Violet Leighann
Born Feb 19th at 10:05 pm
Weighed 8 lbs, 10 oz
Measured 20 3/4"
Thursday morning I took Lily to school and then came home to meet Lee for lunch. I walked down the stairs and said to Lee, "I don't know why, but I think either tonight or tomorrow is Violet's birthday." I can't explain how I felt, just off and like it was THE DAY. My contractions started about an hour later and so we had our Doula meet us for lunch as well. I started to feel very nauseated so I ended up not eating anything and we called my OB.
At my OB's office, my internal showed that I was 3 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. Violet had moved up a bit as she was now only a -2 station instead of the -1 station she had been the week before. They wanted to do an NST and as soon as I laid down on the bed, my contractions started easing up. When I walked around or stood up, they were definitely there but getting in the bed really slowed things down. The OB said we could leave and just call or come back if things picked back up.
Carol, my Doula, thought that it would be a good idea to go pick me up some pads at CVS as she planned on having me walk my heiny off and was hoping we could get my water to break. Turns out we didn't have to do much walking... I had to pee so I used the restroom at CVS and as soon as I sat down my water broke. We needed to get a few items over to my friend's house for Lily, so Carol and I went to go get me some food and head to the hospital while Lee headed to drop off the stuff.
At the hospital, Carol and I got lost and I was leaving puddle trails behind me, LOL. We finally found L&D and got me all checked in. Contractions were steady at 2 1/2 minutes apart and lasting about 45 seconds and I was feeling awesome. I had to be monitored for a bit to make sure that Vivi was handling labor well and Lee arrived very shortly after we wrapped that up. At this point I was 4 cm and 70% effaced so we hit the halls to get labor moving along. Contractions were picking up and I found that if I "slow danced" with Lee while Carol did hip squeezes that I would barely register anything more than minimal discomfort during a contraction. Unfortunately it was time to monitor Vivi again (had to do it for 20 minutes every hour) so we headed back to the room where I got back in bed and all hooked up again.
During this monitoring session, we also ran a quick dose of antibiotics as I was GBS+. I am allergic to all of the antibiotics available for GBS so they also ran a dose of Benadryl at the same time. I truly hated getting the Benadryl, it made me so drowsy that I was having a hard time focusing on my relaxation during contractions. Once the monitoring session was up, we got me on the birth ball in the shower. Lee was in charge of the shower head and did an awesome job of directing the hot water where and when I had pain. Carol worked with me on deep, relaxation breathing and once again I was able to handle contractions well. This went on for an hour or so and then all of a sudden, it was ON. My next contraction was so powerful and intense that a scream just tore from deep inside me and came barrelling out. At that point Carol said we should get me checked because I most likely just hit transition and things were about to move FAST.
We got me back in the bed to be checked which was awful. Ugh, I hated being strapped down to that bed, I lost any ground I'd had with pain management every time I had to lay down. A quick check revealed that I was 6 cm and fully effaced. I got out of bed right away and started moaning and yelling that I didn't think I could do this. Both Lee and Carol were right there helping me to get refocused and telling me that I was doing awesome and I could definitely do it. Carol told me that I would be pushing soon and I'll be honest, I thought the woman was out of her tree. I thought I still had hours and hours left to go. My contractions were now one right on top of the other and they had this cascading effect, each one was more powerful than the last and there was never a break in between. Ten minutes later and I was 7 cm and again I was crying that I wouldn't be able to do this without meds. Carol convinced me to go a little longer and twenty minutes later I was 9 cm, almost 10.
At that point, Carol told me that there was no way I needed an epidural, I would be pushing any minute and that it would feel so good to push. I gave her this crazy-eyed looked and thought, "This woman is HIGH, how can pushing possibly feel GOOD?" With the next contraction, my mind totally gave up and let my body take over. I couldn't stop myself from pushing and it felt AMAZING. And wouldn't you know it, three pushes later and Violet was here! They lifted her up on my chest and the first thing I thought was, "LOOK AT ALL OF THAT HAIR!"
She was so alert and had this "Holy cow, what just HAPPENED?!" look on her face, haha. I had one teeny, tiny tear that my OB said probably didn't need to be stitched but she was going to do one just to be safe anyway. After all of that was done, we were able to get her nursing and Lee, Violet, and I got to spend some together before the staff started the newborn assessments. Everything about her was and is perfect and for that I will forever feel blessed.
Our Doula:
Lily meets Violet:
Sissy Kissy:
My three loves:
Birth announcement:
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Violet Leighann's Birth Story
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