And Then We Were Three

Our little lady has made her arrival. Baby McCann came into this world on February 18th at 6:49pm.  My labor and delivery were uneventful and remarkably easy.  This is our first child so I was as surprised as you (and my midwife) that all was so fast and easy.

I woke up around 2:00am on Monday morning with painful contractions. Now, I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks so what got my attention with these was the pain level.  Around 7:00am I got out of bed and decided to ignore the contractions because surely baby was not going to make her way into the world today. I mean, I had just had a doctor appointment on Thursday and there was no action happening. My midwife had even given me permission to go up north for the weekend.  And by "up north" i mean about two hours away from home. Not a big deal but when you're less than a week from your due date its risky.

By 9:00am I was in full tears/panic mode. I had gone to the bathroom and was greeted with the unexpected surprise of my bloody show. Its a bit alarming to be greeted with blood after 9 months of not having a period.  I made hubs call the birthing center and they wanted us to come in within the hour.  9:45am saw us showered and at the hospital, bags in tow (just in case). My midwife checked me out and I was 1cm dilated.  I was hooked up to a monitor to track contractions and baby's heartbeat.  I was advised to walk the halls for 2 hours and come back so they could check the progress.

After two hours they hooked me up again and were a little concerned about baby's heartbeat so, even though we had just talked about sending me home, they decided to keep me for about 30 minutes more.  After 30 minutes my midwife came to check on me again....3cm dilated!  What??  I think everyone was shocked by that.

So needless to day I was not going home at this point. Hubs and I ordered lunch and just tried to get through the next few hours of painful contractions. He was so good to me; distracting me, playing the Lumineers when I randomly requested them. Dancing around the birthing room with me during some of the more painful contractions.

Throughout the day I dilated quite fast and around 5:00pm we had the conversation to break my waters.  I had wanted to wait til the last possible moment because after your waters break the contractions become more intense. They were intense enough as I did not have any pain medication. I had planned for a water birth, all natural.  Thus far I was able to manage the painful contractions through breathing techniques and distractions from my hubby.

Ok, back to waters breaking...my midwife broke my waters at 9cm and it felt like I had peed the bad and couldn't stop. It didn't hurt or feel uncomfortable, just weird.  After my waters broke I quickly (within minutes) dilated to 10cm.  The magic pushing number had finally arrived and into the tub I went. 

The tub was about 100 degrees, had lights, and handles for me to use when pushing.  The handles were the greatest.  Really helped me get leverage when pushing.  I pushed for about an hour (remarkable for a first child I was told).  Baby Rory came into the world at 6:49pm weighing in at 6lbs 3oz and 18 and 3/4 inches long.  She was alert and eyes open from the minute she was pulled out of the water and placed on my chest. We were shocked to see her.  Little peanut has a full head of hair and was very very pink.

Perfect birth and perfect baby. We are home now and just trying to manage the lack of sleep, hives from breastfeeding, and wearing an adult diaper for the next few weeks while I have mega period. We can do this...

DIY Maternity Photos

Hubs wants to DIY our baby photos. I kind of cringe at this thought only because neither of us are professional (or even amateur) photographers in any sense.  We do have a nice camera though and I know he wants to save some money.

We I did look at photographers and price out newborn photos. Just the one session would end up running us an average of  $300-400 when all is said and done. So I can see why Brad wants to give it the old college try. Thanks to Pinterest I've been reading articles and saving them to show Brad. Hopefully we can pick up enough tips and tricks to make these look really nice.  

10 Tips for Photographing Babies

I really wanted maternity photos done and approached Brad about it with the thought that this could be a nice practice run for newborn photos.  We spend the morning taking shots around the house.  Then we decided that we would brave the outdoors...in the middle of the winter...in Wisconsin.  It was a sunny 8 degree day (not including the windchill).  Needless to say, we did not last long outside.

Just a little peak, but I really liked them.  These have not been Photoshopped yet. The top one is going to be a silhouette where I am more blacked out and you can just see my shape.  Showing off that little bump!

For the second photo I just wore leggings and one of Brad's work shirts. Something comfy and relaxing so the bump could take center stage. 

Fake Labor is a Pain in the...

Since Friday night I've been feeling contractions more and more. I tried explaining them to my midwife at my last visit and did not get a definite answer as to whether they were contractions or just Braxton Hicks. Having never experienced childbirth, I feel like the twinges and tummy tightening sensations are a bit alarming. How do I know when it's the real deal?

The countdown is really on now. I will be 38 weeks on Wednesday and I am so ready to meet this little lady.  We have almost finished the nursery; just need to get a rocking chair and move a rug from downstairs to her bedroom. The rocking chair has been delegated to Brad.  I had picked one out from IKEA but he did not think it was comfortable enough and vetoed it. So I decided that this one one task I would leave entirely up to him...about a month ago. Thus far a chair has not been bought, mentioned (unless I bring it up), or even looked at.

I'm guessing this will be a "baby has arrived and we need to stop and pick one up on the way home" type of thing.  Which is especially annoying since he's had over a month to research and buy a stupid chair. I don't understand how the one tiny task I delegate to him has not taken precedence over everything else.  I have even gotten his mother to start calling and asking if he found a chair yet.

Ok enough of that extremely pregnant lady vent...

Enough about fake contractions and a frustrating rocking chair situation.  I'll just think about the nursery and all the hard work we put into it.  Bean's godmother and I painted the nursery white (from a robins egg blue). Brad's mother and I made the crib bedding. I made the owl mobile and the curtains. I ordered the vinyl from a cute Etsy shop and it took almost all day one Sunday to put that up. Brad put together the crib and dresser. He also put up the shelving for me, and hung the pictures.

This baby better come soon...