The Birth of my daughter, Georgia | Baptist Health, Paducah, KY
Hey! We had our baby!!! Haha! It’s hard to document the birth of your own child, especially when you are sleep deprived and taking care of an almost 3 year old wild boy child and a one month old! But it’s important to me to have this on the blog so here we go!
During my infertility treatment to have Graeme we learned that I have what’s called a hyper-flexed uterus, with an extreme curve to my vaginal canal. In addition, just like my mother, I grow large babies. This makes giving birth vaginally dangerous for said babies. Due to these factors, my amazing obstetrician, Dr. Amber Savells, strongly recommended that my birth with Graeme be a scheduled C-section if I did not go into labor naturally by 37 weeks gestation. Fast forward it to mid pregnancy with Georgia, and the situation was the same.
Around 36 weeks I experienced extreme Braxton Hicks and lower back pain. I wanted nothing more then to give birth vaginally and attempt to do so naturally and medication free, so you can imagine my excitement when I thought that I may be going into labor on my own and before 37 weeks! It was a Tuesday evening and I was out to dinner with one of my girlfriends when this started. It was right after Christmas and every store in the mall was having their after Christmas sale so we walked the mall up-and-down to encourage the contractions to continue. At a certain point I was sure this more than that the BH I experienced while pregnant with Graeme so I notified my Doula and birth photographer. We were all on standby until the next morning when I realized all of those labor symptoms were gone. I had my first cervical check up that day and learned that the only progress I’d made the night before was going from 0 to 1 cm dilated and it was likely that I wouldn’t make much if any more progress any time soon. A scheduled C-section appeared imminent.
January 31, 2018: My little family of three awoke at our normal time and spent a relaxing morning having breakfast and getting ready for the day. My mom arrive around 10am to watch Graeme and allow Neil and myself to finish getting ready before the two of us headed to the hospital for our 11 AM check-in. After I was checked in and settled, my mom and dad brought Graeme to the hospital for us to spend a few minutes minutes alone, him as the only child, before we welcomed his sister into the world. I really expected myself to cry at least a little during this time, however I found myself entertained by Graeme’s curiosity of everything in the room and everything that was going on with me in the moment. Nevertheless those last few moments as a family of three were priceless and I’m so glad that not only we had that time but that we had it photographed as well. Looking back on these images now and seeing how much of the baby he was then is crazy to me!
After a short time my parents dropped Graeme off at home, where our where our then nanny was waiting, for lunch and his nap time so that my parents could return to the hospital and wait for the birth of their granddaughter. Neil’s parents and my grandmother (who was also present at Graeme’s birth) arrived to wish we well and to wait until we were in recovery to be the first to meet Georgia. These images in particular are so special to me because that grandmother, my dad’s mom, is no longer with us. I’m so thankful that she got to meet Georgia, even though Georgia won’t remember her living.
Finally it was time to head back to the surgical suite. Most everything after this point is identical to Graeme’s birth. Neil and our birth photographer Carrie Cunningham was allowed back into the surgical suite after my spinal was started. The actual procedure of having a cesarean birth does not last long. Only a handful of minutes later, Georgia’s cry was heard and Neil and I became parents of two. Much like after Graeme was born and handed to me, my heart swelled and doubled in size when Georgia was laid upon my chest. As I’ve most moms explain, until you experience it, you cant fathom having enough love in your heart for more than one child – and then the second (or third or fourth!) comes along and somehow your heart grows.
There is a physical relief to be felt once your body is no longer pregnant. Once baby is on the outside, a physical weight is lifted and an emotional one is there to take its place, 100 times over. She was here and she was mine.
I’m not sure which part was more exciting though. Us meeting her for the first time or her her brother meeting her for the first time. We’d only been talking about her for 10 months and I can tell you, his reaction did not disappoint! Welcome to the world Sweet Baby Girl! My precious Georgia Peach! You complete our family!
