Since I mostly use this blog as a memory book/journal, I have to share my birthing story.
So... this is my warning to you, this is going to be a long entry so find your self fore warned!
Here we go:
Let me just start off with, Labor and Delivery were for sure NOT as bad as I thought it would be. I had always thought that it would be horrible and terrible and that I’d be yelling at Cody and hating life, but it was not bad at all. I’m pretty sure I’d be able to survive a few more deliveries. That is as long as I can get an epiduril!
On Friday, July 30th I had another Doctor appointment. At this appointment, he stripped my membranes again and told me I was at a two. That night I went home and that was when I started getting contractions. About 2:30 pm and all through the night my Braxton Hick contractions became harder than I had ever had before and were about 8 minutes apart. My doctor said to come in when my water broke or when the contractions were consistantly 4-5 minutes apart, so I waited.
Saturday July 31st the contractions were still 8 minutes apart so we just hung out most of the day. That afternoon since I didn’t think I was progressing, we headed to Vernal. We walked around Wal-Mart and Smiths saw a few of my relatives and then headed to Altamont. The contractions were feeling stronger but still not getting closer so we went to bed; well Coder went to bed. I laid on the couch groaning with each contraction. I waited and timed and timed and waited each contraction and finally at 2:00 AM the contractions really kicked into gear and I woke up Cody and said I’m pretty sure we should go in. He said “Are you sure?”
Since I wasn’t for sure, I told him I’d wait another hour and then if nothing changed I was going to drive myself to get checked. About 3:00 AM I talked Cody into taking me in, just to get checked.
After checking in and my nurse checked me and I was at a 5 ½! Yeah! This was the real thing!
The nurse said that I was far enough along that I could get the epidural, but I turned her down because I didn’t want to get it and then have it not work, so I waited. About two hours later, the contractions started to get so hard that I thought I was going to pass out because they kept taking my breath away so I finally gave in and had them give me the epidural.
Bless the person who invented epidurals!
For anyone who hasn’t ever had an epidural, you’ve probably heard that its very painful to receive. Well, for me it wasn’t too bad. Having a contaction while sitting up waiting for the epidural was probably the worst part! It kinda burned a little bit, but it was more uncomfortable than painful. But totally worth it! The funniest part of when I recieved mine was when Coder was watching them put it in and I could tell that something big was going to happen because his grip would get tighter as the guy put the needle in. I started to laugh in the middle because of Cody’s reaction.
After I recieved the epidural they checked me again and I was at an 8 ½, but my water hadn’t broke yet. We waited another half hour and the doctor came in and checked again, I was at a 9 and the doctor broke my water and I was totally ready to get that little baby here.
Cody was like, You could have had her natural because by the time I recieved the epidural, you were almost done! Which was true, but I’m so glad I got one, I don’t think I would have been able to do it. I’m a wimp I guess.
We started practice pushing and about 30 minutes of pushing little Baby Pehrson was here.
Dallie Jo Stacy Pehrson, born 10:04 am on Sunday August 1, 2010. Weighing in at a hefty 8 lbs 8 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Just perfect! She was so chunky and just perfectly round. She had little rolls on her chest and her cheeks already were sagging.
As soon little Baby Jo was out, I felt my ribs come back together and I was able to breath. I can’t explain the feeling of when they placed my beautiful baby girl on my chest. The best way to explain the feeling in all in this little saying:
“Your first breath took my breath away.”
That is exactly how it was. As soon as I heard her start to cry I started to cry and I couldn’t believe that, this precious little girl was mine. She was so big. I had no idea she was going to be so big. I thought she might be a seven pound baby, you know normal. But when they laid her on my chest I thought for sure that I had indeed had a 12 lb baby. (I had always said that I was going to have a 12 lb baby.)
Before Dallie Jo was born, my mom had been so worried that she wouldn’t be the first one to see her. She was so worried that I’d have her and that we wouldn’t call her. Well it did kinda work out that way. Ha ha. We said as soon as I started to actually push we’d call them and have them come down. Well... everything went so fast that we didn’t actually call them until after she was born which happened to be the exact time they were in church.
We tried to call all of our parents for over an hour. We tried their home phone, cell phones, work phones, we sent texts, all with no answers. We just knew my mom was going to be so mad so we finally got hold of my grandma Kathy and we had her run down to the church and find my mom. At first my grandma didn’t believe us... but when she heard her cry that was enough to convince her.
Her first visitors were Grandma and Grandpa Mathews, Aunt Quincee and then later Aunt Ashley and Uncle Wayne. Everyone was so excited to see her, she brings a smile to everyone’s face and our families can’t seem to get enough of her.
Our first night having Dallie Jo was a learning experience. We had the choice to leave her in my room all night or to have the nursery take her, but we decided we’d have to learn sometime so why not start now. She did sleep pretty well but she kinda had a bellyache so she just wanted to be held and was kinda fussy but all through that we were still so excited to have her.
We spend all day Aug 2, at the hospital and on Aug 3 we were all ready to go home when we go the news that her Jaundice level was pretty high so we actually had to stay another day.... we were not too happy about that but its actually a good thing we did.
That third day, she was under the lights and we had to wake her up every 2 hours to eat. What a chore that was. The lights and the jaundice made her so tired that she wouldn’t wake up and I became so nervous that she wasn’t eating enough because by her eating that is how we can kick start her liver into breaking down the billirubin. So on top of her not wanting to eat and not being able to hold her very much I was a nervous wreck and just cried and cried. In the middle of the night, I got up to feed Dallie Jo and she wouldn’t wake up, she wouldn’t eat much and she would only eat off one side. I just broke down. I was going to give up nursing and just go with bottle feeding. Coder ended up giving me a wonderful blessing and my nervous were calmed down and I was able to chill. What a good husband I have.
Her little eyes were so yellow from where her mask was.
That next day, Aug 4th her jaundice was down a bit and we were able to go home. Such a relief! That night Dallie Jo met her Grandma and Grandpa Pehrson for the first time and they were able to stay with us and spend some time with her.
On August 5th, we had yet again another doctor appointment and at this one, her jaundice was back up and the doctor stressed how important it was for her to feed every 2 hours. That means, from the beginning of her feeding to the next, which leaves a half hour for feeding, another 15 mins for settle down time and then about 45 mins to sleep and then another 15 mins to try and wake her up for her next feeding.
This mamma cow was tired. And thats exactly how I felt, like a mamma cow, just feeding her little calf all the time.... I was kinda stressed but so, so, so blessed that our little girl only had jaundice. There are so many other babies with so much more.
That night while Cody and I were bathing her, she peed all over daddy. It was so funny!
Aug. 6th, her jaundice was still elevated and still had to feed every 2 hours.
Aug 7th, back to the doctor again just to find out that her jaundice level was still high and that we got the pleasure of taking the lights home with us and having her lay under them for the weekend. She seemed to love the lights before but this time was different, she didn’t want to have the mask on and she just wanted to do was be held. I cried and cried cuz I couldn’t hold my little Dallie. We left her under the lights because it was so important to get her levels down. Her jaundice levle was up to 20% and if they didn’t come down she’d have to get a blood transfusion and we did not want that to happen.
It was so hard to just sit back and ‘hope’ that the lights would work and ‘hope’ that the doctor knew what he was doing. She is so special to us and not knowing what to do and expect is so hard. But yet again, we were so blessed that it was indeed just jaundice.
That next Monday, Aug 9th we took her in again and her levels had significantly dropped and the doctor was very hopeful that they would still drop so here we are now. I still feed her every 2-3 hours and she sure knows what she is doing now. She’s just a little piggy. She kinda snorts a bit while waiting for me to get ready to feed her and she loves to eat.
She is so fun. I’m so glad that Cody kept encouraging me to stay with breast feeding because being the only one who can feed her gives us the time we need during the day. When we get a lot of visitors during the day is nice knowing that I’ll at least get to hold her to feed her. (That also has a reverse effect, being the only one who can feed her can be tiring.)
Last week was the Duchesne County fair and Dallie Jo got broke in fast. She was there all week just chilling in the camper playing with mommy, and both grandmas and also great grandma Fisher. We were able to see a few of her new little friends. We saw my cousin Chaz’s little boy Asa George and my friend Sharrie’s little girl Hazlie.
Coder was able to get two weeks off of work, one to help me and the other to help Rylan at the fair. I am so grateful that he was able to take the time off. I really needed him the first week and it was great having him to help me. And he was so great helping Rylan. (Different blog for that one.)
On Monday Aug. 16 we went to her two week check up and Dr. Staker said she is doing great and that she is so cute and a very good baby! She now weighs 8lb 9oz which is very good. That means she has gained an ounce a day since we brought her home. She also grew an inch and is very, very active now. She loves when we talk to her and she can really tell who is talking to her. She knows Daddy’s voice thats for sure.
So here is my advise to new mothers:
-Do what you feel is right. People are so willing to give you their opinion, but you need to do what is best for you.
-Don’t get discouraged when trying to brestfeed. It is for sure very hard and I didn’t think it would be, but the baby has to learn right along with mommy on how to feed. Its not for everyone and not everyone can do it, but try it, it’s a bonding time for you and your baby. Don’t give up!
-I expected labor to be so hard, but I think if you go into any kind of situation with an open mind and a positive attitude, your outcome will be very different. If you think labor will be terrible, I’m sure it will be.
-Its totally normal to have mental break downs. The first three days after Dallie was born, I cried at least once a day. Well... I was told it was normal!
I am so blessed to have such a special little family. I know I’ve said this a million times, but I do indeed have the VERY BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD! He is always there for me and would do anything for me and the baby. He took two weeks off to help me with the baby and he was so good. He cooked and cleaned and cleaned some more. I have never felt so close to my husband as I do now. I just don’t know what I would have done with out him. He comforted me when I had my mental break downs and whenever the news from the doctor wasn’t the best. I had to laugh, I kept him on his toes, he never knew when a crying spell would come and whenever we left the hospital he would look at me from the corner of his eyes to see what my reaction would be; would I cry or would I be just fine? He never knew! Ha ha
Who knew that this small little present from our Heavenly Father would change our lives so fast. In the hospital there was a sign that said:
“Who is this tiny stranger, with whom I can not part, although you’re only one day old, you stole my heart.”
Some times I just sit and look at her. I try and think of what life was like just two weeks ago with out her and it doesn’t seem right. She fits into our family just right.
Right after I had her, I had a rush of emotions came over me; How blessed we are that our Heavenly Father trusted us enough to send this special spirit down to us. For about an hour after she was born, Dallie Jo kinda fussed and cried a bit and I said its because she just left paridise to come down to this crazy world. How neat is it to that just minutes before she was born, Dallie Jo was with her Heavenly Father. Such an overwhelming but special feeling!
Right then and there I decided that I needed to be the best mom I could be. If my Heavenly Father trusted me enough to send her to me, then I needed to do the best I could for her.
That’s about all. I’m sorry it was so long, but it’s a very special event in our lives and I didn’t want to leave anything out.
Over all, we are so HAPPY and still on cloud nine. She is just perfect and we don’t know what we would do with out her. We love her so much and we love being parents. I guess we’ll see if we still love it in about thirteen years when she becomes a teen! Ha ha.
