A Little Bit of Life: Labor and Delivery

It all started on Sunday, August 18. Already two days past my due date, I was more than ready for something to happen. I knew my Mom was going back to school the next day, so according to Murphy's Law, the baby had to be on the way soon, requiring her to miss the start of the school! I woke up in the morning with Braxton Hicks contractions that were pretty consistent. I started timing them that afternoon, and they were coming once every ten minutes. Of course they were not painful, only just a tightening uncomfortable feeling that I had been having for a few weeks. They wouldn't go away no matter what activity I was doing, so I hoped it might mean something was going to be happening soon. In the meantime, I didn't have much of an appetite that day and I had felt like crap (tired, weak, achy) for the past two days with maybe one random spurt of energy. That Sunday, I just sat around most of the day and went for two walks. The first afternoon walk was uneventful....

Around 8:00 pm, I went to the restroom and a very large part of my mucus plug came out. I had my membranes swept the previous Wednesday with my midwife and every day after that I had lost parts of it. We then ventured out for my second walk of the day. Matt and I had made it about half way around the block when I felt a little pop inside that felt weird Then a few seconds later, I was soaked with a huge gush of warm water to the point of it leaking down my legs! It was crazy the amount of water that came out. I felt like the whole neighborhood was staring at me and I had to kind of waddle home as fast as possible.

From that point, I made a couple calls to let family/friends know I was probably going to be having the baby within the next 24 hours! I called my midwife to let her know my water broke. She said I could labor at home for as long as possible and to come to the hospital when contractions got to be 5 minutes apart for 60 seconds each. If I was not feeling anything that night, I was instructed to be at the hospital by 8:00 the following morning.

Then I sort of went into panic mode, not really knowing what to expect with contractions. I went ahead and hopped in the shower and felt fine for about an hour. Then at 9:00, the intense contractions started. They came on fast and hard. I was not expecting that! I started timing them at 5 minutes apart for about 30-60 seconds each. After about an hour of that, they were down to 3 minutes between contractions lasting about 60 seconds each. I kept losing more water with each contraction, which was another thing I did not expect to happen. I was such a mess! Now Matt was starting to wonder why we weren't going to the hospital yet. So much for my plan of laboring at home! We grabbed the hospital bag and drove to Miami Valley Hospital at 11:00 pm.

When we got there, we went to the desk to check in. Then they sent us to the triage area and hooked me up to a monitor to see baby's heartbeat and my contractions. I was really struggling through each contraction and I felt like it was taking a year and a half for the nurse to decide that I was, in fact, in labor and that I could be admitted to labor and delivery. I remember telling them that my pain level was a 7. The cervical exam determined that I was at 3 cm and very thinned. We finally signed some forms and headed up to the delivery room at midnight.

When we got to the delivery room, they started with hooking up an IV. That was probably the worst part of anything just because it took four nurses to find a vein that wouldn't blow, which ended up being in the side of my arm, right above my wrist. Ouch! My hands were bruised for an entire week from all their attempts. Once the IV was finally in, they asked if I wanted an epidural. Of course I didn't see how I could last several hours with the horrible pain I was in so I said yes, bring it on. The anesthesiologist came in and saved the day. By this time, it was 1:30 am and the epidural was inserted. After administering the epi, my heart rate went way way up. (It was already elevated when I was in triage) They monitored it, and it eventually came down a little bit. I was finally feeling comfortable and could no longer feel the contractions coming on. The only thing I could feel was water leaking each contraction. I could still feel my legs and move them, but I could not roll over onto a side without the help of the nurses. I loved having the epidural. It made me feel so relaxed and fuzzy. Like all my pains were just melting away. Up til that point, I don't think I had spoken more than a couple words since arriving at the hospital because the pain was so intense. When I'm in pain, I don't talk. I just groan and moan and try to breathe. But after I got the epi, I felt like talking a little more, even though we were tired because well, we were usually sleeping at this time of the day.

For the next two hours, I was able to relax a bit. At 4:00 am, the nurse checked my cervix to find out that I was already at 8 cm and only had just a little bit left to go. We did some practice pushes while we waited on the midwife to arrive. My parents arrived just in time to see me for a bit before I started pushing. Sometime between then and 6:00, I had to throw up, which indicates transition into the next phase. It was time to push!

From 6:00-7:23, I pushed for three sets of ten seconds with every contraction they saw come up on the monitor. The first hour or so was "easy". I had enough energy and it didn't hurt at all. By the time her head started moving all the way down to the point of seeing it in the mirror, I was starting to feel exhausted. I remember looking at Matt a couple times (who was holding my left leg the whole time- such a trooper!). I kept saying that I was sooo tired. The nurses and midwife were all very encouraging, telling me that I was getting close. The last few pushes were the hardest because I was out of energy and it was starting to pinch down there. But once her head came out I felt like all it took was a little push and the rest of her body came out! And there she was, placed right on my chest! All 9 lbs 2 oz of her!

It was an incredible feeling! Yes, I was exhausted and loopy from the epidural, but my daughter was finally out and resting on my chest while they cleaned her up. The midwife massaged my stomach for a little bit to help deliver the placenta. (Matt said that was a LOVELY site..haha!) My midwife cut the cord and felt bad that she forgot to ask Matt if he wanted to do it. His feelings weren't too hurt. I ended up having a second degree tear and required several stitches for the three small tears.

SIDE NOTE: At some point during the push phase, a nurse told my midwife that a patient had just checked into Family Beginnings (the all natural labor room with the tub, no pain meds, etc) and she was already dilated to a 6. They mentioned her initials, and I asked if it was my friend, Brittany. They looked at me very puzzled, but I just had a feeling it was her! Of course they wouldn't tell me anything, but it was indeed her, and her daughter was born 30 minutes after Kyla! Same midwife. Such a crazy story!

The next two hours were kind of a blur. I got to spend the time bonding with Kyla for about an hour. Then the nursery came to do all the standard checks. She received a 9 on the Apgar test (she came out crying before her whole body was even out!) My parents were waiting patiently in the waiting room for several hours. While we were still in the delivery room, we got to FaceTime with Krista in Japan.

Around 9:30 am or so, they helped me get up and go to the restroom, then move on to the recovery room where we would reside until we were discharged.

And just like that, my daughter was born! 7:23 am on Monday, August 19th, 2013.

We stayed in the hospital all day Monday and were discharged around 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 20th. The hospital typically requires a 48 hour stay, but we were not getting any rest with people coming and going to check on us. We just wanted to relax and recover at home. So the pediatrician and midwife both discharged us early because we were both good to go. Matt helped take care of me while I took care of Kyla the next few days as it was rough to stand up, sit down, you know, most things.

And now, for a little photo overload.

Sweet sleeping baby.