The Early Bird Gets the Worm!

She's here! Livia Elise Fekete made her grand debut on August 10th at 2:36 pm. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces, 20.5 inches long. The tale is on the verge of a saga....I'll try to include only the necessary details- for your sake. Labor contractions actually began 40 hours before her entrance to the world. The process was slow and consistent, however, mom was not prepared for that length. Going into "labor day" with approximately 2 days of virtually no sleep, dad decided to make the call once contractions were between 5-10 minutes apart rather than the standard 4 or 5. We were told to come in to the doctors office to visit a midwife and see how progressed things may be. At the office, mom was near 100% effaced and 3 centimeters dilated. However, during the heart rate check for baby (not yet named), a slight irregular heartbeat was detected. After putting mom & baby on a monitor- the irregularity was confirmed. Because of this, the midwife felt that it was best if we go ahead and go to the hospital to be monitored for a longer period of time. Mom & dad were a little concerned but because there were no issues during the pregnancy, we remained fairly calm & positive. Little did she know, mom & dad already had their bags packed....going home was not an option anyway. Once we were settled in at the hospital the contractions were increasing in intensity. Luckily, between monitoring the heart rate we were able to utilize the whirlpool tub, exercise ball, etc. During the next "check," Alisha had dilated to approximately 6.5 cm. Because of the length of pre-labor (and an encouraging talk from the nurse), mom & dad opted for a low dose of Fentanyl (pain medication). This allowed mom to relax & possibly get a minute of sleep in between the contractions, which became detrimental. Supposedly before 8 cm, no effect is had for baby....and in some instances, has been known to speed up labor. Low & behold, it definitely worked! Alisha went from 6.5 cm to 10 and ready to push in an hour! It seems that August 10th was a popular day for babies. The hospital delivered 10 in 12 hours, and 5 of those were in the same hour that Livia was delivered. Needless to say, they were a little short staffed and the majority of the labor process was just with mom & dad. Thank goodness Dad was a pro- the Bradley Method classes definitely paid off. There was a little issue with the placenta it contained an "accessory lobe," which did not want to separate from it's beloved uterus. After a dose of Pitocin and manual removal- it was finally delivered an hour after birth. Livia was monitored on an EKG for her heart irregularity. It was found to be benign and she has since grown out of it! There is a little more to the story, but that's pretty much the gist.......besides, we have this little beauty to oh & ah over!