Shelby Nicole Saunders

Our baby Shelby was born on Friday, April 16, at 4:45am. She weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 19.5" long. She has a nice spattering of dark hair and a pinkish tint to her skin. She is just the sweetest baby ever.

Here's how it all went down. I warn you, it might be long!

On Wednesday morning, I texted John around 10 to tell him that I'd started having a few contractions. They weren't closely spaced and were hardly painful, but I wanted to forewarn him in case something happened later in the day and he had to drop work and head home. Through the day my contractions got closer and closer together, but no more than 10 minutes apart. John had a really long day and didn't end up getting home until 9:45. By then the contractions were still only 10 minutes apart, but I had a feeling we may end up at the hospital.

By 11:30 they were 5 minutes apart and I knew we needed to go to the hospital. We dropped Ben off at my friend Kelli's house (THANK YOU SO MUCH KELLI) and headed to the hospital, getting there around 1am. I was sent to triage where they checked my vitals and progress. I was only at a 3, but the contractions were still 5 minutes apart and getting more and more painful. After making me lay on my side for about an hour they checked again and I was barely a 4. So after a call to my dr we were told to go walk. For an hour. So me, John and my cup full of ice went walking. And let me tell you, it's really painful to walk on hard floors, nearly 39 weeks pregnant and having contractions every 5 minutes! After an hour of walking I was still a 4. So we were told to walk again. For an hour. We tried stairs this time. And after 45 minutes it was so painful that I was crying through every contraction and had to go lay back down.

Still a 4.

After a call to my dr I was given a shot of demoral and sent home around 5am. We left Ben at Kelli's and went home to try and sleep for a while. I could only sleep for a couple of hours and woke up, showered, and got ready to go pick Ben up. John was definitely not going into work so we headed and got him.

Around 1pm my pain meds were wearing off and I was having contractions again, really sporadically. They were excruciatingly painful. I never experienced any of this with Ben so I was completely surprised. We tried to rest on and off through the day and finally around 10pm John goes to bed, because if we didn't end up at the hospital that night he was going to have to go to work. And he was running on about 3 hours of sleep in 2 days.

By 11:30 my contractions were back to 10 minutes apart. And I was crying through all of them. After midnight I got in bed and John and I were still debating on whether to go to the hospital. Once my contractions got to 5 minutes apart and I could hardly stand it I knew we needed to go. So at 1:30am we drove Ben all the way to my mom's house. Had I been a little more with it through the day we would have pre-planned for this. But they told me I could not be admitted if I came back unless my contractions were 3 minutes apart or my water had broken! And I DID NOT want to be sent home again!

Once we left my mom's house (after 2am) my contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was in so much pain John turned the hazards on and we got to Arlington Memorial as fast as we possibly could. We head in to triage and see the same nurse we had the night before and my heart dropped because I didn't want the same nurse and I did not want to go home! They check me and I'm at a 7, 100% effaced and we're immediately admitted. Duh. By then I'm already asking for an epidural but they have to get my IV in, get all the machines set up and call the anesthesiologist in. The dr on call wasn't even at the hospital yet! After about 20 minutes of torturous prep time in the delivery room the anesthesiologist comes in for my epidural.

I was having what I'd consider one constant contraction and I could not focus to position properly for the epidural. I know it makes me sound like a baby, but it hurt SO FRIKKIN BAD. So after the first attempt he has to pull out, reposition and try again. And he digs around in my spine for over 20 minutes trying to get it. It was torture for me and for John who finally had to sit down so he wouldn't pass out. FINALLY he got it right and I was almost immediately calm and could finally focus. I don't know how people can do it without an epidural. Maybe I just have a really low pain tolerance but it was so painful. If you'd have asked me that night if I wanted to have more kids I would have told you there was no way in you know what.

The dr had just arrived and I was ready to push. Then less than 30 minutes later she was here! John told me on Saturday before we were discharged that the umbilical cord was actually wrapped around her neck as she was coming out and after a quick unwrapping by the dr she was out, already crying, super red skin and with dark brown hair! I was so surprised her hair was so dark for some reason. I never really thought about what she would look like, but I was still surprised. But she's seriously adorable. We were supposed to stay at the hospital until Sunday morning, but we asked on Friday if we could go home on Saturday and they said that we could! I was so happy because I missed Ben and felt bad he was being toted from house to house. I am so grateful for my wonderful family who took care of him for us! We couldn't be more blessed.

Shelby has Ben's same red lips (though they're smaller like mine) and big round cheeks. She looks like John (at least I think so) and has the sweetest disposition. She only cries when she's REALLY hungry or when she's getting changed. Ben hated his diaper being changed and she is just the same. I made the mistake tonight of changing her on my lap while sitting on the couch and, of course, I got peed on. But I was really grateful it wasn't a little boy I was holding at the time! She's really alert in the morning and in the evening after dinner. She eats about an ounce and a half at a time. We put her down for good last night around 11:30 after feeding her as much as she would eat. And she slept till 4:30! And after 2oz she slept till 7! I'm not even going to predict any sort of pattern with this, but it was so nice to get some sleep that wasn't in the most uncomfortable hospital bed! John is completely in love with his baby girl. Ben has always been such a mama's boy I know she's gonna have him wrapped around her finger. ;)

I'm feeling pretty good. I have lots of back pain where my epidural was placed and really bad skin irritation where the nurse very violently ripped the dressings off my back from the epidural and taking most of the skin under the tape with her. Awesome. I still have really swollen feet from all the fluid they pumped into me after Shelby was born. I'm hoping that goes down in the next few days!

Anyway. So that's our story in a nutshell. I'm sure I left out a ton but it was still such a different birth experience than the 14-hour inducing I had with Ben. I'm not sure which on I'd prefer honestly, I'm just glad we have two healthy, adorable kids!

**Note: I wrote this post yesterday and totally jinxed the first night home sleep! Alas, it is what it is. We'll get sleep again in a few months! John goes back to work tomorrow and I've got baby blues full fledged, boo! Just gonna plan our days and get as much done at home and do what we can. :)



John cut this crazy mop of hair this morning. I'll post a picture when I can! It looks really cool and Ben loves his new haircut. ;)

Ben LOVES Shelby. He talks about how cute she is, wants to hold her all the time and help feed her. He is such a huge helper (besides me trying to figure out how to tame his wiggles for fear of him crushing her!) And I never really realized how HUGE Ben is until bringing home this teeny little thing! He feels like he gained 10lbs overnight!