Calista's Birth Story

At 40 weeks and a day I was starting to feel like I'd be pregnant forever....ok, at 39 weeks I was starting to feel like that.  The last three kids were all early so I was expecting her to be born early as well.  I guess Calista was just a little too comfy in there because she didn't want to come out early.  Here is a picture of me the morning she was born (technically, because she was born just after midnight this picture was taken the day before, but it felt like the day she was born).

I had contractions all day, but nothing regular until we got to pack meeting that night.  I really didn't think I'd be going to pack meeting, but I was there still pregnant.  There were so many things that I didn't think I would go to because I thought for sure the baby would be born before then.  Scheduling and planning can be so hard when you don't know when the baby will be born.  I was worried she would be born before Easter!  Thats funny considering she was born way after that.  I think knowing what day she was going to come would have made the last couple weeks much easier for me.  Waiting is hard!

Anyway, we left for the hospital just after 9pm.  Once I got there the contractions started getting pretty painful and things seemed to take forever.  I wasn't admitted until around 10 and then it took 45 minutes to get the IV in.  That was so horrible.  It took 6 tries and 3 different people to get it to work.  They were moving the needle around in my arm and flushing veins trying to get one to work.  It was pretty bad because the whole time my contractions were really hurting.  I had previously wanted to try it natural, but the pain was too much.  I didn't last long before I decided a natural birth wasn't for me.

Once they got the IV in we had to wait for the anesthesiologist to come.  That went ok, but I was surprised that the epidural took so long to start working.  It was about midnight when it started working, but even then I could still feel a lot.  A couple minutes after that the doctor came in to check, he broke my water super easily with his fingers and said that I should probably just push the baby out now.  That only took a minute (although I could feel more than I'd liked to have) and Calista Mae was born.  It was three really rough hours and I'm glad it is over.

She weighed 8lbs 6 ounces and was 20 and a half inches long.  Everything looked great and there were no complications with me or her.

She looks so tiny when Bob holds her.

One thing I do like about the hospital is the food.  I made sure to order a lot.

The next day my parents came to visit with the kids.  Scarlett was definitly the most enthusiastic about seeing her baby sister.  She really wanted to hold her a long time and even when others were holding her she was trying to touch her and be close to her.

Tucker was the second most interested.  I wasn't sure how he would act, but he seemed pretty excited to have a new baby in the family.  He was actually the one who really wanted her to be born.  It was almost every day for at least a week that Bob would fake the kids out and tell them that it was time for mom to have the baby.  He was always the most disappointed to find out that bob was joking.  He even asked how to know if it really was time or not and I told him that he will know because I'll say it is time and not Bob.

Penelope seemed hesitant to hold her.  She was also and still is the most cautious with her.  She makes sure to wash her hands and she makes sure everyone else does also.  The first thing Penelope wanted to know when she saw me was about the IV in my hand and how much it hurt.  When I told her that the IV did hurt she said, "That is why I'm not going to have babies," I hope that doesn't turn out to be true.

Leon liked her, but just wanted to hold her for a minute and then was ready to go to Grandma's house.  My parents took them for a couple days to their house so Bob and I could rest and adjust to having a baby.  It was great!

Here she is laying in her bed.  She spent a whole of five minutes in there the whole stay.  I couldn't and still cannot get her to lay down on her own.  She insist on being held 24 hours.  Even the professional nurses couldn't get her to sleep or lay down by herself.  I can get nothing done.

This is how I spend my time now.  Actually while in the hospital she wanted to eat most of the time.  So I probably fed her once an hour for the first two days.  It was rough, now she likes to eat every two hours, but I still can't put her down.

I think she is a loud cryer for a newborn.  Sometimes she reminds me of a squeaky toy.  Some of the nurses were commenting on how loud she was.

Bob was a huge help and stayed even though the couch was supper uncomfortable for him to sleep on.

We left Friday afternoon and Calista cried the whole way.  It was kind of embarrassing walking out with a screaming baby.  She continued to scream the whole drive home until we got her out of the car seat and picked her up.

I'm happy we made it through the first week and am hoping that things start to get a little easier from here on out.