immi’s birthday

february 7th (The due date!)

3:30pm: Todd and I see my ob for weekly check up. The doc tells me that I’m 3cm dilated (it was 2 cm the week before).

10:00pm: we watch the LOST on ABC (long awaited Part 2 of Season 3!). We had joked about the due date coinciding with the return of Lost, we thought immi might just pop out in time to watch it with us!

11:45-ish pm: I go to sleep…not knowing that I would be woken up shortly.

february 8th

2:30-ish am: I notice not sleeping well because of cramps. I wasn’t too concerned though since I had something like this in December and nothing happened then.

3:30-ish am: I wake up Todd because I wasn’t sleeping.

4:30-ish am: Todd starts packing up “Hospital Bag”, just in case. I heat up some soup .

6:30-ish am: Todd insists on calling my ob even though I thought it unnecessary since my cramps were nearly gone. …and the doctor (my doc’s partner in practice who was on call) tells us that we should head on to the hospital.

…so we take shower, finish packing, feed our kitties, etc. etc.

8:30-ish am: We leave home, make a stop at the bank machine for hospital parking, then at starbucks (Todd got white mocha frappuccino)

9:30-ish am: Check-in at the INOVA fairfax hospital and go to the triage.

(Apparently, the doctor had called the hospital and were expecting me, but I felt silly being there because I felt completely fine.)

I change into the lovely hospital gown and the nurse (she was a bit grumpy!) hooks me up to various monitors. I tell her apologetically that I feel absolutely fine.

…anyway, we find that I’m 4.5cm dilated (which I was relieved to hear because I didn’t want the grumpy nurse to think that I was wasting her time!)

The doctor tells us (via the grumpy nurse) that I can either (1) go straight to labor/delivery room, or (2) go out, have lunch, then go back to my ob’s office (different place than the hospital) at 2:00 pm and see where I’m at.

…so we picked the option 2 since food sounded good to both of us.

11:45-ish am: Todd and I head out for sushi/jananese buffet.

The waiter asks me when my due date is. I say to her that it was the day before. She knowingly tells me that first-time-moms are usually about a week late.

2:00pm: At my doctor’s office. He tells me that I’m at 5cm and that he will be waiting for me at the hospital that evening.

…so we go home, take a nap, and shower.

7:30-ish pm: we leave home to go to Sweetwater, a restaurant near the hospital, because they have yummy french fries!

…then find that there is a 45 min waiting list.

… so we go to Unos next door. Todd gets pizza, and I get french onion soup, caesar salad, and mashed potato.

8:40pm: We leave Unos to go back to hospital. I was expecting to be in triage again and was shocked when they admitted me straight into labor/delivery room (the doc had called them again and told them to put me there…)

9:00pm: There is a working TV in the room and I finish putting on the hospital gown just in time for Grey’s Anatomy!

…a very nice nurse comes to ask me all sorts of quetions and pleasantly chitchats with us that the nurses in maternity ward find it funny that Addison’s role covers about 6 different branches ob/gyn in the show.

another nurse comes in to hook me up to an IV (which she messes up, and this leaves my left arm horribly bruised for 2 weeks!) and monitors.

10:30 pm: My doc comes in to see me, and breaks my water. This gets things going and start having more contractions that are actually painful.

11:40 pm: Anesthesiologist comes in to give me epidural. (Which works immediately. Yay!)

11:50pm: My doc comes in to see how I’m doing (I was doing perfectly fine. No pain and completely comfy.)

February 9th

1:30-ish am: My doc comes back to check on me. He tells me that its “time”.

Things got suddently busy with several nurses running about.

1:40-ish am: The doctor gives me instruction on how to push.

I give it a go at it for the first time (…in a very relaxed sort of way, just in case this was good enough). He tells me that i’m doing very well and he can see the baby’s head already!

I repeat couple more effortless pushing (I found something I
m good at!!).

2:01 am: Immi is born!

Todd cuts the umbilical cord.

Then they placed the baby on my tummy for me to admire.

Because of books I read and such I expected newborns to look like gremlins (miss-shaped, hairless, bruised, wrinkled etc. etc.) and was prepared to love her unconditionally, but Immi looked like a little person! And she smelled very nice. When the nurses took her away from me (Todd follows Immi to the adjoining room) and she cried and I thought that she has a really cute voice. Todd comes back and tells me that she is very beautiful and completely perfect, and he was very excited to tell me about the really cute tiny birthmark on her left leg.

…and thats how it happened.

Everything went absolutely perfectly and I felt calm and happy throughout. Todd was totally wonderful through it all. …and it was fun! Immi’s birthing was a magical experience and I feel blissful remembering it.