Country Gal has a baby

I can't believe it's been almost two years since my last post...and what an amazing two years it has been!  First, I married my best friend, love of my life, and most wonderful man I've ever met.

 

This picture sums up our day-to-day life together!


Casey and I knew that we wanted to start a family immediately. We both wanted kids and couldn't wait to start that adventure together. Our journey started with a few bumps along the road...taking longer than normal to conceive, a miscarriage last fall, and talk of fertility drugs.  Luckily, in January, right before the doctor wanted to start us on meds, we got lucky! Those bumps made us so much more grateful for our coming blessing.

We found out we were pregnant the first weekend of February.

We had just celebrated our nephew's first birthday and found out my brother and sister-in-law were expecting baby number two in August (news that was received with mixed emotions...over joyed for them while a bit sad for us while we were still morning our lost pregnancy and didn't yet know about the coming good news).  I had a feeling all week that something was happening. I had my first pregnancy symptom immediately, hips so sore I couldn't sleep unless I put ice packs on them. The day after the birthday party I took the test and got the answer we had been praying for. Next came the agonizing wait to see the doctor to confirm the results and ensure that everything was okay. The doctor had us come in for an early ultrasound at 6 weeks and we were able to see the baby's heartbeat!  Everything looked good!

My pregnancy progressed pretty normally. I had all day morning sickness everyday for the first 17 weeks. I also had some of the weird pregnancy symptoms with the more common ones: nose bleeds, plugged ear, memory loss, sore hips, uncomfortable sleeping. I didn't get any weird cravings or mood swings.

We did have a few scares along the way.  At 10 weeks we had a miscarriage scare. Lots of bleeding but baby was fine. At the 20 week ultrasound they were concerned about the placenta's location. There was concern about placenta previa, luckily the placenta moved up by week 28 and wasn't an issue. I also failed my first glucose test and was worried about gestational diabetes. Luckily I passed the second test. Whoever said pregnancy was easy lied!  While I enjoyed the process of bringing this baby into the world, the pregnancy was tough and scary every day.

Baby D was due October 7.  The journey to her arrival was quite an adventure. She dropped around week 37 so we thought she would arrive early. Little did we know, she had other plans. A stubborn girl like her mother. Side note, we decided not to find out what we were having so we would be surprised on delivery day. However, I had a strong feeling it was a girl from the beginning of the pregnancy.

Our due date came and went with no baby. A few days after the due date I had six hours of consistent contractions that proceeded to stop as quickly as they started. Our doctor doesn't let you go past 41 weeks so we were scheduled to be induced. As that date approached, I pleaded with Baby D to come on her own. I wanted this process to be as natural as possible. Well, baby was holding out!

We checked into the hospital on Sunday, October 13 at 6:00pm. I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced when I checked in. They started me on Pitocin right away and I started having contractions immediately. The contractions were 2-4 minutes apart. The nurses actually thought we'd have the baby that night because things started moving so quickly. Again, baby had other plans. By 6:00am Monday morning, no baby and very little progress. The nurses started upping the Pitocin every half hour at that point and the contractions then became 1-2 minutes apart and more intense. At 9:00am my water broke as I was laboring on a birth ball (yoga ball). Weirdest feeling ever! As soon as my water broke, the contractions became increasingly intense! I was checked at that point and was 5cm dilated and 90% effaced. After 3 hours of extremely difficult labor, I asked them to check me again. I was certain I had made serious progress. NOPE!  Still 5cm! After some thought, tears, and conversation with Casey and the nurse, I decided to get the epidural. I had planned to go natural but after 18 hours of labor, and no sign of the end to come, I gave in. I am so glad I did!  At noon, I got the epidural and I was able to relax a little in between contractions.  Eight hours later, I finally got to the pushing point!

The nurse checked me again at 8:00pm and I was between 9-10cm so we decided it was time to push. First time mom's usually push from 1-2 hours.  I was mentally prepared for that. And even with the epidural it was the most intense pain I've ever felt (you'll see why in a minute). I'm so glad I got the drugs!

The first hour of pushing went really well.  Baby moved down the birth canal a lot. Then she got stuck!  She proceeded to stay lodged there for 3 more hours!  She was trying to come out ear first instead of the top of her head first. The doctor came in at 11:00pm on Monday, October 14th. He spent 45 minutes with both hands, up to his wrists, in the birth canal trying to get her to move so she could come out. Now you see why I'm so glad I had the epidural and why there was still so much pain even with the drugs! Finally at 11:41pm, after almost 30 hours of labor and 4 hours of pushing, the doctor was able to pull her out.

Willa Rose Dregits was born Monday, October 14 at 11:41pm. She was 7lbs 3oz and 20.75in.

While this should have been an extremely exciting time, it was full of stress and chaos. Willa had been very stressed during delivery. I had to use oxygen during the four hours of pushing because her heart rate kept dropping. When she came out, they saw that she had pooped in the uterus so they were worried that she had inhaled some of it. She was also breathing weird. So as soon as the doctor had her pulled out, he handed her over to the special care team (he even forgot to tell us if the baby was a boy or girl). They worked on her for a while in our room, without telling us much, which is very scary for new parents!  Finally, they let me hold her for a few minutes before taking her up to the special care nursery. Casey was able to stay with her the whole time. After the doctor and nurses finished with me, I was left a lone with my fears and emotions. I had just had a baby but didn't know where she was or how she was. Four hours later, she was given the all clear and was able to come back to our room! What a relief!!!!

After a few other minor issues at the hospital, we were finally able to go home Thursday morning. Since then, we have just been enjoying our new bundle of joy. So far she has been a wonderful baby and we feel so blessed!