The Rambling Llama: Happy Birthday Ainsley

Hello, my sweet friends... you really are seeing this correctly. This is Melissa... NOT Amanda. But I have to thank her very much for giving y'all semi updates while I was away.

The following post was originally scheduled for Jan 29, aka Ainsley's birthday. Given my absence Amanda reverted it back to a draft so as to not freak out all of my readers with a random phantom post. Thanks again, Amanda. Since I'm not 100% back into the swing of things, I haven't edited any of the post originally drafted and the rest of this will be as if it is Jan 29.
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Two years ago today, miss Ainsley came into our lives. It's hard to believe that my baby girl turns two today. Year one flew by as well, with the only thing worth blogging about being sleep regression.

Year two I was introduced to the strong-willed, "do it myself", strubborn mess that is my daughter. Ainsley's personality has really bloomed, and despite having to stay on my toes with her I wouldn't have it any other way.

My pregnancy with Ainsley was SUPER easy. I knew immediately when I was pregnant though. I felt it. I know that sounds strange, but moms out there will get it. Especially if you've been tracking your ovulations. There are just some pregnancies where you know. This was that pregnancy for me. No surprises what-so-ever! When I knew I'd get a positive pregnancy test, I bought two from the dollar store and tested at work during my lunch break. Sure enough! Two little pink lines appeared! PREGNANT!

The months to follow went by without any issues. I had no morning sickness, no pains, no swelling, and no gestational diabetes. The only time I felt pregnant was when I felt her little kicks... which eventually turned into the big kicks!

Two weeks before she was due, I went to my doctor asking about being induced. The reason being was we had moved an hour away from the doctor's office and with this being my second pregnancy I didn't want to risk going into labor and Ainsley just popping out in the car! (haha). My doctor agreed to an induction the week before my due date. Janurary 28, 2013 I went to the hospital.

My doctor was the best (in my opinion). If I didn't see him for my regular appointments I would see the midwife from his office. Both of them were very much into holistic medicine practices, so they asked if I'd be willing to try a different approach to my induction. I had been induced with Zander, so I went in that day completely expecting the pitocin drip and staying strapped to the bed. This was not the case with Ainsley.
My doctor wanted to use Cytotec. It's cheaper than pitocin, and it naturally triggers the body to start contractions as well as ripening the cervix. The plus side? I didn't have to be strapped to a bed!

Y'all this was seriously a much more enjoyable labor experience. Yes... it was hard... it was exhausting, but I was FREE! I had a total of three doses of cytotec. With each dose I had to be monitored for an hour to make sure Ainsley's heart rate stayed steady. After that hour was up, I was free to do whatever I wanted to try and get her out. This included walking around the labor ward of the hospital and bouncing on the birthing ball (aka giant yoga ball). I also was free to deal with the contaction pain however I wanted. The walking really helped. My contractions were strong and steady with Ainsley, too. I thought for sure she'd be born on the 28th.
Wrong.
Everytime the nurses checked me I was at 1 cm dialted, high, and firm. This little stinker did NOT want to come down. Everyone that came to visit me in the hospital during labor kept asking, "why don't they just break your waters?" I didn't want that. I was stubborn. I wanted to walk and bring her down naturally. Yes, the cytotec helped start the contactions but I had to keep drinking water and keep moving to stay in labor. As discouraged as I was that it was taking so long, I didn't give up. I never asked to have my waters broken. I kept walking. I kept pushing through the pain.

I had a friend at the hospital with me taking pictures of the whole experience. She wanted to get pictures of everyones' faces once Ainsley arrived. At 1 AM on Jan 29th I told her to go home and get some sleep. Ainsley was taking her time getting her. I told my mom the same thing. I went to sleep, too.

At 7 AM I woke up very wet! VERY wet. I panicked and pushed the nurse's line thinking I had peed the bed! How embarrassing! Sure it's a hospital and they've seen it before but I was mortified! Only... it wasn't pee. My waters had broken. The nurse checked me and I was 9 cm dialated! NINE! This little stink of a daughter waited until Grandma and the photographer were both 45 min away from the hospital! I quickly called them both and told them she was coming! I thought I had time.

That's when the pain REALLY started. I thought the contractions were bad before. WHOA! Once the waters had gone that's when it got bad. I begged for an epidural! Within 20 minutes I had one.
8:00 AM they checked me again. 10 CM! TEN! Holy cow! She was coming fast! My mom came rushing in as I started pushing.
8:30 AM. Ainsley Louise was born. Jan 29, 2013. 24 hours of labor later.
My photographer friend arrived 10 minutes later (Have I mentioned GA traffic SUCKSS), but she still got some amazing pictures. Everything in this post is from what she took. Photo Cred.