Well, she is finally here! Sorry it has taken me a couple of weeks to get this posted. Ava Grace was born on November 21st at 9:58pm; the night before Thanksgiving. It was quite a birth! It was actually pretty much the way we had planned/prepared for it to be. We had hired a Doula and attended natural childbirth classes because I have some kind of weird platelet disorder that puts me at risk for paralysis with an epidural and definitely at risk for increased blood loss with a c-section. Despite the fact that I deliver anesthesia for a living, I was preparing for a very anti-anesthesia birth....and I got it.
My water broke on that Tuesday morning and we ended up going to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon at around 3pm. At about 6:30pm, still without contractions, etc., I asked Brad to run to Taco Bell and smuggle me in some tacos. He wanted to finish watching Glenn Beck, so we waited. Thank God he didn't leave. A few minutes later I started having "pressure" that was quite strong. Brad decided to time my "pressure's" and to our surprise they were 2 1/2 minutes long and less than a minute and a half apart. He called our Doula, who arrived in minutes and they got me in the hot tub. I labored there for a little over an hour and was complete and starting to push! It's amazing. Your body starts without you; it would be like trying to stop a hiccup...you can't stop the pushing...it just happens. My nurse freaked out a little and so they helped me out of the tub and onto the birthstool that my Grandfather and husband made for me. I pushed for an hour and twenty minutes sitting up on the birthstool. Brad with his arm around me on my right (I had him in a headlock!) and our Doula, Kim on my left, her student behind me and Dr. Garner squatting down in front of me. God love him! He was so amazing, patient and supportive. I have never felt so safe in all my life! Once she was born, I was able to walk over to the bed and she was nursing within 30 minutes. I was shocked that I was able to do this without drugs, an epidural, a tear, an episiotomy or even an IV. However, having said that.....my placenta didn't want to deliver and I was losing a lot of blood. I ended up having to have an IV and going to the OR to have it removed! Luckily, as soon as they got me to sleep and got gas on me, it came out without any problem. They decided not to give me any blood, despite my blood levels being extremely low. I know it will build back up in a hurry.
As you can see from the photos, Ava is a "bit" jaundiced. She had quite the bruise on her head from birth and is also exclusively breastfed, so it is not that surprising. We had to spend one night in hospital under the bili lights for her jaundice when she was a week old. She is starting to "pink up" now slowly but surely.
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