Introducing : Miss Addi Grace Strong

Monday, April 28th I had a weekly checkup with the doctor. I was still 90% effaced and dilated to a 3, pretty much the same that I had been for the last couple weeks. I asked him about stripping my membranes (because I was willing at this point to do ANYTHING) and he didn't seem opposed so we did it. Everyone said it hurt way bad so I was nervous, but it really wasn't anything different than his routine exams down there. I had a little bit of spotting, and a little bit of cramps, but that was it. The cramps only lasted a few hours, and when they stopped I was MAD. I went walking that night, bounced on my ball, and tried some other "methods" to get her out but she was not coming.

Tuesday April 29th I woke up disappointed. Michael asked if I was still cramping and I replied no. I was seriously bugged that I got my membranes stripped and did all that walking and bouncing for nothing. He went to work like any other day and so did I. I was scheduled to work from 9-1 (luckily I'm working from home now). Every time I went to the bathroom that day I had a little more whitish discharge than normal, but didn't think anything of it. At exactly 12:45 pm I stood up from my computer chair and literally felt like I wet myself. My water had broke. I called Michael, no answer. I called my mom, no answer. And finally my dad, no answer. I called them all a second time and no answer. So I sent out a group message to all of them saying. "NO ONE IS ANSWERING MY PHONE CALL. PRETTY SURE MY WATER JUST BROKE!" Then at once they all decided to call me back. I was still in shock.

Before I got too excited I called my doctor and labor and delivery and told them the situation. They said since I wasn't having any contractions to take my time at home. Shower, get some food, and kinda wait and see if I start contracting. So my mom came over, I took a shower and got ready. Then Michael came home from work, we got our last minute things together and headed to labor and delivery. They had us in the monitoring room, did their little routine tests and sure enough my membranes had ruptured.

They took me to my room around 4:30, got an IV started with pitocin (since I still was having no contractions) and then the waiting game began.

Michael's and my parents were there and after probably only 2 hours of pitocin with no epidural I was in so much pain and decided to give in and get it. Looking back, it would have been hell without it. I dilated fairly quickly. From a 3-10 in about 6 hours. It went by quicker than I expected it to. Around 1:00 am I was fully dilated but they wanted to give my body another hour of contractions to push her down a little more.

This is when family started showing up. I had quite the cheering section in my room. Michael, my mom, dad, Claire, Tracy, Traci, my aunt Heather, aunt Lisa and grandma Jeri were all in the room. My uncle Jeff, Carter, and father in law Mike were in the hall.

Around 2:00 am I started pushing. I honestly had no idea what I was doing at first. I felt like I was just getting red in the face. My nurses were amazing and helped me so much with pushing methods and staying focused. Michael and my mom were holding my legs at first, but Michael got a little shaky in the knees so I asked my dad to take over, and Michael stood up by my head and fanned me while I pushed and got me water, etc. I pushed for about an hour before Dr. Thompson got there. My little girl was facing up, so they called him in to turn her around to hopefully help get her here sooner. I kept asking the nurses if she was close to coming out and they would say "you've still got a ways to go." or the famous "once she gets under that pubic bone she'll come right out." I pushed for almost 2 more hours and finally Dr. Thompson decided to get out the vacuum. With that came a high risk doctor as well as a NICU doctor. The whole time before this, I was laughing, talking and honestly enjoying myself. The minute they started getting all this ready, things got serious. The whole mood of the room changed and it honestly made me nervous, but I knew I was in good hands. Dr. Thompson gave me an episiotomy that I was scared to death of and we were ready to go again. 2 more contractions later of pushing, she was here. My sweet Addi Grace Strong finally was here. 4:54 am weighing 9lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. She was worth 3 hours of pushing, and a 3rd degree tear (OUCH). She was a big girl, something I definitely wasn't expecting. I blame all those snow cones :) it was so surreal hearing her cry and seeing her sweet chunky face. She was perfect. They cleaned her off and put her on my chest and I just cried. Such a sweet little miracle that Heavenly Father had sent straight to us. He trusted us enough with one of his children.

Because she was so big (LGA - large for gestational age) they had to check her blood sugar and it was low. They checked it a few hours later and it was still low so off to the NICU she went. Heartbreaking for a mom and dad to see their little girl in the NICU hooked up to a bunch of monitors. They got her blood sugar under control with the help of an IV in just a few days, then she had jaundice and was on billy lights, then her urine output wasn't enough (due to dehydration) so they had to weigh every diaper and make sure she was getting enough food before they could send us home. Finally, 5 days after she was born we were cleared to go home!

So thankful for all the nurses and doctors in labor and delivery, mom and baby, as well as the NICU who helped us and our sweet girl. Special thanks to the lactation specialists who helped our chunky girl learn how to breastfeed because without them I would have given up for sure. And last but not least THANK YOU to my husband, mom and dad and ALL our family for all the help while we were in the hospital and since we have been home. We greatly appreciate it!