Leah's Birth Story

It all started on Wednesday, December 19th, 2012.

We checked into the the hospital at 7 o'clock to have our baby girl! The nurse showed us to our room and had us get settled in. Walking into the room was such a surreal moment. I had been in one of these rooms just three years ago when I visited my best friend after she gave birth to her little boy. And now? It was me having the baby! As someone who has never been a hospital patient before, I was nervous for the unexpected, yet so very excited to be meeting our baby girl!

After putting on the hospital gown the nurse had me climb into bed. This was it! She hooked me up to the fetal monitor, started my IV, and gave me the drug Cervidil to aid in the process of softening my cervix. 

My best friend, Andria {the same friend who I had visited in one of these rooms just 3 years ago}, is an RN at the hospital and came to spend time with us after her shift! Our parents also came to the hospital as soon as we checked in. To say our parents were excited, would be an understatement! It was such an overwhelming feeling to have such amazing family and friends be so excited for this special time in our lives.

Making sure to take in all the last little kicks and movements from Leah on the inside :) At around 11:00 pm our family and friends headed out for the night so we could get some rest. My sweet hubby made sure I was comfortable and then laid in the chair right next to my bed. We watched episode after episode of Survivor to keep my mind off the contractions.

Come 2:30 am the contractions had really started to kick in. The nurse said that I could get my epidural at anytime and suggested that the sooner I get it, the sooner I could relax and get some sleep for what was ahead. I was always under the impression that the epidural could wear off if you got it too soon, but I guess that is a thing of the past! Epidurals are now are just like IV's. The medicine is continuously running, so it didn't matter when I got it. 

I was extremely nervous for the epidural but had decided to have it ordered about an hour later. At that point I was having contractions every 2 minutes and was less concerned about the pain of the epidural.

At 4:00 am I hear the anesthesiologist and nurse come in. I absolutely loved my night nurse, AJ. She was so sweet and made me feel at ease the entire time, answering any questions we had. With her in front of me, and David beside me I was ready for the epidural. The anesthesiologist was also great. He was friendly and kept the conversation light-hearted, which helped ease my nerves. Five minutes later and the whole process was over and in that moment I remember thinking, "This is it?! I can't believe I got myself all worked up over that!" For future mamas, I just want you to know it wasn't bad at all. Just a quick prick and a numbing sensation down my lower back and it was done!

And...wow is the epideral amazing! I was pain-free in a matter of minutes. They said I would still feel pressure but no pain. Well I didn't feel anything, and it was wonderful! It was so nice to be able to finally relax and get some sleep before I had to push.

At around 9:00 am I was 4 cm dilated. The doctor came to visit us and decided to start Pitocin. Shortly after my contractions had started to become stronger and closer together. I went back to sleep, but shortly after awoke feeling very nauseous. I got sick a couple of times, which actually was the worst part of the whole laboring process. If you know me at all, then you know that I have a fear of throwing up. See, when you check into the hospital you aren't allowed to eat or drink anything besides ice chips. For the past 15 hours I had just been eating ice, so I was basically just throwing up stomach acid, which was terrible. Soon after, I stopped getting sick and felt much better. At around 12:30 pm the doctor had come back in to check my progression and at that point decided to break my water.

At around 5:20 pm the nurse checked me and said I was 9 1/2 cm and told me I was about ready to start pushing! I will never forget that moment. I couldn't believe we were about to meet our daughter! She notified the doctor of my progress and said that we were going to try some "practice pushes." With her holding one of my legs and David holding the other she had me start pushing. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is it?" I was picturing a scene right out of Knocked Up, but all I could feel was pressure with each contraction, which told me when to push. The pushing was exhausting, but I felt no pain at all. I kept thinking no way this pushing is going to result in pushing a baby out. Well, I was wrong! After about 15 minutes of the "practice" pushing she said it was time to call the doctor in.  

At our hospital the room that you labor in is also the room you deliver and recover in, which is so nice. The doctor came in with all the equipment and flipped the bright overhead lights on and suddenly the room was transformed; ready for the delivery of our baby girl.  My doctor, nurses, and David were so encouraging while I pushed. The nurses kept saying, "I knew you were going to be so great at this!" In hindsight, I'm sure they tell all their patients that. Nonetheless, it really does give you the confidence to keep up the strong pushing. The next thing I remember is the doctor saying, "Okay I think she will be out in the next push!" Really?!? I couldn't believe what I was hearing. One more push and my daughter would be in my arms? Boy was the motivation for that last push! 

At 6:44 pm, December 20th, 2012, Leah Kimberly Wood was born! I remember seeing her beautiful face and then her warm body against mine as they laid her on my chest. 

In that moment love was truly redefined. 

Our first picture as a family of 3

Daddy's little girl

These photos melt my heart

I know I have mentioned many times on my blog how lucky we are to have such amazing family and friends, but we really are so blessed to have these amazing people in our lives.

We had such an outpouring of love from all of our family and friends. We had to start turning people away from visiting us at the hospital because we weren't sleeping ;)

It truly meant the world to us

 

Our little family about to head home

Excited for our journey as a family of three :)

The night we left the hospital David drove us home and went back to CVS to pick up my prescriptions. He came home with this sweet card for Leah and me. Such a sweet thing to get from your husband the same night you leave the hospital. Leah and I are pretty lucky girls to have such a loving daddy/husband :)

The beautiful ring I got on Christmas from my hubby for the birth of our Leah. It's engraved with Leah's initials and birthday. This is my right hand ring until Leah is old enough and then it will be hers :)

Little Leah had more visitors once we got home!

We didn't get photos of all her visitors...so some important family members and friends aren't pictured :(

We would also like to take a moment to personally thank everyone for all the kind posts, messages, comments, texts, phone calls, visits, food, cards, gifts, etc. You have all made this an even more special time for us and we are forever grateful. 

Thank you!

Love, 

David, Rachel, and Leah 

{Stay tuned for the Birth Video}