Autumn's Birth Story

Baby Autumn has finally arrived and we are so incredibly happy! 

She is the most perfect little angel I have ever met. She was born at 4:50am on Tuesday April 17th. I was in  labor for 44 hours! It was the longest labor ever! Here is a picture of me 2 days before I went into labor.

My mom Connie came to stay with me 9 days before the baby was actually born. We were able to go to the Tulip Festival together at Thanksgiving Point one of the days she was here. It was raining the entire time, but I loved it! The flowers are so beautiful there! She was a big help to Spencer and I when she was in town. Love you mom!

Autumn's Birth Story

I woke up on Sunday morning and did not sleep very well that night. I started having contractions around 9am and they continued until I had the baby Tuesday morning. My contractions were about 5-10 minutes apart most of the day. I took a shower in the morning and my mom and Spencer cleaned up the house and got everything packed and ready to go. My midwife told me to wait until they were 3-5 minutes apart before I went into the hospital. Spencer and I went on a couple of walks to pass the time. The pain from my contractions were about a 3-5 on a scale of 1-10. I continued to time my contractions and when they got about 3-5 minutes apart we headed for the hospital! I was so excited.

When I checked in the midwife checked me right away, hoping I was already at an 8, but alas I was only at a 2+. I could not believe it. I was so disappointed. They let me stick around the hospital for another 2 hours to see if anything had changed but it didn't. So the midwife Jen (I went through 3 midwives in 44 hours) offered to give me morphine to go home and sleep for the night. At this point I still wanted to have a natural labor so I was hesitant to take any medicine. I talked with my mom and Spencer about it and finally decided to take the shot and head home for the night. I was pretty disappointed that I had to go home. I really wanted to stay but after going home and getting some rest I am grateful I did AND grateful I took the morphine. I was able to sleep, somewhat restfully, even though I could still feel my contraction pain a little bit.

At the hospital the first time--a couple hours later I was sent home :(

I slept until about 11am the next morning. When I woke up my morphine had worn off and the contraction pain had gotten worse. The nurse said I shouldn't come in unless the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and the pain was up to a 8 or 9. So I waited again until about 4 pm when I knew it was about time to go in.. So we packed up and the three of us got into the car and checked in. The nurse checked my cervix again and I was at a 4! Woo hoo! I felt so relieved that I had made some improvement at least. The nurses talked with the midwife and they said to officially admit me. We switched to the labor and delivery room! I was so excited. When we got into the room I immediately got into the jetted tub. It seriously felt so nice and helped me to relax during my contractions. The dumb nurse kept coming in to monitor the baby's heart beat and kept bugging me the whole night. Blah. I didn't want to see anyone other than my husband when I was in that much pain. At this point I had been feeling contractions for almost 30 hours and was seriously getting tired. My mom was there and she helped calm me down a lot, but my biggest help was Spencer. I knew I could count on him to tell him how much pain I was in. He helped me breathe and relax and I knew I could squeeze his hand whenever I needed to. My focus point was on the baby. The thought of her coming out of my body was such an exciting feeling. I knew that if I could just concentrate on her that everything would be fine. So I continued to wait it out. Several hours had passed so they checked my cervix again but I was only at a 5.5!!! I could not believe it. All those contractions to only be dilated to a 5.5!!! So the midwife (a new one) came in and talked to me about my options. I remember just minutes before telling Spencer that I really wanted to get an epidural because I was so miserable and wanted to just enjoy my labor and delivery. I didn't want to go back on my original plan of having her naturally, but you know how it goes...so much pain and knowing that it was only going to get worse did not sound fun to me. So the midwife started talking about the epidural and explained to me that it will give me the needed energy and rest to make it through the night. Plus if I didn't get it I might be too exhausted to push. In the back of my mind I was thinking "HALLELUJAH I CAN FINALLY GET SOME RELIEF". As soon as the decision was made to get it I was totally on board! The anesthesiologist came in pretty quickly and got things going really fast. He was from Blanding, Utah and was Hawaiin. He was my new best friend! Except he couldn't find the key to the medicine so I had to wait an extra 5 minutes. Luckily they found someone with the key and they prepared me for the epidural. Ya ya ya just give it to me! I was worried that they were going to stick me with a needle during a contraction but luckily they didn't. The epidural worked really fast. I was in heaven!!!! I could finally smile and enjoy myself. I was no longer grumpy and I actually wanted to see and talk to people including the nurses! It was incredible. Modern medicine baby!

Back at the hospital again! And feeling great after receiving the epidural

 

The Bagley family all wanted to come in and say hello! 

So I got my make up on, put on Gilmore Girls and was ready for the pitocin and the breaking of my waters. I was visited by Brad, Michelle, Christie, Ben, Hayden, Brandon, and Michael. And of course my mom, Dustin, and Laura were there the whole time. I got some great pictures with them. They visited about 8 o'clock and left shortly after.  They broke my waters first to see if anything was going to change but it didn't really change my cervix at all which was surprising, so they put me on the PIT. They put me on the lowest dose possible and after 1.5 hours I was dilated to a 9!! I was able to sleep and get some rest. At that point I was so exhausted...any sleep sounded like a good idea.When they checked my cervix I was really worried I hadn't dilated again. But when she said I was at a 9 I could not believe how happy I was! I feared more pitocin and eventually a C Section but I was also pretty confident that nothing was going to go wrong. At that point it was like 1 in the morning. They turned off the pitocin and let my body take over naturally. About an hour later I was fully dilated to a 10 and ready to push! The nurses were Jessica and Diane and they were totally awesome. The third midwife on call that night was Erica Nelson. I had only met with her one time during my check ups but I really liked her a lot when I did. She stayed in the room with me and we chatted for a little while. Everyone of my family members were so impressed with all of the midwives. And so was I. They have always been so helpful and informative.

 So I started to push during my contractions. I knew that the baby was going to come quickly because her head was already down so low. She had been down to a "0" station at my last appointment so I knew it wouldn't be very long to push her out. I pushed for about 30 minutes until we started to really see her head come out. At that point the mid wife said she needed to go see another patient at Mt. Timp hospital because that baby was in distress. I was so confused and upset! How could she be leaving now? Right when I see the head and we are so close to meeting our sweet baby! I thought it was so strange. She offered to have the doctor on call come in but I said it was OK since she would be back soon. She left and I slept for about an hour and a half. They said it is typical for the mom to stop pushing and let the body "rest and descend"--meaning letting your body push the baby out with contractions. So Erica came back and I started pushing again. The baby had come down a lot while I was resting and I could even feel her almost coming out. If I didn't have the epidural I think it would have been really hard to not want to push her out while I was waiting.

So 30 minutes later I was nearly there! The head kept popping out and back in...almost counter productive...but it finally came all the way out and before I knew it they were placing a beautiful 8 pound 9 oz. baby on my chest! I cried out of joy, exhaustion, but mostly joy and held my baby closely in my arms. It was the most beautiful moment of my life! I told Spencer to get the camera going but he already had it out and was taking pictures. Good boy. She was just perfect! Such beautiful features, such a beautiful cry. I could not believe she was already here! When they placed her on my chest they started wiping her off; she didn't have much to wipe off. Probably because she was so overdue. I feel like I got to hold her for a long time. They took her away to weigh her and get measurements, but other than that I was able to hold her a lot. They wrapped her up and put a cute blue and pink hat on her head. Spencer got to cut the umbilical cord...I didn't think they were going to let him do it.

I couldn't really see the baby very well because I was laying on my back. After a few minutes Spencer wanted to hold her and I got a better look. She had a pointy nose and a furrowed brow, with chubby cheeks. She was so cute! She was my baby and I was so in love! The nurse midwife said I had two 2nd degree tears so she stitched me all up which took forever. After they had everything (and everyone) cleaned up, I invited my mom and Dustin to come in and take a look at the babe! Dustin told me later that Spencer sent out a text when Autumn was born that said "And the child was born." Haha I can always count on Spence to make things funny. My mom and Dustin just fell in love with her! I couldn't believe they stayed over the entire night when Dustin had work the next day.

Seconds after she was born 

5 fingers!

Proud Dad!

My awesome nurses and midwife! 

 

Spencer was such a great support throughout the entire labor. 

Proud Grandma Connie and Unkie Dustie 

So happy! She is finally here! 

So happy and so in love with our little lamb 

Amazed at what we created together

So after everyone left they took the baby and Spencer down to the nursery to give her a bath and then the nurse helped me to the bathroom and then helped me to the postpartum room. I met Autumn in the nursery because I wanted to see her get her first bath! She was sooo good during her bath she didn't cry once. The baby next to us was SCREAMING! I felt so proud. Autumn then got her footprints taken and I headed off to my bed and requested some pain medicine.

Autumn Michelle Bagley 

Very first sponge bath 

Footprints...so tiny!

 I was already feeling the epidural wear off and really wanted to be able to sleep! A little while later Spencer and Autumn came in and we all slept for a good 4 hours. It felt so nice to sleep! When I woke up I ordered room service. Who knew I could eat so much food? I totally lived it up and ordered as much food as I possibly could without them complaining. It was awesome and I did it the whole time I was there. Hehe. So in the afternoon my photographer came down to take newborn hospital pictures. I am so glad she did because Autumn changed so much from her newborn pictures we took at 3 and a half weeks to the hospital pictures. Soon after Amy arrived, Laura and Dustin arrived and also got to be in the hospital photo shoot. My mom came later that night and they all just enjoyed seeing the baby so much!

In the new room...so exhausted and ready for sleep!

Aunt Laura

I love her little scrunched up face

I LOVE these pictures of the baby and Grandma Connie 

That night Autumn slept in our room and I wish she hadn't because I hardly got any sleep! Breastfeeding was a challenge at first...and continued to be a challenge for the next couple weeks but luckily it has become so much easier and I totally love doing it now. The lactation nurse came a couple times to help out and the regular nurses kept coming in while I was trying to sleep...so annoying! The next day was sort of a blur but we were cleared by the doctor to go home. Spencer had math class at 8am so he was gone for about 2 hours and shortly returned after that. We were both so sleep deprived because Autumn was up most of the night. I finally asked the nurses to take the baby out of the room for a couple of hours so I could get some sleep. Unfortunately that didn't last long because she got hungry a couple hours later. Oh well :) 

After we got everything packed up, organized, and ready to go the nurses came in one more time to give us a final lesson on baby care after we go home. American Fork Hospital did a fantastic job. I felt so comfortable there and I felt like we were taken very good care of. I ordered room service one last time (of course) and then we got baby Autumn in her car seat and headed out! 

Go Cougars! This is the very first outfit Grandma Michelle bought for Autumn. We bought this little BYU attire even before we knew she was a girl. Somehow, we were both confident she would be a girl. A few days later we found out we were right! 

Getting ready to head home! 

Our new family

Spencer, Julie, and Autumn Bagley

The Nursery and Spence excited to finally be leaving!

It was an incredible first birth experience for us. I feel so lucky and blessed to have a beautiful healthy baby. I wouldn't have changed anything about my experience. Even though it was a really long labor, I feel like everything went how it was supposed to go and that Heavenly Father was watching out for me and my baby. It was definitely a long pregnancy, and at times I was super sick and uncomfortable, but in the end, when I held my baby in my arms and looked into her precious eyes, suddenly it wasn't about me anymore. It has always been about her! I love you Autumn!!!

Autumn is 1 Month old!

My little girl is almost 5 weeks old on Tuesday. I can't believe how fast she has been growing. From the first day to now her face has changed so much. She is just a miracle. I love her so much! I can't believe it has been over a month since she came into our lives. I am growing more and more in love with her each and every day. Lately she has been smiling! It is so much fun to watch her smile at me. Not only me, but complete strangers. She will sit and smile for a couple minutes at a time! She has been nursing really well and I am getting the hang of things a lot better now. I bought a breast pump which is nice for Spencer to feed her at night and when/if we go out at night we can just feed her from a bottle.

Last Monday Spencer's mom watched Autumn while we went and saw The Avengers. It was a great show but it was hard to leave our baby for the first time. I thought about her the whole time but for a couple minutes I remembered what it was like to not have kids. No worries other than ourselves but the reality quickly came back when we returned home and she was all ours again. 

Yesterday we went up to Richmond for Black and White Days and put her in the baby carrier we bought from Target. She looked so cute in her little carrier! She is seriously such a sweet and kind baby. She hardly ever cries unless she is tired or hungry. Like I said she sleeps really good through the night. My favorite thing to watch/listen to is her grunt/fussy noises. She kicks her arms and feet a lot and loves to explore her body. She can't stand being in the same position for more than 10 minutes unless she is conked out. She makes great eye contact and makes you feel like you are the only person she wants to look at. Her family loves her so much. Grandma Bagley loves spending time with her and her uncles and aunts are smitten just like me. I only wish my dad could be here to watch her grow. It has been really hard not having him around and sharing my new life with him. I feel like he is missing out on so much which is what really hurts. At least I have his wife Kris to share her with. I wish my mom could be closer to her because I know she loves her so much! 

She is getting blessed on June 24th in West Jordan. I can't wait! She got her newborn pictures taken the other day. I can't wait to see them! She is growing more hair everyday and it is pretty brown. Her eyes haven't changed color quite yet but I am so anxious to see what color they wil be. My brother Travis had his baby just last week. His name is William Richard Brown. He was 8 pounds 11 oz 21 inches long. He is so perfect I can't wait to meet him! Good job Katie. She also had a long labor but not as long as mine. I think I will be holding the record for quite some time...hopefully no one will surpass that 44 hours! Travis and Dustin will be coming out here in June for the baby blessing. Yipee! 

 Autumn had her 2 week check up and is in the 61st percentile for height and weight. Yahoo! She is weighing between 10 and 11 pounds now. Her cheeks are so chubby and her tummy is looking full! That makes me feel good. Her sleeping is getting more regular now. A couple nights ago she slept from 10pm to 6am! It was incredible. My brother Dustin was in town for work and swaddled her up really good. Maybe he has the key! He is so in love with her it is incredible. He does have 3 daughters and 1 son so he has a lot of experience with newborns. We went swimming at his hotel with Autumn and she got her little feet wet in her American Flag swimsuit. It was so cute even though it is a 3 month old outfit. 

The new parents! Spencer doesn't like being spit up on...

Cleaning out our old basement apartment. Autumn was there too. But she didn't help at all. She slept the whole time. How rude! 

Blow out!

After about 3 weeks we went out for our much anticipated sushi night! I was craving sushi throughout my entire pregnancy. And I finally got it! It was delicious and soooo yummy!  

I made these pictures small for a reason. Not flattering but you can tell we really enjoyed it. LOL.

And like a good little newborn girl, she slept the whole time! 

Here is Autumn after her first day of church!  

Julie and Autumn 

Such a cute lady!

Typical daddy

She loves her dad!

And he loves her...

Michael, Mush, and Richard admiring the baby

Autumn meeting uncle Brandon for the very first time!

Guess who? Harry Potter! They had a great time putting these silly glasses on her.

Taken on Mother's Day. This girl wears me out!

1st Mother's Day ~ May 2012

 I found out that my job is available to me next year if I want it. Because it was a one year only contract I have to re interview for the position. We will see how that goes. I still would like to stay home with the baby if I couuld but we aren't sure if that is the best idea financially. Right now we are trying to figure out finances and see what is plausible with our situation. Spencer did get a scholarship from BYU's engineering school. Yay for him! I feel like the Lord will bless us in whatever we ulitmately decide to do. I feel like Autumn deserves to have her mommy raise her. And I would love to be able to spend time with her all day every day. Any advice from you working/stay at home moms would be appreciated!

 Spencer has been out of town a couple times since Autumn's birth. He has had construction jobs up in Idaho and Wyoming which has taken him away from home for 2-3 days at a time. Luckily my brother was in town the last time he went and I stayed with the Bagleys the first time, which was really helpful. It is just nice to get a break from being with the baby 24/7. I love spending time with her but it is nice to have someone else to love her too and give me a break. She is almost growing out of her newborn clothes. So sad! But I'm also excited to get her into her older clothes as well. We were so blessed with so many outfits and blankets. People are so generous. Thank you to all of you who gave her a gift...I appreciate it so much! Well that is all for now. I would post pictures but I'm typing this from an I-PAD with a keyboard attached so it makes it difficult to upload pictures to an un-uploadable device. I promise I will soon though! There is much to blog about and I'm feeling rather excited to get all caught up again. Love to all!

Baby Autumn!

Life has been so crazy the last 3 weeks! I have barely had enough time to do anything, let alone update the blog. I have been thinking each day that I need to make some journal entries about the arrival of our little angel but she has been taking up pretty much all of my time and I figured it was probably more important to tend to her needs then update the blog, right? But there has been SO MUCH that I have been wanting to write about. I feel like I am about to burst with so much information, feelings, stories, etc. I can not wait for all of the pictures and stories to finally be put down in words and be able to describe the incredible experience I have had so far being a mother. I love my baby so much.

Life the last few weeks has been crazy...yes I know I already said that, but it really has! With Autumn's labor and delivery lasting up to 44 hours, packing up and moving, unpacking and cleaning, learning how to deal with a newborn, being sleep deprived, and all the while being overwhelmed with love for my new baby I am so happy to finally be sitting down and writing about our life. She was just barely put down for a nap with daddy while I started writing this, and then 10 minutes later I hear her cry. So I got up and now she is sitting in my lap with her head bobbing while I am attempting to type! Oh how I miss the days of independence and a full nights rest, but then I look into her sweet gray eyes and think I am so blessed and privileged to be her mom that I would never trade it for anything in the world no matter how hard things can be sometimes. And yes, it has been hard! Harder than I ever thought it would be. But I am learning and growing and I am sure I will get the hang of this whole mom thing eventually!

So we are all settled in and most everything has been unpacked. We are living in Orem in a cute little condo owned by our close friends. We love it here! We went to our new ward on Sunday and everyone was really nice. I love the trees, the close mountains, the fresh air, and mostly the lovely Spring weather. I only wish I could get out more often and enjoy it. We have had some good outings together as a little family and I can't wait for more! I do miss American Fork and our friends there a lot. We had a really fun ward and we will miss working with the youth so much. I hope to visit them often!

Being out of work has been great! I don't miss it all that much, which is good. I went to a work baby shower a week after Autumn was born so I was able to see all my friends from work. It was definitely hard getting us up to SLC so soon after the birth but it felt really good to show off my little angel Autumn! Everyone thinks she is so cute and I just have to agree. She has been changing so much lately it is crazy. Everytime someone sees a new picture of her they say she has changed so much. Even today Spencer came home from work and said she was looking so much bigger. I just love my little newborn...I hate that she is growing so fast already but I am also anxious to see what she will look like.

Autumn Michelle Bagley is her name. She was born 8 pounds 9 ounces 19 inches long at 4:50am on April 17, 2012. She shares the same birthday as her cousin, Lainey who is 4 years older than her. So special! Michelle is Spencer's mom's name. I was uncertain about the name Autumn for a long time, but I have grown to love it more and more. When she was born she was just Autumn! I have always liked the name ever since I met a girl in 4th grade who I taught at Quail Run. She was the sweetest and nicest little girl and I fell in love with the name. Spencer too has always loved the name Autumn and he came up with the idea first.

We love our baby so much. She is so much fun to have around. She has the funniest facial expressions all the time and is always keeping us laughing and entertained. She makes the cutest noises when she sleeps. Sometimes it sounds like a bark! She kicks her little feet and arms all the time and hates being wrapped up too tightly in a blanket. We are still working on setting up a good sleeping routine for her. Some nights she sleeps for 5-6 hours straight, other nights she keeps us awake the whole time. It has definitely been such an adventure. We are loving every minute being with her. I feel so lucky and blessed to be her mom. Here is a picture I took with her tonight right before she went to bed. I will be blogging more later on her birth story and friends and family who have come to visit her very soon so stay tuned until then!