Outings with the Ottingers: Leah Noelle

The final piece to our puzzle (pending any unforeseen circumstances) is here.

Leah Noelle Ottinger was born December 17, 2013. She came 9 days before her due date and after days and days of excruciating contractions. She had a full head of dark hair and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. We were SHOCKED at her size because we had been led to believe through many, many ultrasounds that she would be on the small size. We were expecting under 7 pounds at 40 weeks, so an almost 8 pound baby over a week early was unexpected.

The night before Leah was born was similar to the night before both Emily and Noah were born. I went to bed unsure if it was labor. I took some Tylenol PM and tried to sleep. I woke up again around 5:30 still contracting and got in the bath. Contractions didn't get any better, but I still wasn't sure if it was real labor. They had already tricked me a few times in the previous days only to go away after a night of sleep. I was really scared labor would go super fast since it was my 4th baby, so after an hour, I decided it was time to go in.

Grandma O was with the older kids, so we said goodbye and were off to bring baby Leah home. We got to the hospital and were checked in about 8:00 am. At this point the contractions picked up and we knew it was real labor, so when I was checked and only at 3cm, I immediately decided to get the epidural. I had already been in early labor for 12 hours, so it was clear it was going to be slow going.

The hospital we delivered at had a rotation of nurse anesthetists and they were amazing. I got my first working epidural ever and they came back often to check on me. The nurse who put it in even came the next morning to check on me. I can't speak highly enough of them.

Shortly after getting the epidural, my doctor came in and wanted to break my water, but I refused. She wasn't too happy about that, but I needed to rest and I knew that if my water was broken that early, I would likely go very fast and that amazing epidural would have been for nothing.

So, I rested for a while and she came back in around 4:30. At that point, I was 7cm and she broke my water. Shortly after, I progressed enough to push. Leah descended very quickly, which caused some scary moments with her heart rate all but disappearing on the monitors. I saw the nurse worriedly glancing at my OB, but she played it off nicely and said we were good and there was nothing to worry about. After a few pushes, she was born at 5:57 pm and was kind enough to wait until being placed on my stomach to pass her first stool. Yay me!

She was a little blue, but perked up within a minute or so. Her APGARs were 8/8. The hospital experience was the best we've ever had. The nurses were wonderful and Leah never left our side. We have had a few health scares with her, but we are hopefully past those.

Here is our newest princess: