Remember

I was thinking today about Georgia's birthday and there are some details that I would like to remember so I'm writing them down in the order in which they happened.

- My L and D room was either COLD or HOT.  We could control the A/C but it either blew very cold air or very hot air...nothing in between.  We went with cold and the nurses brought Jonathan and I warm blankets.  I was so cold at some points I was literally shaking and this was before my labor even started.  The day I had Georgia my mom had to go buy Jonathan a sweat shirt to wear because he was so cold.

- I checked into the hospital at 8pm on Monday and was told I could only eat a light dinner before I checked in and could not eat again until after the birth.  I ate at 5:00 pm before I checked in and was SURE I would be starving by the time delivery came around but I wasn't.  I was shocked!  I never even thought about food but I did eat some ice.

- When the dr. came in and broke my water in the morning and saw that there was a lot of meconium I was initially a little worried because if the baby breathes it in they can get an infection but my dr. was so calm about the whole thing.  That's one reason why she was so great.  Nothing was a big deal to her - everything is normal - she is very calm.  I loved that about her.

- When my contractions started the were instantly off the chart.  They were very painful but I managed it by taking them one at a time.  The tough ones are the ones that are stacked.  A new contraction starts before the last one was over.  I sat on the end of my bed, hands behind me and sitting straight up with perfect posture.  I was sitting indian style and when a new contraction would start (about every 2 minutes) I would just close my eyes and breathe really slowly and deeply and tell myself this one will soon pass.  Mine would alternate between back contractions and lower abdomen contractions.  The stacked ones would be both.  I never cried or screamed or lost control in anyway.

- Getting an epidural does not hurt.  The doctor numbs your back with 3 or 4 tiny shots that you hardly feel before the epidural so you never even feel it.  Plus, the tiny shots that you can feel don't even compare to your contractions so it's a welcomed tiny little stick.  I never realized until afterwards when people were asking me about it but some people think an epidural goes into your spine.  An epidural goes into the space between your vertebrae so it's not going into your bone.  I already knew this so I wasn't worried.  Oh, and Jonathan wasn't allowed to be in the room while I was getting it done which I didn't like and it took about 15 minutes...Jonathan was a bit irritated to have to wait outside.  The worst part is sitting hunched over your big tummy waiting for a contraction to pass so the doc can put in the epidural.  Even with the full epidural I could still move my legs, feet, and toes, I just couldn't really feel them.

- Almost immediately after the epidural I got "the shakes" which is totally normal and they only intensified after the birth for about and hour or so.  After the epidural I napped off and on, hardly even noticing my contractions.  I would just lay on my side and Jonathan would push down on my shoulder really hard to steady my body from the shaking so I could fall asleep.

- I always thought the nurse would count through my contractions while I was pushing.  She didn't.  She gave me a cheery and encouraging, "push!push!push!push!push!" and my dr. would say, "good job, Emily!"  The delivery was so calm.  I only pushed for about 20 minutes (8 or 9 contractions) and for the first 15 minutes it was just Jonathan and my one nurse.  The last 5 minutes my dr. came in and all the baby nurses came in for Georgia.  I had to stop pushing to wait for my dr. to get all her gear on so that G wouldn't come before everyone was ready.  I would close my eyes and push until I felt like I was about to pop a blood vessel in my face then take a deep breath and do it again.  Usually 3 times per contraction and sometimes 4.  Honestly, it didn't hurt, I was happy throughout the entire delivery, and between pushing Jonathan and I were joking and laughing with the nurse and dr.

- As Georgia was coming out my dr. said, "she has a head full of blonde hair" and I immediately thought, "what???"  The first thing Jonathan said when she was born was, "She's perfect.  She's perfect."  He cut the cord and watched the entire time.  Not like he was down there with the doc but the room was tiny so he kind of had no choice.

- When I first saw her it was the strangest thing.  All I could think was, "how was she in there...she looks huge".  It's really hard to explain all the other emotions that come along with seeing your child for the first time.  Sorry if this sounds vulgar but you totally forget that your legs are spread wide open, that you're half naked, and in my case I had 2 spot lights illuminated my bottom half and didn't even care.  I just watched closely as my doctor suctioned Georgia to make sure her lungs were poop free and totally forgot about everything else.

- My doctor came in later while I was feeding Georgia and looked at her and said, "she's beautiful" and I felt so proud!