The last week of pregnancy seemed to go at a normal pace. We went to the dr. on Thursday and she stripped my membranes. I had heard it was terrible but it wasn't that bad, just a lot of pressure. The next hour after that I had pretty regular contractions, but then it went back to just one here and there like I had been having for a few days. Friday started with garage sales, and I used my belly to my advantage to get good deals- "Does it help that my baby was due a week ago??" lol I had contractions off and on all day again and we went to the Orem Summer Fest that night. We were also introduced to the crosonic and half priced shakes-a favorite now for sure!!!
Saturday we went to yard sales again and once again I used the bump to my advantage to get deals. It was crazy windy and our plans to go to the parade changed to just staying in. We went to dinner at 5 guys-(all I have been wanting lately is a good burger!!) and came home and watched a movie. Then we heard the fireworks start and decided to go drive state street to see them. After that we headed for shakes at Sonic.
Sunday morning I woke up to the "bloody show" and text my mom, she was on her way (which she was going to be a bit later anyways because I was scheduled to be induced Monday morning). Jared decided to stay home from church too because I started having regular contractions about ten minutes apart; they only lasted for about an hour and then back to every so often like I had been having. My mom got to our house about one o'clock and Jared was boxing the last of the SEVEN bikes he had listed on ebay. (He felt bad boxing them on Sunday but knew it would be much easier to get them done before she came.)
That afternoon we went through fabric that my mom had brought down and the rest of the stuff she had brought me. We went through my hospital bag as well as what I was planning to take for our little one. Around 6 we decided to start dinner. During this time I started having noticeable contractions every so often-nothing major at all but they were more frequent than they had been. Jared and mom did whatever they could to have me walk, stand up, sit down, bend over, squat, etc. Their ideas were ridiculous sometimes but they thought they were quite clever. :) My response to them was to bounce. Up and down until they passed. Jared and mom thought they were quite comical. At 7 my mom started timing them and keeping track. They were regular and between 5-10 minutes apart. After we finished dinner we decided to go and show my mom the houses that we had found driving to yard sales that are huge! As we were driving around contractions continued and I had to figure out how to bounce my way through them in the car. I figured it out but all I will say is it was quite funny looking and Jared and my mom pretended not to know me when we had to stop at lights.
When we got home from our drive we were just hanging out trying to make sure we had everything in the hospital bag that we wanted. My contractions were close enough together that we decided to call our good friends Dave and Julie Neal to see if Dave could come help give me a blessing. While we were waiting for them to come my mom started braiding my hair. It was half finished when they got to our apartment at about 9:30 and I received a beautiful blessing. Every time I had a contraction I would run into the kitchen and bounce in there because I didn't want Dave to make fun of me for the rest of my life (he is a big joker!). They stayed for a while reminiscing about when they had their first child, and helping us pass the time, and my mom finished braiding my hair. . After they left I decided I wanted to get in the bath. Jared sat in there with me, but I shortly got out as I couldn't bounce in the tub. While I was in the tub my mom's cousin Kathy arrived.
I got out of the tub and we went downstairs. Kathy was looking over my contaction times and was amazed at how close they were and the fact that we weren't at the hospital. She turned into a drill Sargent and started telling me when I needed to have another one-which usually happened. She called her husband Mark and he agreed that I should go-another one to go with everyone else's besides mine in the room. I thought they would just send me home, but I gave in and said we could go.
As we grabbed everything we were planning on taking and were heading out to the car I was still dragging my feet about going. Kathy bounced out to the car with me as I had another contraction. We got to the hospital at about 11 p.m.. They took me back and started hooking me up to monitor me to see if they were going to keep me. A nurse came in to check me and that was one of the worst experiences I had through this whole thing. In my opinion if you are a nurse in labor and delivery 1. you should be friendly and not cold towards patients and 2. you should NOT have long fingernails. It was more painful than having my membranes stripped. I was at a 2.
My mom and Kathy came back to my room and I told my mom how terrible the nurse was, she took care of it right then and had my nurse switched. The charge nurse came in and talked to me about my experience and told me who my new nurse would be. About 1 they decided they would keep me because I would be coming in later that morning to be induced anyways. The charge nurse came in and started my IV (I was gbs positive and had to have meds). In my opinion you shouldn't come into the room and say that you aren't very good at doing IV's. That was the other bad experience through this, getting my IV. But I got it and the pain there helped me keep my mind off of contractions (to a point). The pain started getting pretty intense in my back but I didn't want to get an epidural. They told me that there was a medicine that they could give me through my IV that they could do once an hour. I decided to try it. As soon as I got it I felt like I was on laughing gas at the dentist and said that it was happy medicine. It allowed me to sleep off and on, but not for a long time. Jared and my mom laughed about the change because I was kinda loony-in a good way. (At some point Kathy had been sent back to our apartment to sleep and come back in the morning)
Just before 4:30 a.m. I got up to go to the bathroom and was in tears. I was in so much pain and just stood there hugging Jared crying. He and my mom started talking to me about getting an epidural, I just cried and told them that I was so stupid because I couldn't handle it. I felt like I was just stupid but I decided to get the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and was joking and laughing and such a nice guy. My mom stood next to me with her jacket held out blocking Jared's view (he was sitting in front of me) from the needle. This was the worst part of the whole thing for him. :) After I got the epidural I was able to sleep some again off and on. But then they watched her heart beat and decided I needed to be put on oxygen. We put on The Princess Diaries and I watched some here and there as I was awake. A few hours later they let me take it off but I don't know when that was. Every time they checked me I was half centimeter more at the most, sometimes not changing at all. Dr. Clark came at 8 a.m. to check in with us and see how things were going- we had previously met one of the residents who was working at the hospital at the time and we liked him as well. They ended up putting fluid back in to cushion her, and keep her away from the meconium. She told us that she was going back over to see some patients and teach, and would keep in contact and watch my monitors.
At some point Kathy came back, and kept everyone company. At 9:30 I was checked and I was still only at a 4.5. At 10ish I think my mom and Kathy went and got some breakfast. I was starting to feel things and had a little moan. Jared just stroked my arm and it was exactly what I needed. They got back and sent Jared to get some food telling him that they could stroke my arm and do what I needed while he was gone. Shortly after he left I told Kathy it felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. She told me that meant that I was ready to push she thought. My mom went and told the nurse and she came in saying she would come back and check me as soon as Jared got back. At about 10:45 Jared was back and she checked me, I was at a ten! We couldn't believe it! We were amazed I had gone that fast after only going a MAX of a half centimeter an hour. Jared headed to tell my mom and Kathy standing outside and did a little dance when he got to the door. They totally thought he was joking too! The nurse grabbed the resident (who had just left the floor with 3 women in labor to fax some stuff because none of us were close) and they had me do some practice pushes. At 11 Dr. Clark got there because they decided not to do rest and descend because of how low she was, it was time to push.
I was not prepared for the transformer bed! I was shocked when they started pulling it apart and grabbing things getting ready. The resident told my mom they were ready and things were going. Jared was amazing! He was there next to me and kept me going. When they asked if I wanted to see her head I responded with "Does she have hair?" That is all I wanted to know. :) Jared did awesome. (At some point I felt like I was going to throw up and started coughing but luckily I didn't. Also the nurse called Jared Justin... totally random.) She came at 11:48 a.m. right before lunch like Dr. Clark said. She weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 in. long. They hurried and took her and the NICU team took her and started suctioning her so she wouldn't breath the meconium and they kept saying "She just keeps pooping." I could hear and see my mom peeking in the door trying to take a picture. Jared went over to take pictures so I could see her. I had a comforting feeling that Emery was okay. I knew that was who she was. Jared came back over and showed me the pictures-I just wanted to see her for myself and hold her. It seemed like forever but it was about 20 minutes later I got to hold her. I looked up at Jared and said "I know who she is, do you?" He responded that she was Emery and what did I think her middle name was? (We had talked about this name and prayed for her by name for 2 weeks but when we headed to the hospital we were both pulling for different names. And when Dr. Clark asked me what we were going to name her-while I was pushing-I didn't even say Emery) I knew her middle name was Kate and he agreed, but we still didn't tell people because we wanted to make sure.
After a little while Jared took her to the nursery to get a bath and they packed me up to take me to recovery. A few hours later when mom and Kathy went to get lunch Jared and I talked and agreed that was who she was/is and when they came back we told them.
The next couple of days in the hospital were spent visiting with family and friends who came. I honestly only slept for a maximum of 2 hours during each day, we just had so many visitors. It was nice that my mom was able to come and stay for a while after she was born. Then we headed to Idaho with her! We came back for almost a week and headed back for 10 days. (During the back and forth Jared finished finals for his classes).
We cannot believe she is here and already 4 weeks old!!!!! We love her so much and are so thankful she is in our family.
Enjoy the Journey.
That afternoon we went through fabric that my mom had brought down and the rest of the stuff she had brought me. We went through my hospital bag as well as what I was planning to take for our little one. Around 6 we decided to start dinner. During this time I started having noticeable contractions every so often-nothing major at all but they were more frequent than they had been. Jared and mom did whatever they could to have me walk, stand up, sit down, bend over, squat, etc. Their ideas were ridiculous sometimes but they thought they were quite clever. :) My response to them was to bounce. Up and down until they passed. Jared and mom thought they were quite comical. At 7 my mom started timing them and keeping track. They were regular and between 5-10 minutes apart. After we finished dinner we decided to go and show my mom the houses that we had found driving to yard sales that are huge! As we were driving around contractions continued and I had to figure out how to bounce my way through them in the car. I figured it out but all I will say is it was quite funny looking and Jared and my mom pretended not to know me when we had to stop at lights.
When we got home from our drive we were just hanging out trying to make sure we had everything in the hospital bag that we wanted. My contractions were close enough together that we decided to call our good friends Dave and Julie Neal to see if Dave could come help give me a blessing. While we were waiting for them to come my mom started braiding my hair. It was half finished when they got to our apartment at about 9:30 and I received a beautiful blessing. Every time I had a contraction I would run into the kitchen and bounce in there because I didn't want Dave to make fun of me for the rest of my life (he is a big joker!). They stayed for a while reminiscing about when they had their first child, and helping us pass the time, and my mom finished braiding my hair. . After they left I decided I wanted to get in the bath. Jared sat in there with me, but I shortly got out as I couldn't bounce in the tub. While I was in the tub my mom's cousin Kathy arrived.
I got out of the tub and we went downstairs. Kathy was looking over my contaction times and was amazed at how close they were and the fact that we weren't at the hospital. She turned into a drill Sargent and started telling me when I needed to have another one-which usually happened. She called her husband Mark and he agreed that I should go-another one to go with everyone else's besides mine in the room. I thought they would just send me home, but I gave in and said we could go.
As we grabbed everything we were planning on taking and were heading out to the car I was still dragging my feet about going. Kathy bounced out to the car with me as I had another contraction. We got to the hospital at about 11 p.m.. They took me back and started hooking me up to monitor me to see if they were going to keep me. A nurse came in to check me and that was one of the worst experiences I had through this whole thing. In my opinion if you are a nurse in labor and delivery 1. you should be friendly and not cold towards patients and 2. you should NOT have long fingernails. It was more painful than having my membranes stripped. I was at a 2.
My mom and Kathy came back to my room and I told my mom how terrible the nurse was, she took care of it right then and had my nurse switched. The charge nurse came in and talked to me about my experience and told me who my new nurse would be. About 1 they decided they would keep me because I would be coming in later that morning to be induced anyways. The charge nurse came in and started my IV (I was gbs positive and had to have meds). In my opinion you shouldn't come into the room and say that you aren't very good at doing IV's. That was the other bad experience through this, getting my IV. But I got it and the pain there helped me keep my mind off of contractions (to a point). The pain started getting pretty intense in my back but I didn't want to get an epidural. They told me that there was a medicine that they could give me through my IV that they could do once an hour. I decided to try it. As soon as I got it I felt like I was on laughing gas at the dentist and said that it was happy medicine. It allowed me to sleep off and on, but not for a long time. Jared and my mom laughed about the change because I was kinda loony-in a good way. (At some point Kathy had been sent back to our apartment to sleep and come back in the morning)
Just before 4:30 a.m. I got up to go to the bathroom and was in tears. I was in so much pain and just stood there hugging Jared crying. He and my mom started talking to me about getting an epidural, I just cried and told them that I was so stupid because I couldn't handle it. I felt like I was just stupid but I decided to get the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and was joking and laughing and such a nice guy. My mom stood next to me with her jacket held out blocking Jared's view (he was sitting in front of me) from the needle. This was the worst part of the whole thing for him. :) After I got the epidural I was able to sleep some again off and on. But then they watched her heart beat and decided I needed to be put on oxygen. We put on The Princess Diaries and I watched some here and there as I was awake. A few hours later they let me take it off but I don't know when that was. Every time they checked me I was half centimeter more at the most, sometimes not changing at all. Dr. Clark came at 8 a.m. to check in with us and see how things were going- we had previously met one of the residents who was working at the hospital at the time and we liked him as well. They ended up putting fluid back in to cushion her, and keep her away from the meconium. She told us that she was going back over to see some patients and teach, and would keep in contact and watch my monitors.
At some point Kathy came back, and kept everyone company. At 9:30 I was checked and I was still only at a 4.5. At 10ish I think my mom and Kathy went and got some breakfast. I was starting to feel things and had a little moan. Jared just stroked my arm and it was exactly what I needed. They got back and sent Jared to get some food telling him that they could stroke my arm and do what I needed while he was gone. Shortly after he left I told Kathy it felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. She told me that meant that I was ready to push she thought. My mom went and told the nurse and she came in saying she would come back and check me as soon as Jared got back. At about 10:45 Jared was back and she checked me, I was at a ten! We couldn't believe it! We were amazed I had gone that fast after only going a MAX of a half centimeter an hour. Jared headed to tell my mom and Kathy standing outside and did a little dance when he got to the door. They totally thought he was joking too! The nurse grabbed the resident (who had just left the floor with 3 women in labor to fax some stuff because none of us were close) and they had me do some practice pushes. At 11 Dr. Clark got there because they decided not to do rest and descend because of how low she was, it was time to push.
I was not prepared for the transformer bed! I was shocked when they started pulling it apart and grabbing things getting ready. The resident told my mom they were ready and things were going. Jared was amazing! He was there next to me and kept me going. When they asked if I wanted to see her head I responded with "Does she have hair?" That is all I wanted to know. :) Jared did awesome. (At some point I felt like I was going to throw up and started coughing but luckily I didn't. Also the nurse called Jared Justin... totally random.) She came at 11:48 a.m. right before lunch like Dr. Clark said. She weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 in. long. They hurried and took her and the NICU team took her and started suctioning her so she wouldn't breath the meconium and they kept saying "She just keeps pooping." I could hear and see my mom peeking in the door trying to take a picture. Jared went over to take pictures so I could see her. I had a comforting feeling that Emery was okay. I knew that was who she was. Jared came back over and showed me the pictures-I just wanted to see her for myself and hold her. It seemed like forever but it was about 20 minutes later I got to hold her. I looked up at Jared and said "I know who she is, do you?" He responded that she was Emery and what did I think her middle name was? (We had talked about this name and prayed for her by name for 2 weeks but when we headed to the hospital we were both pulling for different names. And when Dr. Clark asked me what we were going to name her-while I was pushing-I didn't even say Emery) I knew her middle name was Kate and he agreed, but we still didn't tell people because we wanted to make sure.
After a little while Jared took her to the nursery to get a bath and they packed me up to take me to recovery. A few hours later when mom and Kathy went to get lunch Jared and I talked and agreed that was who she was/is and when they came back we told them.
The next couple of days in the hospital were spent visiting with family and friends who came. I honestly only slept for a maximum of 2 hours during each day, we just had so many visitors. It was nice that my mom was able to come and stay for a while after she was born. Then we headed to Idaho with her! We came back for almost a week and headed back for 10 days. (During the back and forth Jared finished finals for his classes).
We cannot believe she is here and already 4 weeks old!!!!! We love her so much and are so thankful she is in our family.
Enjoy the Journey.
1 comment:
Loved reading your birth story - thanks for sharing it. I'm so glad she is here safe and sound! You did great, mama!
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