Bella Felicity McGuire was born Monday, October 26, 2009 at 6:46 p.m. She weighed 8lbs. 14oz. and was 21" long. There are no words for how in love with this beautiful girl I am. She is a dream baby. We only ever hear her cry when she is getting her diaper changed and then she's totally content again. Oh, and she sleeps...at night even! I think I have some kind of magic sleeping powers. All 4 of my babies have been great sleepers right from the start and they still are. So here is the birth story for all those interested. True to form, I was induced late. After arguing with my doctor for 9 months about how this was going happen, she induced me without me having to convince her. So Joe and I went to St. Mary's Friday afternoon about 11:30. Everyone was so nice and expecting me and knew my name. That was very comforting because I was so nervous about having a baby in a new place. I had wonderful experiences in the past and I didn't know what to expect here in Madison. I was in a hurry to get started but it was about 2:00 before I was hooked up to the pitocin. Then we walked and walked and played a Twilight trivia game on the iphone. After about 10 laps I was tired and we headed back to my room. Then the doctor (who was not my doctor but I loved her way more then my own) and the resident (who I did not care for at all) came in. Not much was happening up to that point. I was having a few contractions but nothing that I was really feeling. While they were there I had a horrible contraction that I was feeling right in my back and I thought I was going to die because it lasted so long. Then nothing again for a while. Sometime around 4:00 I was getting pretty regular contractions that were very strong and lasting a REALLY long time. I was still just 4cm and my water hadn't broken yet, but I was ready for my epidural. So about 20 minutes later the anesthesiologist came to my rescue. The relief lasted about 5 whole minutes before I was feeling serious pressure that I could hardly stand. The resident and the nurse said it was just my bag of water and as soon as it broke the pressure would be gone. Just a few minutes later my water did break on it's own and then the pressure was worse. The babies heart beat kept going down with contractions and they some how manged to get me on my hands and knees. I wasn't feeling the contractions just a lot of pressure. The resident checked me said I was 6cm then he left the room. Literally a minute later the doctor checked me and said I was ready to push. The baby was still up pretty high but as soon as I started pushing she came right down. Her heart rate was still dropping with the contractions so the doctor asked if she could make a little cut just to help get her out faster. I think I said something to the effect of I don't care just get her out!!!. Next push Bella was born, beautiful pink and screaming. They were worried that cord might have been around her neck but it wasn't. It was just a really fast labor and she was ready to come out. It was wonderful to get to hold her right away. With all the complications Molly had, it was several hours before I saw her and longer before I could hold her. Having that time with Bella right away was something I did not take for granted. She was finally here and healthy and she was mine. And per her father's request she did show up in time for Monday night football kickoff! Daddy has another little princess and I swear she swoons when he speaks Italian to her. Bella's name means "beautiful happiness" and so far she has lived up to her name.
*On a side note, I appreciate that residents need to learn. I do not however appreciate that they need to learn about stitching on me. It a little unnerving to hear the doctor, on more than one occasion say,"No! No! Not like that." I just tried to block it out. I also forgot how painful those stitches are to heal from. I hadn't had them since Lucas was born. Stairs are not my friend!
Some Beautiful pictures of my beautiful Bella:
*pictures by Jenifer Lee
