Since I'm writing this almost 5 months later (total slacker!), I hope I can remember everything.
Wednesday morning (December 26) I woke up (after not getting a very good nights sleep due to being 9+ months pregnant and sleeping on the worlds worst mattress for the last week) feeling crampy. Up until this point I had felt incredible, especially for being past my due date. Rhett and I had planned on heading back to Rexburg to finish packing up our apartment. We slowly got ready and by the time we were ready, Tara and Jarom were almost to Blackfoot, so we decided to wait until after the got here to leave. We ended up all going to an early dinner. It had started to snow so we debated if we should just stay the night in Blackfoot, but decided we should at least stay at Tara and Jarom's in Idaho Falls since I was still having cramps and they were getting stronger. We got to IF around 7. An hour or so later, Ava and I had started to watch Brave. I only lasted a few minutes into the movie when I decided we should probably head home to Rexburg. I wasn't 100 % sure if the cramps I was feeling were contractions, but they were getting closer and stronger.
When we got to Rexburg our house was FREEZING. We turned our heat down since we were going to be gone. Bad idea. I took a bath to get warm and then SLOWLY got my things together just in case we needed to go to the hospital. Rhett was trying to get me to go ever since we walked in the door, but I wanted to wait as long as I could. By 1am he gave up trying to convince me and tried to sleep. There was no way I was getting any sleep that night. My contractions were about 5 minutes apart so I decided to start timing them, and if by 2 they were still constant, I would go in. They were and they were getting even stronger. By the time we ended up leaving the house it was after 3. I was so worried we would get sent home.
When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was to a 5! I was so relived we wouldn't have to go back home. We got settled into our room. The nurse told me she would go start everything to get my epidural ready. It was close to the time her shift ended, and I think she forgot it. By the time Dr. Prince got there, I still hadn't gotten it! He checked me and I was at a 7. He decided to break my water while we waited for the epidural. I was so nervous because I had been told that contractions hurt a lot worse after your water is broken, but they actually got better. About a half hour later I finally got the epidural. Best thing ever! The nurse tucked me in so I was lying on my left side. A few minutes later she checked the monitor and switched me to my right side saying that the baby didn't like when I laid on my left side. I read while I was pregnant you should sleep on your left side, and I tried to as much as possible, but I always ended up on my right side because it was so much more comfortable. This baby knows what she likes already! I tried to get some sleep since I hadn't slept in over 24 hours, but between the blood pressure machine and my epidural drip, it wasn't happening. The nurse came in and checked me around 10 am. I was at a 9. She said it was time to get started. A little bit later, she was in and out getting everything ready. She showed me how to push a few times and then left for a few minutes while Rhett helped me continue to push. He was the absolute best! The nurse returned with Dr. Prince. I pushed a few times and at 10:41 am our sweet little girl was born! Our lives will never be the same! They handed her to me, and I don't remember much after that! She was absolutely perfect and I was in love! She some had hair, which I didn't expect at all, and it was dark. She looked so much like Rhett's baby pictures. Rhett had told me he didn't want to cut the umbilical cord, but the doctor handed him the scissors and showed him where to cut without even asking. I don't think he minded though. He was over the moon, and we both couldn't get enough of our little Laetyn Aroline Arave!
The rest of the day flew by and was pretty much a blur. Rhett was able to help bathe her. She wasn't a fan. She weighed 7 lb 6 oz and was 19.5 inches. I tried feeding her, and she seemed to do okay. They took us to our room, and we settled in for the night. One of the nurses came to take her stats and noticed her oxygen was low, so they took her to get checked out. They told us it would just be an hour, but later they came back and said it would be overnight. Rhett and his friend Dallen went a gave her a blessing in the NICU. I feel horrible now that I didn't go up and sit with her, but at the time I was so tired and out of it and with it being my first baby I had no clue what was allowed or if I could go be with her. The nurse told me they would come get me if she got hungry but no one ever came. Later Rhett told me a nurse told him she had a feeding tube (which wasn't true at all) so I didn't worry about her. When I went to see her the next morning around 11 she was starving! I felt so horrible and I'm sure the nurses thought I was the worst mom. I hated seeing her with the IV. it was in her arm at first, but they ended up moving it to her head. It looked like it hurt, but she was so tough. I was hoping we would get to go home that day, but she needed to be on the IV with an antibiotic for 48 hours. We spent the day snuggling our babe (as much as we could through all the wires) and taking it all in. She did okay eating, but would end up falling asleep most of the time. She was hooked up to a monitor checking her breathing, heart rate, oxygen level, and I'm sure so much more. I was like a proud mamma every time her stats improved! It was also so comforting to know she was being taken such good care of and if anything was wrong, someone was right there.
The next day they told us everything was looking good and we could go home! We couldn't wait to get our little Laetyn home. Too bad it would only be for a few days before we would have to move! After she was first born, they gave her eye drops that irritated her skin by her temples, and while she was in the NICU, they taped her oxygen tubes at about the same place. Her little face was so red and sore after they took the tape off...poor thing, not to mention all her little sores and bruises from them having to take her blood so much. I bet she was just as glad to get out of that place and head home.
