My Labor

I have been slacking in the blogging department so I am finally taking some time to catch up today. I figured someday I am going to print these all out and save them for Kailey's memory book so I better get back to writing.

Thursday, January 17th

Rob and I got up, showered and took our last pregnancy picture. Of course before we left we had a hug and I just started crying. This was it. We were starting our family and in a selfish way, this was the last time it was just Rob and me. Were we ready for this? So many emotions were going through me. After I wiped up my tears, we were on our way to the hospital.

It was so cold out! There was no valet guy around and there was no parking in the Birthing Suites parking. We drove over to the Visitor Parking and hiked our way over with our bags.

When we arrived at 6am they told us they were expecting us at 7am and it would be an hour till we saw a nurse. We did get into our Suite although it wasn't one of the large ones with all the windows. The nurse said they were packed. How many women could really be there? (Later we found out that we were the 15th birth that day!) Rob went to grab breakfast in the cafe while I changed into my stylish gown.

Our nurse Jackie got me all hooked up to IV's and monitors. Doctor Mauoro came in at 7:30am to break my water since I was still at 1.5cm. All of a sudden there was this trickle of water that I was sitting in. Ew. Then I coughed and had a gush. Ew ew. Then I laughed and more came out. Ew ew ew. This went on for hours. The nurse had to keep changing the pad that was under me.

I thought I was going to be able to get up and walk around. I heard that is great for labor. I happened to look under the sheet and it looked like I had a wire coming out of me. I called Rob over and asked him to look. Sure enough there was something stuck "up there." The way Dr. Mauoro breaks the bag of water is by using the internal monitor. It was a little screw at the end of it that goes into the babies head. So now I was left to the bed and could get up to wipe off all the fluid. Then it hit me. I cant go to the bathroom either. Well at least get up and go.

At 8:40am the Pitocin was started into my IV to start the contractions. By 9:25am I asked Jackie if I was having a contraction. Something was feeling crampy. She said I was and that I had a few before that.

By 10:30am my contractions were consistently 2 minutes apart. They were uncomfortable but I could tolerate them. I didn't want to seem like a big baby and get the epidural now. The nurse said whenever I was ready, she would make the call.

By 11:20am I finally gave in to having to go to the bathroom. My first experience with a bed pan. And wouldn't be my last that day.

My mom stopped by around lunch time since Rob was going to meet his dad for some coffee in the lobby. The contractions were more uncomfortable and I was now grabbing the side of the bed at each one. I also started to get sick with each one and ended up vomiting 3 or 4 times. When Rob came back I told Jackie to get someone up here now. I am done with this pain! That was at 12:30pm

Mom left just in time. My contractions were so bad that I was crying and thought I would just rather die. The anesthesiologist didn't get there till 1pm. If I would have known it was going to take so long I would have asked earlier. Rob was trying to calm my down and rub my head but I was so hot and just the touch of someone made me want to scream. The poor guy!

I swing around to the side of the bed and I am spinning. I have never been so dizzy in my entire life. The doctor is in there and I am trying to tell him to wait before he sticks me cause I was having a contraction. I am sweating like I have never sweated against Rob. I don't know what I would have done without him. The epidural hurt so bad. And to have the contractions coming on top of it... Shoot me now please! The medicine started to work but only on my left side. Just flipping great. He gave me more and had me lay on my right side for it to drain. In the meantime, my pressure drops alot. It was 75 over something. My right hand was turning a weird color and I couldn't move my fingers. The nurse got me to call down and it finally went up to 90 something. The Pitocin eventually kicked in on my right side and I could feel just enough pain to know that a contraction was coming. The anesthesiologist finally left at 1:45pm.

At 2pm Jackie checked me and had another nurse Rosemary double check me. I was fully dilated and ready to push! That was quick! Kailey's head was so far down now. Apparently I had almost gotten to the point of not being able to get the epidural and gave birth to her naturally. The nurses started to prep the room and at 3pm I was ready to push.

Rob had one leg, the nurse had another. I was pushing and pushing. It felt like her head had to be half way out. At each contraction, my legs went up and the counting to 10 started. We did 2-3 sets each time. Rob did most of my counting and had to be the best coach ever.

The nurses said they could see her head and it looked like she had dark hair. They used some kind of bottle and shampoo to clean her head and said she actually had red hair!

After 45 minutes of pushing, Dr. Mauoro said that we had 3 options. 1 - use the suction cup, 2 - the forceps and the last case scenario - a C-section although she was right there and he really didn't want to do that.

So the suction cup comes out and I am pushing. Apparently she was too far along and the cup just wasn't sticking. Dr. started to stretch me - that felt fabulous, and got out the forceps. Then I heard that awful work - episiotomy. Even with him doing that, I still ended up tearing and had a 3rd degree tear.

After a few good pushes though, I felt her slide on out. But she wasn't crying. Doctor gave her a few good shakes and they nurses took her over to the warmer and she let out a few good cries. Doctor said she had just been through a lot and was tired. Her heart rate was dropping when I was pushing so that was the need to get her out so soon. I didn't find out till the next day that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice.

There she was, starring at me. Rob was over there taking her all in and taking pictures. Red hair, long fingers, big feet and long toes. And she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. One of the nurses opened the door so I could hear the music playing for Kailey's birth and I just started crying.

We had to wait for my local so he could stitch me up. Well I took that really well and couldn't feel anything from my waist down. I sat and concentrated on moving my left leg and nothing. It was insane. The doctor and Rob had to lift me up cause I was sliding down the bed and couldn't do it myself. I got my 20 stitches. The nurses cleaned me up and my daughter was placed in my arms. I was so proud of Rob, of myself and I couldn't have been happier.