A Birth Story

It's my new years resolution. BLOG MORE. Thee end.

It's only taken me a month to get cracking. But January... it was a busy month :-)

Yesterday I was at this pretty lady'shouse, and she inspired me to blog more for the sake of the friends and family who don't live around here, and I am going to try my hardest to stick to it!

So so much has happened since my last post- most importantly, I got preggers and had a beautiful baby girl. Just in case you didn't know :-)

I was looking back at my posts about Harmony and her birth, and I absolutely love that I have her entire birth story all written out to have forever. It's only been three years, and I was surprised at how much I forgot about that day. So I thought it fitting that my first blog of 2011 is Makaela Reese Shipman's birth story.

Ever since we found out I was pregnant, Mike and I both agreed and were excited about the chance to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) since we had to have an emergency C-section for Harmony. It was a very hard recovery for me, and I did not want to go through it again. So we told our OB, and he was completely on board with it. THEN, I got gestational diabetes. No biggie I thought. Diet change. Checking sugar levels. No problem. The one snag was that I just had to have her very close to my due date. But as that due date got closer and closer, we realized that we needed a plan B. I was not happy about it at all. I avoided the word "c-section" my entire pregnancy, and in those last two weeks I heard it said to me dozens and dozens of times. It was very frustrating. I made an appointment with my doctor the monday before my due date (which was that Friday, January 14th), and he checked me out, and told me that I had not progressed AT ALL. He was confident that Makaela wouldn't make her due date, so I essentially had very few choices. You can't induce a woman who previously had a c-section, so that was out. And because of my GD, I wasn't comfortable going past my due date and risk anything happening to her. So I talked to my Dr (who is the most fantastic man ever- i recommend Dr. Tripp to everyone) about the issues I had in my last c-section, and he was confident that he could avoid all of them, so we booked an OR for January 14th, at 8AM.

The day before was one of the most emotional days I've ever had. I was scared, nervous, anxious, excited.... but mostly, all I could think about was Harmony. I felt like I was ruining her life by having another baby. I was afraid she would hate her. What if our relationship changed? I was a mess. I cried most of the day- all in private because I wasn't sure if anyone would understand how I was feeling. And I think Harmony could sense that I was not myself. She wouldn't let me go all evening. When I put her to bed that night, I cried, and she just stared at me, not knowing what to do with her mother. She was up most of the night, but so was I, so I laid with her for hours. We whispered secrets to each other, I rubbed her back, she rubbed my belly... and it was just what I needed. Those last moments with her as my one and only. It was awesome. I was dog tired by 5:45 when our alarm went off, but adrenaline kicked in quickly, and we were out the door and at the hospital by 6:15.

I was prepped and ready to go at 8:00, but they didn't get a chance to take me to the OR till 9:00. I got my spinal and all that jazz (which is what i was most worried about, but my anesthesiologist was AMAZING, and it was a cake walk), they brought Mike into the OR at 9:20, and got started. I began to have trouble taking deep breaths soon into the surgery, and it scared me a bit, but my anesthesiologist assured me it was ok, so I tried to stay calm, and concentrate on seeing my little girl. And at 9:28, she arrived! And she was mad! She cried and cried, but I didn't care. It was amazing, and she was beautiful!




They ushered Mike over very quickly to see her and to have him take pictures of her first moments. I don't have any from Harmony's delivery, so these shots are priceless to me. One of the nurses (who was there for Norah's birth- how cool is that!?!?) took the camera so we could have some photos with Mike in it.



I was wheeled into recovery soon after I was all sewn up, and I was so glad I could have Makaela the entire time. I didn't get Harmony for about an hour and a half after she was born, and that was a concern of mine, but they were awesome and I had skin on skin contact with Makaela the moment I was in our room. It was so nice for Mike and I to have such quiet moments with her, and we will cherish those moments forever.



Once the nurses had made sure I was ok, I was finally able to introduce her to my family! It was so awesome to have them there, along with Amy, Mattie, and Alana. My girlfriend Aimee was there for the birth, but had to go back to work before I was finished in recovery, but she in fact was there! Makaela was passed around, and ooh's and ahh's were heard, but the moment of all moments was when Harmony walked into that room. Mike and I just lost it. We cried and cried at the sight of our first love. It's so hard to describe how I felt. Makaela expanded our hearts the moment she was born, but Harmony was the little girl who CHANGED our hearts, and we were overwhelmed by her presence, and at her first meeting of her sister. I still cry every time I look at those snapshots because I am immediately brought back to that moment. It was electric.



The rest of the day was filled with visitors, with rest, and of course, filled with hours of staring at our sweet new addition. I adore everything about her, and I am so so enjoying life with my two daughters!! Here is the birth announcement for you all!