Anxious daddy waiting for baby
The contractions kicked in at 5:30 am, almost immediately. They were tolerable at this time, just felt like strong menstrual cramps. At around 7 am, there was a shift change and Nurse S was replaced with another nice nurse (we'll call her "Nurse T"). My mother also arrived at this time to support us during the process. My contractions were getting stronger and closer together. Nurse T gave me some medication in my IV (don't remember the name)to help subside the pain since I didn't want an epidural so early in the laboring process. I remember feeling some relief and becoming extremely fatigued, I fell asleep 15 minutes after the medication was administered.
At around 10 am, the rest of my family arrived.. my father, who took a sick day from work to be there, my sisters Brittany (20), Brianna(16), and Jaelyn (5). My grandmother, my great grandmother, my uncles and my aunts. I was still droghy, falling in and out of sleep in between contractions. I remember gribbing the bedrail durring contractions and my husband, mother, and gradmother heling me breathe through them. At 10:30 am, I couldn't take much more pain and requested an epidural. Nurse T paged Dr. Hip to get the go ahead for the epi. He told her to put in the order but hold off anesthesiology until he got there to break my bag of water.
Dr. Hip arrived at 10:45 to check my progress and break my water. I was at 5 cm and 60% effaced. He went ahead and broke my bag of water. It didn't hurt, just uncomfortable. He informed me he would be back soon to check on me again. At 11:15 am, within minutes of Dr. Hips departure the the anesthesiologist came in. I was nervous, but at the same time I wanted to pain gone like NOW. They pulled the curtain shut to give us some privacy from the rest of the family. To my surprise, they let Tyler stay and hold my shoulders while I hugged a pillow and a giant needle was shoved in my back. Relief started to kick in and I wanted to kiss the anesthesiologist.
Updating Facebook. I believe my exact status was "I want to kiss the person who invented epidurals!".
I was now comfortable, enjoying my family, popping ice chips like they were going out of style. My labor was progressing well, before I knew it three hours and three centimeters had flown by. Tyler and most of my family decided to go down to the cafeteria and get some lunch since we were at the calm phase of labor. Twenty minutes had past and I was enjoying chatting with my grandma and great grandma when all of a sudden a nurse flew in my room, told me to get on my side NOW, and put an oxygen mask over my face. She said that the baby's heartbeat kept dropping and she wasn't tolerating the labor at the moment. I got scared, worried, and panicked. Tyler came back in the see my condition and worry struck his face. The nurse explained what happened and assured us that everything was fine. Our baby girl's heartbeat quickly stabilized with the extra oxygen.
Ready to PUSH!!
At 4:00 pm, Nurse T checked me and I was at 10 cm and 100% effaced. Yep, time to push!!! We kicked everyone out of the room except for my mother and Brittany (they stayed behind the curtain). At around 4:30 pm, I starting to pushing process. I pushed with the epidural in and nothing was happening, so Nurse T turned off the epidural. I pushed some more... NOTHING!! I turned onto all fours and pushed.. nothing. In the mean time, I'm in full blown labor with no epidural. Contractions were HARD and coming one after another. At some point I asked how long I had been pushing and Tyler responded, "Two hours". At this time, I requested my doctor and was begging for her out. I was in a puddle of sweat, in extreme pain, and tired.
Dr. Hip arrived 30 minutes later. That gives a total pushing time of 2 and a half hours. He examined me and confirmed that the baby was not moving down. He said that he could let me push for another 30 minutes to the cutoff mark of three hours but he didn't believe the baby was going to come naturally and the safest option at this point was a c-section. Tyler and I agreed. Minutes later I was being prepped and whisked down for surgery.
We were wheeled down to the OR and waiting for my Dr. Hip's assistant to arrive. They explained to me that they wouldn't be able to administer the epidural again until the assistant arrived because if an emergency happened then there would be nobody to assist with the delivery. I lost it, I couldn't do it... I begged and the OR Nurse explained that if a emergency came up, she would be able to assist. The anesthesiologist agreed and approximately 10 minutes later... I was pain free.
Soon after, Dr. Hips's assistant (we'll call her "Nurse J") arrived. Funny story is she is one of my customers at my store. She was in a couple weeks prior and we were jokingly telling each other that we better not see each other in the OR. I looked at her and said, "I told you I didn't want to see you in here." She responded with "Oh my God... it's you!!". Before I knew it, I was cut open and my baby was about to be delivered.
I was laying there on the opperating table with my arms strapped down and my husband at my side when I heard "Nurse J" say, "Okay guys get ready! Oh my, she is staring right at us! She's here!!!" Dr Hip quickly followed with, "It's a girl and she looks beautiful!". Seconds later we heard our newborn daughter cry. The sound was so beautiful and I couldn't stop myself from crying. They held her up for us to see her and then they whisked her away for observation.
Being Delivered
Shortly after, a nurse brought her back and placed her in my husbands arms. We got a family photo and then they informed us that she needed to be monitored for a little bit. My husband and I agreed that if a c-section was needed that he would stay with the baby at all times while I was in surgery. He followed the nurse who was carrying our brand new baby girl, a baby girl we had yet to name.
First Family Photo
Thirty minutes passed by and I was finally being wheeled into the recovery room. I was previously told that my husband and daughter would meet me there, but upon arrival, I was informed that they had an emergency and unfortunately I would have to wait an hour before meeting my daughter. That hour ticked by slllooowwwllllyyyy... Then finally I was wheeled up to my room.
After I was situated, a blonde nurse came in pushing an isolette. My husband picked up our daughter and placed her into my arms. At that moment, my heart melted, I couldn't hold back my tears and I cried like a baby. I told Tyler to get the rest of our family and they all came piling in. I watched as they all stared at her in awe, some with tears in their eyes. It was at that moment when I realized for as long as we had been hoping and praying for her... they were too! Everyone was asking for a name and that was one thing that we still hadn't decided. We informed everyone that we wanted some rest and to please come back in the morning and by the morning we would have a name.
My husband and I went back and forth. We had two names picked out Kaydence Elizabeth and Gabriella Rose. We decided to sleep on it and in the morning my husband decided on what to name her.
Everyone please meet Gabriella Rose
Born October 13, 2011
7:49 pm
7 pounds, 12 ounces, and 21 inches long
Fast forward a year and we have a happy, healthy, beautiful toddler
*** I'm sure there are a lot of errors in this post. Unfortunately I didn't have time to proofread but wanted to get it published ASAP so I can start writing the journey for #2. Please don't judge, I will proof read later and fix any errors. xoxo
