Better late than never to write Macie's birth story, right? It's "only" been 8 and a half months since Macie was born and I realized I've never written her birth story down anywhere. I hope I remember it as good as I would have the day after. . . Unlikely!
I was due September 23rd and I went into the doctors for an appointment on the 21st. My doctor checked me and I hadn't progressed any AT ALL. I thought he was going to tell me we could set an induction date for that week and I thought I was going to come out of that appointment knowing when I was going to have Macie. Instead, he told me to come back Friday- two whole days after my due date. And if you've ever been pregnant you know how crappy that news is. I held it together but when I got to the car I broke down. Caden tried to tell me how good it was and that Macie needed to cook as long as she wanted to be in there. But I wanted to see my beautiful baby girl. I did not want to come back in 4 days later hoping to get good news, only to be told I needed to keep waiting longer.
September 24th rolled around and I remember sitting in a chair and having a hard time taking deep breaths because Mace was taking up so much room. It hurt, I couldn't sleep because of heartburn, and I was so swollen. Caden and I spent the day in IF getting some things done and got home around 9 or 10. We laid in bed talking about how our lives were going to change and how at my appointment the next day I was going to "lay down the law" and demand he induce me! I'm sure people thought I was crazy but I told everyone that was what was going to happen! Soon enough Caden was fast asleep when I started to get some pretty intense pains in my belly. I had been having tons of braxton hicks throughout my whole pregnancy so instead of getting my hopes up I tried to get some sleep too.
But they kept coming and coming, so I started timing them. I had an app that helped me count the length of each contraction and the time in between. After a certain amount of contractions it will either tell you to go to the hospital or if its safe to stay home. Mine said "Get to the hospital now! Have someone take you or call an ambulance." This kind of cracked me up. I think the apps lean on the side of cautious because I didn't need to hurry even though my contractions were consistent!
I sat there for a while and tried to really concentrate if they were bad enough to go to the hospital or not. I had a couple scares, once when I was in labor at 34 weeks and they had to give me a shot to stop the contractions because it was too early and the other time when I couldn't feel Macie move for a while but that time everything was fine. I was a little paranoid because of this and now, being 2 days over and being really ready to see my baby, I didn't want to go in and have them send me home!
At this point I did what sounded like the best idea. I said a prayer that if it was time to go to the hospital, I needed some sort of sign. And right after I ended my prayer I got the worst contraction I had had all night! That was my sign. I woke Caden up and he said to lay there with him for an hour and if they kept being intense that we would go to the hospital. An hour passed and we both knew it was time to go in.
When I got to the hospital I was dilated to a 3, which was big progress to me from being stuck at a 1 for three weeks. The nurse told me my contractions were consistent and that she was going to call the doctor. She came back and told me he wanted me to stay. I was so excited and then definitely nervous because it finally hit me I was going to be having my baby! Dr. Oldroyd came in around 8:30, checked me, and a little bit later broke my water. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and I had to wait another 2 hours to get an epidural. Those contractions after them breaking my water were intense, painful, and made me sick to my stomach. So trust me when I say that I didn't care if the epidural hurt or how scared I was for it, I did not want to feel anything else!
Just a few hours after having the epidural, the nurse checked me and told me I was dilated to a 9 and that it was almost time! They wanted me to sit for another hour so the baby could progress as much as possible so that I wouldn't have to push as long. I believe I began pushing at around 2:00 p.m. After 36 short minutes, little Macie was placed on my chest and into my arms at 2:36 p.m. Her cry was loud and I cried right along with her. She looked kinda chunky and I thought I maybe had an 8 or 8 and a half pound baby. They placed her on the scale and it said 9 pounds 4 ounces! I couldn't believe it! I loved her more than I ever imagined I would and every moment after that was just as amazing as the time I first got to see her beautiful face.
There really is no relationship like that between a mother and her child. I have loved having miss Macie as my daughter. Not only is she the most adorable baby ever (I might be a little biased) but she never fails to make me laugh. Even though she's only 8 and a half months old, I can tell she has a light about her- maybe its because she's always smiling. I know she is going to give me a run for my money but I feel so blessed to be able to call her my daughter.
