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Roxy Michaela Badeo Sex: girl Born: 06 June, 2008 Age: 0 years & 182 days Birthday in: 183 days Starsign: Gemini Development: See the 6 months page. Biggest achievement so far: Says dada and mama. Rolls over, sits up alone, sleeps through the night (my personal favorite) and gives kisses.

Birth details

Type of delivery: Vaginal (without pain relief)
Duration of labor: 11 hours
Weight @ birth: 8lbs 6.5 ounces
Length @ birth: 21 inches

Roxy-Michaela-Badeo`s birthstory

The morning of June 5th began like any regular day. I woke up with my husband around 6 AM, and began helping him get ready for work while also getting myself ready as well. I had slept really well that night, but did take note of a few sporadic contractions that had occurred through out the night. They were nothing very serious, and I remember for the most part being able to mostly sleep right through them. These random contractions had started happening a few days before, but were definitely starting to grow in their intensity and frequency.
Before heading out the door with my husband, I stopped to use the bathroom one last time. It was then that I noticed a little fresh red blood on the tissue paper after wiping. I knew it was not my mucus plug, as I had lost that a little over 2 weeks ago. This was definitely different, and I figured it warranted a trip to labor and delivery just to make sure everything was okay.
I drove my husband to work, then headed to my hospital to be checked out, with my mom in tow. They admitted me and wheeled me to the L&D ward, and soon I was hooked up to all sorts of fun monitors recording my baby`s heart beat and tracking and recording any contractions I was having. While I was hooked up, I felt the familiar tightening feeling I had come to associate with what a contraction feels like, and asked the nurse attending me if this feeling was in fact a real contraction. Upon looking at her little machine that was spitting out paper with wavy lines resembling an earthquake seismograph or lie detector tracker, she quickly connfirmed what I was feeling was indeed a contraction.
Well there I was lying in the hospital bed handling my first contractions without so much as a cringe. I was almost proud of myself, starting to feel smug in the fact that this was going to be a walk in the park--no biggie I got this, I`m tough.
The nurse soon came around and checked how far dilated I was, and reported that I was 2 cm (8 to go) and 80% effaced--which she happily said was great since that is one of the toughest parts (not in regards to pain) during labor. These were all signs that my body was actively doing its job, and early labor was beginning. This news further fueled my belief that labor would be a breeze for me.
As I was only in early labor, the hospital released me so that I could progress on my own at home--I was to come back only when my contractions remained 5 minutes apart for 2 hours.
Happy to be out, I decided that I would eat my real last meal. My mom and I headed to Brandon`s, an amazing local diner in Riverside, and just pigged out. I figured it was my last meal before my stay of execution--which it was.
That afternoon of the 5th progressed like normal, and my contractions still remained sporadic, but were continuing to grow in intensity--still no big deal, like I said, I was tough. It was not until about 10 or 11 pm that night that I finally received just a taste of the intense experience that was in store for me.
We began tracking my contractions about 10:00 pm. They started to feel more intense when they were 8 to 7 minutes apart. It was almost amazing as we timed them, and they became dead on. Every 8 minutes another contraction. Then soon it progressed to 7 minutes and 6 minutes, without fail I`d have another contraction. It is just amazing how the human body works, and takes over.
Soon the contractions were 5 minutes apart, and very intense. I was pacing up and down the hallways of my apartment even jumping outside when they felt like they were too much to handle. The cooler air outside seemed to make me feel better, and the pacing helped as well. I felt a bit sick to my stomach, just praying I would not feel like puking. As the intensity still picked up, all my thoughts of this being a breeze just flew out the window. I had to admit, I was beginning to feel absolutely terrified.
By about quarter to 2 AM on what was now the morning of June 6th, my husband, my mom and I were off to the hospital knowing this was it, and the baby was on her way. I was admitted about 2:30 am, and once again hooked up to the same fun machines they had me on the previous afternoon--this time as each contraction racked my body, they did not seem so fun. The baby`s hearbeat turned out to be a great predictor as to when another wave of a contraction was about to start, as her heartbeat quickly began speed up signifying another contraction.
The nurse checked me, and confirmed I was dilated now to about a 4 to a 5. It was at this time I was seriously wondering how in the heck I was every going to hold off until I dilated to a 10. The pain was extreme, and I relished every second I had in between each contraction. They were now coming about 3 to 2 mins apart, and not giving me much time in between to rest. On top of that, the dingy nurse that was on duty felt the need to ask me some of the most rediculous questions during my contractions. And she spoke so low, half the time I needed to ask her to repeat the idiotic question. I fielded the most annoying questions, and by the time her shift had ended I wanted to throw her from my hospital window. She also tried to play Dr, insisting that I needed pitocin to help move my labor along, telling me over and over again that my contractions needed to be MUCH stronger in order for labor to progress. I remember thinking, `What??!! They have to get even stronger than this??!` This news is not something a person struggling through contractions would like to hear. Needless to say, after she consulted with my Dr about the pitocin, his idea was shot down, and my body was left alone to do exactly what it needed to do. Her shift ended shortly after that.
My mom and my husband were great, trying to comfort me through each contraction. But, it was still difficult, as the pain is something you have to experience alone, even though you have a great support team there for you. I found the experience to be very overwhelming. So much for my walk in the park labor! My husband and mom now laugh at some of my remarks I made during the most intense contractions. At one point, although I barely remember saying so, I am told I muttered that this was a living nightmare, which it indeed was.
Time seemed to tick by so slowly. Soon I was dilated to a 7, then an 8. It was during the last few centimeters of dilation that things became even more intense. So far I had had nothing in regards to pain, and I literally felt like my life was coming to an end. I finally gave in and had some stadol, which relaxed me, and made me feel very sleepy. This really helped me in the last 2 hours of my labor.
Pretty soon my body really started to take over, and the feeling was just shocking. My cousin had tried to expain and warn me what it would be like, but I did not have a real understanding until I felt it for myself. My stomach began convulsing, pushing the baby down the birth canal, and this convulsing feeling literally took my breath away. It just sucked the breath right out of me. The pain was extreme at this point as each wave of contraction took hold. With each contraction my stomach pushed on its own, it was not an action I was able to control, or even stop. It left me gasping for breath.
Now it was time to push. I had no idea this part was going to be so difficult. I mostly worried about the contractions and how i`d handle them that I totally forgot about the pushing part. This was a very tiring experience. The nurse instructed me that when I felt a contraction come on, I was to bear down and push. It was a 3 step process. Hold my breath and push for 10 long second, take a breath, do it again, take one more breath and do it one last time. I felt like my head was going to explode. I was also sure that this baby would be coming out my butt, due to the pressure down there and also that`s really the muscles you are using to push down.
As this was all going on, I was surprised that my Dr hadn`t yet arrived. I continued to push for about 10 to 15 more minutes and the top of her head was finally visible. They brought a mirror for me to see this, and I was horrified that my extreme pushing only yielded about a visible quarter sized portion of her head. It was certainly going to take a lot more to get this baby outta me.
I pushed a few more times, and suddenly the Dr showed up. I suppose it`s routine that he suddenly shows up for about the last 5 or 10 minutes, but to me it was a bit stressful. It was almost like Superman showing up at the last second to divert the villian in the act of a crime.
I pushed some more and her head crowned. Now I know that some people say this part is painful (almost like a burning sensation) but I have absolutely no memory of this part really hurting at all (which is a bit unbelievable as her entering the world literally ripped me to pieces. A couple harder pushes and her shoulders emerged and she slipped right out. And it was then that all the pain I had experienced just stopped. I have no idea how that is even possible, but it was all gone--the contractions, everything just gone! And then they placed my beautiful baby girl in my arms. Her official time of birth was 1:40 pm on June 6th, 2008. The experience was just surreal--intense, but really worth every second of it. It was just an amazing experience.
Now as I sit back and reflect on everything, I really don`t know if I will ever want to do all that again. I know they say you soon forget, but now the experience is fresh in my mind. I will just focus on things now, and try to forget.
My husband and I have certainly closed a chapter in our lives--a chapter that only involved the 2 of us--and have opened the doors to a new challenging journey of raising a baby into a young woman. If I thought labor and delivery was intense, I think that is only scratching the surface of what is to come in the future. This surely isn`t the end of the story, rather, it`s only the beginning...

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