The Kasparian Three

The Kasparian Three

Our Little Miss Emmy

Our Little Miss Emmy

Monday, November 24, 2014

Emmaline Lauren



I figured I should write down Emmaline's birth story SOMEWHERE before I forgot the whole thing entirely. Heaven knows my brain is all over the place these days.

So, here we go! :)

The Beginning

The day before Emmaline was born, I woke up at 4 am with mild contractions. They were bad enough that I couldn't sleep but not bad enough to make me think I needed to head to the hospital any time soon. I took a bath to see if they would subside but they stuck around. They were still about 15-20 minutes apart, so as soon as I would drift off, one would wake me up. I was scheduled to go into the doctor the next day (Emmaline's due date), but decided to schedule one for that day to see what was going on.

Kameron and I both went to the OB appointment where we found out I had dilated to 1 cm! I had assumed I would probably go overdue because there was no sign at my last appointment of a baby coming other than my large belly and the constant kicks to my ribs. But then I hear my doctor say, "You'll probably have a baby in the next day or two." WHAT? So exciting and scary at the same time. He said to watch my contractions and go in if they get closer together and stronger.

And closer and stronger they became. Over the course of that day they started to get around 6-7 minutes apart and very painful. Like, stop what I'm doing for 30-60 seconds while it passed painful. I didn't want to be THAT girl that goes to the hospital and gets sent home, so we waited until it was finally too unbearable. It was 2:00 a.m.

The Middle

On the drive to the hospital, I didn't have ONE contraction. I thought, of course. I'm going to be THAT girl. But we kept driving anyway. They brought us into an exam room and check to see how I had progressed. I was now at 3 1/2 cm! They said to wait an hour, walk around the hospital, and if I progressed a full centimeter in that hour they could admit me. So, Kameron and I took a stroll around the quiet, empty hospital for an hour, with me stopping every 5-ish minutes to breath through a contraction.

After that hour, the nurse checked me and I had progressed from 3 1/2 to 4...so not a full centimeter. Boo! She said she would talk to the doctor to see if he would still admit us. Luckily, he said we were good to go and we were going to have a baby! And on her exact due date! Hooray!!

They took us to a delivery room, got me all hooked up to the monitors, brought me the much anticipated flavored ice chips I heard about, and we got set up for the night. Not too long after we got settled, the nurse said the anesthesiologist was in the next room over doing an epidural and could come right over after if I wanted. She said it was probably a good idea because he might not be readily available when I decided I really wanted it. So I said yes (I don't like pain) and he came and gave me the goods. I'm glad I got it so early because the doctor ended up having to break my water and give me a little pitocin to speed things along after I stalled at about 5 cm. From what I heard, those pitocin contractions HURT, but I didn't feel a thing. I was able to get a little sleep between checks. (PS it's a super weird thing to not feel your legs.)

The Baby

At around 9:30 a.m. Kameron woke up and said he was going to head across the street to Chik fil A for breakfast (while I ate ice chips...). I was only at about a 6-7 at that time. I joked to Kam that he should hurry in case I progressed. Well, I progressed. About 30 minutes later, the nurse checked me and I was complete! Luckily Kameron came in not too long after and we (did I say we?! I mean I) started the pushing. Let me tell you, that is not a fun thing to do when you are running on VERY little sleep. I was soo physically exhausted. I was having a hard time figuring out the correct way to push because, well, I couldn't feel my bottom half. Eventually I opted to use a mirror. Never, ever, EVER did I think I would watch the birth, but it was incredible! Gross, but incredible. I was able to push more productively for some reason and things started moving along.

Emmy's heart rate would drop every push, and wouldn't come back up as quickly as they would like so we would have to take breaks to give her a rest. (And ME a rest. I gladly took it.) I was on oxygen to help her heart rate and found that it gave me a little more energy to push as well. It was empowering! I felt like a (very tired) rockstar after every push.

Eventually, the doctor came in, and it happened to by my own OB on call! He would be the one to deliver my baby and I was super happy about that because I had gotten comfortable with him over my pregnancy. He said I was getting really close, but had to go check on another patient. Apparently I was closer than he thought, because the very next push, Emmaline decided it was time to be born.

The thing is, the nurse needs the doctor there in order to deliver. When she noticed that baby was coming OUT, she said, "Okay..I'm going to ask you to stop pushing!!" Uh, yeah, not happening. She was paging my doctor and looking scared and frantic, and I'm pretty sure I was screaming and apologizing and trying not to push, but my body did what it was meant to do and pushed that baby right on out. The nurse caught her and put that perfect little girl on my chest. My doctor came running in about 30 seconds later. :) Emmaline Lauren Kasparian was born on September 30th at 12:16 p.m. She was 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long. Practically perfect in every way.

It's hard to describe how I felt when I held Emmy for the first time. I was crying, I was overjoyed, I was exhausted, and so in love with this little baby I just met for the first time. She had Kameron's nose, it was the first thing I noticed. She had big eyes that were bright and open. She looked right at me and Kameron kissed my forehead with tears in his eyes. Our little family had officially started.

It was strange. I couldn't believe she was mine but at the same time I felt like I had always known her. In an instant I became a mom. I would need to take care of this tiny little bundle. She would depend on ME. I would eventually take her to her first day of Kindergarten (and probably cry). I would hear about her first crush. I would buy her first bra. I would send her on her first date. I would see her get dolled up for prom. I would watch her find a man that hopefully treats her the way her father treats me and get married. And someday she would have a little baby of her own and be feeling all the emotions I was feeling at that exact moment.

But I decided to slow down, get some sleep, smell that sweet little newborn head and thank my Father in Heaven for this daughter of mine. The rest could wait.





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