Newly Made Momma: Ava's Birth Story Part Two

Continued from Ava's Birth Story Part One

Travis finally showed up (my Aunt got a hold of him while I was being checked) and I was wheeled into a delivery room where they hooked me up to some more monitors. One nurse tried to put my IV in, but I was writhing in pain so much that she blew my vein. I was finally allowed to push and I pushed with all my might! What felt like an hour of pushing was actually three hours, which I later found out when talking to Travis about what he witnessed. (The entire thing, from the first contraction to Ava being born, was around 4 hours. I've heard this is rare since she is my first!)

Then, with one final push, out she came at 9:06 pm weighing 9 lbs 12.3 oz and measuring at 21 inches long! No, that's not a typo, she really was almost 10 lbs. She squeezed right on out of my body and into the doctors arms. She cried as soon as she came out, which was wonderfully loud! Ava was plopped onto my chest and Travis cut the cord after we waited for it to stop pulsing. Everything was so surreal and it all felt like I was watching someone else go through it.

She was perfectly healthy and beautiful. I was neither of those. I was pushing so hard that my eyes became swollen and bloodshot from burst blood vessels. I couldn't see straight for at least two hours after the birth because I was squeezing my eyes shut so tightly with every push. Ava came out of me so suddenly, that she gave me a 4th degree tear, which is about as fun as it sounds. I won't go into detail about what exactly tore, but let's just say that it is the worst tear you can get. My doctor even told me that I had the definition of a 4th degree tear. Fabulous. Anyways, she stitched me right up and we went to our room to recover. We stayed there for two nights and it was amazing. The nurses and staff were so helpful!

It was an amazing experience and a little traumatic for me. Many things did not go as I "planned" but I wouldn't change any of it! Truthfully, I am planning on waiting at least three years before I get pregnant again. Ava is now almost three months old and is wonderful!