Welcome Annie Joy!

I have been hesitant to share my story…. Or I should say, Annie’s story.  I want to write it down before I forget it. Because honestly, when I think back to that night, it feels like a nightmare that is  s  l o w l y being forgotten.  Each contraction, each push, each thought “this baby is never coming out”… disappearing as if it never even happened. I love reading my fellow mommy friends' birth stories so I decided to share ours.... Here goes. 

I should preface her story by stating that Annie was drama from the start. Straight. Drama. Long story short, I had crazy morning sickness and a subchroinic hemorrhage in the first trimester, abnormal results at my 20 week ultrasound and mild placenta previa  in the second trimester, and extreme discomfort (think crazy heartburn, numbness/pain in my hands, a baby ninja in my tummy, the list goes on and on) in my third trimester. I was pretty certain she was a girl before we knew for sure just based off how different I felt than when I was preggo with Brady. Go figure.... girls are drama!! Let's just say her entrance into this world lived up to her reputation! 

For a few weeks prior to Annie being born, I had been consistently having high blood pressure. I went in for my 40 week check up on Monday and I was only 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Although all my labwork came back normal and the baby didn't seem to be in any kind of fetal distress, they had decided to most likely induce me Thursday if I didn't go into labor on my own. Enter Operation Get This Baby Out. My best friend, Whitney is an OBGYN resident at UCLA and she was actually with me at my 40 week appointment. Although she was trying to ease my mind at the thought of induction, I still wanted to try everything to get my labor going naturally. She laughed when I told her we had buffalo wings for dinner and said that spicy food inducing labor is an old wives tale. Laugh she may, but another friend, Michelle, also had buffalo wings (both from WingStop) two days before going into labor! Anyways, Tuesday morning we decided to take Brady to Chuck E Cheese for games and pizza. The day came and went and it wasn't until 4 PM when I felt my first contraction. It was pretty strong so I knew it was probably a sign of what was to come. About a half an hour later, I had another one and for a few hours after that, they remained about 20-30 minutes apart. The contractions were getting increasingly stronger, but were not getting any closer together. Cory decided to go to bed around 10:30 and I stayed on the couch watching TV, bearing through each contraction. My doctor had advised us to go to the hospital when the contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour. And seeing as I had a normal, textbook labor with Brady, I was expecting the same! Finally around 1 AM, I called my parents and told them they needed to come over to stay with Brady so we could go to the hospital. I woke Cory up and he was definitely skeptical when I told him we needed to go to the hospital even though my contractions were still 10-15 minutes apart and not really even very consistent. Each contraction was so unbearably painful, I knew something had to be happening. I got an epidural when I was 7 cm dilated with Brady and the contractions I felt prior to the meds were NOTHING compared to what I was feeling, all from the (dis)comfort of my own couch. Once Cory got up and saw how much pain I was in, I think he realized we better hurry. My parents arrived and although my mom planned to be at the hospital while my dad stayed with Brady, she stayed home and told us to call her once I was checked in and they checked me. I have never taken any natural childbirth classes as natural childbirth was never part of my plan but I am pretty darn sure I experienced what they call "transition labor" in the car on the way to the hospital. A contraction that lasted about 2 minutes and pretty much felt like my insides were being ripped apart-- the most painful one of all. Since it was 2 AM at this point, the normal hospital entrance was closed so we had to go through the ER. Cory pulled up and I insisted he get me a wheelchair (I denied it when I was in labor with Brady and regretted it after having to stop to breath through each contraction on the way up to L&D). There was absolutely no way I could walk through these contractions. After a long ride up to L&D and questioning in triage, they got me into a delivery room. A nurse came in and informed me that "my" nurse was at lunch but she was going to start getting me checked into the computer and my actual nurse would check me when she got back. She instructed me to change into the gown in the bathroom. As I stood up, the pressure that I felt was so immense, I thought she may just fall out right then and then. When I came out of the bathroom, the nurse could tell I was in a lot of pain and said she would go ahead and check me. I will never forget what came next.... "Well you are 9 cm dilated, no wonder you are in so much pain". Wow. I knew I was in pain but I definitely was not expecting that! The first thing out of my mouth was "is it too late to get an epidural?!" As her and other nurses were scrambling around, trying to get everything ready she said that it should still be ok. I told Cory to call my mom and have her come right away! They hooked me up to the blood pressure cuff and my blood pressure was sky high (think 200/100-- normal is 120/80). The nurse said that there was no way the anesthesiologist would give me an epidural with my BP being that high, without seeing the labwork and that wouldn't come back in time. Panic sets in. This was not a part of my plan. I never considered not being able to get an epidural. I always envied those strong mamas that birthed their babies naturally and loved the idea of it but I wasn't strong enough to turn down pain meds! The nurse checked me again and at that point I was 10 cm and ready to start pushing. In a very matter of fact voice, she said "I'm going to have the doctor come in, break your water and you are going to start pushing." I was so incredibly scared and couldn't help but break down in tears. Thankfully my mom was there by then and I asked her to stay in the room with us. She had done this naturally 4 times; I needed her encouragement. Well, 40 minutes of pushing and what I can only describe as a pain unlike anything else, Annie Joy Barrow was born. All 8 pounds, 14 ounces and 21.5 inches of her. 1 hour and 20 minutes after we got to the hospital! A perfectly healthy baby girl who fits in just perfectly in our family. All those months of discomfort and unnecessary worrying and even that ridiculous labor and delivery.... all a thing of the past. Really, with her previous 9 months- we shouldn't have expected anything different from our little drama queen! 

Annie Joy, you gave us (especially mama) a run for our money! So far, you seem to be a pretty mellow baby just like your brother was. I can't wait to see how your little personality develops and we love you so much already!