Completely overwhelmed
I began to push and it was so relieving. No pain whatsoever, but I finally felt like I was doing something. I was still crying with every push. Jack got his gloves on, and I saw him swaying side to side. I learned later he was SO nervous and was trying not to lock his knees and pass out. I pushed for about 20 minutes, if that. As soon as her head appeared, everyone began saying how much hair she had. I looked down to see Jack and Kelly pulling out my baby girl. I immediately reached for her and Jack placed her right on my chest. Seriously, my favorite moment as a couple. Ever.
My heart exploded within my body. There are no words to describe the feeling of seeing your child for the first time. All my mama's out there know what I'm talking about. All the pain, all the work for nine months was so worth it yet also completely irrelevant at this point. My baby, Sadie Ann, was staring right into my eyes with the sweetest sounding
I knew right away she wasn't near as big as they'd thought, and as I held her up I said "oh my gosh you look like ME!" And she did! They let her have some skin to skin contact with me for a while, as Jack cut her cord and we marveled over our little beauty. I only had two small stitches which was pretty good considering she came out so fast.
As the placenta came out, Kelly held up Sadie's cord and we immediately noticed something was way off. There was a huge knot in it- a true knot. Our baby is a miracle. Whatever you do, do NOT research true knots if you're pregnant. Just trust that God is going to take care of you and your baby as he did mine!
They weighed and measured her and took her APGAR-
7lbs, 11oz
21 inches long
APGAR- 10
Our baby was perfect. Perfect.
After delivery, I wanted to walk to the Mother/Baby floor. I felt like a million bucks and ready to tackle this mom thing!...only to be told it's policy that I have to be wheeled up. Oh well. Our first night was good- Sadie really didn't cry a lot, but had a few moments. And she pooped three times! We were super shocked. I was somewhat concerned at first, but the nurse told us that my colostrum must be working well, as it is supposed to act as a laxative to get out all that lovely tarry poop. Worked like a charm for her! She got her first bath the next morning, as we wanted to have it delayed so that her skin could absorb the maximum amount of "white stuff." She loved having her hair washed. Wish I could say the same for the rest of the bath! She was NOT pleased with that at all. She passed her hearing screen that day as well. Way to go baby girl!
First outfit and bow after her bath
The next night was a little rough. She cried a good bit, pooped a LOT more (seven times to be exact) and was wide awake nearly all night. We took turns sleeping and changing and rocking and singing... We were pretty exhausted. We had lots of visitors that day too, so she probably was just restless from being passed around. We were discharged on Thursday at noon. She was not a fan of her car seat. Her first doctor's appointment was Friday morning and she did great!
Going home on Thursday
Headed to her first doctor's appointment Friday morning
Since delivery, I have felt great! In fact, we both are doing well. I am recovering nicely, and little Sadie is breastfeeding like a champ! If I could, I would be pregnant all the time! (Calm down, Jack.) I loved the way I felt. I could go through that delivery 100 times over again. Our bodies are SO amazing and I'm still just in awe of this whole process. On top of that, they gave me this tiny, awesome human to bring home and I couldn't be any more blessed than I am right now. Thanks for reading Sadie's birth story!
New mamas- not all labor and delivery stories are bad. Mine wasn't perfect, and there aren't many that are. However, mine was enjoyable and it is what you make it. A lot of it is attitude! I tried to maintain a positive attitude throughout, and that really helped me to keep going. Labor and delivery is not the nightmare that a lot of people make it out to be. It is a beautiful process- one that only happens once or twice (or three or four times should you have that many children) so my suggestion is just to enjoy it. I don't regret one thing!
BIRTH PHOTO CREDS: Carly Akin Photography
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