When I found out I was pregnant it came as a shock. We had happily given up on having kids so it wasn't a good shock. My pregnancy was pretty much by the book. Every appointment it seemed I had gained the normal amount of weight, the baby was growing at a normal rate and everything looked very normal. Where I was very happy that both the baby and I were healthy, I couldn't seem to get excited about having a baby.
Wednesday 1/29: My due date came...and went.
Thursday 1/30: My neighbor told me that he had a dream I would go into labor while watching the Superbowl that Sunday. Meric and I actually thought that wouldn't be too bad.
Friday 1/31: I went to my next doctors appointment. She told me I was at 2 and 50. (All you mothers out there know what that means.) We discussed a couple of options and decided to schedule another appointment for the next week.
Saturday 2/1: I woke up at 4:30 in the morning with some mild cramps. I drank some water and went back to bed to see if they would go away. They didn't. Around 5:30 Meric woke up and asked me if I was doing okay. I told him I was pretty sure the baby wasn't waiting until Superbowl Sunday. We both got up at that point and Meric took care of a few things around the house while I timed my contractions. Once they got to be every 5 minutes and lasted for about a minute we figured we better head to the hospital.
We got there around 7:30 and I was at a 4 and 70. The nurse told me that they would check me again in an hour to see if those numbers had changed before I would be officially admitted. The next time I was checked I had advanced to 5 and 80. After being admitted and getting my IV I toughed out a few more contractions before asking for a little something to help with the pain. Not an epidural just an IV pain killer to take off some of the edge. It helped for a couple of hours and then I asked for some more. She checked to see my progress before giving me more painkillers only to discover that I was at a 9 already. She told me at that point I could have the doctor break my water and I would be good to start pushing to have the baby. When the doctor broke my water it had a brown tinge to it which meant the baby had had a bowel movement. Meconium is the term for it and it can be common in babies that are overdue but it is dangerous because it gets into their lungs. This meant that we had to keep a monitor on baby and clear out those lungs as soon as possible. I started to push and an hour later my baby was born. Once she came out everything went very fast. She was covered in meconium and coughed a bunch out as soon as she was born. Meric wasn't able to cut the cord because they had to get her cleaned up and clear out her lungs as quickly as possible. (I understand why he wasn't able to cut the cord but it makes me a little sad he didn't get to.)
It wasn't too long before they handed me the most precious baby girl. Only then did I start to cry a little because I couldn't believe she was mine. (Sometimes it is still hard to wrap my head around the fact that I am her mom.) Meric and I had been torn between two names and had been waiting until she was born to make our final decision. Once I saw her I knew she was a Mel. (Mel means honey in Portuguese) She is our sweet little Mel Leia. And not that I am bias but I have the most adorable baby ever. She is such a calm and happy kid and she will melt anyone's heart with her big blue eyes and smile.
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