Dave & Alisha: One of the Best Days Ever!

Alisha says: Wednesday, November 4th started out almost like any other day. We woke up with the intent on getting out on a bike ride but it was raining so we opted instead to go for a walk. I have been able to stay active and was still riding my road bike 20-25 miles almost daily. After getting Dave off to work I did some yoga, got ready for the day, did some work, took a small nap and then decided to go to the temple for a session. I had been wanting to go at least one more time before the baby arrived. On my way home I stopped at the grocery store and then arrived back home around 4:30 pm. Dave was staying late at work because he was going to dinner with a job candidate so I was just watching some television when around 5:30 pm I felt a pop and suddenly felt like I had peed my pants. I knew right away that my water had broken but didn't panic, in fact I thought that I might just hang out at home for the night and see if labor started. I even had a OB appointment the next morning so I thought I might just wait and go to my appointment. I called Dave and told him but said that he should still take the candidate out to dinner and then come home. I called my mom and then Christine who immediately told me that I needed to go to the hospital so I then called the nurse line through our insurance to see if I should go in or if I could wait awhile but the nurse said that I needed to go in so I then called Dave back and had him come on home. I wasn't due until December 3, which was another four weeks away and I seriously thought I was going to go past my due date so I was a little unprepared, like I hadn't packed a hospital bag, picked out a pediatrician, ordered all of the baby things I had put on my amazon wish list, etc, etc, but ready or not we were going to have a baby!

One last belly picture, we are headed to the hospital

Getting admitted at the hospital, still smiling

We arrived at the hospital around 7:30 pm and they checked to make sure that my water had broken and then admitted me. I got settled into my labor and delivery room, got my IV and a round of antibiotics (I hadn't yet been tested for strep b so they treated me for it just in case) and then we went walking the halls of the hospital trying to get this labor moving along. I had started having contractions about an hour after my water broke and they slowly got stronger and stronger. After about a dozen laps around the maternity department I decided to try and get some rest in my room but that really wasn't happening. Around 2:00 am they checked me and although I was having strong, regular contractions I wasn't progressing much. At this time I was tired and I really thought I wasn't going to have the baby until the next afternoon and there was talk of starting me on pitocin which scared me so it was at this time that I requested an epidural. The epidural felt different than I had expected. I was still able to move my legs and feel pressure when I was contracting which I liked. It did make me itch though. I didn't sleep but was able to rest a little bit as labor continued through the night. Starting at 6:00 am things started moving along. At 7:00 am all of the lights were still off and Dave was still sleeping when they checked me and said I was getting close and would probably be pushing around 8:00 am, around this time my body started shaking. Both of our moms were planning on being there for the birth so Dave called them but shortly after 7:15 am I was complete and after only three sets of about four pushes Skye Adele Welsh was born at 7:30 am on Thursday, November 5, 2015.

Dr. Beck placed her on my chest where Dave and I got our first good look at her. She was so precious and I feel in love immediately. She weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces and was 18.2 inches long. I tried to feed her some which was not very successful and then they checked her glucose levels which turned out to be really low so they took her to the NICU to monitor her. Unfortunately she had to stay there for most of the day which was hard on me because all I wanted to do was hold her. We went and visited her and finally in the evening we got to taker her back to my room.

We stayed all day Friday and were told that we could go home on Saturday. They had taken Skye to the nursery during Friday night to do a car seat test where because she was premature she had to sit in her car seat for 90 min while they monitored her breathing. While they had her they tested her bilirubin levels for jaundice which turned out to be high so they put her under the blue lights in the NICU until Saturday night when they said they would test her again and if her bilirubin level was low enough then we could take her home. She barley passed but the nurse felt that she could benefit from one more night in the NICU with monitored feedings so we stayed one more night (which by now I felt like I had been at the hospital forever and really wanted to go home). Sunday morning they tested her levels one more time and said that it looked good and we could go home. YAY! So we checked out of the hospital and took Skye on her first car ride. I can't believe that she is here and how much I love her. It has been so fun to watch Dave fall in love with her also. He has always been a little nervous around babies but he can't get enough of her. It was a great delivery experience.