Sunday, September 15 and leading up to birth
I had been feeling weird all night and Daddy was at work. By morning I decided that a hot bath might help relieve some of the cramps I was feeling in my hips and back. Daddy got off shift and found me in the tub; he later told me he thought this was very odd and had an "oh $#!+" moment. I got out of the tub and decided to start thinking about getting ready for church. We had breakfast and as I sat on the couch relaxing a little the cramps turned to [more convincible] contractions. At first they were bearable and I thought they were just Braxton-Hicks so I went on with my day. As I was getting ready for church they became more frequent but I was convinced they were nothing...until Daddy made me start timing them. I then realized these bad boys were coming every 5 minutes but decided to go ahead and go to church anyway. The ride to church made the contractions come on even harder and closer together. As long as I was standing I was okay but sitting down was terrible. Daddy made me call the doctor's office and they made me go ahead and head to the hospital. Once we got to the hospital, they asked all the required questions, took my vitals, tracked the contractions; you know, the works. The contractions were definitely there and definitely strong! They made me sit in that dang bed and the contractions became more and more painful. Eventually, they let me walk around to see if I would progress any with dilation. I walked, and walked, and walked. The contractions seemed to go away. We went back to the room and they hooked me back up to track contractions which came back after about 15 minutes sitting in the bed. Sadly, I didn't progress any and after 5 hours at the hospital they decided to send me home, still in pain and still contracting. To say the least, I wasn't very happy and I don't think Daddy was either. Once home, I still had contractions for another 2 or 3 hours but refused to go back. Thankfully they wore off but this also meant you weren't going to make your arrival that day. Everyone predicted you would be here by the end of that week....they were wrong. I didn't feel any true contractions or anything but a stubborn, active baby the rest of the week. At my appointment, we scheduled to induce on Thursday, September 28th, hoping that scheduling it would make you come on her own. No luck there! I also hoped the full moon and storms we had would bring you into this world but again, no luck. On Monday, September 23rd, I got a call from the office telling me we needed to reschedule our induction date; our choices were Tuesday the 24th or that Saturday or Sunday. The weekend ahead was already busy and I was just miserable so I decided on Tuesday the 24th. Then I realized there was so much I needed to do at school and home and less than 24 hours to do it!!! Oh well, we were ready to meet our girl!
Tuesday, September 24th
We got up bright and early as we were to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. I took my shower, double checked my bags, ate a "light" breakfast and got ready to go to the hospital. Of course, the morning couldn't be perfect, your lovely brothers (the dogs, Maxx & Otis) decided to take a quick tour of the city and make us search for them before we left. Luckily they weren't too far and came right away to me hollering for them as Dad reached the end of the block in the car. I was half tempted to leave them on the loose but couldn't stand the thought of where they might be. Once we got the boys all settled, scolded and loved, we headed to the hospital.
They took me right to the delivery room and got me prepped. Then the waiting game began. They gave me pitocin around 7:30 a.m. and watched my progression. Still no contractions really though. Around 10, I think, Jaime came in and broke my water; shortly there after the contractions came on strong. I thought I could go walk around for a while to maybe relieve the contractions and help myself progress but I couldn't go anywhere without a trail of fluids behind me so I decided to stay in the delivery room. An hour or so after my water broke I couldn't stand the pain of the contractions anymore so they gave me my epidural. My anesthesiologist was amazing and Daddy was so supportive and held my hand the whole time because I'm scared to death of needles! Once I had the epidural, I relaxed a little and even slept for an hour or so. When they came in to see how I was progressing, I had dilated from a 6 to a 10, fully dilated and it was time to think about pushing!
As we started to think about pushing, Julie (my awesome nurse who we found out was from Ozawkie and friends with Daddy's best man in our wedding) realized my contractions were practically gone, and I certainly felt nothing. We had to turn the epidural down to bring my contractions back. Once we did that, they were still barely showing up on the monitor but with my hands on my stomach I could feel when I contracted. We decided I'd be telling Julie and Daddy when I was ready to push based on what I felt because the monitors weren't very helpful. I pushed for a "true hour" as they say and then it was time to make the big pushes.
At this point, I think I should mention that Daddy was so amazing through all of this! We didn't get to take any child birthing classes but our midwife trusted we'd be okay without them. Daddy had mentioned he wasn't going to "look" but instead be there for moral support but when it came time he was right there, holding my legs, telling me I was doing great, telling me how he could see her head full of hair and that everything he was watching was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. I couldn't believe how supportive and into the birthing process he was! Julie was also so amazingly supportive too! In between contractions we talked about all the people we knew and just how small of a world it was. This certainly helped me relax a little!
I'm not sure what time it was but sometime between 3:30 and 3:51 our midwife, Jaime, came in to take over the pushing and delivery. Your head was right where it needed to be and it took just one or two pushes to get your head out and the cord that was loosely around your neck off. The next push brought the rest of our beautiful girl into this world at 3:51 p.m. Daddy said the look on Jaime's face when you came out was priceless, a look of "that's a big baby!" They set you on my chest and I was instantly in love. Kimber Suzanne Newman was finally here; all 9 pounds 10 ounces and 22 inches of you!
Love at first sight!
Absolutely amazed at how beautiful you are!
First scream! :)
Daddy cutting the umbilical cord
Your weight! Our big girl!
Footprints
Daddy was immediately wrapped around your tiny fingers!
Daddy, Mommy, Kimber and Jaime
We loved our midwife!!
Daddy's first time holding his baby girl! This is the moment I fell in love with him all over again!
Once we had some family time the vistitors started pouring in! Grandma Melanie, Grandpa Roger, Grandpa Dennis were first in the room. Not far behind were Great Uncle Dave, Great Aunt Shelly, "Aunt" Danielle, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Mandy, "Aunt" Bailee, "Uncle" Cody, "Aunt" Becki and Cousin Colt. We had so many people that were dying to meet you! They all stayed and enjoyed every precious minute with you until about 7 or so and then headed home. At that time, we got to head to our post-partum room and relax with our beautiful newborn. Mommy barely slept because I was so in love with you and couldn't get over how beautiful you are. I still have this problem; I love you so much and I love being a mommy!
Our next couple days in the hospital were really pretty great. You were an incredibly healthy baby, you did great feeding and you were easily satisfied. Daddy changed your first diaper (and every diaper you had in the hospital)!
Daddy changing the first diaper
Our little doll! Love your cheeks!
First family photo!
Going home! You hated the car seat at first but quickly calmed down.
Our first few days at home you had many visitors and everyone who saw you instantly fell in love. What's not to love about you? Mommy and Daddy were so happy to be home and loved everything you did. Mommy laughed at everything, even though it hurt, and Daddy cuddled with you every chance he got. You, Miss Kimber, changed our lives for the better! We love you to pieces and thank God for blessing us with such a wonderful miracle! We can't wait to watch you grow up but for now we will enjoy every minute with you, our tiny human!
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