Chelsea's Birth

So it has taken us awhile to update again...but it's been busy getting used to having a little baby to care for! Here is the rest of the birth story for those of you interested:

On Thursday, February 19 I started having contractions when I woke up that morning, about 8:30 or so. My stomach was hurting really bad, so I called my visiting teacher and canceled our appointment that morning. I called my mom and then laid back down for a while. Jacob didn't have to work until noon, so we eventually got moving and he took me over to my parents house so I could be with my mom so if I did need to go to the hospital it was a little bit easier. Anyway, the contractions continued until about 3:00--they were somewhere between 3 and 20 minutes apart. Around 3 they seemed to stop for a little over an hour and started back up a little after 4. I had mentioned to my mom that I didn't think anything was going to happen until after Jacob got off work at 5. Sure enough, right around 5:00 that evening my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart. I called the doctor after an hour, and the midwife that was on-call called me back. (I was happy to know that it was the midwife that I had wanted to do the delivery). I talked to her and she said that since it was my first pregnancy there was no rush to get to the hospital because my water hadn't broken. She said that I could either wait around for another hour before heading there or I could go and they could check my progress. I figured it was a little after 6, and by the time I got there it would be about an hour or so later. So Jacob and I packed up our stuff and headed to the hospital.

We got there about 7, registered, and I was back in triage by about 7:30. They checked my progress and I wasn't even 2 cm...I was frustrated. I was in so much pain, and had been all day, and then it didn't seem to be helping things move along. The nurse called the midwife (she was over at the other hospital) and they decided to have me walk around for a half hour or so and see how things were after that. The baby had apparently turned around because I had started to have back labor, so walking around the hospital wasn't a very easy task. Jacob and I went down a floor where there weren't as many people to watch me struggle to hold myself up :). Anyway, we walked around and then went back to triage. She checked and I was 3cm, so they were going to admit me! Apparently there had been alot of people who went into labor that day, so I had to wait for a delivery room to be cleaned.

We got to a delivery room sometime around 9:00-9:15ish. I told them I wanted to epidural, so I was put on the list. There were a couple of other patients ahead of me, so I had to wait. By this time the midwife, Laura, had arrived so she was in there with Jacob and I. The contractions were incredibly painful, but Jacob said as soon as Laura arrived I seemed to be able to breathe better and seemed more comfortable. I got the epidural about 10:30 or so. My parents were in the waiting room, so after I got it they came into the room. At about 11:30 or so, Laura broke my water and checked my progress. I was between 6 and 7cm, and the baby was facing the wrong way. I was told to lay on my side with my leg up in order to get the baby to turn around. Laura had another patient in labor as well, so she said she would be back around 1:30 to check things, figuring that since I still had 3-4 cm to go it would be at least a couple of hours.

After the epidural, the pain was gone. It was amazing. At about 12:15 am or so, I started feeling a lot of pressure. Laura happened to stop in at about 12:30 and when I told her that she checked and I was 10cm, so it was time to push! She told me that I would probably have to push between 1 and 3 hours, but it seemed like a relief that the end was actually near! They brought in everything for the baby and by about 12:50 I was starting to push. Chelsea was born at 1:09 am on Friday February 20th. Everything was fine, but her blood sugar level was too low. It went back up after she was given some formula, but the whole time we were in the hospital it was monitored.

We got to come home on Sunday. It was nice to be home, but a little scary that there weren't nurses to take care of everything anymore. Well, except my mom :). But anyway, we are still adjusting to life at home. The first night home was terrible, but it has gotten better since then. Chelsea does pretty well at night now, or at least has been for the last week or so. She slept a couple nights in a row for the entire night--about 8 hours straight. Last night she only woke up once, I fed her, then she went back to sleep. I don't expect this to keep up, but it sure would be nice if it did :)

Here are some pictures from right after she was born and some random ones from being at home. Most of the pictures she has her eyes closed since she still sleeps most of the day, but when she actually has her big eyes open she is very alert. She likes to stare at lights, but that is about the only thing we can tell for now :) Hopefully we can do better about updating since now there is actually something exciting happening in our lives! Jacob's parents come into town tomorrow, and we are blessing her this Sunday. My mom is making her blessing dress, so stay tuned for pictures!

This was right after she was born.

Our first family photo :)

I really like this one of Jacob and Chelsea.

Wide awake!

The color is a little bright, but I like the picture.
Ready to go home! I was worried that she was going to be a big baby and not fit into newborn anything...but everything is huge on her!
She has such a hard life, she's exhausted already!

Getting ready for bed.

Bright Eyes.
It's a little blurry, but I thought it was cute. She was sleeping in the recliner with Jacob. She opened her one eye just a bit when I went to take the picture.