Here She Is!

(This is part 3 in a story telling about the birth of my eldest, who turns 14 today.)

So after seeing the doctor Thursday, after she tortured me by "stripping my membranes" I went home and tried to rest. I woke up that night (really the next morning) about 4am. My contractions were definitely stronger and coming much closer together. I called my doctor. After leaving a message with the answering service, she called back in about 15 mins. That was a long 15 mins. Anyway, she decided I should come into the hospital.

Before I continue, thought I should show everyone how I looked the week before I gave birth:
Boy was I huge!


We got to the hospital about 5:30 am. My doctor wasn't there yet, but the nurse's in ER were expecting me. I was pre-checked in, so they just popped me in a wheel-chair and up we went to the maternity floor. By the time I got changed and almost settled, my doctor showed up. After a check she determined I was at 3 cm. Oh My God, I am only dilating a cm a day! She suggested I take some Demerol to take the edge off. I was willing to take anything at that point to take the edge off. The Demerol helped, but it also made me nauseous. I would rather have excruciating contractions than be nauseous. I hate being nauseous. It's my most dreaded sickness.

It's around 7am now. An hour later than when she first checked me. I am still at 3 cm. She decided she is going to start Pitocin and break my water, but "would I like an epidural first?". Damn right I want an epidural first. So Mr. anesthesiologist comes in, tells me to lie on my side, curl up my knees and DO NOT MOVE! It's kind of hard not to move when your body is being racked with pain, but the thought of paralysis also crossed my mind, so I managed not to move. It was almost immediate relief. I never loved anyone as much as that anesthesiologist.

So then Dr. Novas (my ob) went to work breaking my water. I didn't feel anything. They attached a monitor to my poor little baby's head and hooked me up to a Pitocin drip. And then I went to sleep. Ah blissful sleep. Something I didn't have much of for the past two days. My sister showed up sometime during my nap. I had wanted her there for the delivery. I figured as many people I could have on my side the better. So I had DH (who was then just dear boyfriend) and my sister present for the delivery. Oh yea, and just about every other nurse, aide or passer-by in the hospital watching the delivery. My doctor had just switched from a different hospital and I was only her second delivery at this hospital. Being the newbie, people wanted to see how she did things. Luckily, being in pain and having a purpose distracted me enough that I didn't care how many people were in the room. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Around noon my doctor came in to check me and I was at about 7cm. She cranked up the Pitocin a bit more, and told me I'd probably be ready soon. I was still blissfully numb, so that was fine with me. Around 2pm she came back. I was at 10 cm. She had the anesthesiologist turn off the epidural (stop the drip from going in and keeping me numb). She wanted me to be able to feel to push. Did I really need to feel it? Couldn't I just push when she said push? So a little after 2:00pm I started to push. The nurses cranked up the back of the bed, my knees were pulled up so I could grab them, I had my DB (dear boyfriend, now husband) on one side of me and my sister on the other. And my doctor would watch the monitor to see when I was in a contraction (because I was still numb) and she would tell me when to push. Wasn't so hard for the first 20 mins or so, then the epidural started to wear off. But I trudged along. I had to have an episiotomy (which luckily she numbed me for) and then lo and behold, at exactly 3:20pm, out popped......A GIRL!

A girl? I wanted a girl so badly, but I am one of those kinds of people who likes to be prepared for the worst, so I didn't want to hope for a girl and be disappointed. So I had myself convinced it was a boy. But it was A GIRL! Yea, a girl. I remember my doctor asking DB if he wanted to cut the cord. I'm not sure he wanted to, but what do you say in the heat of the moment, no? So he cut the cord, the doc wiped her down a bit, wrapped her in a blankie, and gave her to me. Here she is in her very first picture:


After a minute or so they took her away, gave her a perfect Apgar score, cleaned her up, swaddled her like a sausage and then gave her back to me. My perfect little baby was, perfect! DB and I had talked about names. We had it narrowed down to Jacqueline (Jacquie) or Caroline (Carley). Carley won in the end, and I think it fits her.

Here she is while they were checking her out:



Here's my OB and me the next day (Carley is hard to see, but that's her all swaddled up.)


Below is one of her laying on her dad at about 3 months:


And here she is by herself at about 4 months:


We like to call that one "Crazy hair Carley".

And finally, one of her at 2 years old:


Maybe I'll try to get a picture of her today, so I can show you what "14 year old" Carley looks like. It's harder to get her to pose these days. It seems like just yesterday when I was pregnant with her. And yet it also seems like an eon ago. I can't believe those baby, toddler, pre-schooler, kid, years are gone. She is a young adult now really. Off to high school next year. Tick tock, tick tock.

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh~

"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time"
~James Taylor~