Rosalie's Debut

Sean and Rosalie have the exact same feet!!!!

She is here and she is the cutest thing in the whole wide world. I just can't believe it, it is so surreal. Disclaimer: I am writing everything I can remember for journaling purposes, and it is long! I will add some pictures soon, we haven't loaded them yet.

Her arrival was right on time. I thought I was getting the flu on the 16th because my body felt like I had been hit by a bus, but it must have been some pre-labor contractions. I went about my day on Thursday and did some laundry and was excited for my mom to get into town so that I could do something with her on Friday. Friday the 17th I woke up at 4:30 feeling uncomfortable, and after 30 minutes of trying to fall back to sleep I gave up and went to shower because the hot water makes me feel better, I sat in there for 30 minutes. Then I just got dressed and laid on the couch with a heating pad until a little bit before 7. I didn't want to wake Sean up because I didn't think I was really in labor, I just watched the clock to see how often my contractions were and noticed they were about 10 minutes apart, granted I still thought I had the flu because my entire body ached, not just my tummy area. Sean's mom noticed me on the couch and asked how I was and I told her about my contractions and she said that we better head for the hospital now since it was an hour drive and she went to get Sean and make him get ready. He gathered our things, I got dressed, and we left for Provo. The drive felt forever, even though we made it in like 45 minutes. We got to the hospital at 8:30 am and I wouldn't let Sean park, I made him leave the car out front and just take me upstairs, I couldn't keep track of the contractions at that point, my back was just killing me and I couldn't think.
We got up to the labor and delivery floor and they got me in my gown and checked me, I kept saying I need to go to the bathroom and they thought I was feeling the urge to push. I felt like yelling at them, I know my body and I can tell a difference. They finally let me go to the bathroom because I was only dilated to a 2, which was annoying news to me because I thought they were going to send us out. Luckily the Dr. realized we would have to drive another hour home and then an hour back when it was time, so he made arrangements for me to be admitted. I don't enjoy back pain very much, and it doesn't like me much either, and I definitely was having back labor, so my body handled it they way it does when I'm in sever pain and I threw up. I just really wanted to relax so that I could handle the pain, so they gave me some morphine. Let me tell you that stuff is strong, I was way too relaxed, I could not get my eyes to stay open after that, it wasn't that I was asleep, I just couldn't talk or keep my eyes open long. A little before 10 am the Dr. came in and broke my water and they said if I didn't progress they would give me the Pitocin. They came and checked me an hour later and I was at a three, and an hour after that I was at a 4 so they decided I didn't need help progressing. I think that an hour later I was at a five, and then 30 minutes after that I was at 8.5 cm dilated. And yes I got the epidural right away when they broke my water because I was thinking I wanted it to kind of wear off when pushing time came. Unfortunately it didn't really affect my left side very much, so I was feeling contractions for most of the time, maybe there was a little bit less of an edge to them, I don't know but they were not too much fun. My mom and sister and Sean all took turns holding my hand and making me breathe rather than hold my breath through the contractions to try and make me relax. The nurse later said I was probably feeling them so strongly because I progressed from a 5 cm to 10 cm in 45 minutes. The nurse was out of the room when I felt like I needed to push, so we called her, or rather I ordered that they call her and make her come back because I needed to get her out of there. I was pretty out of it for most of the time, all the details are so fuzzy to me. I had no concept of time that is for sure. So the nurse came in and my mom and Sean helped me to hold my legs and push 3 times per contraction, I felt like it was so hard, and she said not to worry most first time moms take at least 1-2 hours for pushing. That right there motivated me, and I was watching the clock, I wanted her out fast so I could relax finally. At some point Aubrey took over holding my leg so my mom could take a break and Sean stayed on the other side. I don't really know what Sean, Aubrey , my Mom and Linda were doing I just would see them every little bit moving past me between contractions, all I could focus on was getting her out. My mom says that I was very limber in holding my feet to push at the end, I didn't even think about it. I just remember Sean telling me good job Court, and Aubrey saying you're not pushing hard enough because your legs aren't shaking this time. It was pretty funny and if I had been in my right mind I would have been laughing. The Dr. came in and I pushed a little longer and he did the episiotomy, when he was doing it Aubrey was watching for some odd reason and I could see the look on her face of horror and was trying to tell her don't look while they do that, it was crazy. And then just a couple more contractions and she was out and he put her on my belly. I only pushed for 45 minutes and she was here at 4:17 pm on April 17. I was just so emotional and glad that she was here and everything was ok. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 19 inches long. I will have pictures and more of her first crazy 24 hours story up later, but now it is time to feed her. I can't believe I did it, and I can't believe how amazing she is. I'm so glad I had my little team to help me out.