Finally the end of Kailyn's birth story

I can't believe it has taken so long to finish!! Having a colicky baby leaves little time in the evenings for anything but holding Kailyn while she cries (usually from 6pm until bedtime around 9:30-10pm) and trying to comfort her. Then during the day we try to get things done around the house, ect..
Anyways back to her birth story. After they gave me the Pitocin I finally started to get some real contractions. They were bearable for awhile but after a few hours they started to get very intense. They were also so irregular. Sometimes coming one after another only a minute apart! By 10am I was ready to give up. I could barely walk, talk. I was so worn out from the intense pain. But Chris and my friend Lauren (she was helping coach also) pushed me to wait until 10:30am when the nurse would be checking me again. Telling me maybe we were in transition (7-10cm) and this was the worst part. Finally after what seemed like a few more hours the nurse came to check me. Barely 5cm. Over 10 hours after my water broke and just over 7 hours after Pitocin was started and still only 5cm. I was so disappointed and also felt that I just couldn't continue like this for another 10 hours or however long it would take me to get to 10cm. So I asked for the Epidural. So the nurse put in a call for the Anesthesiologist. Finally she came in to put in my Epi. My mom and Lauren had to leave the room but Chris was allowed to stay. I was having such bad contractions at this point one after another I was so afraid I would move if I got one while she was putting in the Epi. But when you have a needle that big being put in your spine you DON'T move!! lol AND I barely felt anything!! Maybe it was because my contractions were so painful but I didn't think it hurt at all. Well turns out that was a good thing because they ended up having to take it out and put in a new one less than an hour later because the first one got in a blood vessel and I could feel everything again. After they finally got the second Epidural working the nurse told me to try and take a nap so I could restore some energy for when it was time to push. Since my water broke at midnight it had been over 24 hours since I had slept. Well after hours of the most intense pain I have ever felt I fell asleep instantly. The nurse came back an hour later to check me and then I was awake again. After getting the Epidural I started to dilate quicker. Finally I believe around 3:45pm it was time to push.
If it wasn't for having the best nurse ever I don't think I would have been able to try as hard as I did. She was so supportive. She turned the Epi off right before I started to push so I could feel a little bit to push better. Usually it can take up to an hour to wear off. She helped me hold one leg while Chris held the other. And I pushed...and pushed....and pushed!! After almost 2 hours of pushing the doctor finally came to check things. Kailyn still hadn't even made it past my pelvic bones. I was also starting to swell really bad. The doctor let me push one time while he was there and I started to yell a little during this push because by this time I could pretty much feel everything!! It had been almost 2 hours since the nurse shut off the Epi. The doctor said, can you feel this?? I said YES! At this point he told us that he felt it was best to do an emergency c-section. She just wasn't coming out this way and after pushing this long she should have been out already. So we agreed whatever would get her in our arms safe and healthy.
He then left the room to set us up for an OR. I then started crying. Just for a minute. A C-section was the last thing I wanted but I knew at this point it would be best. It had been 18 hours since my water broke.
The C-section was not painful at all. Of course they started a new Epi and also gave me some morphine. I was scared but it all happens so fast. And it's crazy how you can feel everything. (but not painful) I could feel when they lifted her out of me. Then they called Chris over to see her while they were cleaning her and started sewing me up. Finally they brought her over to me. I couldn't believe this tiny perfect baby was really finally in my arms. They they let me try to breastfeed her for a few minutes before she was taken up to the nursery and I was taken to recovery. As soon as she found the boob she knew what to do.
Chris went with Kailyn and they finished sewing me up and wheeled me to recovery. They make you stay in recovery until you can lift both legs and your butt off the bed. My one leg would just not cooperate and I started to get very upset! I knew she might be hungry at this point and I just really wanted to see her! I kept complaining to the nurse but they have their policies and would not let me go. FINALLY they said they were taking me to our room. It was pretty late at this time so just Chris and his Mom were in our room. Once I got to the room a few minutes later they wheeled our beautiful little girl in. Of course she wanted to eat! And Mommy finally got to hold her again. ♥
Such an ordeal with the breastfeeding also but that is a whole post in itself. I am happy to say after bleeding nipples and everything I am still breastfeeding almost 4 weeks later and plan to continue.
I have added some more pics to Kailyn Marie album under our album link on left hand side of blog. Gotta go baby girl is waking up again! Time to feed her again.

**Special thank you again to my wonderful Husband for being such a great supportive coach. Also to my friend Lauren and my Mom for being there and helping me through it! It was quite a memorable experience and it wouldn't have been the same without you three there to help!♥**

Labor and Delivery of our Lil Pea.....FINALLY! ;-)

When friends said that a newborn will keep you busy they weren't kidding! And unfortunately they weren't kidding about the sleepless nights too! BUT the perfect beautiful little girl we created that I am looking at right now is all worth it! So let me get started before she wakes up again and of course wants to eat again. My new name is Mommy milk machine!
I will start with Monday, May 3rd. We went to have our post due date testing done @ the hospital. If you remember we were scheduled to go in Tuesday night to start induction and possibly have her sometime Wednesday May 5th. Little did we know Kailyn had other plans in mind for her delivery. We checked in to L & D triage area and I was hooked up to start the NST (nonstress test). Here is a pic from that day.

Next we went upstairs to Radiology to have the ultrasound done to make sure our Lil Pea was still ok in there. Everything looked fine, placenta was still good and I also still had a good amount of amniotic fluid. The tech told us her EFW (estimated fetal weight) was 8 pounds 9 ounces!! Of course that freaked me out! That's a pretty big baby. But of course we all know now that the tech was COMPLETELY wrong. They say they can be off by up to a pound. Well this one was off by even more! I should have known since the tech happened to be a man! lol
After that we went home and talked about what we would do last minute around the house on Tuesday during the day before we went to the hospital. Well Monday night I was on the phone with my BF until about 11:30pm. After we hung up I went to lay on the couch (at that point it was more comfortable than my bed). I was just drifting off to sleep finally when I heard a weird little "pop" noise. Then I felt a weird crampy feeling. I had no idea what that was all about! I even thought maybe it was my pelvic bone because she was getting so big! All of a sudden I felt like I really had to pee so @ 12:20am on Tuesday morning I got up to use the bathroom. Now for some TMI (I'm sure you knew this was coming! lol). As I was peeing it didn't stop! But I still felt like I was peeing and at the same time I knew there was no way I could be peeing that much. Finally I put my hand down there to see where this fluid was coming from. Maybe I was still half asleep, I don't know. That's when I realized this was NOT pee. That pop noise was my water breaking!!! And then I started to freak. I screamed Chris's name and can't believe he heard me as he was all the way on the other side of our house. He finally stood in the doorway half asleep still and saw me still sitting on the toilet pouring water out. Now there was water also on the floor too. I told him my water broke. And then his eyes popped wide open! Then he was gone and running around getting things ready. I had also text mailed my BF Dana who lives up north. She has had two babies recently and is one of my go to girlfriends for advice. She is also a nurse. She called me back and asked for my stats. I told her my water broke but my contractions were very mild. This happened to her with her 2nd child. She told me I should call my doctor but I might as well try to stay at home for awhile since she knew our plan was to try and labor at home as long as we could and then head to the hospital. She also told me our bodies continue to replenish the amniotic fluid so I would be leaking for quite a while. And boy did I! Before we left, Chris had to mop up the bathroom floor (he was a little grossed out!), I soaked up two bath towels AND 6 pads! Not too mention how much came out while I was taking a shower. Which I decided I needed to do before we go to the hospital. I had planned on washing my hair the next day before we went in for induction, which was obviously not happening now! So after washing my hair I started to blow dry it when I realized I wasn't feeling her move anymore. She went a little crazy after my water first broke but now she wasn't moving. Of course I freaked out. I had Chris get my Doppler which I hadn't used since I was probably 20 weeks pregnant. I didn't even know where to put it to find her. I finally found a real faint heartbeat and calmed down a little. This is when I realized we needed to go to the hospital. I was just too worried since my water broke and my contractions were still very mild that things weren't progressing as they should be after your water breaks. Also when I called my Doctors office the service said to go to Labor & delivery and then they will call the on call physician. So I still wasn't even sure what my doctor had to say about my water breaking. I finished getting dressed and we got all our bags together and headed out the door to the hospital.
Once we got there we went in through the ER (because it was 2am). They then sent us up to L & D triage where we had been just been the morning before. After they confirmed my water had broken they found us a room and sent us over to the Labor and Delivery floor. Once there the nurse's came in and took some blood. Then one of them checked me. Barely 2 cm dilated!! And it had already been almost 3 hours since my water had broken. She then said she would have to call my Doctor to find out the next step. She said they would probably want to start Pitocin. And this is when I had my first cry. Pitocin was the last word I wanted to hear since our teacher had told us to try and avoid this induction at all costs because Pitocin & Epidural often go hand in hand. This drug brings on contractions that tend to be very irregular and more intense and painful than natural labor. But because my water had already broken and I was still only 2cm dilated the doctor told the nurse to start me on Pitocin. And this is when the real labor began.

*More to come, time to feed and bath Kailyn*

She's here!!

After almost 18 hours of labor Lil Pea finally arrived via Emergency C-Section on May 4th @ 6:19pm. Mommy and baby are doing great.

We are so happy to finally meet our daugher

Kailyn Marie
7lbs 3oz
19 1/2 inches

Our new family just got home today. As soon as we get adjusted Mommy will write all about her long crazy birth story. For now you can see a whole bunch of pics by clicking here for Kailyn Marie album.

xoxo.
Mommy and Daddy

40 weeks 2 days......and still waiting!

**April 30th - 40wks Preggo - last belly pic and ready to pop!**

A May baby she will be!! April 30th (her due date) came and went but baby girl stayed right where she is! Comfy and cozy in Mommy's belly. Well I'm not sure how cozy as big as she is getting, but I'm thinking she is more comfy than me at this point! I think she didn't realize that was her last chance to be a diamond girl. Can't say Daddy is complaining about that! lol So Emerald it is.

Thursday we had our 40 week check up with my Doctor (friday was actually 40wks but he wasn't in the office that day). BP and urine were still good. I lost a pound. Probably from all this dang walking that doesn't seem to be working! This is normal in the end, though. So time for my internal AGAIN and what would you know......1cm. Nothing changed again. So at this point being at 40 weeks it was time to talk about our options.
My Dr. does not like his patients to go over 41 weeks as medical problems can start to occur. So the plan is on Monday morning (if she still didn't want to come over the weekend) at around 7:30am we will go over to Labor and Delivery at the hospital we are delivering at, Memorial Hospital West, for an ultrasound. This ultrasound that my Doctor has ordered includes NST, BPP and EFW. I'm sure most of you are wondering what the heck all this means! lol
A biophysical profile (BPP) is a simple, painless test used during pregnancy to assess your baby's well-being — specifically, whether he's getting enough oxygen in the womb. It's typically done if you've gone past your due date, or sometime in your third trimester if you're having a high-risk pregnancy. The test consists of:
• A detailed ultrasound to observe your baby's body movements, muscle tone (flexing of the arms and legs), and breathing movements (the baby's ability to move his chest muscles and diaphragm), and the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding him.
A nonstress test (NST) is to assess whether your baby's heart rate changes when he's moving. For this, you lie on your left side. A technician straps two devices to your belly: One monitors your baby's heartbeat and movement; the other records contractions in your uterus. The technician listens to and watches your baby's heartbeat on an electronic screen.
And of course the Estimated Fetal Weight (EFW) to tell us approximately just how big baby girl is now!!

If all is still ok we will go home and then Tuesday the hospital will call us to tell us what time to come in to start induction. They usually have you come to be admitted at night between 8pm-Midnight. Once we arrive to Labor and Delivery they will first try to start labor by inserting a medication called Cervidil. This medication helps to ripen the cervix and may also stimulate enough contractions to start your labor. By morning if the Cervidil has not started labor they will start me on Pitocin. It's given through an IV and used to start labor or augment contractions you've been having on your own. If all goes well hopefully she will arrive sometime Wednesday at 40 weeks 5 days. There is always a chance of very long labor which means she could even possibly arrive Thursday but we are hoping for Wednesday.

I was a little upset after our visit with my Doctor to find out there was no progress and now Induction is a possibility. This makes our plan of natural childbirth much more challenging as we will not be able to do most of the laboring at home as we planned. Also we have been told by our Bradley teacher and friends that Pitocin usually will bring on contractions much stronger and quicker making it harder to refuse an Epidural. As it says in our Natural Childbirth book, a forced labor is an extremely hard labor. Along with several other things is says about it not being right and possible problems, ect.. Basically I could have done without reading that section about induction. It even made me start having doubts about inducing at all. But as the days go by there are also chances of the placenta problems, amniotic fluid and also the baby just starting to get too big increasing the risk of C-Section.
So after a quick cry and some thinking I have realized whatever gets her here healthy and finally in our arms is what matters the most to us both. I just want her here and safe. To finally cover her with lots of kisses from Mommy and Daddy.
We will continue to keep you all posted!! We still continue are daily multiple walks around the neighborhood that we have been doing the past 3-4 weeks. The last week we have even been going 2-3 times a day! My legs are getting pretty sore carrying around this extra 30 pounds! lol Our neighbors even stop to ask, still doesn't want to come out huh?!? I'm thinking she might just not really care too much about these walks, but either way the walking is good so we will continue the next few days. Either way we will finally be meeting our little girl within the next week. And we can't wait for you all to meet her too!!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy to Be!