Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Arrival of Samantha Grace


Twenty minutes after my husband Mike arrived home from a night out with the guys, at 12:50am on Thursday, 2/18, my water broke. Knowing we had a long road ahead of us, I made my husband go back to sleep and wait it out. I couldn't sleep and in fact started cleaning. Four hours later, I finally caved and called the on call nurse- she said to go on in to the hospital. We waited even longer to wake up Brianna and then finally left the house at about 6:30ish. We stopped at Starbucks on the way for some much needed caffeine and caloric intake. I had only slept 3 hours since waking up Wednesday morning and it would be a while before I would sleep again.

We arrived at the hospital at about 7am, they checked me and confirmed my water had indeed broken- unfortunately, my contractions weren't very frequent still. I spent the next 6 hours trying to get my labor to progress- walking, bouncing, dancing, squatting, relaxing and other natural techniques. I enlisted the support of Brianna, Mike and one of my best friends, Liz. At twenty hours past my water breaking I was only dilated to 3 cms and pitocin was necessary- I cried, a lot. I wanted a natural birth and I knew all the complications that pitocin can bring and I didn't want that to happen. Mike was a rock and let me cry all over him. I finally surrendered and the pitocin started at 1030pm on 2/18. The contractions picked up quickly and painfully and they kept upping the pitocin. I started really needing my support. My migraine also picked up and I started getting sick. After many painful contractions, I was checked at 1:45am and was only 5.5cms. However, that seemed to trigger something. After passing out several times from pain and getting violently ill, the doctor decided to check me 7.5 cms. More extreme pain and only minutes later and I started begging for my epidural, signed the paper consenting for it, even though everyone around me knew I wouldn't last long enough to need it. The doctor decided to check me again and sure enough I was complete and ready to go. Three pushes later and my little girl made her way into the world, screaming and perfect at 2:14am on 2/19.

She was 5 pounds 12.2 ounces, 17.5" long and a head circumference of 13". And she didn't have a name. Immediately after the birth- I was given percocet to kill my migraine. I was in a haze as everyone kept asking me what I wanted to name her... Our front runner name or our second choice, looking at her we all decided it was actually our second choice that fit her more- Samantha Grace. Samantha is the feminine form of Samuel, meaning "God Heard". There were many years that I had prayed that God would prepare for me a husband who would be a great dad to both Brianna and any future children. I love being a mom and I so longed to grow my family. The birth of this baby was a symbol of God hearing and answering prayers and so Samantha was so fitting. We knew we wanted Grace to be her middle name as we are both daily reminded of the grace of God.

We were finally released from the hospital on Sunday evening after treating Samantha for jaundice and learning she would have to be under phototherapy when we arrived home. She had to be under the lights all the time except for diaper changes and nursing. Other than her jaundice though, she was perfectly healthy, which is amazing at 4 weeks before her due date. She was released from the lights on Thursday night 2/25 and has been happy to be held whenever she wants. (So are we!) Brianna is a great big sister! She even changes diapers. Mike is great at taking care of baby and mommy and we are all doing well. I am thrilled to be able to be home with both of my girls now and look forward to getting in to the swing of things. I know without a doubt that being a wife and mom is what God created me to do.