Baby its cold outside - birth story!

This post is REALLY long.

I am sitting in my nice cozy bed after a wonderfully relaxing sunny day and thought to myself that I should probably update my blog! A lot has happened since I posted last....Like I had a baby...and then two weeks later I moved across the country. SOooo my life has been kinda busy between getting used to three kids and unpacking a house... and our computer crashing. I am typing on a laptop as you read this so I am not fully operational right now, so the posts will be few and far between until it gets fixed. 

ok, so back to December. Daniel came home to us on Dec. 20th, the day before the world was going to end, so I really tried to have the baby that night so my  mom wouldn't have to preform a c-section at home on me. It didn't happen:( The next day we hung out as a family getting ready for Christmas. Saturday my mom had tickets and took us to Silver Dollar City. It is an amusement park/theme park and I had fun. I was pushed around in a wheel chair because I didn't want to have the baby over the Christmas holiday. We had a blast. The boys were loving that daddy was home and the weather was beautifully warm. We only stayed half the day because I was worn out, so we went home and then took the boys to go see Santa at Bass Pro shop. We go every year there. The boys loved the model trains and didn't cry when on Santa's lap. Ben actually talke to him and told him what he wanted this year. Super cute.

Sunday we went to my in-laws new ward building. It was beautiful. My feet were swelling sooo much that I couldn't even sit in chairs. I had to go in the hall and prop my feet up. Daniel followed to make sure nothing was wrong and rubbed my feet a little. It did good while he rubbed them, but the second he stopped the pressure was back. I never experienced this kind of swelling before Ugg I was done! We spent the evening at Daniel's parents and with family. We wanted to get as much family time in as we could before having to move.

Monday was Christmas Eve and we celebrate it with Daniel's family. We arrived around 10 am. We were getting ready to eat lunch and all of a sudden I got really nauseous and super tired. I took a little cat nap on the couch and then even ate Christmas dinner on the couch. I knew something was different, but wasn't having contractions so I just kept carrying on. We dressed up and acted out the nativity. I was pregnant Mary, but that was all I could do. I don't even think I stood up or rode a donkey. I was great with child and grateful for modern conveniences for this preggo lady. We also sang Christmas carols and then slowly opened gifts. The kids had a blast. My boys got a model train from Grandpa and Grandma Hamman which they love dearly. Then we played a really fun game called headbands. I laughed a lot and I don't think it helped my labor. This whole time I am having uncomfortable contractions and getting more and more tired.

We finally go home late and finish getting the gifts ready. I left some wrapping for my dad to finish so I could go to sleep. I did not sleep well. I was up the whole night with contractions, but kept hoping that if I drifted off to sleep they would stop and I could rest. It never happened. By the time the boys woke in the morning I was exhausted. They had so much fun opening gifts. My dad was there and enjoyed seeing them in this environment. I kept ignoring the contractions (I should have been timing them). My brother and his fiance were coming at 10am, so I hoped in the shower and got ready. By the time they arrived i was in a lot of pain, but was in denial. This was the one day out of the year that everyone is supposed to have off and I was NOT going to be the reason their holiday was ruined. My brother didn't stay long since we were all going to my moms next. When they had gone I was in tears from the pain (I had been through labor with Ben and that pain was nothing compared to this excruciating torture!).

I colapsed on the bed and told Daniel that I didn't know if I could handle it anymore as well as my concerns that it was Christmas day and ruining everyone's holiday. He asked me, "If this were any other day would you go in?" I said "Heck yes!" and he told me that the nurses are there whether I go in or not so lets go check it out. They can always send you home with pain meds. I was ok with this since their Christmas was already ruined by having to work.

So I told my dad and caleld my brother tucker who cam in to help with the boys. Then I called my mom and cried to her. I told her I was ruining Christmas, but had to go in due to pain. She said I wasn't ruining it and how special she decided to come today! She would meet us at the hospital. So would my in-laws.

We drove to the hospital and Daniel brought a wheel chair. He wheeled me up to the labor and delivery floor  and they took us right to a room. I was the only one there so I got their full attention. I got changed and they checked the baby and my vitals. They checked me and I had barely started anything! What! I was in so much pain! This was not ok if I had to go home and deal with this for 2 days! My c-section was scheduled for December 27th!  I asked if I could have some pain meds and the cute nurse, who kept reassuring me that I wasn't being a bother on Christmas, said that she would ask the doctor.

After a while she said that the doctor wanted to monitor me for a half hour and see my progression. So I wait. I have to breath and concentrate during all my contractions. I am so tired. I have been in labor for 24 hrs and I wanted someone to get this baby out of me NOW! They checked me again and no progression. This is my problem. I don't progress. My hips never widen. So now what. The sweet nurse couldn't get my doctor back on the phone, but she said she was going to prep as though I was going to have my c-section that day. By this time I didn't care if it was Christmas or not. I was done. The doctor, who isn't my normal doctor because mine was out with knee surgery, came in and talked to me. He was so sweet and held my hand, told me we would have the baby soon, not to worry that it was Christmas day, and why the heck did I wait in pain to come in? I should have come in earlier so it would have been easier on me. I was really ok with it being Christmas now because yes it is the one holiday people want off, but it is also the best holiday to be in labor because everyone is nicer on Christmas. I thanked everyone who worked on me that day and they were all so sweet and kind.

Ok so back to reality, P...A...I...N! I literally cannot stand the pain any longer. I was almost to the point where I was going to scream, throw things, swear, and cut her out myself ( or all of the above). I was squeezing Daniel's poor hand so hard. The doctor used iodine when he checked me again and it is a red color. Daniel thought it was blood and wanted my mom to check to make sure. As I was bending down and pulling the blanket off, it felt like a water balloon in my va-jay-jay popped. Yes it was my water breaking. I had never experienced this before That was the true testament that I was in labor. No going back now. I didn't know this but every contraction after that it felt like I was peeing my pants. I didn't know that's what was happening, so I was really embarrassed. I was wheeled back to the O.R. and sat up for my epidural. I did good and so did the doctor. When he was finished he said it looks like my water broke, I guess no one informed him it had, and I just kept thinking to myself that I really hoped it was amniotic fluid and not pee!!!!

Ok so I lay down and am so glad to not feel the contractions. They put the sheet pup so I can't see and suprisingly I don't throw up this time around. They start cutting and finally bring Daniel in. He gets to see a lot this time and he was real;y surprised what they do to get the baby out! There was a lot of pushing and pulling and the doctors whole arm was in my belly at one point. She was breech so he had a hard time getting her out. her first cries were filled with fluid, but they fixed that. She started to cry and it was so sweet. she would cry-squeek. Super girly and cute like. She still cries like that. The doctor told us not to touch her face for fear of germs, winter/germ season, but I couldn't help myself when they brought her over. They whisked her away and Daddy followed like a little puppy. She was my biggest baby at 7lbs 10.9 oz. Almost a whole lb bigger than her brothers! We named her  

Auriel Brittany Hamman

For health reason I had to have my tubes tied so the doctor took a little longer to do that before he sewed me up. I think I smelled burning. Anyways, I was wheeled back to recovery where they watched me for a half hour to make sure I was ok. Then family came in and the baby. We didn't let any family hold her the first day due to germs and the doctors advice. Soon we were in our room and you can imagine how tired I am so the baby and I fell asleep for a good 4-5 hours. I didn't even think to nurse her before sleeping. Oh well, she nursed beautifully and wasn't fazed by it. The next day the grandma's got to hold her and the following days more family as well. The boys had colds so when they met her for the first time they wore masks. It was super cute. I felt like my recovery was really fast until the last day. I think tying my tubes gave me ore pain and a longer recovery time when I got home. Our usual doctor, Zeller, came to visit us and see Auriel while we where there. So glad he did and he was so sweet. 

When we did go home I stayed in the master bedroom for a week and Daniel took care of the boys since they were so sick and we didn't want the baby to catch it. I caught up on Hulu and had a little mini vacation while Daniel ran the house.

Two weeks after I had Auriel we moved to Williamsburg, Va. We love it. I will post more about that another time since you are all probably bored to tears with this story! OH well. Thank you for reading and coming back to the blog. Look for my next post!!!