Laugh if you want, but a lady I serve with in my ward was 18 days overdue with one of her kids. You know, back in the day before they wouldn't let you be that late. Ugh. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it!
But anyhoo. Here I am, two weeks and two days after one of the most special days of my life, ready to share my story with you. But be ye warned... Because I have so successfully procrastinated writing this post, there will undoubtedly be picture overload.
You have been warned.
November 1, 2009: A beautiful Sunday, and the due date for our still unnamed daughter. Kirby and I took several walks today, totaling over 4 miles of walking. Contractions came and went, and we thought we'd be parents come that night, or maybe the following morning.
November 2, 2009: Had a peaceful nights sleep. No contractions. No baby.
November 3, 2009: At this point I was pretty resigned to the fact that I would most likely have to wait until I was induced the following day. Went shopping with Adriane and had a lovely last evening as a family of two with Kirby.
November 4, 2009:
The hospital called at 6:40 AM and "asked" us to come in at 7:30 to be induced. I rolled out of bed (the mental image of a beached whale comes to mind...), got my things together, ate breakfast, etc. etc. etc. But no shower... not enough time for that.
The drive to the hospital was relaxed--did I mention that I was still having no contractions?
We got to the American Fork Hospital a little after 7:30 and headed up to Labor and Delivery. I got my IV (ironically the part I was most worried about), and they missed the vein in my right hand, resulting in my IV being placed in my left wrist. Why was I so worried about the IV? I think it dates back to when I was in Jr. High sometime when I asked my parents about childbirth and my dad said something about them sticking an needle the size of a nail into the back of your hand... Yeah. Traumatized.
They started the pit drip around 8. For the record, I was already dilated to a 4 when we got there. How? No clue. The only contractions I ever really had were when Kirby and I decided to walk 4 miles the day I was due, and walking 4 miles only takes so long, you know? But that's where I was at.
As soon as I started feeling crampy I had them stick me with the epidural so that by the time things really got going I would already be 100% comfortable. Then I played sudoku while Kirby hung out on the couch reading his giant 1000+ page book, among other things.
By 1:45 I was fully dilated, and the nurse (who was fabulous, by the way) had me start to push.
Our daughter was born at 2:33.
It took us a little bit, but we finally decided on Emily Marie Davison.
And here are some of my favorites from after we got home... These two are from the day after she was born, when her head was still kind of swollen... But so cute!
Sleeping daddy/daughter pictures are always some of my favorites. I think they are so sweet.
And check out her lips on this one! Paha! Love it!
And because sleeping pictures are just too cute...
Emily makes some of the funniest faces in her sleep! I haven't yet captured some of the funniest...
That's my girl!
Yeah, that's a bib. My one regret about this picture. I really liked the outfit and was trying to preserve it for a visit to grandma's (from whom we received said outfit). She has managed to blow out twice while wearing it, not to mention the spit-ups, sooo... I was taking drastic action.
And yes, I have attempted some pictures in the studio. Once. I have yet to try again, but I think I'm almost over the frustration of the first attempt. To my huge surprise I actually had a couple I liked!
And because I love it... This is what I walked out of my bedroom to see just the other day... :) And yes. Emily is in there. They were having a nice friendly chat! Did I mention I love my husband!?
As for me, I'm feeling fantastic. We get decent sleep, considering she's only two weeks old. She usually eats around 10, and then again around 2 or 3, and not again until 7 or 8! Obviously, we have our more challenging nights. :) I still have a hard time believing that she used to be inside me! PAH!
So there you go! I feel a great weight of responsibility lift from my shoulders as I push the "Publish Post" button. :)
If you survived all the way to the end and want to see some more pictures from the hospital, click HERE to see the facebook album. I felt redundant reposting many of them here, so I just stuck to my favorites...
