Well, today marks the due date for our little babe. Luckily, he entered our lives 9 days early! While his labor+delivery was a bit scary and totally unexpected, it could not have gone any better. Here's the story + some background... Beware, it's a long one!
I always planned to have a natural, unmedicated birth.
No, I do not think epidurals are evil. No, I do not judge others who opt for pain medication. This plan was just something that fit my lifestyle - and fit me.
Of course, I knew I couldn't plan out my labor and delivery step by step, so I prepared for emergencies by having an open mind and putting complete trust in my doctor. My number one priority was to get our baby here safely, and ultimately - I didn't care how my labor went in order to make that happen.
I prepared for a natural birth as best as I could. I dragged Justin to a HypnoBirthing classes with me every week. I ate healthy. I listened to the scripts. I did prenatal yoga. J littered our house with confident affirmation post-it notes. I bounced on my birthing ball. J and I went walking. I slept on my left side. I had a birth plan ("but it's typed!" name that movie). I did everything 'right' to have the best birth possible, for me.
Throughout my entire pregnancy, baby was measuring a few weeks behind schedule. This is something typical for my family, so I never really paid much attention to it. The month and a half prior to my due date, baby was measuring a farther and farther behind. At my 37 week checkup, I had high blood pressure and protein in my urine (mild preeclampsia). I did a 24 hr urine test, and luckily the results came out okay. My doctor said we could let the baby cook a little longer.
I made J come with me to my 38-week checkup, because they were going to take a closer look at my vitals and if I was still showing signs of preeclampsia, further actions would be taken. Luckily, my blood pressure was looking good, and I only had trace amounts of protein in my urine. Overall, the doc said I was doing great. Whew! I was so relieved! I did NOT want to be induced, and was so happy that my symptoms had subsided.
But, my appointment wasn't finished just yet... I laid back on the table so he could measure my uterus, and that's when the ball of bizarre news started rolling. I was measuring smaller than I had at my appointment the previous week. This isn't too out of the norm at 38 weeks, since baby drops around this time, but, all things considered, no growth for the baby was evident during the past week. And that's where the concern started.
We were sent to the lab to do an ultrasound to check on baby's growth and my amniotic fluid. My fluid was on the lower side, but not too bad - around 8cm. Baby was measuring small on all accounts, around the 6th percentile. My doctor didn't like this one bit, so he sent us to do a Non-stress test to monitor the baby's movements and heart rate. Luckily, baby passed with flying colors. But, our doctor told us that baby was too small to stay in the oven. The diagnosis was IUGR (Intra-uterine growth restriction, which you can read all about here).
So, an induction was necessary. My doctor checked my cervix to see if I had progressed at all, and sadly I hadn't. Because of this, we were scheduled to go to the hospital that evening for 'cervical ripening'. This would be a 12 hour process, and then I would be hooked up to pitocin and induced. Our doctor told us that this would be a very long, drawn out process. We were told we would most likely have our baby on Thursday (it was Tuesday), and that a c-section in this type of situation was very likely.
All my hopes and dreams about labor were shot. Everything I expected it to be, was thrown out the window. I felt like I had no control over the situation, and I was scared. Scared because my hypnobirthing instructor talked about pitocin like it was the worst thing on the planet. Scared because I was going in to the hospital today. Scared because we were told the size of our baby would make it hard for him/her to withstand labor. Scared because I felt scared, which made my body tense up, which would make labor harder.
I called my mom after the appointment and told her the news. She made arrangements to come to Utah immediately, which was a huge relief to me. I remember talking to my mom about my birth plan, and asking her if I should even take it to the hospital since so many things on it were impossible considering our situation. My mom told me to take my birth plan, but to voice to the nursing staff that I knew most of it wasn't possible any longer.
J and I spent the rest of the day running around getting last minute things to prepare for baby. We cleaned our house, re-packed our hospital bag, snuggled, bought a baby book, J gave me a priesthood blessing, and I took a bath. That night we had our 'last supper' at Texas Roadhouse, and then the hospital called and told us it was time to check in.
As we drove to the hospital, we both felt antsy - but excited. We talked about how the next time we drove on this road, we would have a BABY in the car. We talked about how weird it was to be driving to the hospital like this, so calmly, and I asked J if he wanted to drive recklessly just to have the experience :) J declined. We talked about how it felt like we were going on vacation, bags packed like we were ready to check in to a hotel. It was a strange feeling, and nothing at all like I had imagined.
9:06 - We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and were taken to our room. Justin LOVED our room - It was way bigger than we had expected, and we had a stunning view of the Timpanogas temple from our window. After we were shown our room I dawned the oh so lovely hospital gown and was given a saline lock. They hooked up two monitors to my belly - one to monitor the baby's heart rate and the other to monitor my contractions. Then we had to answer about a million medical questions and sign some paperwork. Finally we were left in peace to watch Friends and try to get some sleep.
There was no sleeping.
9:54 - The cervadil (medication to 'ripen my cervix') was inserted (holy ouchie mama I tell you). I was dilated at a 1+
10:30 - J served me some delicious jello :)
11:40 - I tried to get some sleep, but it was impossible to get comfortable with all the monitors tying me up and nurses coming in every hour to make sure everything was in the right spot or flush my IV (which for some reason I could taste???)
1:00 - I finally fell asleep
2:55 - I woke up with really bad cramps (I was told this was a side effect of the cervadil). I went potty, and started using some techniques from our hypnobirthing class to relieve the pain+discomfort. J helped me by applying counter pressure, and holding me while we tried swaying/rocking/slow dancing positions
3:45 - The nursed check me and I was dilated to 2cm. Awesome. I felt very shaky and also had the chills. The nurse told me that the shakes were normal, but this part scared both me and J. I hadn't prepared or known about the shakes, but here I was shivering and chattering uncontrollably.
The shaking never stopped.
5:00 - I threw up. Awesome again. J got me a popsicle and I jumped onto the birthing ball to help with pain.
6:15 - Another awesome puking session. Then the nursing staff switched rotations and we were assigned a new nurse. Her name was Mandy and she totally rocked (she was studying to be a midwife and also knew lots about HypnoBirthing. Seriously, I don't know if I could have done it without her)
6:45 - Another awesome puking session. Bathroom break. J started the 'Glove Anesthesia' hypnobirthing track and I tried to get some sleep. J snuggled with me on the bed and helped me calm down and feel loved. Mandy came in often because the baby's heart rate had gone down slightly. She showed lots of concern.
7:05 - Mandy came in to check me because my contractions were happening fairly regularly. She said if I was at 4cm she could take out the cervadil. I was a 3+ and 90% effaced, and Mandy said that was close enough!
The cervadil was taken out because my body seemed to have naturally taken over. Yippee! I was thrilled that I wouldn't be given pitocin.
7:20 - My contractions were REALLY bad, and the baby's heart rate was still dropping. My doctor (who was monitoring me from his home) contacted the on-call doctor and asked him to come check on me and break my water. The on-call doctor was Dr. Allen.
My heart was again crushed - I did not want my water to be broken earlier than necessary.
7:35 - Dr. Allen arrived. He walked into the room and immediately saw how much pain I was in. He hadn't read my birth plan, so he unknowingly asked me if I had been given an epidural. I told him no. He told me that he could see I was in a lot of pain, and that breaking my water would only make things more painful. He told me I should get an epidural.
At this point, I mentally gave up. My birth plan was shot. All of the things I had hoped for were getting overwritten. Plus, we were told we still had 24+ hrs of labor to go through. So I thought, 'Oh well, I can try to do it naturally next time' and I nodded to Dr. Allen that I would get the epidural.
7:45 - A new nurse came in to prep me for the epidural. I was having really bad contractions and the monitor was spiking like crazy. I felt the urge to push. I told the nurse that I felt like I had to push, and that I was feeling pressure on my butt like I had to poop (totally normal). But I had just been checked and was only at a 3, so I asked the nurse why I was feeling these urges. This nurse had read my birth plan, and knew that I didn't want an epidural. She asked if she could check me, and I told her she could. I was dilated to a 7!!! The nurse excitedly asked me if I still wanted an epidural. I remember looking over at J and seeing his face light up as he said "Babe, you can totally do this!" I knew I could do it, too, and a huge adrenaline rush came over me.
7:50 - The nurse called in the troops and all of a sudden there were about a million people in our room. They whipped out the stirrups and gave me an oxygen mask and hooked me up to the IV. I was dilated to a 9!!! I was feeling strong urges to push, but the doctor was no where to be found so the nurses kept telling me to wait. Yeah, right! I pushed when I felt the urges, and finally Dr. Allen came into the room.
8:00 - My water still hadn't broken, so I was trying to push out the baby still surrounded by the bag of water. Dr. Allen broke my water, and I immediately felt a release of pressure. I think this was about the time that J said he was feeling light headed :) So the nurses pushed him a chair and gave him a juice box. He stayed next to me the whole time, though, giving me every bit of encouragement I needed and holding my leg up like a champ :)
Guys - this next part was just like the movies. I was LOUD, and probably freaked out every other future mother on our floor. Sorry!
8:10 - Our baby arrived! J told me it was a boy, and they immediately put him on my chest. I remember being overwhelmed with love and joy and relief. So much relief. He was the tiniest little thing, and he was ours. All ours. I kept saying "My Baby! My Baby! Oh my baby!" over and over again. I couldn't believe that we had a little BOY - J had been right all along :)
About 5 minutes after our baby arrived, Dr. Young came into the room. He felt bad, since we had requested he be the one to deliver, so he relieved Dr. Allen and stayed with us to finish things up. Both doctors and all of the nursing staff were amazed at how the Cervadil was just enough to put me in to labor, and at how quickly I progressed. I went from 3 to 10cm in an hour, and then Voila! Our baby was here!
J and I just held and snuggled and stared at our little angel for a while. When he was on my chest, he totally did the breast crawl, which was such an overpowering thing to experience. We were able to nurse him a little bit and did skin to skin for a few hours. The nurses had to do lots of tests and checks on him since he was such a little guy - but he is one tough little guy I tell you what!
I am overwhelmed with gratitude that labor + delivery went so smoothly, and that given the circumstances, I was able to have a birth that was pretty dang close to the one I envisioned. Things could not have gone any better for us - here are just a few of the blessings that we received:
I had to get the Cervadil, but I didn't have to get induced. My body kicked in and labored on its own. I brought my birth plan, so the nurses knew I didn't want an epidural, and ultimately they were the ones that encouraged me to continue without one. Dr. Allen was called to break my water, and even though he didn't initially do it, it was a blessing that he was called in or else there wouldn't have been a doctor present at the time baby came. And most importantly, our little one came into this world healthy as can be, despite the many possible risks.
Introducing our little JD baby
5lbs 14oz, 18.5 inches long
We loved our little one immediately.
No, I do not think epidurals are evil. No, I do not judge others who opt for pain medication. This plan was just something that fit my lifestyle - and fit me.
Of course, I knew I couldn't plan out my labor and delivery step by step, so I prepared for emergencies by having an open mind and putting complete trust in my doctor. My number one priority was to get our baby here safely, and ultimately - I didn't care how my labor went in order to make that happen.
I prepared for a natural birth as best as I could. I dragged Justin to a HypnoBirthing classes with me every week. I ate healthy. I listened to the scripts. I did prenatal yoga. J littered our house with confident affirmation post-it notes. I bounced on my birthing ball. J and I went walking. I slept on my left side. I had a birth plan ("but it's typed!" name that movie). I did everything 'right' to have the best birth possible, for me.
Throughout my entire pregnancy, baby was measuring a few weeks behind schedule. This is something typical for my family, so I never really paid much attention to it. The month and a half prior to my due date, baby was measuring a farther and farther behind. At my 37 week checkup, I had high blood pressure and protein in my urine (mild preeclampsia). I did a 24 hr urine test, and luckily the results came out okay. My doctor said we could let the baby cook a little longer.
I made J come with me to my 38-week checkup, because they were going to take a closer look at my vitals and if I was still showing signs of preeclampsia, further actions would be taken. Luckily, my blood pressure was looking good, and I only had trace amounts of protein in my urine. Overall, the doc said I was doing great. Whew! I was so relieved! I did NOT want to be induced, and was so happy that my symptoms had subsided.
But, my appointment wasn't finished just yet... I laid back on the table so he could measure my uterus, and that's when the ball of bizarre news started rolling. I was measuring smaller than I had at my appointment the previous week. This isn't too out of the norm at 38 weeks, since baby drops around this time, but, all things considered, no growth for the baby was evident during the past week. And that's where the concern started.
We were sent to the lab to do an ultrasound to check on baby's growth and my amniotic fluid. My fluid was on the lower side, but not too bad - around 8cm. Baby was measuring small on all accounts, around the 6th percentile. My doctor didn't like this one bit, so he sent us to do a Non-stress test to monitor the baby's movements and heart rate. Luckily, baby passed with flying colors. But, our doctor told us that baby was too small to stay in the oven. The diagnosis was IUGR (Intra-uterine growth restriction, which you can read all about here).
So, an induction was necessary. My doctor checked my cervix to see if I had progressed at all, and sadly I hadn't. Because of this, we were scheduled to go to the hospital that evening for 'cervical ripening'. This would be a 12 hour process, and then I would be hooked up to pitocin and induced. Our doctor told us that this would be a very long, drawn out process. We were told we would most likely have our baby on Thursday (it was Tuesday), and that a c-section in this type of situation was very likely.
All my hopes and dreams about labor were shot. Everything I expected it to be, was thrown out the window. I felt like I had no control over the situation, and I was scared. Scared because my hypnobirthing instructor talked about pitocin like it was the worst thing on the planet. Scared because I was going in to the hospital today. Scared because we were told the size of our baby would make it hard for him/her to withstand labor. Scared because I felt scared, which made my body tense up, which would make labor harder.
I called my mom after the appointment and told her the news. She made arrangements to come to Utah immediately, which was a huge relief to me. I remember talking to my mom about my birth plan, and asking her if I should even take it to the hospital since so many things on it were impossible considering our situation. My mom told me to take my birth plan, but to voice to the nursing staff that I knew most of it wasn't possible any longer.
J and I spent the rest of the day running around getting last minute things to prepare for baby. We cleaned our house, re-packed our hospital bag, snuggled, bought a baby book, J gave me a priesthood blessing, and I took a bath. That night we had our 'last supper' at Texas Roadhouse, and then the hospital called and told us it was time to check in.
As we drove to the hospital, we both felt antsy - but excited. We talked about how the next time we drove on this road, we would have a BABY in the car. We talked about how weird it was to be driving to the hospital like this, so calmly, and I asked J if he wanted to drive recklessly just to have the experience :) J declined. We talked about how it felt like we were going on vacation, bags packed like we were ready to check in to a hotel. It was a strange feeling, and nothing at all like I had imagined.
9:06 - We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and were taken to our room. Justin LOVED our room - It was way bigger than we had expected, and we had a stunning view of the Timpanogas temple from our window. After we were shown our room I dawned the oh so lovely hospital gown and was given a saline lock. They hooked up two monitors to my belly - one to monitor the baby's heart rate and the other to monitor my contractions. Then we had to answer about a million medical questions and sign some paperwork. Finally we were left in peace to watch Friends and try to get some sleep.
There was no sleeping.
9:54 - The cervadil (medication to 'ripen my cervix') was inserted (holy ouchie mama I tell you). I was dilated at a 1+
10:30 - J served me some delicious jello :)
11:40 - I tried to get some sleep, but it was impossible to get comfortable with all the monitors tying me up and nurses coming in every hour to make sure everything was in the right spot or flush my IV (which for some reason I could taste???)
1:00 - I finally fell asleep
2:55 - I woke up with really bad cramps (I was told this was a side effect of the cervadil). I went potty, and started using some techniques from our hypnobirthing class to relieve the pain+discomfort. J helped me by applying counter pressure, and holding me while we tried swaying/rocking/slow dancing positions
3:45 - The nursed check me and I was dilated to 2cm. Awesome. I felt very shaky and also had the chills. The nurse told me that the shakes were normal, but this part scared both me and J. I hadn't prepared or known about the shakes, but here I was shivering and chattering uncontrollably.
The shaking never stopped.
5:00 - I threw up. Awesome again. J got me a popsicle and I jumped onto the birthing ball to help with pain.
6:15 - Another awesome puking session. Then the nursing staff switched rotations and we were assigned a new nurse. Her name was Mandy and she totally rocked (she was studying to be a midwife and also knew lots about HypnoBirthing. Seriously, I don't know if I could have done it without her)
6:45 - Another awesome puking session. Bathroom break. J started the 'Glove Anesthesia' hypnobirthing track and I tried to get some sleep. J snuggled with me on the bed and helped me calm down and feel loved. Mandy came in often because the baby's heart rate had gone down slightly. She showed lots of concern.
7:05 - Mandy came in to check me because my contractions were happening fairly regularly. She said if I was at 4cm she could take out the cervadil. I was a 3+ and 90% effaced, and Mandy said that was close enough!
The cervadil was taken out because my body seemed to have naturally taken over. Yippee! I was thrilled that I wouldn't be given pitocin.
7:20 - My contractions were REALLY bad, and the baby's heart rate was still dropping. My doctor (who was monitoring me from his home) contacted the on-call doctor and asked him to come check on me and break my water. The on-call doctor was Dr. Allen.
My heart was again crushed - I did not want my water to be broken earlier than necessary.
7:35 - Dr. Allen arrived. He walked into the room and immediately saw how much pain I was in. He hadn't read my birth plan, so he unknowingly asked me if I had been given an epidural. I told him no. He told me that he could see I was in a lot of pain, and that breaking my water would only make things more painful. He told me I should get an epidural.
At this point, I mentally gave up. My birth plan was shot. All of the things I had hoped for were getting overwritten. Plus, we were told we still had 24+ hrs of labor to go through. So I thought, 'Oh well, I can try to do it naturally next time' and I nodded to Dr. Allen that I would get the epidural.
7:45 - A new nurse came in to prep me for the epidural. I was having really bad contractions and the monitor was spiking like crazy. I felt the urge to push. I told the nurse that I felt like I had to push, and that I was feeling pressure on my butt like I had to poop (totally normal). But I had just been checked and was only at a 3, so I asked the nurse why I was feeling these urges. This nurse had read my birth plan, and knew that I didn't want an epidural. She asked if she could check me, and I told her she could. I was dilated to a 7!!! The nurse excitedly asked me if I still wanted an epidural. I remember looking over at J and seeing his face light up as he said "Babe, you can totally do this!" I knew I could do it, too, and a huge adrenaline rush came over me.
7:50 - The nurse called in the troops and all of a sudden there were about a million people in our room. They whipped out the stirrups and gave me an oxygen mask and hooked me up to the IV. I was dilated to a 9!!! I was feeling strong urges to push, but the doctor was no where to be found so the nurses kept telling me to wait. Yeah, right! I pushed when I felt the urges, and finally Dr. Allen came into the room.
8:00 - My water still hadn't broken, so I was trying to push out the baby still surrounded by the bag of water. Dr. Allen broke my water, and I immediately felt a release of pressure. I think this was about the time that J said he was feeling light headed :) So the nurses pushed him a chair and gave him a juice box. He stayed next to me the whole time, though, giving me every bit of encouragement I needed and holding my leg up like a champ :)
Guys - this next part was just like the movies. I was LOUD, and probably freaked out every other future mother on our floor. Sorry!
8:10 - Our baby arrived! J told me it was a boy, and they immediately put him on my chest. I remember being overwhelmed with love and joy and relief. So much relief. He was the tiniest little thing, and he was ours. All ours. I kept saying "My Baby! My Baby! Oh my baby!" over and over again. I couldn't believe that we had a little BOY - J had been right all along :)
About 5 minutes after our baby arrived, Dr. Young came into the room. He felt bad, since we had requested he be the one to deliver, so he relieved Dr. Allen and stayed with us to finish things up. Both doctors and all of the nursing staff were amazed at how the Cervadil was just enough to put me in to labor, and at how quickly I progressed. I went from 3 to 10cm in an hour, and then Voila! Our baby was here!
J and I just held and snuggled and stared at our little angel for a while. When he was on my chest, he totally did the breast crawl, which was such an overpowering thing to experience. We were able to nurse him a little bit and did skin to skin for a few hours. The nurses had to do lots of tests and checks on him since he was such a little guy - but he is one tough little guy I tell you what!
I am overwhelmed with gratitude that labor + delivery went so smoothly, and that given the circumstances, I was able to have a birth that was pretty dang close to the one I envisioned. Things could not have gone any better for us - here are just a few of the blessings that we received:
I had to get the Cervadil, but I didn't have to get induced. My body kicked in and labored on its own. I brought my birth plan, so the nurses knew I didn't want an epidural, and ultimately they were the ones that encouraged me to continue without one. Dr. Allen was called to break my water, and even though he didn't initially do it, it was a blessing that he was called in or else there wouldn't have been a doctor present at the time baby came. And most importantly, our little one came into this world healthy as can be, despite the many possible risks.
Introducing our little JD baby
5lbs 14oz, 18.5 inches long
We loved our little one immediately.
