Abbie's birthday

So let's start from the beginning. My due date had come and past so my doctor set up an induction for the 9th of march and decided that I should also go in and have a non-stress test done just to check on the baby- this was scheduled for the 7th. Each day would come and go and nothing would happen, I wasn't even really having contractions. It was kind of depressing.

Sunday night, the 6th, I started having really, really bad back pain and I could NOT sleep. It was the longest. most miserable night ever. At about 5am Brandon asked if I wanted a priesthood blessing because it was so bad. After, I felt a little better but was still hurting. At that time I started realizing that the pain would get worse every few minutes and last for about 30 seconds. Well, what do you know? I was having contractions. We decided that we should get ready to go in case they got worse/ closer together. And by this point the contractions were in my back and lower belly.

So we gathered all our stuff and headed toward the hospital- (since I would be going there anyway for the non-stress test if it wasn't labor). Oh I should mention that our hospital was in Salt Lake so we had quite a drive. On the way we called our parents to let them know and of course everyone was excited. I timed the contractions on the way and they were about 6-7 minutes apart and lasting about 45 seconds. I figured there was no way the hospital would turn us away.

We got to there at about 8 am and they admitted me temporarily to monitor if things were progressing (I was only dilated to a 3 1/2). They had me walk the halls for about an hour and then checked me again. The doctor decided that I could stay since I was going to be induced in 2 days anyway. That was such a relief! So they moved me to an actual labor and delivery room about at 9: 30. By now my contractions were starting to get a little worse, and almost right away I got an epidural, which hurt a lot but paid off in the end. Once I had the epidural in I couldn't feel a thing- it was great! My mom, 2 sisters, and mom-in-law came down for a while to visit and everything was going great!They gave me a small dose of Pitocin to help things move quicker. About 30 minutes later or so (2:30pm), I started feeling lots a pain and pressure and the nurse came in and called me wonder woman because I was dilated to a 10 and ready to go! By that point I was kind of freaking out in my mind realizing what really was happening and I was scared!

A short time later I started pushing, which lasted for about 30 minutes. During this whole part my mind was in a whirl wind. I was worrying about breathing and doing what nurse was telling me while trying to deal with the pain and I was still freaking out about the fact that a baby was coming out of me and I would be her mother! Then they called the doctor down and she was delivered within a few minutes- at 3:48 pm. She weighed 8 lbs and was 22 inches long. Her first little cry was so sweet!


Right after she was born the nurses got her cleaned up and put her on my chest, while the doctor was stitching me up. I think the stitches might have been more painful than the delivery. I was crying because of the pain but more because I was holding my new little daughter. After a little bit I fed her for the first time, and our little family got to be alone for a few minutes. That was a sweet experience. I didn't know you could love somebody so much so quickly!

About an hour after she was born they moved us to a postpartum room. Abbie had lots of visitors that day. My mom and dad, Brandon's mom and dad, my 3 sisters, and my grandma and grandpa. She also had her first bath, and I wouldn't say she loved it.


The whole night I was so happy but I think I was still in shock at everything that had happened and how quickly it happened.

The nights in the hospital were hard, probably because we were new parents and didn't really know what we were doing, and it was hard for any of us to get sleep because the nurses would come in often to check on me or Abbie. But overall I would say that our hospital stay was a positive experience and it was nice having help those first couple of days. While there, we had tons of visitors and felt very loved!



We checked out of the hospital Wednesday afternoon. The drive home was long and I was a little paranoid. I was sore and everyone knows how much I hate driving anyway, now I worry about Abbie's safety. But she enjoyed the ride and slept the whole time (as soon as we covered her with a blanket- you can't tell from the picture below).