The Albaughs : May 2017

Born April 28, 2017 8:02 PM

Weight: 7 lbs

Height: 20 inches

April 28th I woke up to snow on the ground...at the end of April! But I also woke up not expecting to have a baby that day, at all! Wednesday I had my routine checkup. I had a slightly high blood pressure. I just assumed it was because I was running around the house all morning getting things done, exercising, and getting Ryker to my mom's. But the Doctor wanted me to come in on Friday to check the blood pressure again. He said if things weren't better, he would probably induce me. So that was in the back of my mind- that I might be having a baby earlier than expected. So I tried to get everything done I thought I might need to get done. Kev was working in Pocatello on an audit. Thursday night he told me, 'Ok I need to know if I should drive separate to Pocatello tomorrow or not.' I laughed and was just like, 'nothing is going to happen. I wouldn't worry about it.' Well Friday morning Kev decided to drive separate to Pocatello - good thing he didn't listen to me!

My Doctor's appointment was at 12:15. I still had high blood pressure and I found out the lab work I had done on Wednesday showed protein in the blood. So those two things were signs of Preeclampsia. So the Doctor said he was going to have me go to the hospital and get induced. I was in shock! Before I left, he measured my cervix to see how they needed to go about inducing me. I was only dilated to a one. I quickly texted Kev 'Come Home' as I was finishing up my appointment. He didn't appreciate that, he wasn't sure if I was kidding or not and I wasn't answering my phone. Once I got to the car I told him the news...and then the tears came. I was terrified! And I was in shock! I was so ready to not be pregnant any more but definitely not ready for her to be here yet. After I called my mom I just cried the whole way home - the doctor was nice enough to let me go home to pack a bag :)

I ended up getting to the Hospital a little before two where I met up with my mom, who came to support me while Kev was getting there. They got me all settled in and then Kev showed up.

The Doctor came by and explained what all was going to happen - he is a great Doctor and I really appreciated him explaining the whole process, why we were inducing (the blood work I had done when I got to the hospital showed something wrong with my liver - another sign of preeclampsia), and what to except and all that. Soon they were going to put a pill next to my cervix to get things going. Once I got to a 4/5 they would break my water and give me some pitocin. The doctor wasn't expecting me to have the baby till about midnight. After he left, the nurse got the tiny little pill and put it up there and acted really surprised. She announced I was at a 4 already - this was between 3 and 4 pm. So she started asking some questions, and we both realized I was in active labor. I had been having some pains down there throughout the day, but I just thought it was associated with my bladder and baby girl doing something weird to it. I had also been nauseous the last two days. And there were a couple other things going on. So Ava was going to come some, no matter what. Well they couldn't take the pill out, so we were just going to wait.

I started to have more and more contractions and they were not fun with me just laying there. So when the nurse came back in I told her that I would love to get my epidural now. She said ok and then mentioned that I wasn't having really any contractions. My heart dropped- thinking that I was just a wimp. But then she checked where the monitor was located and realized it wasn't catching any of the contractions haha. So the epidural person came in and we started the whole process. Once he got the catheter in there he put something in it to make sure it wasn't located in a blood vein. So he warned me that I might get light headed, hear ringing and to let them know. Well it happened fast, I lost all color, got lightheaded, heard the ringing and started shaking a lot. So it's a good thing they checked it - cause it was in a blood vein. They moved the catheter and got my legs feeling all tingly.

At about 6 the doctor came and broke my water. We were teasing with him saying we would have the baby around 8, so that he could go home and say goodnight to his son. The nurse said she would come in at 7:15 and see how things were going. Well the epidural guy came in at like 7:35 to check on things. Kev asked him if he could find the nurse, since she said she was going to come in. Well the nurse finally came and apologized. She said she was watching the contractions and they were trying to decide to start the pitocin or not. Well she went to check me and was shocked when she discovered I was at a ten! She called the doctor and we called my mom. I really wasn't sure if I could wait for either of them, I felt a ton a pressure down there. But they both got there in time :) Kev informed the doctor that if he had to do an episiotomy not to announce it - since that's how Kev almost fainted last time haha. Kev got a chair close to him, just in case though. After 3 sets of pushes, at 8:02 PM, Ava was here! There was no episiotomy, no tearing - like I said earlier I really like my doctor. They gave her to me right away...she was pretty gross haha

The first thing we did when I got her was check for 10 fingers and toes :) the nurses were curious as to why that was the first thing we would look at haha But no extra fingers for her. I was able to just hold her for quiet awhile. After a while they finally measured and weighed her, and cleaned her up just a little bit. Then Kev and my mom finally wanted to hold her :)

I nursed her, and she did awesome. So much better than with Ryker. My mom went and got us Jimmy Johns, which was so good. I was starving! I hadn't eaten since my quick lunch before running out the door. Then I got up and took a shower. It was amazing how much better I felt after having her, then when I had Ryker. After my shower we headed to the nursery area where Ava finally got a bath.The nurse asked if I wanted to put her shirt on - I forgot how hard it was to dress a tiny baby!

Then we headed for our room. It was not a very fun night. Ava was so noisy! And Kev snored so loud the whole time! So I actually didn't fall asleep at all. The next day Tom and Sandy came by. Sandy saw her and said, 'This is what Kevin looked like, like 3 lbs lighter' haha Ava is all Albaugh. She has super long, skinny legs, feet, toes and fingers. I'm quiet jealous of her Albaugh legs!

Later my mom came by with Ryker. We put him on the bed with me, and the first thing he does is hit her in the face haha I don't think he really meant to hit her, he was just touching it - a little hard. He was interested in Ava for about 2 seconds, and then just wanted to run around. After a bit, Kev took Ryker home to take a nap, he was falling asleep just sitting there.

Then the rest of my family came by to see her.

We were able to head home Sunday. I realized I have no clothes that fit her! I didn't buy any newborn sized clothes because I thought I would be having a 'Ryker' sized baby. So her clothes are huge on her!