Monday, May 26, 2008

Introducing Reese Aspen Crandall

Reese was born May 22nd at 11:20pm, weighing in at 7lbs 12oz and 19.7 in. long, and it was quite an ordeal getting her here. My due date was the 20th and I had decided that if she hadn’t come by then I was going to go ahead and be induced, which ended up being the death of my sanity. I guess Nate and I didn’t quite understand the process when the doctor described it to us because we were expecting that when we went into the hospital at 8am Wednesday morning that we would have our little girl by the evening, instead all we had was a twin hospital bed to sleep in for the night. Anyways, let me tell you how it all went down…..Like I said we got to the hospital at 8am on the 21st and got ourselves all checked in and ready to go. The doctor had told us that I would have to drink this cocktail first and hopefully it would naturally bring on the contractions. So we sat in the delivery room playing cards while I drank this horrible liquid upon completion of which they moved us to my room where I would be after I delivered. They had us come back down every three hours to check my contractions and my progress, but after 12 hours of taking long walks around Bitburg and waiting around in the room I was only dilated to a lousy 1cm and told we’d just be waiting it out still. The next morning we went back over to delivery to find out I was 2cm, so 24 hours in the hospital and hardly any progress. The doctor then gave us an oxytocin nasal spray and told us to go for a walk promising us that we would have our daughter that day but that she had until midnight to get her here. The spray brought on some strong, fast contractions, but I was still progressing rather slowly. Finally around 4pm I was 4cm and beginning to progress more quickly. They brought the anesthesiologist in and he gave me an epidural, or as I call it “the gift from the gods.” After that we just hung out in the delivery room waiting for the next 6cm to pass. I took a few naps, read some magazines and just watched the clock tick by. Finally about 9:45pm I was 10cm and they said at any moment I would start feeling the pressure to push. In the meantime another woman had come in and was quite loud about her impending birth, the doctor and midwife had to go to her so we were put on the backburner while they dealt with her. Finally the need to push was getting stronger so Nate stepped out in the hall to get the doctor and when they came in it only took about 10 or 15 minutes of pushing and all of the sudden Reese was thrown up onto my chest. In Germany they just hand you the baby right after it comes out and they don’t clean them up until after they’ve done everything else, so it was pretty cool to have her right when she came out. All in all it was a really good experience and Nate and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.
We left the hospital Saturday afternoon and though our first night at home was a little tiring we have since gotten Reese on a schedule and are finding home life quite pleasant. We love everything about her and I just can’t seem to put her down, she was actually awake for a whole hour at once today so I was able to just look at her beautiful eyes and watch her make faces at me. Nate and I haven’t determined which one of us she looks like other than that she has Nate’s mouth, and she has both of our big feet and long toes. The neighbors can’t get over how much hair she has and it’s kind of crazy because it looks like it’s brown with blond highlights. Anyways, enjoy the pictures, I’m sure I’ve added too many but they’re all so cute, I just can't get over how amazing it is that this girl actually fit inside of my stomach. Not only that, but that she's mine.....how crazy is that!

4 comments:

Mom said...

I love this entry! Welcome to the world of parenting and miracles!

Girls Rule! said...

Jessica-
She is SO CUTE!! You did such a great job, I wish I could hold her. Love and miss you!

Kami Alkire Photography said...

Congrats again! She is a cutie. Your life has changed forever, for the better!

Kelsey Carreon said...

Jess!! She is adorable!! What a great birth story thanks for sharing it. I have to see that baby so you have to let me know when you are in the states next so I can make a trip to Sacramento. We are so happy for you and Nate.