Sophia's Story: Introducing: Miss Sophia Rose Patrick!

Hooray! She is finally here in this world and I am one happy mama! She is absolutely perfect in every way imaginable! Our pregnancy journey has come to an end, but this is just the beginning of all of our new lives together. Here is birth story of Miss Sophia Rose Patrick:

So my due day came...and went. I really thought for sure that we would be meeting her before July 7, but apparently Sophia had other plans. Rob and I were going crazy waiting for any sign that I was about to go into labor. Every cramp or wave of nausea sent me into a state of wonder. We were doing everything possible from eating spicy food to walking around the entire neighborhood...anything to literally get her out of me. To make matters worse, that week must have been the hottest week of my entire life, with temperatures soaring about 100 degrees. I honestly thought that she was never going to come, and that this was all a cruel joke. To pass the time, Rob and I watched almost 2 seasons of Breaking Bad, went for long walks, and played a game of Scrabble (that I finally beat him at). We were going a little stir crazy.

Well during the infamous Scrabble game, I began having the dreaded Braxton Hicks contractions. Dreaded because I'd been having them for days now and with every tightening sensation I freaked out and thought I was actually going into labor, which never actually happened. So, around 9:30, after I won our game of Scrabble, we decided to go to bed. As I was laying there the contractions seemed to be getting more frequent and closer together, so I decided to keep track of them. Once they became 5 minutes apart, I called the Doctor, and she told me to wait a couple more hours and head on into the hospital. I was over the moon excited that it was finally happening. We waited a little longer and were on our way to meet our baby girl.

We got to the hospital around 4am and I was 2-3 cm dilated. Dr. Beal came in and broke my water and the contractions began getting stronger and stronger. I dilated to about 4 cm and was begging for an Epidural, which I believe was the biggest mistake of this labor process. Once I got the Epidural, my contractions seemed less painful, and I was relieved, for a little while. I started getting really bad back and hip pain, enough pain to actually scream out loud. The doctor explained that Epidurals aren't really meant to relieve pain caused from back labor, so it was something I'd have to "deal" with. Well, the pain was unbearable, and I was not happy about it. I thought this magic drug would let me sleep and when I woke up I'd be ready to deliver my baby. Well, I dilated to about 6 cm and my contractions started to slow down, so Dr. Salus decided I should have some Pitocin. Once that kicked in, I was in even worse pain than before and kept saying that I was done, and that I wanted to go home. The nurse suggested I get a dose of narcotics to help the pain. I really didn't care about the side effects at this point, I just wanted it to be over. Once I had the narcotics, I felt soooo much better. Unfortunately, the drugs didn't help the fact that I still wasn't dilating. After 4 hours of painful contractions, I was still only 6 cm and my cervix was swelling. At this point, the Doctor brought up the one thing that I in no way wanted, a C-Section. Once she said the words, I burst into tears. Nothing was going the way I had expected, and I was really angry that all of my plans were falling through. After talking to Rob and realizing that the goal was to deliver a healthy baby, we decided that a C-Section might not be so bad. One hour later, I was wheeled into the surgery room, and 45 minutes after that, I heard the most beautiful sound in the entire world. After 20 hours of labor, I head the cries of our sweet little baby girl. I instantly started to cry, and everything that I had gone through no longer mattered. After a quick clean-up, Rob and I were presented with our baby, and I was instantly in love. Sophia Rose Patrick was born at 5:57pm on Monday July 9, weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces. We had a beautiful and healthy baby girl.

After the surgery, I had to wait in the recovery area for what seemed like hours to meet our baby. The moment I got to hold her was the best feeling in the world.

Rob and I stayed in the hospital for only 3 days, and because I was recovering so well, the Doctors allowed us to go home a day early. The nursing staff said we were star patients and didn't want us to leave, but it was definitely time to bring Sophia home!

Even though we had an extremely difficult labor and delivery, I couldn't be happier. We have been blessed with this perfect angel who has brought more love and joy into our lives than we've ever had before. She has a full head of dark hair, smiles, and can even keep her head help up somewhat. She loves to eat, snuggle, and she is a great sleeper, so far. It is so much fun to watch Rob be her daddy, and I feel like he knows more about how to take care of her than I do. He is truly amazing and I can't imagine doing this without him. Our family is growing, and I can't wait for all of the new experiences and moments to share together. Thank you God for sending us this bundle of joy.

Here are some pictures from our first few days together!