Ivy girl's birth story :)

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, we were set to be induced Monday morning (aug 26th) at 6:00 in the morning. I was already three days late and I was ready to meet my little girl. My doctor had asked that I go to the hospital Sunday night to receive a vaginal suppository that would help soften my cervix for the induction process in the morning. I was carrying high still and he felt that the suppository would help the process go smoother.

So Sunday night, Wade and I packed up our hospital bags and headed to Mountain view at 7:30. At 8:00, I had been admitted and the nurse had given me my suppository. I tried to go to sleep because I knew that I would need it, but the nurses kept coming in every 30 minutes to adjust my heart rate monitors and my blood pressure pump kept going off two or three times an hour also. I finally fell asleep around 12:30 and then a nurse came into check on me and left the dang light on. And then the fun began.

At 1:00 A.M, I started feeling stomach cramps in my lower tummy. The doctor had mentioned that that might happen, so I didn't think much of it. Around 2:00, I was restless and mad that I couldn't sleep and frustrated at the nurses for coming in and adjusting my contraction/HRM so often. At 3:00 is when my "cramps" also known as contractions were starting to get stronger. I didn't think they were contractions at the time and I didn't want to mention anything to the nurses because I was sure they were just going to say something like, "That's just your cervix softening" or "that's just the medicine." Around 4:00, I wasn't able to lay in my bed anymore. I was standing up, bending over, doing whatever I could to get this pain to stop. I finally woke Wade up and told him that something was going on and that I thought I was having contractions. The nurse came in around 4:30 and told me that with the suppository, I'm not allowed to stand up. I told her about the pain and she said I was experiencing contractions and that she could give me the I.V pain medication. I said okay, and she came back at 5:00 and gave it to me. By then, I felt as though the medication wasn't helping at all and that the contractions were just getting stronger.

The nurse said she would check me at 5:30. (This is when we called the birth photographer and told her about how fast I was progressing. She checked me and said, "oh wow, you are already at a 6, do you want your epideral?" And I said, "Yes, but I want to get in the bath first!" So I got in the tub and it felt nice for about 3 seconds, because the water was too cold and the jets were like on mega force super power or something and were spraying EVERYWHERE. So I got out and told the nurse I was ready. She then told me that the anesthesiologist just went into an emergency C section and it would be at least a half hour before he would be back. I was kind of ticked at this point. Wade was trying to help me, but I just didn't want to be touched, I was irritated by the contractions and when she told me that I just figured I could deal with it a little longer.

Well, a half hour came and went (reeeeaaalllly slow) and the nurse told me that they were short staffed and they were calling in another anesthesiologist and that they were hurrying. Needless to say, I was at an 8 and it was almost 7:30 before I received the epideral. Aja, the birth photographer showed up about 20 minutes before I had received the epideral. I had about 3 contractions during the epideral, but the guy who gave it to me was super patient and really nice and explained everything he was doing.

After he had injected the epideral, everything went numb and I was able to stop shaking and I could breath normally and I wasn't such a meanie to everyone who walked in the room ha ha. I was so relaxed, I just wanted to sit there and just sit. It was so nice. The doctor came in and told me I was still carrying high and that he would come back around noon. He wanted the baby to "labor down" by itself so I wasn't spending so long pushing. I was fine just sitting there, it was relaxing and I was just so glad to not be in pain anymore.

After the epideral, things were smooth sailing. I just wanted my phone & some ice chips.

At 12:00 the doctor came back and it was show time. They hurried and got everything ready and before i knew it, my legs were high in the air and everyone was telling me, "Push!" "Good job!" "I can see her head!" "You're doing great!" 

And at 12:25, our little baby Ivy came into the world! She weighed in at 8.2 ounces and 21 inches. She's perfect and we love her tons and tons! 

 

 

A Special thanks to Aja Jemmett for photographing this special time in our life (again! she was our wedding photographer as well!) The labor and delivery process is exhausting and seems like such a blur looking back. Wade and I will be forever grateful for these treasured images and can't thank her enough. You can find her work over HERE.