Looks Like I Got That Pedicure Just In Time - The Birth Story

A little over a week ago my feet were fat, my toenails were ugly and I was going a little bit stir crazy having not left the house, save for my doctor's appointments. I called a friend of mine and we got ourselves some pedicures and took my mind off of things baby for a little while.

Good timing, too, because the next day I was admitted into the hospital.

My little Chicken Pie was born a week ago.

She arrived four weeks earlier than she was due to arrive, but only a few weeks earlier than I expected her to come. See, I had preeclampsia. I was being carefully monitored from about 28 weeks, and while I wanted to keep her inside until about 38 weeks, I am thankful I got to keep her inside of me as long as I did.

On Sunday 9/2, I was experiencing some of the things my doctor told me to watch out for. It was decided I needed to go to Labor and Delivery to get checked out. Part of me knew that I was going to be at the hospital until the baby was born. I didn't know I would be having her so soon, however.

My intuition was correct. The doctors decided to keep me. They decided to induce me the next morning. I labored in a relatively uneventful and painless state from Monday morning until Tuesday afternoon. I ate. I listened to music. I watched TV. I saw on the monitors I was hooked up to that I was having contractions, but I didn't really feel anything. About 4pm on Tuesday that all changed when they decided to break my water. At that moment all hell broke loose. I went from 4cm to 10cm in about an hour. The epidural I received right after they broke my water had to be turned off shortly after it was turned on. I pushed for about 5 contractions and like the pop of a champagne cork, my little Chicken Pie made her entrance.

She was 4 pounds, 15 ounces and 18 inches long. She screamed like a velociraptor.  As little as she was, she was healthy, and stayed with me the whole time we were in the hospital. She did have to stay a day longer than I did so the doctors could watch her a little bit, but it wasn't unexpected or surprising given her gestational age.

While in the hospital her daddy, sister and brother visited us every day.

 Today we're all at home. Hubby and I are tired, taking turns on feeding shifts, waking her up every two hours to feed her, making sure she keeps her weight on, keeping her happy, fed, warm and dry.

She's a very sweet baby and we're so happy she's a part of our family.