Cupcakes & Running Shoes: She's Here.

Omigoodness I’m a mom. To the most precious little girl I have ever laid eyes on. And this is how it happened.

Last Sunday, if you read my blog entry, I was definitely feeling different, but trying not to get my hopes up. After I finished my worry-filled blog, I kicked back, relaxed, and had a nutritious dinner of pizza, a Krispy Kreme doughnut, and cotton candy. (Hey, I figured pregnancy was almost over – why not splurge before I would be trying to get my body back!) I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up at about 11:00pm with a sharp stomach/back pain. I honestly didn’t think anything of it other than the fact that my choice of dinner was not settling well. I tried to sleep for a few more minutes, but was awoken again a few minutes later to the same pain. Hmmm, I thought.

I got up and got ready for bed. The hub and I both settled into bed, and I quickly realized that the pains I was feeling were, in fact, contractions. I started timing them and they were 5-7 minutes apart. I did this until about 1:00am, noticing that while I could still talk through them, they were getting stronger. I called the on-call nurse, who told me I needed to walk around the house until they were 3-5 minutes apart and were so painful they stopped me in my tracks. I told my hub to get some sleep, and I retreated to the den and proceeded to pace around and watch some DVR, writing down the time and length of each contraction. I was so worried that they would just disappear, but they kept getting stronger and stronger. Around 2:15am I woke up my hub and said, “I think it’s time.” To which he replied, “Are you sure?” Well, I was as sure as I could be and was in pretty intense pain. So we gathered some last minute things, stopped by his office to get his computer, and headed to the hospital. Meanwhile, the contractions kept getting worse and worse in the car. Despite the pain, I was so excited – this was it!!!!

We went ahead and called my mom on the way to tell her we thought this was it, but to wait until we confirmed at the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 3:00am, where I was checked… 3cm dilated – woohoo! (I had only been 1 ½ at my Wednesday checkup.) I stayed in triage for an hour and was told I’d have to make progress within that hour to be admitted. Again, the contractions were increasing and I knew there was no way I could be sent home. An hour later, I was at 4cm and was admitted. All grandparents and siblings were called. We were PUMPED.

Luckily, I was given the epidural pretty quickly upon getting into a room. I was then good to go. Grandparents arrived, excitement built, and all the nurses wanted to be a part of my delivery since we didn’t know what we were having! Funny enough, every single nurse thought I was having a boy. J

Then, I got stuck at 5cm. For what felt like forever. The doctor broke my water and there was meconium in it… not good. This meant that the NICU team would need to be in the room when our little one arrived because of increased risk.

Then, my epidural wore off on my right side. I started feeling the contractions again – yikes! They had my lay on my right side to try to get the medicine to go there, which worked… except then, our baby’s heart rate started dropping during contractions and wouldn’t go back up… again, not good. They immediately put me back on my left side and had me wear an oxygen mask for awhile. I was scared, upset, and extremely uncomfortable since the contractions were back on my right side – but I was willing to do anything to make sure our baby was okay. I constantly checked the heart rate monitor and had a hard time relaxing. By this point, it was about 4:00pm and I hadn’t been to bed in over 36 hours. I really should’ve been sleeping to try to rest up for pushing, but I was too scared for our little one.

Eventually, I started progressing again – first 7cm, then 8cm, then 10cm – woohoo! I was so excited, except that our baby’s head was still not dropping low enough to begin the pushing part. Our nurse was so bummed when her shift ended at 7:00pm because she’d always wanted to deliver a surprise baby. J I was bummed, too – I thought we’d surely meet our son/daughter by then! I also wasn’t feeling great, and lo and behold I started running a fever. This was due to the meconium that had been in my water. They told me because of the fever and the baby’s position, I couldn’t push yet. This is when my frustration finally kicked in. I was tired, running a fever, and feeling contractions on the right side of my body – I was ready to get the show on the road! They had me sit up in bed to try to let gravity run its course and gave me some Tylenol. An hour later, our baby had moved down and my fever was dropping. FINALLY it was time to push!

Then there was a knock on the door, and my doctor walked in! He wasn’t on call, but decided to surprise me and my hub and deliver our baby. We were so excited! He is the BEST. He left for awhile since I needed to try some "practice pushes" to learn how to push. When I started my “practice pushes,” our baby started moving down right away. The nurse had to have me STOP pushing and breathe through contractions (which was SO hard) in order to get the NICU team ready and the doctor back in the room. Finally, it was go-time. Honestly, the pushing part was easier than I anticipated. I think I was just SO ready to meet our baby and had already endured so much… also, being able to feel the contractions ended up being a blessing in disguise because I could really tell where/how to push. Also, my hub was absolutely incredible. It makes me tear up just thinking about how supportive and positive he was, and I think that’s why the delivery went so well. He was my rock, coaching me along and telling me he could see our little one’s head (with lots of dark hair!) and just getting me pumped up enough to endure the exhaustion of pushing with every ounce of strength I had left after 21 hours of labor.

And then... she was here.

And then, my entire life made sense… my marriage became stronger, my world was complete, and I became a mom to the most beautiful, precious, perfect little girl.

At 8:19pm on 10/10/11 (my actual due date!), Cameron Kate made her appearance at a whopping 9 lbs, 13.6 ounces.

I have never in my life been so in love. It was the most beautiful, surreal moment I have ever experienced.

I remember when my hub said, “It’s a girl!!!!”

I remember when the doctor said, “Wow, it really IS a toddler!”

I remember immediately hearing her perfect little cries. A sound I’ve been waiting for since January 31^st when I took the pregnancy test.

The NICU team immediately checked her out, and while she was okay, she was running a little fever so they had to keep an eye on her for a minute. They let my hub cut the cord and immediately gave her to him. He sat down on the chair in the room and just let his emotions take him over. It was the second most beautiful moment I’ve ever experienced.

Unfortunately, due to her size and the damage done to me during her delivery, I didn’t get to have her in my arms for quite a while since the doctor needed to tend to me. It was totally worth the wait.

Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I remember them putting her in my arms.

My first thought? “She’s heavy!” My second…

“Oh.my.goodness.”

And I have fallen in love with her more every single second that has passed since the moment she entered this world.

As I type this, Cameron Kate is now a week old – Time needs to SLOW down!!! The past week has been the best and craziest of my life. Being a mom is more than I could have ever imagined. It is already the best job I will ever have. The most difficult part of it all has been my recovery. I have been a little surprised at how much my body was battered and bruised (hello, almost 10 pounds of baby!) and it’s been hard not feeling well. I’ve tried so hard to push it all aside, though, and focus on the immense amount of joy my little one brings me.

Cameron had her first checkup on Friday, and while everything looked great, she was down to 8 lbs 15.5 ounces, an almost 9% loss. They don’t like babies to lose more than 10%, so the doctor put us on a formula supplementation to bring her weight up. I was overly, hormone-ally devastated to have to use formula. I want to provide for my baby all on my own! But her health is most important, so we supplemented for 48 hours and at her checkup yesterday she was up 7 ounces… woohoo Cameron! We’re now OFF of the supplementation for 48 hours and go back tomorrow to make sure she’s not losing. I have to admit, I’m terrified she’ll be back down. But hopefully not!

We’ve had a wonderful week with lots of visitors… THANK YOU to all of the family and friends that have stopped by to say hi, send their love, or help out around the house while we venture through this awesome journey of parenthood!

I am soaking up every single moment I have with my hub while he’s home. Just as I predicted, he is the most incredible dad I have ever seen. Some of my greatest joys over the past week have come from watching him with his girl. J He goes back to work this Thursday, and it makes me so sad just thinking about it. Luckily my mom will be coming up for a week to help out – Cameron can’t wait to hang out with her Bammy!

So inbetween loving on my little girl and feeding her and attempting to nap, this post has taken me three days and many, many breaks to type… However, I really hope to keep this blog up with weekly doses of all things happening in the Peele family.

Now, of course, get ready for some pictures. J