May 31, 2020…the day Emilia Ann Daddario was welcomed to the world and the day our lives changed forever. Every parent describes the feeling of meeting their child for the first time as magical, unforgettable, love at first sight, etc. But you don’t truly understand the extent of those feelings until experiencing it yourself. The moment we saw her sweet face I felt joy, love and happiness like I had never felt before. James and I were given about 3 minutes after she arrived to hold her for the first time and it was without a doubt, the best 3 minutes of my life. I cry just thinking about it.
We were not allowed to have a photographer take photos during our stay at the hospital due to COVID-19, so I brought my camera to take a few myself. I had to force myself to take these after days of no sleep and a difficult labor and delivery, but I’m so glad I did. Looking back at these photos just 6 weeks later, it already seems so long ago. I’m so thankful we took the time to capture her first few days in this world!
Emilia’s Birth Story…
I had a great pregnancy with Emilia. I had the typical symptoms of nausea and tiredness during my first trimester and aches and pains during my third trimester, but overall everything went smoothly (read more about My Pregnancy Journey HERE!) The last month or so was the most difficult as the aches and pains got worse and I found it almost impossible to get comfortable. By about 38 weeks pregnant, I was more than ready to meet our baby girl!!
Around this time I also started getting very anxious. I was nervous about giving birth since the day I found out I was pregnant. As a first time mom, I wondered what the experience would be like. Would I deliver naturally or have a c-section? What were the risks of each? How painful would it be? How would I know when I was going into labor? What did ‘real’ contractions feel like? What would giving birth during COVID be like? There was a lot on my mind and the closer and closer we got to my due date, the more my anxiety kicked in.
Exactly 1 week before giving birth, we found ourselves heading into the hospital around 10pm. I started getting contractions about 12 hours prior that were irregular but very painful. The pain continued to increase all day until I turned to James and said – I think it may be time! We called my doctor and she confirmed that the pain I was feeling was worthy of a hospital visit to get checked out. After a few hours in triage, it was determined that I was indeed having contractions (3-4 minutes apart) but was not yet dilated. The pain that I was experiencing was due to back labor – a term I had never heard before. Back labor happens when the baby is positioned sunny-side up putting extreme pressure on your lower back. The baby’s head pushes down on your tailbone, pressing on the nerves in the spine. With each contraction this pain becomes even more excruciating. It was awful. However since I was not yet dilated, they sent me home to wait it out. My doctor’s exact words were, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see you back here in the next 24 hours.” So James and I went home, showered, went to sleep and waited.
All week I kept waiting for the pain to get worse or my contractions closer together….neither happened. I was still experiencing back labor but it had eased up a bit and was manageable. Toward the end of the week I talked with my doctor and we decided that the best course of action would be induction that Friday night, a few days prior to my due date. The decision to induce was based on the back labor pain I was experiencing along with baby D measuring in the 98th percentile for size (keep reading to see what she actually weighed!) Every ultrasound I had up to this point lead us to believe she would be a 9-10lb baby. My husband (a 6’3” former football player) was also a very large baby, so the estimates didn’t seem far off. I wanted to give myself the best chance to deliver vaginally, so this birth plan seemed like the best course of action.
We headed to the hospital for my induction on Friday, May 29th. We had the entire day to relax and prepare for it (one of the advantages to a scheduled induction or c-section!) The atmosphere at the hospital was much different than normal. After waiting 6 feet apart in line to check-in and getting our temperatures taken, we walked down the quiet, empty hallways to the maternity ward. Although different than normal protocol, we felt very safe and comfortable. The induction process started around 10pm, with the hope I would dilate overnight and deliver the following morning. Unfortunately, miss Emilia had a different plan…
To make a very long and exhausting story short, my induction ended up lasting 36 hours. It took my body much longer to dialate than expected – I didn’t reach 10cm until 10am on Sunday morning. I won’t go into all the details of my induction, but to sum it up…it was miserable. I was experiencing intense back labor almost the entire time. So bad that my epidural (which I had to have early on in the process) did little for my pain. With every contraction I felt nerve pain which only intensified as I began to push (in my experience back labor was much more painful than normal contractions.) I pushed for a total of 2.5 hours until I was told our baby girl was not coming on her own. Her heart rate was starting to increase so it was recommended I have a c-section. After almost 40 hours of trying to deliver our baby on my own, I found myself in tears. I felt so defeated. At the same time knew I wanted what was best and safest for our baby girl, so I agreed and we headed down to the operating room.
My c-section was quick and fairly easy compared to what I had just experienced. I felt no pain, just the awkward feeling of pushing, pulling and tugging. I experienced some anxiety leading up to the surgery, since it was unexpected and I had such little time to prepare myself. Thankfully I had James by my side through it all, assuring me everything would be ok. Within minutes we heard the cries of our newborn baby. Emilia Ann Daddario was born at 1:07pm on May 31, 2020, weighing in at 7lbs 6oz (so much for having a 10 pound baby!) We were quickly assured that our baby girl had arrived healthy – such a relief.
The moments following her birth were truly indescribable. I was able to see her precious face within seconds of her entering the world (scroll down for the photos!) She was so beautiful. They quickly wrapped her up and handed her to James so we could spend those first few moments together. I remember us saying “I can’t believe how beautiful she is” and “I love her so much” over and over again. It truly was, love at first sight.
Everyone’s experience giving birth is different, but if I could go back and do it all over again, I probably would not have been induced. The entire experience was exhausting and set us back a few days. We barely got any sleep leading up to her birth, not to mention the toll took on my body. And after all that, to end up with an unplanned c-section was so upsetting. I guess moral of the story is, you have little control over the situation and often times things go unplanned. So try not to head into it with any expectations! Just go with the flow…
We ended up spending the next 3 days at the hospital, which is the standard stay after a c-section. One thing I wasn’t expecting was how difficult it would be to care for a newborn after having stomach surgery. It was really, really tough. Thankfully I had support and help from my incredible husband. He took such good care of both of us over the next couple weeks as we adjusted to our life as a family of 3. It’s true what they say, that you fall deeper in love with your spouse after having a child with them. James took to his new role as a dad so naturally, it’s been so fun to watch. He’s the best father to Emilia and the most supportive, helpful and loving husband to me. We are both so lucky to have him!
Keep scrolling to the end of this post to see some photos from Emilia’s first few moments in this world!
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