Last Sunday night on August 30th at 9:40 pm, we welcomed our beautiful Kaia Sage. She weighed 9 pounds, 1 ounces and 22 inches long. Yes, a big baby indeed and I did it vaginally without an epidural. (As my doctor keeps telling me, that’s huge bragging rights!) 😉
Late Saturday night I began having contractions and on early Sunday morning, I woke up my husband and told him it was showtime, my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. We drove to the hospital and got checked in. I was flooded with emotions from being excited to crying, because I was nervous about giving birth. It was the most terrifying feeling and you just want to make sure everything is going to be ok.
I decided at the last minute I wasn’t going to have an epidural. The thought of a huge needle going into my spine and not being able to feel anything from the waist down freaked me out, so I decided to forgo it. Let’s just say it was the worst painful thing I’ve ever experienced and they don’t call it labor for nothing. I was exhausted from not sleeping the night before that it actually worked in my favor. I was so drained and even slept thru some of my contractions. I just worked on my breathing, sat on a birthing ball and just went into a zen state of mind with my husband holding my hand the entire time coaching me.
They broke my water at 2pm to speed up the process so I wouldn’t be in too much pain from not having an epidural. By 7pm, I was pushing and pushing till she was born at 9:40 pm. My nurses had me in different positions to try and get her to come out, because she was sunny side up. I was pushing so hard that I had my eyes closed the entire time trying to concentrate and finally, my nurse said ok she’s coming, open your eyes and pull your baby out. Yes, I had a Kourtney Kardashian moment!
As soon as I pulled her, they had her lay on my chest for skin-to-skin contact. My husband and I were on cloud nine just staring at her and kept saying to each other I can’t believe she’s finally here! We are extremely blessed to have a healthy baby girl and can’t take our eyes off of her.
After two days of being in the hospital, we got to take her home and had a few rough nights in the beginning. Being new parents, we are learning as we go, but love every minute of it. So far if I can give a tip to parents-to-be, swaddling your baby is like magic. (We learned this after 4 hours of her crying not knowing what was wrong, even after breastfeeding) As soon as my husband swaddled her in her Aden + Anais swaddle blanket, she slept like an angel immediately. These are the best swaddle blankets on the market as we tried out a ton in the past week from various brands.
Kaia Sage still hiccups like she did in my tummy and is eating like a champ. Can’t wait to share more with you as time goes on. August 30th will forever be a memorable day for us.
Enjoy her first newborn photos taken by her daddy…
Aden + Anais Swaddle Blanket | Heartbreaker Collection
Baby Bling Bows | Knot Pink
