Introducing Amelia

I was blessed with an incredibly easy pregnancy that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of. No, it doesn't mean that I didn't have backaches or trouble sleeping. I did. However, Ben and I aren't sure if we are a "One and Done" kind of couple. If we are, I wanted to savor being pregnant because it may be a feeling I never experience again and I know that we were blessed to become pregnant in the first place.

Being pregnant during COVID certainly brought with it some challenges and changes to what we thought pregnancy would be. Ben wasn't able to come to a single ultrasound. I didn't see many people especially toward the end. We booked and rebooked a babymoon 6 times. But at the end of the day, 2020 brought us Amelia and we couldn't be happier. 

Baby Bump Progression

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

Amelia's Progression

Amelia's Birth Story

We head to the hospital to be induced at around 7 pm. I took an oral medication every three hours to start the dilation process. Not much happened overnight. When we woke, I had dilated 1 cm and was 70% effaced. 

We started Pitocin hoping that it would assist things moving along. After most of the day, I had dilated to 3 cm. Not much progress. My midwife broke my water and we kept our fingers crossed this would send me toward active labor. About 30 minutes post my water breaking, the contractions started coming on real strong. Then the "back labor" kicked in. The "back labor" was unbearable. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I tried the Nitric oxide gas...it was terrible. I felt so groggy and like I was at a distance. That is not how I wanted to experience the birth of my daughter. I was in a ton of pain, so the nurse checked to see how dilated I was. Unfortunately, I was only at 5 cm. I asked for the epidural. I wanted to be fully present and believed this would give me that opportunity. An epidural ended up being the right course of action...within 3 hours, I was fully dilated. 

Early morning hours brought on the pushing. I pushed for 3 1/2 hours. She dropped down into the birth canal and was right there. We could see her, feel her. She was so far down that they had to pull her back out for the C-Section. She was head down, but unfortunately she had her head turned in such a way that it prevented her from exiting. My midwife was fabulous and kept giving me opportunities to rest, but she knew I didn't have much more in me and they don't allow moms to push for more than 3 1/2 hours anyway. An OBGYN came in to assess and felt it was best to consider either the vacuum or C-Section. We opted for the C-Section. A flurry of activity took place and I was on my way to the OR. Ben was able to join me and my midwife stayed beyond her shift time to video record and take pictures in the OR. She was an amazing gift to me. 

After 35 hours, we met our little 7 lb 15 oz, 20" long Amelia. It was the most beautiful moment of my life. Meeting this little person that I feel I already knew from carrying her for 9 months, but yet a stranger that I had so much to learn about.