Our Birth Story with Liv
First off, thank you so much for all the kind words about our little Liv. I am still getting through all the comments and emails, I wish I could respond to every single one...but know that I am reading them and I am grateful for all the love you guys are sending our way.
I have come across a lot of questions about my birth story so I thought I would do a quick post about it.
We were all set to give birth in Montreal but when the hubby's team didn't make playoffs we decided to head to our home in Kelowna BC to give birth. Being settled in our home close to family seemed too good to pass up. It was hard leaving my doctor in Montreal and leaving the house which was all set to bring baby home. But being close to family for this special time made it worth the extra work.
My due date was April 29th. I thought, and so did my doctor that the baby would come early. Boy were we wrong. We got a week past my due date and I was still progressing very slowly. That week of being overdue was so uncomfortable and filled with horrible cramping, light contractions and literally no sleep. The entire time I had been against being induced (I have had a handful of friends who had gotten induced and ended up having very hard and long deliveries). But as the days passed and still no baby I got more on board with the idea.
I didn't have an actual "birth plan" my plan was basically to ride the wave and see where that took me. So that is what I did. We checked in to the hospital exactly a week past my due date around 11am. The doctor broke my water and that got the contractions really going right out of the gate. Though, I was still progressing very slowly...even though the contractions were intense and progressing like crazy! It is funny, you always hear women talk about the pain but I definitely underestimated just how bad it would hurt. I hard labored for what seemed like a lifetime, in reality it was about and hour. But I was still only between 3-4cm, so in came the oxytocin and the epidural (hallelujah). The epidural was a game changer. It was like I was in complete darkness, I had forgotten the sun was shining and that Carey and my mother where even there. But with that amazing epidural I felt like it was a new day and I felt like a new person.
The oxytocin really did its job and I progressed from 4cm to 8cm in just a short couple of hours. Before I knew it it was go time. I pushed for about 45 minutes, then little miss Liv finally made her debut right before 8pm. She weighed 7lbs 11oz and 20.5 inches long. When the hubs announced it was a girl I was in complete shock. The entire pregnancy I was certain it was boy. I am not sure if I will ever trust my instincts again!
She was a bit "limp" (as they put it) when she came out and was having a little difficulty breathing so she was only on my chest for a few seconds before she had to be taken away. I am sure I annoyed the heck out of the nurse asking every 10 seconds if she was okay! But they got her all figured out and breathing fine just a couple minutes later so then we were finally able to get some snuggles in with our little girl.
The entire experience was very different than I had imagined and was not necessarily what I had hoped for. But at the end of it I had a healthy baby in my arms so who cares how she got there :)
We headed home from the hospital the next day. My mom stayed with us for a little over a week helping us get adjusted, which was amazing!! We sure were sad to see her go. It is just Carey and I now though, so wish us luck!! haha.
Much Love,
