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On Thursday I had my last doctors appointment. I knew it was my last because I had passed my 40 week mark and I was going to get my induction date. My doctor stripped my membranes and boy did that hurt. I definitely felt different but I was still only dilated to a 2+ and 80% effaced, so he gave me my induction date for that Sunday.
Up until that point I was pretty nervous about delivering a child. I mean who isn't for their first, right? But that day I was ready for her to get here. Trevor and I played Bocci Ball which had us doing a lot of walking. We also went on a short walk and decided to go to dinner for our "One Last Hurrah" before Emma gets here. We went to Chili's with my parents and brother, and I ate a ton of their spicy salsa, cheese fries with lots of jalepenos, and fajitas. I tried to eat as much spicy food as I could! We had a great time with each other and I was really grateful that we did that. On the way home I was feeling pretty weird but I just figured I ate too much - it happens.
Last dinner at Chili's with the family before becoming a mom!
I woke up Trevor at around 4:15 and told him I thought I was having contractions. By that time I was running around the room making sure I had everything I needed in my hospital bag. Trevor said to start timing them and went back to sleep. Trevor! I woke him up again and told him I was serious! So he finally woke up and helped me get everything ready and in the car.
We drove to the Labor and Delivery and I was surprisingly calm and Trevor and I were pretty giddy. When we got there they put us in a half room with a curtain and had me get dressed in a gown and took my vitals. The nurse was really sweet. She checked to see how dilated I was and it hurt SO bad. Oh my gosh. She was aggressive! I was still only dilated to a 2+ and still only 80% effaced so I was worried they wouldn't keep me. I was definitely having contractions and they were getting pretty horrible.
Waiting to see if we will be admitted & then in the delivery room!
The nurse came back an hour later and checked me again and *I thought I was going to die* It hurt sooooo bad. That was one of the most painful moments of the whole delivery! I was now dilated to a 3 and so they admitted me. Thank goodness because my contractions were absolutely unbearable. They brought me into the labor room with a new nurse and she put my IV in. I HATE IV's. So much. I was freaking out. My contractions were every 3 minutes and I was in so much pain.
Around 10 o'clock I was dying. My contractions were so close together and they hurt so bad. Trevor talked me into getting my epidural. I wanted to wait as long as I could, but I was in so much pain. The anesthesiologist came in and got everything prepared. He was such an awesome guy. He reminded me of my older brother. He raised the bed up super high and I held onto Trevor while he numbed my back. The whole procedure didn't hurt that bad, I was just more nervous about getting a huge needle inserted into my back. It took about 15-20 minutes and in the middle of it Trevor all of a sudden just let me go and sat down. He almost passed out! He hadn't eaten since Chili's so he was pretty sick. He said he was fine until he saw blood on the anesthesiologist's hands. Poor guy. So I held onto the nurse for the rest of procedure. My nurse was so amazing.
My parents and brother had arrived while I was getting my epidural so they came in when I was done. My legs were so numb. I was surprised how well it worked. I couldn't lift them up at all. My nurse or someone in my family had to move my legs for me. Weirdest feeling in the world. The nurse had put me on my right side and I started feeling really weird. My chest started to hurt and I could't breathe. I asked the nurse if I should be feeling pressure on my chest. She looked at the monitor and I could tell she was really nervous and left in a hurry. She came back with about 5 nurses and the anesthesiologist and they were all in a panic, which freaked me out. I started feeling really sick. I was dry heaving and puked up a little water. I felt like I was about to black out and I was shaking like crazy. This sounds really dramatic, but I was really scared I was going to die! Especially when everyone else was in a panic! My blood pressure was about 70/40 which is really low. The epidural had made my veins dilate and I think I had too many fluids going into me. They put me on my other side and I started feeling better. I could breathe again and my chest stopped hurting and I wasn't nauseated anymore. My blood pressure slowly began to rise. It scared us to death though! They broke my water shortly after.
After that it was quite uneventful. They gave me an oxygen mask, which I highly recommend asking for! It made me feel so much better. I dilated quite slowly. My poor family, I'm sure they were so bored. I couldn't do much and I had no desire to read or go on my phone or anything. So I basically just sat there in the dark for the next 10 hours..
Emma's heart rate started to rise. It made us all nervous again. I started getting a really high fever and I just felt horrible. We could not get her heart rate to go down. Trevor was constantly checking the monitor to check my blood pressure and her heart rate. I think he was pretty nervous, but he didn't let me know. The nurse kept mentioning a C-section.. I really didn't want to get one, but I thought if Emma was in trouble I would do anything.
18 hours of waiting and being super worried.
8 o'clock rolled around and they told me I was dilated to a 10! Everything got real. My dad and brother gave me a hug and stood behind the curtain by the door. They put me into position and the nurse had me start pushing. She said that Emma's head was in a weird position. They had me pushing for about an hour when my doctor came in. I kept pushing and pushing. It was a weird experience trying to push when I couldn't feel anything past my stomach! It didn't hurt, but it was definitely hard. My mom and a nurse were holding my legs until my mom started feeling sick and so my sister stepped in. I was so grateful they were all there. Trevor stood by my head and got me drinks and my oxygen mask when I needed it. He cheered me on the whole time. I was so happy knowing he was there with me. Couldn't have done all that without him.
The doctor ended up giving me an episiotomy (TMI?) and had to use the vacuum. Not too long after that Emma finally came out! I pushed for two hours, but for some reason it felt only like 15 minutes for me! I was seriously out of it and had my eyes closed the whole time, which I think is a good thing. I didn't really notice that she came out until they told me and I opened my eyes and saw my beautiful baby girl! Okay she was a little scary looking, but she was so beautiful to me! When I opened my eyes it was like back to reality. I didn't even know but there were like 20 nurses and doctors in there! I was so surprised! Since I had a fever the NICU team had to come and make sure she was okay and then there was all the nurses there to help me. I just sat there and cried/laughed knowing I did it! I finally had my baby girl! Born on Friday, May 23rd, 2014 at 10:04pm. 8 pounds even and 21.5 inches.
First pictures of Emma and as a family! Finally a mother!
First time holding my beautiful daughter. Most amazing experience! Don't mind the double chin..
Finally a dad! He was so happy. Emma was sent off to the NICU.
I saw them weighing and measuring Emma and she didn't look so good. I saw the NICU team working on her and they told us she wasn't breathing very well and they were worried. They set her on my chest and she started breathing just fine! It made me so happy. They cleaned and wrapped her up and gave her back to me. We all just sat there and looked at her. She was so alert and so calm! Oh my goodness it was so great to have her in my arms! But not for long.. they had to take her to the NICU since I had that fever and so Trevor and my dad went down with her. My dad was the first one to feed her! My doctor came and told me that he didn't think I was going to be able to push Emma out and was certain that I was going to have a c-section and that I proved him wrong! I was so glad I did it. Two nurses rolled me onto the next bed and took me and my mom to my room!
The nurses came and checked on me later and Trevor finally came up. I just wanted to see my baby girl so they put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me down to the NICU. They had to give her antibiotics since I had a fever, so they had to put in an IV. They tried twice in each hand and twice on her head. Poor girl. They got the second one to work on her head and everyone called her "Unicorn Baby". It was so sad to see! I loved holding her and it made me a little emotional. She was just so perfect! She didn't look scary anymore and was just absolutely gorgeous. How did we get such a cute baby!? She stayed in the NICU that night and Trevor and I went back to our room and crashed. I had not slept since Wednesday night so I was exhausted! 18 hours was hard! Labor isn't called labor for nothing!
In the NICU. Trevor and I finding our love of being parents!
Grandpa and his beautiful granddaughter! Taking her temperature.
Our AMAZING nurse Christi! I was still so swollen.
Saturday happened to be Trevor's 21st birthday! My dad bought him a cake and we sang Happy Birthday to him. Emma got to come hang out with us and we had lots of visitors! I felt so grateful for all the people who came, and those who wanted to. I've had so much support throughout this, it was great! Emma ended up staying the night with us in our room and she pretty much woke up every 20 minutes. She wasn't eating very well and kept falling asleep during feedings and hadn't peed yet. On Sunday the doctor came in and said we might be able to leave that day but came back later and told us he didn't feel comfortable with it, which I agreed with him. He said that since she was falling asleep so easily during feedings that they better put her under the billyrubin lights.
So tired. Celebrating Trevor's birthday!
Visiting time! I was so swollen the next day. This was the most swollen I had been during the whole pregnancy and delivery.
I had to pump so Trevor went down with Emma while they put her under the lights. After I was done I went down and even though a ton of babies get put under those lights, it was so hard to see her like that. It broke my heart. I just sat in the chair and I couldn't even look at her. I was trying so hard not to cry. I had the biggest lump in my throat. Trevor was talking to my dad and he wanted to talk to me, but I couldn't do it. If I'm upset and someone asks how I am doing then I just break down. So I just shook my head no and then the nurse started talking to me about how these feelings were normal and I just started bawling. It was so hard to see my baby girl like that. She had to stay under the lights all night and I went down every 3 hours to feed her and she was feeding so much better and had finally peed!
Emma under the Billyrubin lights. So sad.
Monday morning we were more hopeful and the doctors and nurses had their rounds and we went down while they did that and they said we were good to take her home! We were soooo happy! We finally got to take our baby girl home!! We packed everything and then went down to get her! The nurses were happy/sad to see her go! They said they'll miss their cute little "Unicorn Baby". The people at the NICU were so great. I am so grateful for them!!
Our little Emma.
One of our rooms! Getting to take her home! Everyone loved her hat! Thanks Heather!
We have been staying at my parents house for the week. They have helped us so much! I'm so grateful for them and all their support throughout this whole thing! I sure love them. I know Emma does too! It has been such an amazing experience with Emma. She is such a good baby! She loves to smile and she even had a little laugh the other day! She just melts my heart. She is so beautiful! I keep asking Trevor where she came from! I feel like we've always had her in our lives. I can't even describe how happy I am to be her mother! I feel so incredibly lucky! I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father for all of his blessings he gave us throughout this whole pregnancy, labor and delivery, and in blessing Emma that she was okay. Having Emma has made me so grateful that Trevor and I had the opportunity to be sealed so that we can be a forever family! My heart is just so full!
Love her!
she's a beauty! so happy for you both! I want to see her lacy!
ReplyDeletewow, loved all of the pictures! made me teary eyed!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet pea..I can't wait to meet her someday soon..your both beautiful!!
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