Our Pride and Joy

On February 6th, 2009 at 5:01 pm we welcomed Sophie Joy Davidson to our family. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.

How it came to be
I worked an incredibly difficult shift on Wednesday, February 4th. I was exhausted after not to mention a little freaked out because I also had an ultrasound that day to check on the size of the baby because I was measuring a little big. The ultrasound showed that the baby was around 8 pounds and 10 ounces- give or take 2 pounds. Yes that is give or TAKE two pounds. I took that as meaning I could have a 10 pound 10 ounce baby inside of me and I had two weeks still to go. Needless to mention I had a long conversation with the doctor that day. After my horrible shift, I went home, took a nice bath, and relaxed. I spent the entire next day on the couch, watching TV and praying I would have this baby soon so I wouldn't have to go back to work for a while. Thursday night I told Ryan that I really just wanted my water to break so we could have our 10 pound baby. Ryan fell asleep at 9 that night and Ryan never goes to bed early. His body must have been gearing up for the marathon we were about to endure. About 2 AM, Friday morning I woke up to go to the bathroom, as I did every hour. I went into the bathroom and felt a little pop followed by a LOT of fluid. My heart started racing. Even though I was so ready to meet our daughter, I was scared. Scared of labor, scared something would go wrong. Must be the nurse in me. I woke Ryan, we ate a little breakfast, gathered our stuff (all 4 bags because I tend to over pack a little) and made our way to the hospital. I remember on the way there looking up all the famous people that would share the same birthday as our baby girl. I read her horoscope and found out what her birthstone would be. She would share a birthday with Bob Marley, Axl Rose, Babe Ruth, Ronald Reagan, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. She would be an Aquarius. Her name was going to be Maddie or Ellie, maybe Sophie (one we just thought about a few days earlier). We got to the hospital around 4:30 AM, checked in and got settled. We listened to music, I got an epidural around 9 and am certainly glad I did. By 1 pm I was fully dilated, but the doctor wanted to let me rest for a bit and let the baby descend some.

At 3 PM I started pushing. I figured this would last 45 minutes, maybe. Well I watched the clock approach 5 pm. I had been pushing almost 2 hours. I was starting to wonder when she would come. I was getting tired and worn out. Finally we were almost there. The doctor put on his gown and gloves and I had my great friends and coworkers from the NBICU standing by outside my room because we were worried that the baby's shoulders would be a little to big and may get stuck because she was going to be 10 pounds afterall. Well, at 5:01 PM she made her debut. Head, shoulders, knees and toes all came out fine. The doctor, me and Ryan all waited to see how big she really was. Much to everyones surprise or should I say relief, she weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces. I had a few complications after and had to go into the OR to take care of some uncontrolled bleeding. During that time Ryan got to give our baby girl her first bath. Ryan did a great job. I was unable to get out of bed for the next 24 hours and Ryan was quite a trooper. He got up, changed the baby and gave her to me so she could eat everytime she was hungry. He became a true Mr. Mom.

The next night, once I was able to get up and walk around and the shock of everything that had happened started to wear off we decided we needed to name our little girl. We decided on Sophie Joy Davidson. Sophie was a name Ryan and I had emailed back and forth about just a few days before Sophie was born. Joy is a Smith/Davidson family name. So...Sophie Joy it was.
Sophie started looking a little jaundice and a few days after she was born they had to put her under phototherapy. She did not enjoy it and we were unable to hold and snuggle her like we wanted.

After an ultrasound on Sophies heart, phototherapy, jaundice, uncontrolled bleeding, and a blood transfusion, and we all got to go home on Monday, February 9th. Sophie did have to come home on phototherapy and for the next few weeks we battled with jaundice, blood draws and doctor visits. Once it was all resolved we took a big breath and started to adjust to our new life and new family.