Pictures of Leah

Here is the first ever picture take of Leah Victoria Grosso. This is just two minutes after she was born.  Michelle had requested that the baby be placed right on her right after the was born, this picture was taken seconds after the cord was cut.

She looks so huge in this picture! This is where Leah got officially weighed.  You can see the "8lbs 9oz." on the readout.

 She definatley has mommy's lips!                                           

                                                                                      

"From such pain so much joy"

Welcome Leah Victoria

After a long and painful 20 hours we could finally say hello to Leah. Michelle gave birth at 148am July 26 to a 8lb 9oz. 20.5" baby girl.

We're still at the hospital and I'll be sure to post pictures once we're home, everyone is ok and Leah is a very healthy and way to cute baby. Michelle had to put in some serious hours and didn't think she could do it after a series of "I can't do this anymore" but when it came time to actually push she rose to the occasion and she was now determined to get this baby out.

Her labor went so long because, while she was having many contractions throughout, they weren't doing much in the way of moving the baby. We decided to use Pitocin to help regulate the contractions after 15 hours. I need to point out that Michelle went into this not wanting any type of medication but in this case, after she wore herself out completely after 15 hours of pain we had to do something...so she had Nubain, which is a mild pain reliever to help her rest in between contractions. And make no mistake, there was still an unbelievable amount of pain but something in a mother's brain triggers when it's time to push that baby out.

20 minutes into pushing we could see....hair, lot's of it. The head was very visible after that point and with some more work (I can't remember exactly how long) the head came out...from there it wasn't too much more for Michelle to push out the shoulders and with some "easy pushes" (meaning the Dr. said "don't push as hard") the rest came out.

Immediately following the full body being out....within seconds...the baby was placed on Michelle's chest where she laid for about 10 minutes. I cut the cord and the baby let out the necessary cry then just rested herself on Michelle and was completely content.

After everyone agreed how cute the baby was we spent some time just holding her and watching her react to the new world around her. We got back to our room (we had to deliver in a different room) at 4am to get a nap...Michelle had to be back up at 5am (can you imagine!) with the nurse to feed etc. Michelle stay in the hospital until Monday to heal, but it's ok we have a private room and she can be with the baby 24 hours a day.

I'll be sure to post some pics ASAP. I'm sure Michelle will have her take on all this.....stay tuned...

One Step Forward...Two Steps Back

Well Michelle has fought as hard as she could. 945pm and we had to move to another room that would allow for medication. After nearly 15 hours of enduring pain I could never imagine she's just too worn out. We are both working on no sleep over the past few nights but she has to add to that the pain and exhaustion of labor.

So here's where we are:
1. Michelle needed to get an IV inserted because she had lost too many fluids

2. She literally couldn't stand the pain any more so she's on a pain reliever..the contractions were killing her and killing me to see her in a situation where none of us could control the outcome

3. She's going to be given a medication soon to quicken her contractions. While she was having big painful contractions they were sporadic.

The killer was that after 4 hours the Dr. checked her again at 800pm and she was still at 4cm. She hadn't budged. She was in no shape (from the pain) to deal with anything and we had a serious talk about our options and here we are. This all sucks right now but I know that the last post in this blog will make it all worth it.

So we are in for a long night...she will get to rest finally and hopefully the baby comes tonight but I've learned not to get my hopes up. Again the staff here are great and I can't wait to thank them all when this is over. Right now I just want this over and I'm not even the one going through all the pain.

Making Progress...

At 3:30pm MidWife came in and said Michelle is at 4cm dilation. This is good because she has been stuck at 1cm for just over a month. To help things along the midwife broke a "Waterbag" that was just in front of the baby's head. This has seemed to help move things along.

More contractions...more pain. Amazingly Michelle is still able to get through, her pain level has increased from a 3 to around 6 out of 10 (they keep asking her what level her pain is). Still she just closes her eyes and focuses, this makes my job much easier basically I just stare at her until she's done and say "all done"...wow what a help I am right? I'm guessing my crowning moment is yet to come...

The Water Breaks.....

At 5:30 this morning (EST for you Vancouver folks!) Michelle's water broke. Woken up after a full hour sleep I heard her from the other room (yes I was sleeping in the other room...ever try sleeping with a large itchy pregnant woman?) "Hun...it happened".

My first reaction was to strip the soiled sheets off the bed and put them in the washing machine...which I did. Supportive husband right! Anyway we called the Dr. and he told us to head right to the hospital. My biggest fear for the past 9 months was getting lost on the way to the hospital...I'm happy to say we made it...without my GPS!! After getting strapped to all the necessary monitoring equipment the next thing Michelle did was order an Omelette with everything...mushrooms, cheese, ham, green peppers, onions..the works. She obviously has her priorities straight. The food here is actually very good, not like typical hospital food....this is all very important to us!

It's 12:30pm now and Michelle is doing great. She's been having contractions but nothing really significant has happened yet, which is normal. I have to say it's amazing to watch her as a contraction hits, she is able to bear down and focus away the pain...it's hard to explain unless you see it but so far she is able to put the pain aside.

The staff here at St. Joe's have been great checking her every 30 minutes. Either way by 6am tomorrow morning we're walking out of here with a baby...got to go...Michelle's Caesar salad just came in.....

More later....

Keep praying!

Well it's Wednesday evening and still no sign of Leah *_*

We went to the doctors yesterday and it's the same news...1cm dilated and no contractions. Before the doctor left our exam room, she said to try eating eggplant parmesan as she heard that it may help with starting labor, so guess what we did...we went to an Italian restaurant for eggplant parmesan :D LOL

We've also been walking around the neighborhood hoping that gravity will help out, but nothing yet!

Our next appointment is Friday. Hopefully she'll come before then!

Still Nothing!

Well, it's Sunday night and still no Leah. Chris and I have been going for walks hoping that it'll help, but it doesn't seem to be helping at all!

I still have no contractions and feel very very uncomfortable. I never thought I would ever be sick of being pregnant, but everyone's right...the last month is the worst :(

Just waiting!

Well it's July 19th...my due date...and still no Leah!

I went to the doctor's yesterday and I'm still only 1cm dilated. I had a sono and the technician thinks she'll be about 7 lbs. 13 oz. (I guess she's getting fat and staying happy in there). The stress test sounded good with no sign of contractions :(

Well, I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for Tuesday and Friday, if she doesn't come before then.

PLEASE PRAY THAT SHE COMES NATURALLY WITHIN THIS WEEK SO I WON'T HAVE TO BE INDUCED!

God help me :)