Leah made her grand arrival at 5:52am weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. She was healthy, crying, and with visible dark hair! Oh what a night!
Continued from the previous post...
Once I was transferred to L&D, we knew we had a 24 hour observation period. When the OB first came into the room to check on me, we discussed induction and sending us home with our baby in that 24 hours. Since I was GBS+ and would need antibiotics coverage, we decided to go ahead with things since we were here. I was also exactly 39/0 weeks placing me as a induction candidate.
Around midnight my first dose of antibiotics was finished infusing. We needed to wait 4 hours before doing anything else. During those 4 hours, we tried to get some sleep, but it was hard because I was contracting and generally uncomfortable. They were doing continuous fetal monitoring to watch the baby closely and I couldn't move freely because of that. After a few 'eye rests,' it was time to proceed.
My contractions had started to slow down and space out. It was around 3:30am when the doctor broke my water and we talked about starting Pitocin to help bring my contractions back more regularly. I was now 4cm dilated and 50% effaced. Pitocin was started at 1 unit around 4am and would be titrated up by 1, every 30 mins until my contractions were consistent.
After they broke my water and started the Pit, I asked if I could stand at the bedside to stretch and move a little. I was really starting to stiffen up in my neck, shoulders, and back from the accident. I knew that if I could move, it would help me start to feel better. Since I couldn't actually walk around due to the continuous baby monitoring, just standing was okay with me.
Around 5am was when I really started to feel generally uncomfortable. I continued to stand and rock at the bedside, leaning on the bed in between contractions to keep stretching my body/back. I 'gently' encouraged John to go out to the car and bring our bags in, especially the camera, to have in the room for later. He came back and started to unpack a few things.
Around 5:40 or so, I asked John to call the nurse because I was starting to sweat and become more uncomfortable. I figured I would have her check me to see how far things had moved along since starting the process. She came in, helped me back into bed, and checked me. I was 6-7 and 80% effaced. I asked if I could get back up and stand at the bedside since that felt better than lying in bed, but she asked me to stay put because the fetal monitoring hadn't been reading very well. She wanted a good 15 minute strip and then would let me get back up. At the same time, I also felt the need to.. uh-hum, go to the bathroom. I knew I wouldn't be allowed to actually sit on the toilet, but she offered some assistance for me in bed. So as I'm uncomfortably trying to go, the chaos ensues.
She politely asks me to stop pushing because the baby's head is now visibly crowning. (Side note- please don't ever tell a laboring patient to stop pushing.. I mean, really?!). Nurses come running in to help, the NICU team is called because baby's heart rate has dropped a few times, but my OB and fellow are in an emergency c-section and not immediately available. An oxygen mask is applied to my face, I can feel John standing at the bedside now rubbing my head, no doubt freaking out once again because the room is a crazy mess of people rushing in and out. As hard as I tried not to push, it didn't matter. The nurse successfully delivered baby's head as another resident quickly put on a sterile gown/gloves to help. At this time, my OB fellow quickly rushed in, prepped, and was instructing me to push hard, her shoulders were stuck. Push hard, now that I can do! After a push or 2, she was out, crying, and placed onto my chest.
In the span of about 10 mins, I had progressed from 6-7cm/80% to complete (10cm/100% effaced) and baby completely delivered. Talk about a whirlwind experience!
Thankfully our little GIRL was healthy, pink, crying, and ever so unbelievably perfect!!
Proud and exhausted Daddy
Absolutely blessed There is nothing greater than a Mother's love
We were moved over to Mother Baby and able to sneak in a few moments of sleep before John's parents brought Hannah and Noah to the hospital around 10am to meet their new baby sibling.
We still hadn't told anyone that we had a girl because we wanted the kids to see her and find out what we had first. When they walked into the room, they were hesitant, but Hannah immediately walked over to see the baby. We asked her if she thought it was a boy or girl and she said, "its a girl, I just know it". Sure enough, she was right. We introduced both kids to their new baby sister, Leah!
The kids were more intrigued with the hospital gloves....
LaMacchia's -- Party of 5!
Grandpa and Grandma meeting their new grand baby!
Leah's first bath :)
Squeaky clean from her bath Daddy has the magic touch
Lots of snuggles with Mommy
And 30-ish hours later, we were headed home. Both John and I were ready to sleep in our own bed and be able to relax in our home. We were ready to begin our journey as a family of FIVE!
We are so incredibly blessed for our family and friends who were willing and able to help when everything was unfolding. Our neighbors, the Speidels, who graciously watched our older 2 for John to rush to be by my side at the accident until his parents arrived. My in-laws who jumped immediately when John called them to be with Hannah and Noah, inadvertently being stuck behind my car and the ambulance as it blocked Airport Rd on their way to our house, but being able to peek in on me in the ambulance and have a sense that I was okay. And also, for assisting us with drop off's, pick ups, and any other transportation issues we needed help with as we didn't have a second vehicle for a couple weeks. We could not have done it without their help.
And of course, all of the phone calls, texts, and visitors stopping to say hello and make sure we were all okay. It was certainly a scary experience, but thankfully, both Leah and myself were perfectly fine.
And with that, our journey continues, One Step at A Time :)
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