Alexa June

On a warm September day, our lives were forever changed. At 9:45am on September 16th I was officially in active labor. The doctor broke my water and started a low dose of pitocin, I was 5 centimeters. The contractions started becoming painful around 10:30am and I requested an epidural. At that time I was 6 centimeters. To receive the epidural I had to get a full IV bag pushed & a few medicines to help my stomach. At 11:15 the anesthesiologist arrived. She was AMAZING! I had a little bit of trouble staying in the position while it was getting placed. I was having regular, painful contractions & hunching over was not something I could comfortably. It took about 20 minutes for the epidural to take full effect. At 12pm I was 9 centimeters. I could not believe how quickly I was progressing. The nurses started setting up the room for the delivery. The baby warmer was turned on, blankets were laid and many people started entering. At 1pm I started pushing. Justin held my left leg & a nurse held the right. Another nurse was counting to ten three times in a row with each contractions. At first they had to tell me when I was having a contraction. I felt as though no progress was being made & requested a mirror. I was able to watch the progress, which kept me motivated. At 2pm we could see the head getting ready to come out. The doctor had to cut an episiotomy to make it possible for Alexa to deliver. I could not feel the procedure, but could hear the skin cutting. At 2:13pm I took my last push & Alexa June arrived. She immediately started crying.

Justin watched Alexa get cleaned up & then she was placed on my chest. We had a great few minutes as a family of 3. Over the next 30 minutes our room was returned to its pre-delivery state. It was surprising to me how quickly I was disconnected from all machines and we were left alone with our baby. Justin then went out to the waiting room to announce Alexa's arrival to Grandma Sandy, Grandpa David & GB (Grandma Beth). Alexa had all of her tests done in our room. She weighed 6lbs 3 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. Later that day we were moved to the Nesting Place. This is where we would spend the rest of our hospital stay.

The first night was very surreal to me. Justin slept more than 8 hours & I slept about 2, all of the adrenaline kept me going. Alexa stayed in the room the entire night. We struggled a little bit with the breast feeding, but she slept very well besides that. I could not stop staring at her. The nurse took her out in the middle of the night for a little while to give her a bath and Hep B shot, and that was really the only sleep I was able to get.

Friday was another great day. Mom, Dad & Beth spent most of the day with us. The Pediatrician examined her and said she looked great. We could not agree more! The nurse we had that day was great! She was very friendly and helped a lot with breast feeding. Donna & David came down to visit in the evening. We also had friends stop by. Margaret Ann, who is due on Halloween got to hear me talk down the horrifying text messages I sent while in labor. And they got us a cute "Carolina Girl" Burp cloth to remind us that no matter where we go in the world. Alexa will always be a Carolina Girl! My Dr. came by in the morning and said I looked fine as well, so he went ahead and signed my discharge papers so I would not have to wait for the on-call doctor. All we needed to go home in the morning was for Alexa to be discharged and for Justin and I to do the mandatory instructional and informational things.

Friday Night was a little scary. I got a little bit more sleep. But the nurse told us that Alexa was rated an 11.9 on the Jaundice scale. And they do not let babies go home from the hospital if they are over 12.0. They took her back for a couple hours and we are guessing they put her under a UV lamp because the score went down to 9.8. The nurse we had though was fantastic. Justin liked that she had a Masters in nursing. She probably gave me the most help and encouragement in breast-feeding.

Saturday morning went very well. She passed hearing and vision, cleared the pediatrician and was good to go. We got the cars packed up. Justin and I took Alexa to settle our new family in our home. The cats were a little skittish, but have been warming up to having a new little human. After a few hours of getting everything unpacked and settled in, we let the rest of the family come over to spend time with us. We had a good visit with everyone but we were ready to spend our first night together as a family. Alexa did pretty well, there was one 2-hour period where she was fussy, but we got her over that and the rest of the night went pretty well.

Sunday morning started out with a farewell visit from Grandpa & GB. We knew they could not stay forever, but we were sad to see them leave. Later in the morning we had visits by Donna, David, Bill, Chase & Austin. During the afternoon, Alexa & I took a nap together and then we watched football as a family. Grandma stayed with us for dinner & part of the evening. I could not have asked for a better support system. Not only has she been very supportive in breast feeding but she has kept our home clean & organized. I will miss her help & company. Sunday night was the first "challenging" night. Alexa did not want to breast feed & in turn she fused all night.

Monday started our first day getting into a routine. Justin ran errands most of the day & I stayed home with Alexa. My Mom spent her last day helping us out and enjoying time with her Granddaughter. Alexa had her first bath at home. She then spent most of the day napping. Overall it has been a great few days. We are looking forward to spending the next 10 days together before Justin has to return to work. We cannot believe how in love we both are with our new daughter.