We went to a Dr. apt on a Tuesday morning where they took an ultrasound and told us she was going to be up to 9 1/2 lbs. I was at that moment the definition of shaking in your boots. But we decided to wait three more days till her actual due date before being induced, no matter how scary that number was, so that Kallam could be there the whole time with me and stuff. On the way out the door, I realized I hadn't felt her move that morning so they hooked me up to all the machines, which showed signs of distress with each contraction that I wasn't aware I was having. So off to the hospital we went where they made me have stronger contractions to see how she handled it. She did super and nothing was even slightly distressful, until we had pretty much decided to go home. I guess God had something else in mind, because every time we almost went home, her heart beat would slow alarmingly. So I got induced. And from the moment that stuff hit my veins I had contractions every two mins for 18 hours when I decided I had had enough and got the epidural. I still am happy with that decision because I'm not one of those people that need a pat on the back from everyone for being so tough and I feel like I was then able to let my body do what it needed to. Five hours later with 25 mins of pushing she was ALMOST out, but her stats starting plummeting, scariest moment of my life. They took her out with a vacuum and the cord that was wrapped around her neck twice had gotten tighter with every inch she came out(hence the dropping heart rate). Luckily our baby girl is perfectly healthy and we are so grateful that nothing happened other than me needing a million stitches from tearing as much as you can. :) A few of the funnier highlights are as follows...
*As I waddled down the hallway trying to speed things up, in my lovely gown with no bra looking like I was about to drop this thing right on the floor, we ran into my 8th grade "boyfriend"(15 mins or something) that I hadn't seen for about 8 years. Seriously the most awkward/funny moment of my life. The conversation went like this.
"Tyson?"
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
(awkward pause)
"Oh ya know.."(trying to talk through a contraction)
(another awkward pause)
"Well, good luck with that"
"Thanks"
* Those who know me very very well know that I'm SUPER afraid of not being able to run out of a room if I need to. So afraid in fact that I've had a couple surgeries awake that I really shouldn't have been. So when I got the epidural I made Kallam promise that he would carry me out if the building were to catch on fire or something. After my epidural I could still feel most of my left side of my body, but we decided to try to get some sleep. Kallam quickly fell asleep(like I said, it was 18 hours of holding my hand and breathing with me). Soon after... the fire alarm went off. I was talking to Kallam to get up and check and make sure that I wasn't going to die, he never woke up. So I sat there for an hours, half worried to death, trying to work out a strategy in my mind of how I would crawl using only my arms out of this building that was burning down to save me and my unborn child. Luckily they caught the guy who was smoking inside our floor, bless his heart, and soon after that it was time to push anyways.
*My in-laws won the un-spoken contest by being the first to ask me when we were going to start trying for our next child. At least they waited a whole 32 hours....:) You can imagine the look on my face.
*Emma's first poop(the one that looks like tar) was so massive that all the nurses were laughing. I wasn't there for it and Kallam wasn't prepared for it to be black, or for it to go through a diaper, an outfit, and 2 heavy blankets. They almost had to get her a new incubator.
Kayla,
ReplyDeleteI have been dying for this post. I cannot get enough birth stories right now. It's pretty much all I can think about. I think you are amazing. I really love the fact that the fire alarm went off. That is hilarious.
Looking forward to running into you soon with both of us toting carseats!
I'm glad someone out there enjoyed it! We should get together sometime before you pop so you can meet Emma and we can chat. Labor was not as bad as I thought it would be.
DeleteI am so happy to hear this update! I also cannot get enough of birth stories right now *cough cough* :) SO scary about the initial labor, I am very glad things turned out okay. I also seriously lol'd about the fire alarm thing. We can't wait to meet Emma!
ReplyDeleteGreat stories and I can visualize the humor here! I love birth stories also. How did you survive 18 hours without the epidural? My hospital time before delivery for Madi, and Lia, and Charlie adds up to: 9 +3 + 6 = 18 hours. And that was years apart! I think you're very tough. All my labors were fairly short.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about the 3rd degree. ouch.