The Wright Family: Abbigail Anne -- A Birth Story

Abbigail Anne Wright

Born: August 21st 2012

Time: 9:54 AM

Weight: 6lbs 8oz

Length: 19 inches

Our sweet Abbi definitely came when we weren't expecting her to. I wasn't going to write out a full on birth story, but I thought I would give everyone a few more details on how our little girl entered the world {and also so I can remember}.

Abbigail was due to come on September 6th. Drew and I had been living in Inkom for the summer and were given the okay to move into our Rexburg apartment on August 25th. We knew we were cutting it kind of close but also didn't think she would actually be born before we moved into our new apartment. My whole pregnancy the doctors told me I was measuring 1-2 weeks ahead. We were really hoping for an August baby, but when I went to my appointment on August 14th, they did an ultrasound and told me that I was actually measuring right on track. This made me quite disappointed. I was SO hoping for our little girl to come early.

Ok now, fast forward not even a week. August 19th Drew and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.

It was a pretty low key celebration. We went to church, came home, relaxed, made pizza for dinner and just spent time together. It really couldn't have been more perfect.

That night I couldn't fall asleep. It took me 2 hours until I actually fell asleep then I was waking up every hour or every half hour with back pain, or stomach cramps or to go to the bathroom. I didn't think much of it except I was kinda irritated. I just wanted to sleep! In the morning Starting at 6:30 I started having stomach cramps. I didn't have much Braxton Hicks (false labor) during my pregnancy, so I had no idea what to expect when it came to contractions and labor. My stomach cramps really weren't unbearable, but they came every 3-5 minutes and lasted about 20 seconds. I sent Drew to work like he was scheduled to and told him if they were still consistent when the doctors office opened I would call them and keep him updated. 8:30 rolled around and they were still consistent and getting a little more painful. It felt like I was have menstrual cramps. I called the doctor and they told me to come in to the office and they would check me. I called Drew and we headed in.

I was dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced and yes I was in labor. They monitored me for a good half hour and saw that I was having contractions, but they weren't getting more intense and I wasn't dilating. So the doctor told me to go walk and come back in a couple hours. Drew and I did just that. We walked and walked and walked. When we went back to the doctors office I hadn't progressed at all. But I knew the contractions were getting a lot worse, I just wasn't dilating. He told me to do the same thing, walk for a couple more hours and come back. I did and nothing! So he prescribed some medicine to help me sleep and sent me home. My contractions were getting really intense and painful, but I didn't want to go into the hospital and have them tell me the same thing I had been told all day so I put it off as long as I could. Finally at 9:30 pm, we headed into Madison Memorial Hospital. They checked me in and told me I was at a 3 and like 90% effaced. I wanted to cry! {actually I think I did}. Why wasn't I progressing?? She called my doctor and he said the same thing he had been saying all day... Walk. So Drew and I walked the hospital for the next 2 hours with them checking the baby's heart rate every 30 minutes. When they checked me again I still hadn't progressed. Something wasn't right. The doctor had them check me in and give me pain meds through an IV.

The pain medication helped me relax but I could still feel every contraction. A few hours later, My contractions were really bad, I couldn't move when they came. The nurse said I was kind of a unique case because most of the time when in labor, women will have contractions 3-5 minutes apart and they last about a minute. My contractions came every 6-8 minutes, but they lasted 2-3 minutes each contraction. She checked me and I was finally at a 5 after 18 hours of labor. They gave me the epidural and I fell asleep. The doctor came in at about 7:30 and checked me, I was only at a 6 but fully effaced. They did an ultra sound and found the poor Abbi's head was head down (like it should be) but it was turned in a funky way and she was stuck. With each contraction, she was just getting more stuck.This was why I wasn't dilating. He said he would give her and hour or two to turn herself, but he put the idea of a C-section in our minds.

An hour and a half later, he came in and checked and she still hadn't turned, so they started to prep me for a C-section. After this point it all happened so quickly. By 9:30 I was in the operating room and at 9:54 Abbigail was born.

Abbigail is the most perfect baby we have ever met! Even the way she spits up or passes gas is cute! We have had two nights alone {just the 3 of us} and she is great! She sleeps pretty much all night with the exception of a feeding or two. And she doesn't really throw fits, she cries when she is cold or hungry but usually they are quick fixes and she stops crying. We couldn't be more in love!