She's Here!

Before I get too far post-delivery, I figured I better document the whole event. It was pretty much the biggest day of my life... and one of the longest too. Sterling Joy Ipsen was born March 2, 2012 at 6:50 a.m., though it was pretty painful before the epidural, I have to admit, it's a good thing I waited until age 29 to have my first baby or I would probably be tempted to have six kids -- it was that easy. Not easy, but easy compared to what one would think of when passing something the size of a watermelon through a vagina...TMI? 30 hours of labor was a bit much, but the 15 minutes or so of pushing kind of offset the misery of sitting in a delivery room for so long.

So, the story...I will try to be as brief as possible...probably not brief at all.

My mom and sister were all set to come out on March 1 but as the day got closer, they wanted to come out early. I kept telling them to wait because I was certain I would go way over due because things were just too boring and easy at 40 weeks prego. After sitting at home in Utah and feeling helpless, my mom got antsy and still wanted to come early but I told them to wait because I didn't want to be sitting here in California waiting on a baby that wasn't ready to come. They arrived on February 29 at about 8 p.m.

Being sooo ready to meet our little girl, I had already been eating spicy food, walking a lot and trying the safe old wives tales to coax Sterling here a little sooner. When my mom and sister got settled in, my mom got out some aromatherapy oils and rubbed by feet (another old wives tale that I no longer think is just a tale). My mom finished rubbing my feet and ankles at 10:30ish and we all went to bed. As I was laying in bed I started to have pains and decided to time them -- they were about 11 minutes apart. I told Logan but we just went to sleep anyways.

At about 2 a.m. I woke up and was still having strong - albeit very manageable - cramps. I timed them and they were 10 minutes apart. By this time I was too anxious to sleep (had I realized sleep would be so rare in the upcoming days, I probably would have tried harder to sleep) so I went downstairs and laid on the couch and watched the clock. The cramps stayed consistent until about 6 a.m. I just laid on the couch realizing that my house would never feel the same again -- I was in labor! I couldn't feel the contractions with my hand like I did with braxton hicks, but the cramps were stronger and too consistent to be a coincidence.

My sister came downstairs at 6 a.m. and I told her what I thought was happening. As the rest of the house woke up and became aware of the news, I called work and told them I wouldn't be back for a few weeks. We all planned our day, got ready and headed out to stay busy and time contractions...about 8 minutes apart at that point. I love that no one got anxious. The day was very relaxed and fun. My mom, my sister and I went to exchange some duplicate baby gifts, get pedicures and go grocery shopping while Logan ran some errands and got his hair cut. As we were out on the town, my contractions became very irregular sometimes every 30 minutes sometimes every 6 minutes. I feared it was false labor. But as we were getting our pedicures, my contractions came back...every 8 minutes. I swear it's the foot rub!

We met Logan for lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant and I had the eggplant parmesan - another old wives tale and a decision I would later regret. As the contractions got more painful, Logan and I decided to bypass grocery shopping and head home to call the doctor. At 7 minutes apart when we called, the doctor told us to head to the hospital when we reached 5 minutes apart for an hour. When my mom and Ashlee got back from shopping, we headed to the hospital.

When we arrived, it was about 2 p.m., and was raining. As it turns out, rain and linoleum are a bad combo. As we hustled through the doors to labor and delivery check-in, I ate crap! I fell pretty hard and was terrified that something could have happened to the baby. After we were checked-in, the nurse checked my blood pressure, which was sky high. My blood pressure had been perfect the entire pregnancy (minus my appointment the day before when Logan and I had just had a good fight) I tried to convince the nurse it was because of the fall and I was just upset (like I was the day before) but to no avail, I was going to be monitored for preclampsia. Awesome. So they took some blood, I peed in a cup and and then I got to be hooked up to a blood pressure cuff for the next three hours... I learned that not being able to walk or move during contractions is TERRIBLE! I also got checked for dilation shortly after check in and was only at a 3 but was 100% effaced. Next time I will be sure to stay more calm leading up to delivery because sitting still during contractions was the most painful thing I have ever experienced...so painful I couldn't cry and puking was the only other option... I did this a few times...which is why I regret the lunch decision earlier in the day.

After they got the blood results back and cleared me to have the BP cuff taken off, I was still in SOOO much pain but found that walking or making Logan hug me during the contractions took the edge off a bit. When I was finally at a 5.5, one of my doctors (aka, the Good Witch) said I could have my epidural but that the anasthesiologist was in a c-section so it might be a bit of a wait. About three years (I kid but it was HELL waiting) later he finally came in to give me some drugs. The dork tried to make me watch an epidural warning video but I was sooo relieved when one of the labor and delivery nurses told him, "Doctor, I don't really think she has the attention span to watch a movie right now." So a head nod then seemed sufficient for him to see that I understood the risks of having an epidural. After about another half hour my mom and sister had arrived and after a short visit from my mom, my sister came in to watch the epidural administration with Logan. Shortly after the heaven-sent doctor gave me my drugs (about 6 p.m.), I was off to the delivery room. During the journey down the hall Logan claims I told every nurse or doctor we passed that I loved them. I had pain medicine, not cocaine and alcohol, I think I would remember such a statement coming from my mouth...but, at any rate, I did love them so I guess there is nothing wrong with telling them.

After we got to the delivery room, we settled in for a long night. At this point, shift changed had occurred so another one of my doctors (aka the Wicked Witch) was on call. To keep it more brief...since I am not succeeding at that so far...my mom and Ashlee went to dinner, Logan and I hung out, my mom and Ashlee came back with dinner for Logan (turns out I'm a puker so no dinner for me). I was only at about a 7 by 9 p.m. and my water had not yet broken and the Wicked Witch who is a conservative, natural-medicine-type lady didn't want to break my water....so we waited and waited. Ashlee and my mom went home to sleep for a while. Logan slept in a terribly uncomfortable looking recliner and I, buzzed from world's best drugs, chewed on some ice and peed in a catheter all night. At about midnight I was at a 9...my water was still intact. My mom and Ashlee came back at about 4. I was dilated to a 9.5 and my doctor still wanted things to happen the natural way...though my body thought that was a joke.

My labor and delivery nurse was great. I think I liked her more because every time she called the doctor she ended the conversation with an eye roll. At about 5 a.m., the nurse said she was going to check me again for dilation and this time she was going to "be aggressive." I was at a 10 and then I had a sensation I haven't felt in years -- bed wetting...and wetting and wetting. Prior to going into labor I was terrified I was going to have a 10 lb baby girl but as my water drained and my belly got a little smaller, I kept saying things like, "she might not be that big after all."

My nurse started doing practice pushes with me at about 6:10. I guess she could see the head all along but the Wicked Witch didn't see any urgency in rushing down to help. At about 6:40 a.m., the nurse finally got the doctor to show up to catch the baby. Right before the doctor got there, a new nurse arrived for shift change and had a student with her. I approved the student to watch, so between shift change, my family and the student, Sterling had a large audience for her debut.

I really wasn't all that emotional about giving birth or becoming a mom, but after about 15 minutes of pushing (most of it without a doctor present) she just came right out. "Forget that I am a mom," I thought to myself. "Did you all just see what I did!?" Then I looked at my mom and she was teary...and my sister was teary...and the student was crying. Then I saw Sterling and I thought, "There is no way she is 10 pounds!" They weighed her and then set her on my chest...and then I started crying. It was the most profound moment of my life. I was amazed that I had accomplished what I had (with relative ease) and I was amazed that she was sooo perfect.

I wish I could say that healing has been a piece of cake. It hasn't been. And breastfeeding is hard. But I would do it all over again a thousand times just to enjoy the last two weeks like I have. She is the cutest, sweetest, best baby ever. She looks just like her dad, but I am convinced she gets her temperment from me:) She is already sleeping through the night once in a while and only cries when she is hungry or needs a new diaper. She's pretty much a dream baby.

Before leaving for the hospital. 40 weeks to the day!

A long wait...

7 lbs. 7 oz. at birth, 7 lbs. 2 oz at hospital discharge. She lost a full pound by her one week appointment and was back to her discharge weight by the second week appointment.

Mom's first photo leaves a little to be desired.

Dad looks a lot better...and a lot happier:)

Ready to go home!

We are so grateful for all the friends and family who have visited, sent gifts, called or brought meals. Being parents is not easy, but I'd say probably the best job ever, cliche as it may sound. It was great to have my mom and sister here for moral support and to help around the house. I don't know what we would have done without them. My dad and stepmom also drove out the day she was born to meet her, bring her some gifts and then drove back home. We have had so much support and encouragement. Welcoming Sterling has really been a wonderful experience. We are so excited to introduce her to everyone who has yet to meet her!