head to collapse like that while it is coming out." Boy was I glad he saved that question!!!!!!

I can't wait to read your stories!