This post is mostly for journaling purposes and may be too detailed for some of you. Proceed at your own risk....if not just go to the bottom and look at the adorable pictures of the baby. :)
Maelie Christine Dominguez was born January 18th at 1:07am weighing 8lbs 1oz and measuring 21.5" long.
Maelie Christine Dominguez was born January 18th at 1:07am weighing 8lbs 1oz and measuring 21.5" long.
It all started Thursday, January 16th, around 5:00pm. I had an appointment at 4pm that afternoon and my induction was scheduled for the next morning. We were hoping the Dr. would tell us that I was dilating on my own and would probably be in active labor before my scheduled induction time. I knew in the back of my mind that this wasn't going to happen because I had had maybe 2 contractions that whole day....and they were hours apart and not strong at all.
The Dr. did NOT tell us that, in fact he said quite the opposite. I wasn't even dilated at all and I most likely wouldn't start without a little bit of help. We decided we wanted to get that help sooner rather than later, so the Dr. placed a foley bulb and sent us on our way. It was about 5pm and as we were walking out of the doctor's office, I had my first real contraction. It made me have to stop walking and hunch over. At that point I kind of got excited because it was working so quickly, I figured I'd be admitted and have that baby in no time!
That excitement quickly left me as the pain of the contractions got stronger and they became more frequent. I was a little sad because my mom was on her way and I was planning on spending the evening with her finishing up the nursery (she had all of the crib bedding and some wall hangings), and just hanging out with my mom, but I quickly learned that I wasn't going to be much fun that night.
We got home and fixed some dinner, I was only able to take 5 or 6 bites before I got nauseous and couldn't even sit up comfortably. I was convinced I was in active labor (I think I'm just a big baby). My mom got to Rexburg around 7pm, I was just laying on the couch starving and miserable. Contractions were coming about 7-10 minutes apart. I threw up twice. Around 10pm contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and I was convinced I was in active labor.
At that point David got home from work and I decided I'd try to lay down in my bed and sleep it out. Two hours and no sleep later my contractions were about 5 minutes apart consistently and I had had it. I got up and went to the bathroom with every intention of putting my shoes on and going to the hospital right then. While in the bathroom I noticed some blood coming from the foley and quickly told David we needed to go. He called the hospital to tell them what was happening, they said come on in and we were off.
We got there about 12:30am, they got me all hooked up and I thought we were good to go, this baby was coming! FALSE. I was only dilated one centimeter, they said the blood wasn't worrisome and sent us home. RUDE. Let's just say I was pretty frustrated and in pain! As we were leaving the nurse told me to take a warm shower or bath and some Tylenol....nothing sounded worse than standing or sitting in a shower or bath. So I was very disobedient and just got back in bed.
All night long contractions were coming every 5 minutes consistently, but I was so discouraged from our visit earlier that I was convinced I was probably still at 1cm, maybe two. So I just sucked it up and stayed home. At 5:30 we called the hospital to see if they were able to get us in for an induction, they told us to call back at 10 (KILL ME). We called at 10 and I actually got to talk to my doctor. He was very sympathetic and told me they might not be ready for me until around 1 or 2pm (BLAH!), but he also said if I absolutely can't stand the pain anymore, to come in and they'd get me going. I said to David, "I'm probably only like 3cm at the most, so I guess we should just stay here until later" (yes...I was very grumpy and starving). So we waited. We called at 1pm and the nurse very frantically said, "Call back in 15 minutes". So we called again at 1:15 and they FINALLY said we could come (best news ever).
We got to the hospital about 1:40 (I was moving pretty slow, alright), got checked in and all hooked up, this time it was finally happening! Dr. Codd came in to check me, to my pleasant surprise I was at 6 almost 7cm!!!! When he said that I didn't believe him...I even said, "Wait, are you serious?" And I made him say it again. I was SO happy. He removed the foley bulb and in the same movement broke my water...I was officially having this baby!
I got my epidural, and the waiting game began. At this point I felt better than ever and hungrier than ever, but of course I couldn't eat. Ice was my best friend since I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before (because I threw up my dinner...sorry). I tried my best to get some sleep, but with the Dr. and nurse coming in so frequently to check on me, that didn't go very well. Honestly, I was just so happy to not be in pain anymore that I didn't really care.
I was slowly progressing, but at about 11pm, I was only dilated to a 9.5 and there wasn't any way that last 1/2cm of cervix was going to dilate. This was the case because little girl decided to be posterior, which I know isn't impossible to deliver that way, but she was also transverse...meaning her head was turned to the side making it impossible for her to engage and help that 1/2cm dilate.
That excitement quickly left me as the pain of the contractions got stronger and they became more frequent. I was a little sad because my mom was on her way and I was planning on spending the evening with her finishing up the nursery (she had all of the crib bedding and some wall hangings), and just hanging out with my mom, but I quickly learned that I wasn't going to be much fun that night.
We got home and fixed some dinner, I was only able to take 5 or 6 bites before I got nauseous and couldn't even sit up comfortably. I was convinced I was in active labor (I think I'm just a big baby). My mom got to Rexburg around 7pm, I was just laying on the couch starving and miserable. Contractions were coming about 7-10 minutes apart. I threw up twice. Around 10pm contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and I was convinced I was in active labor.
At that point David got home from work and I decided I'd try to lay down in my bed and sleep it out. Two hours and no sleep later my contractions were about 5 minutes apart consistently and I had had it. I got up and went to the bathroom with every intention of putting my shoes on and going to the hospital right then. While in the bathroom I noticed some blood coming from the foley and quickly told David we needed to go. He called the hospital to tell them what was happening, they said come on in and we were off.
We got there about 12:30am, they got me all hooked up and I thought we were good to go, this baby was coming! FALSE. I was only dilated one centimeter, they said the blood wasn't worrisome and sent us home. RUDE. Let's just say I was pretty frustrated and in pain! As we were leaving the nurse told me to take a warm shower or bath and some Tylenol....nothing sounded worse than standing or sitting in a shower or bath. So I was very disobedient and just got back in bed.
All night long contractions were coming every 5 minutes consistently, but I was so discouraged from our visit earlier that I was convinced I was probably still at 1cm, maybe two. So I just sucked it up and stayed home. At 5:30 we called the hospital to see if they were able to get us in for an induction, they told us to call back at 10 (KILL ME). We called at 10 and I actually got to talk to my doctor. He was very sympathetic and told me they might not be ready for me until around 1 or 2pm (BLAH!), but he also said if I absolutely can't stand the pain anymore, to come in and they'd get me going. I said to David, "I'm probably only like 3cm at the most, so I guess we should just stay here until later" (yes...I was very grumpy and starving). So we waited. We called at 1pm and the nurse very frantically said, "Call back in 15 minutes". So we called again at 1:15 and they FINALLY said we could come (best news ever).
We got to the hospital about 1:40 (I was moving pretty slow, alright), got checked in and all hooked up, this time it was finally happening! Dr. Codd came in to check me, to my pleasant surprise I was at 6 almost 7cm!!!! When he said that I didn't believe him...I even said, "Wait, are you serious?" And I made him say it again. I was SO happy. He removed the foley bulb and in the same movement broke my water...I was officially having this baby!
I got my epidural, and the waiting game began. At this point I felt better than ever and hungrier than ever, but of course I couldn't eat. Ice was my best friend since I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before (because I threw up my dinner...sorry). I tried my best to get some sleep, but with the Dr. and nurse coming in so frequently to check on me, that didn't go very well. Honestly, I was just so happy to not be in pain anymore that I didn't really care.
I was slowly progressing, but at about 11pm, I was only dilated to a 9.5 and there wasn't any way that last 1/2cm of cervix was going to dilate. This was the case because little girl decided to be posterior, which I know isn't impossible to deliver that way, but she was also transverse...meaning her head was turned to the side making it impossible for her to engage and help that 1/2cm dilate.
I
have the greatest Dr. in the world and he tried everything under the
sun to get little Maelie's head to turn and to avoid a c-section. I even
pushed for about 45 minutes to see if me adding that little bit of
pressure would help at all--nothing. So into the O.R. I went.
To
my surprise I didn't even cry when the decision was made! My whole
pregnancy I was so scared and thought I'd be so sad if I had to have a
c-section, but when it all came down to it, I knew it was the right
thing for me and the baby. I felt so at peace while the whole thing was
happening, it was kind of weird, but so good for me, because of how much
I didn't want it to happen.
At 12:45am I
went into the FREEZING operating room (I think they put like 4 heated blankets on me before I was comfortable), the nurses got me and the room all prepped and 20 minutes later (it seemed way longer than that), at 1:07am, I had a beautiful little girl
with TONS of spiky black hair! It all seemed so surreal. For 9 months I
had picture my delivery being lots of pushing, intense work, and maybe
some screaming on my part, but I just laid there as calm as can be and
the next minute I had a baby. It was beautiful.
They held little Maelie up for me us to see her, then whisked her away to the NICU (standard c-section procedure). As the docs sewed me back up they were just chatting away, guessing the baby's weight (when they heard she was over 8lbs they were both shocked!), talking about doctor things, and I just laid there listening in a state of happy delirium. The nurses brought our little girl to us and we could not have been happier. She looked just like her daddy.
Then David got to go with her and the nurses to giver her a bath and get her cleaned and bundled up for our first night as a family of 3. We got back to the recovery room around 2am and all I wanted was food and to hold my baby. The nurse would only let me eat jello and a piece of toast....I could have eaten a 7 course meal.
They held little Maelie up for me us to see her, then whisked her away to the NICU (standard c-section procedure). As the docs sewed me back up they were just chatting away, guessing the baby's weight (when they heard she was over 8lbs they were both shocked!), talking about doctor things, and I just laid there listening in a state of happy delirium. The nurses brought our little girl to us and we could not have been happier. She looked just like her daddy.
Then David got to go with her and the nurses to giver her a bath and get her cleaned and bundled up for our first night as a family of 3. We got back to the recovery room around 2am and all I wanted was food and to hold my baby. The nurse would only let me eat jello and a piece of toast....I could have eaten a 7 course meal.
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| Family!!! |
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| After her bath, she hates them....well mostly after bath coldness makes her angry! |
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| Maelie Christine Dominguez. Middle name after David's mom, Grandma Christine, who passed away 5 years ago. |
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| They both passed out hard one day...also, they are twins. She looks just like her Daddy. |
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| David always tries to tell me she isn't a dress-up doll...but it's too hard not to! |
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| She smiles in her sleep. I love it. |
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| Wide awake! Her hair kills me. |
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| We helped my friend, Anna, with a school project entitled "Mother's and Daughters". David snapped this 3 generation picture while we were there. I feel so lucky to be in the position of daughter AND mother in this picture. |
