TWO WEEKS Ago Today....

...I was just learning how to take care of you.  You had only been in my arms for just a few hours.  Two weeks seems so short, and yet, I've learned so much already little girl!  Like, when you just start to fall asleep, you twitch and move all over the place - and that's the best time to catch a smile out of you.  Those are the best.  Or, that sometimes, if you seem agitated (not too often though), and nothing seems to be wrong or need changed, you just want to feel my skin next to yours.  You are now tolerating diaper changes much better - not a lot of crying there anymore - I think you have figured out it's a necessary evil.  =)  And if I had to use one word to describe you, it'd be easy-going.  And I hope that continues!  At two weeks, you are extremely tolerant of anything and everything.  Noise, people holding you, being laid down to sleep, me picking junk off your face...and now, even diaper changes.  You are one easy baby so far!  You've already been to church with us...sleeping....and to your Sister's choir concert...sleeping.  You've been out to dinner several times...sleeping.  Like, I said, so far, you are Miss Easy-Going!

Okay, so I think I am going to tell your birth story to you - and I may not finish the whole thing today (it was LONG and you need fed in about 20 minutes!).  I took some notes on the first couple of days when we were getting induced (and then I quit taking notes during the whole process where my mood didn't really want to be thinking anymore!).  So, the first part of this is just the cut and paste from that...and then I'll go from memory from there. Here goes!

Got to the hospital early (7am) and had to wait around a little for the nurses to do a shift change and get into our room.  Was in the room around 8:30 and hooked up to the monitors (your heart rate and contractions).

At 9:30, resident came in and explained the cervadil process and checked me.  Fingertip dilated and -3 station…not very far at all!  She inserted the cervadil and explained it would be a 12 hour process to keep it in.  Did not feel good to have that put in me!  After 12 hours, they will check me again and hope for progress so that pitocin could start at that point (9:30pm).  If no progress, another round of cervadil (hoping for progress and not another round of cervadil!).

Your Uncle Ray and Aunt Brenda got to the hospital late morning.

Very mild contractions through the rest of the morning…nothing noteworthy!  Ate lunch around 1pm.  Mom and Dad came around the same time.

Went on a walk at 2:30 (lots of fun, by the way, when you are wearing a hospital gown) – came back around 3pm or so and right as I laid down again I started feeling more intense contractions.  They were 3-4 minutes apart.  Went up 25-30 points on the monitor and started feeling them in my back.  Which is what the nurse said means that it's more real labor pains.

Girls got here around 3:45pm and started on homework, etc.

We are all ready for you!

Went on another walk around 4:45pm and could feel the contractions through the walk (which was different for me – usually walking “masked” the pain).  Along the way, we saw the couple that had checked in that morning at the same time as us.  She was being wheeled in a wheelchair with HER BABY IN HER ARMS.  So cute, but so jealous.  She told me to “hang in there”.  Yeah, I would need that advice!

Ray, Brenda, Tyler and Jenni were back after the walk, so we had a full room of people at that point (5:15pm).  I sat in a rocking chair and got hooked up to the monitor again.  Contractions were even more intense – going up 60-70 points now. 

Our favorite Nurse Karen came in and said hi (from your Daddy and I's OB Triage visits).  She wasn't our nurse that night, just came in to say hi.  She was “floating” around to wherever she was needed that night.  Good to see her...she's rooting for us!

They informed us that we would be moving rooms  because they were shutting down the pod that we were in.  So, we would be shifting to the C pod instead of the D pod.  This would happen after the cervadil time had ended and once they had checked my cervix again.

That time came and the new resident checked me.  Said I was still a fingertip dilated and 50-70% effaced.  Went to check with the PPA docs as to what to do next and the plan was to do another round of cervadil instead of start pitocin.  I thought I was going to cry, but held it together.

Mom and Dad took Kyndall home for some sleep (due to this news) and were going to come back early the next morning.  Bobby and I moved to a new room – and I took a shower.  Got hooked back up and she did a quick cervix check and said I was dilated to a ‘1’ (no more ‘fingertip’ is good I guess) and inserted the next back of cervadil.  Hurt like hell, baby girl...ain’t gonna lie.

My blood sugars were on the lower side during all of this (60-80 mg/dl).  I was constantly drinking juice to bring them up. 

I also asked for some pain meds or something to help me sleep since I was in terrible pain.  She gave me some Ambien around 11pm.  Was supposed to feel “drunk” and to not fight it, just go to sleep.  That didn’t work so well, was still up with pain.  I treated a pretty bad low blood sugar around midnight and tried to sleep after.  That didn’t work so well, so around 2:30am, I called her back in and she gave me some pain meds in my IV that again were supposed to make me feel really tired and take the edge off of the pain.  I fell asleep maybe for 30-45 minutes and then the pain woke me up and tried to tolerate it for the rest of the morning.  I walked around the room, went to the bathroom, even did my hair, just to keep my mind off of it.

Around 6:30am or so, the nurse (Bailey) came to check me, even though it hadn’t been 12  hours on this round of cervadil.  I was 3 centimeters!  Yay!  Finally something was happening!  She went off the clock at 7am and a new nurse (Linda) came on board.

We called Mom and Dad and told them to go ahead and bring the girls in to the hospital whenever they got up and moving.  Right after that, around 8am, I moved my leg in bed and felt and heard a pop.  I thought this could be my water breaking….and then felt a trickle/flow of water, several times.  We told Linda and I had been contemplating and epidural at this point since I was in a lot of pain.  After heading to the bathroom and seeing more fluid and bloody show, I didn’t have to think any longer about the epidural….so I told Linda to go ahead and get the epi guy.  He had a couple more ladies ahead of me.

He came around 9am and somehow made me feel extremely comfortable with the fact that he would be poking  my spine with a needle and fluid.  As I am crunched over with my spine all spread out for him (Bobby holding my hand and Linda allowing me to use her shoulders to brace myself, with my legs dangling off the bed) and my water just completely gushed out and officially broke everywhere.  The nice nurse Linda is standing in front of me for me to grab on to during the process and it starts pooling on the floor around her feet!  Poor Bobby too…he started watching the flow to the floor happen near his feet too!

Epidural happened and wasn’t that bad at all…just a little prick and burn for a few seconds and before you knew it I had numb legs and belly….and AHHHH!  He had a little difficulty finding the right spot in my spine and said something about trying again and had to go in deeper, so no one else should bolus me more meds, he would need to be contacted first.  At that point, I felt my last contraction (or so I thought)!  Had to get the epi doc back in around Noon to “top me off” because my right belly was starting to feel contractions again, but seconds after he topped me off…I was back to pain free.

Nice nurse Linda took out the second cervadil around Noon and checked my cervix.  Yay!  Dialated to 5cm, 80% effaced and baby was now in -1 position – progress!  The monitors also declared me in “active labor” even though I was completely pain free.

Dr. Lam was the PPA (the perinatology group that took care of you all through my pregnancy) doc on call and he came in and was impressed with my progress and nice nurse Linda is thinking that you, baby girl will be here before 7pm…which is awesome because that’s her quitting time!  And she’s been amazing and I want her to be able to meet you!

After that, it was a matter of checking my cervix every few hours (not too often, since my water had broken and you don't want to mess with it all too much "down there" anymore - infection concerns).  Around 5pm, I started feeling the contractions more again, in my back and butt.  I think they said I was 8cm dilated still the same -1 station and almost completely effaced.  

Closer to 7pm (Linda's quiting time!), I was finally 10 cm dilated and she wanted to start pushing (after having the resident check me and confirm this). I was really in quite a bit of pain during contractions and had to have your Daddy help me breathe through them at this point.  They didn't want to give me more of the epidural medicine since I was so close to delivering.  So...here we go!  

Oh wait...that'll be Part 2 I guess, you need to eat.  I'll be back soon with your birth!