A week ago today, I delivered our baby girl: Maebry Leigh French. Mae was my Nana's middle name {whom I was super close to; she passed away in 2011} and I wanted to use it somehow. When I came across Maebry {it was spelled differently} I knew that was it and Shawn was a fan as well! And Leigh is my middle name...so I'm passing it on. :-)
To catch you up on baby current events, I went to the doctor last Monday morning and I was pretty emotional. What can I say, I was past my due date and as ready as it gets. My doctor had me come in early Tuesday at 8:45 am and he told me he was going to have the hospital monitor the baby for decreased fetal movement. Now this wasn't a lie because during the last week her activity did slow down, but probably because she was out of room! He said he was not concerned about the baby, but this would get me in labor and delivery and hopefully they would keep me. {I was still on the waiting list for the induction list.} When he checked me I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced.
Shawn and the kids stayed close by and ate breakfast while I was at my appointment. Here is some footage of them in the car that morning...love it! I walked over to labor and delivery at the hospital {it is connected to my doctor's office}, got changed and connected to the monitors around 10:00 am. My nurse monitored me for an hour and did not see anything out of the norm at all. Such a blessing to know that all was ok. I did have some contractions on my own while being monitored, but they were not consistent. She called the doctor to let him know of the results and see what he wanted to do. She told me that she told him that she did not want to release me {which is what he wanted to hear}, so I was admitted! Here we go...baby day!!
I called Shawn and let him know what all was going on. He drove the kids out to couple's house from our home group. Such a blessing and huge relief. I was hooked up to an IV at 11:15 am to help keep me hydrated. At this point in time I was really wishing I was not such a rule follower and would have ate something for breakfast! I wasn't sure what the plan was, but I decided not to eat, just in case I went to labor and delivery. Ice chips it is!! My nurse started Pitocin at 11:38 am. Shawn arrived shortly after this. I started to have some contractions, not too painful, but I could fill them. Then at 1:00 pm the doctor came in broke my water. That definitely sped up the process, as there was no more barrier. Oh and the liquid was clear, no meconium {stool} in the amniotic fluid. I was surprised since I was over a week late {there was meconium with Allyson}.
I was starting to really feel the pain, so I had my nurse check me at 2:47 pm and I was 6 cm. I was still back and forth on getting an epidural since I still felt pain with Ally and Finn with an epidural, but I wasn't sure if I was ready for delivery without one!! At this point in time I opted for some pain medicine in my IV. It toned down the pain some. Contractions were every 2-3 minutes. My nurse said that you will usually dilate a cm an hour on Pitocin, which was what I had done. I remember saying that I have another 3 hours or so until I am complete and ready to go. Geez!! Really considering the epidural at this point. Pain is increasing. I asked the nurse if the pain will get more intense, can I handle it, what should I do?? She said it will definitely get more intense the closer I get. Contractions were pretty close together, every 1.5-2 minutes. I had my nurse check me at 3:07 pm, just 20 minutes later, and I was at 9 cm. No epidural it is...all natural on this one! My nurse called the doctor and told him he needed to come. Almost go time! Did I mention I was feeling some pain?! Wowsers. My eyes stayed closed most of the time, trying to block the pain out. For the record, I am not a screamer. You can ask my hubby. ;-)
Whoa, then the pain got worse just minutes later and I felt the urge to push. It's amazing how your body tells you what to do. With Jase, they had to tell me to push {I was in epidural heaven}, and with Ally and Finn I felt the contractions coming on, but I don't think I felt the urge to push like I did with Maebry. My nurse checked me just 3 minutes later at 3:10 pm and I was 10 cm dilated and complete...this baby was ready to come out. The doctor showed up shortly after that, maybe 5 or so minutes later. I had to fight the urge to push until all was ready to go. Once I got the ok to push, I pushed during two contractions and our little blessing entered this world.
Maebry Leigh French
11/11/2014 at 3:25 pm
8 lb 2 oz
20 inches
Such a sweet sweet baby. Tons of light brown hair. And since I rarely had any indigestion with this one, this throws out the old wives tale of indigestion indicating a head full of hair. Eye color is still hard to tell. Some days they look blue and others they look brown. My oldest two have brown eyes and Finn has blue eyes. Time will tell.
Daddy left and picked up the kiddos and they just love her. It is really sweet to see them want to hold and touch her. Finn is not sure what to think about her when she cries and he usually ends up crying too. Poor guy. We just keep reminding him that's what babies do. It has definitely gotten better over the past week.
We are so blessed that Miss Maebry is here with us now. Praise the Lord for a good pregnancy, safe delivery and a healthy baby girl. She even has a cute little nickname: Mae Mae.
Psalm 127:3-5
Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.
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