Isabel Reese was born in early November, 6 days after her due date. We had scheduled an induction for two days later, and I was so happy that labor started naturally. I was surprisingly calm leading up to my due date, and didn’t spend too much time thinking about actually having to give birth-my feeling all along was that billions of women had done it before me and I could do it too. I had planned all along to have an epidural, and I think knowing that also helped as I had heard from friends and family that once you had it, it should be smooth sailing.
I went into labor at around 1:00 a.m. and was at the hospital by 2:00. At that point I wasn’t very far along, but was feeling some pretty intense contractions so they had me sit on a birthing ball which helped the pain tremendously! I highly recommend using one if you are able to. During this time an IV was put in and I honestly think that was the most painful part of my whole experience. The epidural went in around 5:00 a.m., and was not nearly as bad as it is made out to be. Maybe I just had a great anesthesiologist, but I didn’t feel much more than a pinch. I felt almost instantaneous relief and was able to get a few hours of much needed sleep.
By 2:00 p.m. the following day after being given Pitocin to help move things along, I was finally fully dilated and was given the okay to start pushing. This was probably the part I was most surprised about-I couldn’t believe how exhausting it was. It made me so thankful that I had continued to workout throughout my entire pregnancy, I can’t imagine how I would have been able to last as long if I had not. Unfortunately, after three hours of almost constant pushing we were not making much progress. The doctor made the decision to go ahead with a C-section as he didn’t think she would be able to descend enough to have a safe birth. I got a little teary when he made the decision, but was so exhausted by this point that I quickly made peace with it.
At 5:02 p.m. after a successful C-section, Isabel Reese was born. She was a little peanut-weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches long. Both C and I cried when we heard her first sounds. I was so relieved that everything went well. After a C-section they let you see the baby for a minute or two and then they are brought to the nursery for a checkup and to be bathed. I was brought to a recovery room during this time and un-patiently waited for her to be brought in to see us. It felt like forever.
Finally, almost two hours after she was delivered she was brought into my room. I was in awe at how beautiful she was-she had a head of dark hair, blue eyes, and the longest eyelashes. We all had made guesses prior to the birth on hair and eye color and I was the only one who got them both right-mother’s intuition already kicking in.
We spent the next four days in the hospital as I recovered from the C-section. I was up and moving around by day two and was anxious to get home to begin our new life. Looking back, I think being in the hospital for an extended period of time was a good thing as it allowed us to establish a routine while still having others around to help us. It made our transition from the hospital to home a lot less overwhelming. It also helped that Isabel was and continues to be an extremely relaxed baby which we are so thankful for.
And she lived happily ever after. 