Welcome Baby Leila!

Remember how I said I was ready to meet this baby?  She listened!  And, even better, we did it all on our own without being induced. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's go back to how it all started.

Since the ultrasound on Thursday, I had resigned myself to not having a baby during the weekend.  I even went to a bridal shower in Ogden Saturday morning.  I felt fine--well, as fine as a 39 week pregnant woman ever feels.  A couple nights in a row I had some emotional freakouts (sad to happy to mad to happy within an hour), but other than that, everything was status quo.

I fell asleep watching a movie around 9 Saturday night.  Jason put me to bed, then finished the movie.  Looking back, he wishes he would have gone to bed with me.  Around 1am I started having contractions.  These were really the first contractions I'd experienced, so I took my time in waking up Jason.  I tried switching positions and walking around, but the contractions still seemed fairly regular.  So, after about 20-25 minutes, I woke up Jason and told him that we needed to start timing these and decide whether or not to go to the hospital.

The contractions were just irregular enough to make us doubt going.  We timed for another hour before deciding that we needed to go, just in case.  The worst that would happen is us getting sent home.  So, we loaded up the hospital bag and checked into the hospital around 2:45am.  They put me in a room to observe me for an hour and I still wasn't convinced I was in labor.  All doubts were solved an hour later when I had progressed from a 3 to a 5 and the nurse told me I wasn't going home.

I texted my mom and told her we were definitely having a baby.  She was so excited and could hardly get ready fast enough to join us at the hospital.  Meanwhile, I got all settled into my labor & delivery room and they got me prepped for my epidural.  Unfortunately, I don't have the easiest veins to stick needles into, so putting my IV in took some work by both nurses trying two different sites.  The first place they tried was the back of my hand and it failed, miserably.  It was swollen within minutes and I knew I'd have a nasty bruise there.  Thankfully they finally got it into my arm and I got my epidural.  I am definitely a fan of epidurals!  Once that kicked in, the rest of the labor was a breeze.  

Waiting

I went from a 5 to a 6 within the next hour, but then the progress slowed down a bit.  My parents left to get some breakfast so that Jason and I could try and take a little nap.  Since Jason had only gotten an hour of sleep before the contractions started, he fell asleep pretty quick.  I had too much racing through my brain to do much more than rest my eyes and relax. 

At one point, probably around 7:30am, the nurse came into the room followed quickly by my doctor.  They had seen baby's heartbeat drop a bit and had come to see why.  They put an oxygen mask on me and her heartbeat quickly recovered.  Dr. Allen asked if I was feeling more pressure and I told him no.   They all left after checking the placement of my monitors and I settled back into my state of relaxation.

20 minutes later, they all came into the room again because the monitor monitoring baby's heart rate wasn't picking it up anymore because she had dropped down lower.  They repositioned the monitor and I mentioned to the doctor that the pressure was starting to increase.  He checked and surprised me (and a half asleep Jason) by saying that I was complete and it was time to start pushing.

I pushed during one set of contractions and the doctor noticed that baby was twisted a little bit and not wanting to come down on her own.  Also, she was low enough that her heart rate was once again dropping, so he decided he needed to use forceps to help out.  Once he had the necessary equipment, I pushed again and again and out she came at exactly 8:15am on October 9.

Jason looked a little flushed and all of the nurses were concerned he was going to fall over.  But he cut the umbilical cord before taking a seat with his head between his legs while one of the nurses brought him some juice.

The team dried baby off and gave her to me and I couldn't believe it.  She was actually here.  I was officially a mom.  I can't even describe the immense love I felt for her instantaneously.

Saying "Hi" to Mom

The nurses then took her away to get all of your stats while the doctor delivered the afterbirth.  Then she was right back in my arms.  All 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches of her.  She was healthy.  She was perfect.  Unfortunately, since she decided to come so fast, I did tear a bit and the doctor had to take his time stitching me up.  But they left her with me until he was done, so I didn't mind one bit.

First Family Picture

My parents had made it back to the waiting room just in time to hear your first cries and were overjoyed when they got to meet her. 

Eventually they took her away to get her cleaned up and perform a few more tests.  Jason went with her to take some pictures and oversee the whole process while I was transferred to my room.

The first thing I did when I got to my room was order room service because I was starving!  Thankfully the food was really tasty AND I no longer had to watch my diet.  Needless to say, I loaded up on the carbs.  Jason brought baby back to me and the pediatrician gave her the all clear.  She had a clean bill of health, and I couldn't have been happier.

Working the Tongue

During our stay at the hospital, we had several visitors including: Uncle Jared and Aunt Annie, my Aunt Debbie, Uncle Bryan, cousin Laura and her husband David, my friend/work supervisor Sally and her husband David, my Aunt Janae, and great Grandma and Grandpa Larsen.  Everyone remarked how beautiful she was and instantly fell in love with her.  Who could blame them?

Getting to Know Uncle Jared and Aunt Annie

We brought her home from the hospital today and are "ready" to start this new chapter of our lives with her!

Leila Kay Ziebarth
6 pounds 9 ounces, 20 inches
October 9, 2011 at 8:15am