Lara is 5 days old today!! I think things have finally settled down enough for me to update the blog (although I have been trying to do this for 2 days and am just now getting it finished!) I never imagined how tired I could be, but it is all worth it when I look at her. She is perfect, and I love her so much already!
So for those of you are interested, here is the story of her birth. Otherwise, there are pictures at the bottom!!
As soon as I found out that I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to have a natural child birth. Lucas and I began looking into some classes that we could take to prepare. After talking with a few people who had gone the natural route, we decided to take a Bradley class. The class was every Saturday for 2 hours for 12 weeks (almost like going back to school!) We are so glad that we took the class and got so much great information out of it. We definitely felt prepared when the time came to have Lara!
Anyways, back to Lara! I started having contractions on Sunday Dec. 13th. They were very irregular and not very strong, so I really wasn't thinking that she would be born any time soon. We were all hoping that Lara would make her arrival before the 22nd. (this is long as the doctor would let me go without being induced) Lucas' parents and sister arrived on Friday and my parents were planning to arrive on Tuesday, so I told Lara that she needed to wait just a couple more days so that everyone would be here for her grand arrival!
On Monday the 14th, I was still having some contractions when I woke up, but still nothing too consistent. Mom and Dad called in the morning to let us know that they were heading to Louisiana. (They had planned to stay with my aunt and uncle in Monroe for the night and head on to Alabama on Tuesday morning.) I told them I was having some contractions, but that I didn't think that Lara would be here any time soon. Lucas had to work, but was planning on coming home after lunch, so Marcos, Bete, Luiza and I decided to go to the mall to pick up some things for them to take back home. While we were at the mall I got a text from my friend Jenny who is a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital telling me not to have Lara today because it was crazy at work! Ha! I wrote her back saying not to worry, Lara was going to take her time! :-)
Lucas got home about 1:30 and we ate lunch and then decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood because it was a beautiful, semi-warm day. While we were walking, my contractions were getting a little more regular, but I decided to keep it to myself for a while (I have a much easier time dealing with things if I just try not to think about them!) We got home and decided to play Mexican Train. While we were playing I decided to just check and see how close the contractions were together. I realized that they were about 10 minutes apart. Since this is our first baby, everyone told us that labor would take a long time, so I was starting to get excited, but we learned in our Bradley class not to take contractions too seriously until you have to stop doing what you are doing because of them.
We continued playing the game, and about 8:00 I realized that they seemed to be getting a little stronger, so I decided to time them again just to see. Much to my surprise, they were about 5-6 minutes apart. I pulled Lucas aside about 8:30 and we decided that we should go ahead and tell my parents that they might want to go ahead and come on to Huntsville rather than stay in Louisiana over night. I knew that they wanted to be there when Lara was born. They decided to leave Louisiana and come on (it's a 7 hours drive from there!!) I wasn't too thrilled about then driving until 4 in the morning, but mom said that she was too excited to sleep anyways! Ha!
Lucas and I went back in, and we finished playing Mexican Train (we still had not told Lucas' family that I was in labor yet!) After we finished the game, we told them the exciting news, that Lara would be here very soon! Bete had made some veggie soup, so we decided to eat quickly and then start getting everything packed up to go to the hospital when we were ready. Bete and Luiza worked on finishing the gifts that we were going to pass out to visitors at the hospital. About 10:30, the contractions were getting really strong, so I decided to go lay down and try to get a little rest (yeah right!) Lucas and his dad put all of the bags (we had FAR too much stuff to take to the hospital! Ha! But we had planned on being there a little longer than we were!) and got Lara's car seat in the car.
Pretty quickly I realized that the contractions were too strong for me to get any rest, so it was time for Lucas to be my coach and help me through the rest of labor. I decided to take a shower and Lucas was timing the contractions (of course things did not progress exactly as we had learned that they should in our class... things never work like they are supposed to do they!?) and helping me TRY to relax during contractions...
About 2:00 contractions were less than 3 minutes apart and I was feeling a little like I needed to push (This is when Lucas got a little nervous and thought we might have waited a little long to go to the hospital... Ha!) At this point he decided it was time to go because we definitely did not want to have this baby at home! We called our friend Jenny and told her that we were on the way to the hospital. She graciously offered to come in on her day off to help deliver Lara! She will never know how truly thankful we are for her being there for us!
We arrived at the hospital at 2:30. I was so afraid that they were going to tell me that I was only 5 cm. If that was the case, I truly didn't think I would be able to really do this naturally. To my great surprise, they told me I was 8 cm!!! By the time we got the monitor on, blood drawn and the paper work all filled out, it was time to push! I can't believe that things went so quickly! Everyone told me that the contractions at the end were the worst part, and that the pushing part was easy because you knew you were almost done... I will just say that I strongly disagree with that! :-)
I have to say that this experience was the most difficult thing that I have ever done, but it was totally worth it when they put Lara in my arms at 3:41 am on December 15, 2009! Everyone keeps asking me if I would do it naturally again. After a couple of days to process everything, I can say I wouldn't do it any other way. Yes it was painful and yes it was hard, but knowing that Lara got to start out life without having any drugs in her system makes me happy that I could do this for her :-)
She has been such a happy baby from the beginning! And she is a really great eater (we went to the pediatrician today and she is already back to her birth weight on day 5!!!!) Everyone told me that newborn babies sleep the whole time while you're in the hospital. Apparently she is not like most babies... She has been very alert from the beginning and doesn't sleep near as much as I thought she would. I'll never know if her alertness is due to her birth or if that is just her personality. Regardless, I am very happy with the choice that I made, and so glad that everything turned out just the way I wanted!
Lara, your Dad and I are so happy that you are finally here, and so glad that we can now hold you in our arms! We love you!
Our sweet Lara Grace - her first picture - 1 minute old!
As soon as I found out that I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to have a natural child birth. Lucas and I began looking into some classes that we could take to prepare. After talking with a few people who had gone the natural route, we decided to take a Bradley class. The class was every Saturday for 2 hours for 12 weeks (almost like going back to school!) We are so glad that we took the class and got so much great information out of it. We definitely felt prepared when the time came to have Lara!
Anyways, back to Lara! I started having contractions on Sunday Dec. 13th. They were very irregular and not very strong, so I really wasn't thinking that she would be born any time soon. We were all hoping that Lara would make her arrival before the 22nd. (this is long as the doctor would let me go without being induced) Lucas' parents and sister arrived on Friday and my parents were planning to arrive on Tuesday, so I told Lara that she needed to wait just a couple more days so that everyone would be here for her grand arrival!
On Monday the 14th, I was still having some contractions when I woke up, but still nothing too consistent. Mom and Dad called in the morning to let us know that they were heading to Louisiana. (They had planned to stay with my aunt and uncle in Monroe for the night and head on to Alabama on Tuesday morning.) I told them I was having some contractions, but that I didn't think that Lara would be here any time soon. Lucas had to work, but was planning on coming home after lunch, so Marcos, Bete, Luiza and I decided to go to the mall to pick up some things for them to take back home. While we were at the mall I got a text from my friend Jenny who is a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital telling me not to have Lara today because it was crazy at work! Ha! I wrote her back saying not to worry, Lara was going to take her time! :-)
Lucas got home about 1:30 and we ate lunch and then decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood because it was a beautiful, semi-warm day. While we were walking, my contractions were getting a little more regular, but I decided to keep it to myself for a while (I have a much easier time dealing with things if I just try not to think about them!) We got home and decided to play Mexican Train. While we were playing I decided to just check and see how close the contractions were together. I realized that they were about 10 minutes apart. Since this is our first baby, everyone told us that labor would take a long time, so I was starting to get excited, but we learned in our Bradley class not to take contractions too seriously until you have to stop doing what you are doing because of them.
We continued playing the game, and about 8:00 I realized that they seemed to be getting a little stronger, so I decided to time them again just to see. Much to my surprise, they were about 5-6 minutes apart. I pulled Lucas aside about 8:30 and we decided that we should go ahead and tell my parents that they might want to go ahead and come on to Huntsville rather than stay in Louisiana over night. I knew that they wanted to be there when Lara was born. They decided to leave Louisiana and come on (it's a 7 hours drive from there!!) I wasn't too thrilled about then driving until 4 in the morning, but mom said that she was too excited to sleep anyways! Ha!
Lucas and I went back in, and we finished playing Mexican Train (we still had not told Lucas' family that I was in labor yet!) After we finished the game, we told them the exciting news, that Lara would be here very soon! Bete had made some veggie soup, so we decided to eat quickly and then start getting everything packed up to go to the hospital when we were ready. Bete and Luiza worked on finishing the gifts that we were going to pass out to visitors at the hospital. About 10:30, the contractions were getting really strong, so I decided to go lay down and try to get a little rest (yeah right!) Lucas and his dad put all of the bags (we had FAR too much stuff to take to the hospital! Ha! But we had planned on being there a little longer than we were!) and got Lara's car seat in the car.
Pretty quickly I realized that the contractions were too strong for me to get any rest, so it was time for Lucas to be my coach and help me through the rest of labor. I decided to take a shower and Lucas was timing the contractions (of course things did not progress exactly as we had learned that they should in our class... things never work like they are supposed to do they!?) and helping me TRY to relax during contractions...
About 2:00 contractions were less than 3 minutes apart and I was feeling a little like I needed to push (This is when Lucas got a little nervous and thought we might have waited a little long to go to the hospital... Ha!) At this point he decided it was time to go because we definitely did not want to have this baby at home! We called our friend Jenny and told her that we were on the way to the hospital. She graciously offered to come in on her day off to help deliver Lara! She will never know how truly thankful we are for her being there for us!
We arrived at the hospital at 2:30. I was so afraid that they were going to tell me that I was only 5 cm. If that was the case, I truly didn't think I would be able to really do this naturally. To my great surprise, they told me I was 8 cm!!! By the time we got the monitor on, blood drawn and the paper work all filled out, it was time to push! I can't believe that things went so quickly! Everyone told me that the contractions at the end were the worst part, and that the pushing part was easy because you knew you were almost done... I will just say that I strongly disagree with that! :-)
I have to say that this experience was the most difficult thing that I have ever done, but it was totally worth it when they put Lara in my arms at 3:41 am on December 15, 2009! Everyone keeps asking me if I would do it naturally again. After a couple of days to process everything, I can say I wouldn't do it any other way. Yes it was painful and yes it was hard, but knowing that Lara got to start out life without having any drugs in her system makes me happy that I could do this for her :-)
She has been such a happy baby from the beginning! And she is a really great eater (we went to the pediatrician today and she is already back to her birth weight on day 5!!!!) Everyone told me that newborn babies sleep the whole time while you're in the hospital. Apparently she is not like most babies... She has been very alert from the beginning and doesn't sleep near as much as I thought she would. I'll never know if her alertness is due to her birth or if that is just her personality. Regardless, I am very happy with the choice that I made, and so glad that everything turned out just the way I wanted!
Lara, your Dad and I are so happy that you are finally here, and so glad that we can now hold you in our arms! We love you!
Our sweet Lara Grace - her first picture - 1 minute old!
7 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long
My first picture as a Mom with my sweet Baby Lara
Daddy & Lara
First family photo! Please excuse my nasty looking hair...
All cleaned up - our beautiful baby girl!
She has already changed so much in just 5 days! I will be better about posting pictures I promise!
My first picture as a Mom with my sweet Baby Lara
Daddy & Lara
First family photo! Please excuse my nasty looking hair...
All cleaned up - our beautiful baby girl!
She has already changed so much in just 5 days! I will be better about posting pictures I promise!
She is beautiful you guys!! Jen (you silly girl who is apologizing for her hair after she went through a NATURAL child birth!) you look beautiful! :) Next time you guys make it to the Waco area let me know, that's only 30 minutes north of me and I would love to see all three of you again!!! :)
We are so excited for you, Jen and Lucas! Lara is just beautiful and she is very lucky to have you both as parents! And who knew being Granna and Granpa could be this much fun already!! Hang in there! You're doing a great job!! We love you, Mom and Dad
Hi! I just read your birth story and wow - I am so excited that you had a natural childbirth! We had wanted to do the same, and had also taken Bradly Classes. But with a preemie, well, sometimes we have disappointments in life. (But I got a healthy baby out of the deal, so it wasn't all bad!) Anyway, congrats for wanting to do it naturally, and I'm so glad that it worked out beautifully! Lara is a doll and I can't wait to see her in person.
Carissa :)