I absolutely love reading birth stories and experiences so I decided to share mine on the blog for anyone who is interested. We had a smooth and wonderful experience welcoming our little girl into the world. Please be advised that this is a birth story and includes details that you might find TMI so don't say I didn't warn you ;) I also have spammed it with pictures!
October 18-19th
It all began with very early in the morning with some early labor pains in my back. I woke up to a constant cramping in my back that circled around to the front of my uterus. That was about 2AM and I was unable to really sleep the rest of the night. I tried to get as much sleep as possible because I felt like things were starting and I needed my strength for the rest of the journey. By the time Kyle woke up I really didn't feel like going to work and being extra uncomfortable all day. Kyle took a couple hours before he went to work and went on a walk with me to see if things would start picking up. He walked on the sidewalk and I walked with one foot in the gutter and one on the sidewalk. We did that for about 20-30 minutes. The walking really helped alleviate some of the discomfort from the cramps, but when we were done the intensity started picking up.
Kyle went to work and I stayed home trying to get some last minute things done and get some rest. Actual discernible contractions were starting to come, but they were sporadic and fairly far apart still. At around lunch time I decided to get out of the house and go see Kyle for lunch at his work. We sat and ate some Wendy's and he began to time my contractions as they were now starting to come at regular intervals. At this point they were about 10 minutes apart and were lasting about 30 seconds each.
At lunch with Kyle - 39 weeks and in labor
I called my mom and gave her an update and she was sweet enough to offer to come and hang out with me while Kyle was at work. As most people know I'm a terrible procrastinator and so my nursery was not full completed yet and the hospital bag was only half packed. Luckily sweet Trevor and Krista came and kept me company as well and finished decorating and organizing the baby's room. Mom helped me time contractions and helped me remember to breath through them. I was pretty relaxed at this point but very anxious. Mom helped me get all comfy on the couch so I could try and catch some ZZZ's because I didn't sleep much. I really wasn't able to sleep well, but did get some relaxing mediation in. At about 3:00 my contractions were about 6-7 min apart and increasing in intensity. At 5:00 they weren't staying as consistent and were moving between 4 and 6 min apart. I told Kyle that he should skip school tonight because we'd probably end up in the hospital in a few hours.
Once Kyle got home my contractions were beginning to get very uncomfortable and we both thought maybe we should go in and get check out. We got all packed up with the car seat, hospital bag, and all the other little goodies we took with us. We arrived to the hospital about 7pm and got all checked in and hooked up to the monitors. Everything looked good. I was dilated to a 3 and about 80% effaced. They told us that we would monitor for an hour and then check me again to see if any progress has been made. It was kind of cool to watch my waves of contractions come and go. Kyle would watch it and then squeeze my hand right as one would hit because he could see one coming on. Kyle was a real sweetheart and kept me in a good mood. He even joked with the nurses keeping the mood light. After our hour past I was checked and to my disappointment had not dilated any further. :( So they decided to send me home for a while to see if labor would stop. They asked me if I'd like a Morphine shot to help with the pain. They also told me that if it was false labor it would start to ease the contractions. I decided to get the shot and it took about an hour to get discharged. During that hour my contractions really started picking up and really became painful. As we were leaving the hospital I started crying because I didn't want to be sent home and I was really starting to feel intense pressure and pain through my contractions.
After being told we were getting sent home :(
The only good part about being sent home was that we got to eat! Ladies, please eat just before you go to the hospital because they don't let you while you are there and it could be a very long time before you have anything but ice chips! So on the way home I'm starving and really wanted some Arby's. I'm sitting in the car bawling and eating my cheddar and roast beef from Arby's trying to stay calm. I had Kyle call our parents to give an update. Kyle really wanted to take me to his parents house in Salem so we could be closer to the hospital, but all I wanted was to be in my own house so I could do anything I needed without any other people to disturb.
Once we got home Kyle helped by get into bed because I was so tired! I crashed soon as my head hit the pillow. According to Kyle every 4-5 min I would writhe and moan for about a min then go back to sleep in between contractions. I don't actually remember a lot of this period because of the morphine making me loopy and tired. It got to the point about 1am that Kyle woke me up and asked if I needed to go back to the hospital. I turned to him and said, no not yet, I feel like I'm getting really good sleep! HAHA! That's when he told me what was happening while I was "sleeping". By this point the contractions were getting really intense so Kyle called the hospital asking what he should do. They had him run me a warm bath to see if that would help to ease the discomfort. It didn't do a dang thing for my comfort level! So after about 20 min in the bath we decided to get dressed and go back to the hospital. Finally in the car my contractions were coming long and strong about every 3 minutes. On the way to the hospital I begged with Kyle to not let them send me home, cuz I didn't think I could handle getting sent home again! Kyle reassured me that it was doubtful that they would send me home!
We got to the hospital about 2:30am got all checked in and when they checked me I was only to 4cm, but they decided to keep me! Hallelujah! I quickly requested the epidural and finally sweet relief came about 30 min later! Oh how glorious it was a short while after getting it my nurse looked at me and said, are you ok? I was having a contraction and didn't feel it! I was so excited and relived that it was working so well. After the epidural kicked in and they got me all situated in bed I finally drifted off to sleep until about 5:30am. I got Pitocin at some point to help speed things up a bit, but I don't really remember that. I'd get waked up occasionally as they'd check me and the baby. At one point they gave me an oxygen mask to help baby's heart rate. I did have some visitors about 7ish, my mom, Judy, and Curt all stopped by to see how I was doing. No lies, I didn't really want to see anyone because I felt awful! Apparently I was going through transition at this point and was shaking uncontrollably as if I was cold.
Getting some oxygen
Dr. Nance came in to see me about 7:20 to break my water. I was at 7cm and about 100% effaced. Once he broke my waters he was able to see some meconium (pre-birth baby poop). He calmly told us that because of this they will have a respiratory team on hand at delivery to check baby right after birth to make sure she didn't breath or swallow any meconium. Because of this Kyle wouldn't be able to cut the cord. We were both ok with this because baby's safety is obviously more important.
After my water broke things progressed really fast. At about 7:50 I was at a 10 and ready to push! I was so nervous for this part! I was afraid that with my epidural I wouldn't be able to effectively push my baby out! Luckily I had awesome nurses and Dr. Nance to help coach me through it! I pushed hard like they told me through contractions! Baby's head was crowning and Dr. Nance pointed out to Kyle how much hair she had! I was so excited to hear my baby had hair! About 2 contractions later and she was out! Little bitty baby was so excited to be out she started crying just after her head came out. No need to swat that little bum! She was born at 8:13am. Dr. Nance cut the cord so fast and they immediately started evaluate her and clean out her nose and mouth and check for any meconium she may have swallowed or breathed. I had to remind Kyle to go take pictures he was so overwhelmed with having a baby! The sweet nurses directed him on good pictures to take of her first moments in the world :) Luckily my little sweetie pie only swallowed a little fluid and had no further complications. I was finally able to hold my new born girl! Soon as I got to hold her my emotions flooded and I cried tears of joy. She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Getting call checked out
Getting her stats! (no need to see her lady bits)
So precious!
Finally getting to hold her for the first time :)
First family pic!
I don't remember a lot of the after birth process. I had a small episiotomy when I was pushing and so Dr. Nance stitched me up after all was done and delivered the after birth. I'm one of those crazy people who decided to keep my placenta and have it made into pills! I totally recommend it too! Feel free to ask me about it if you want more info. :)
Reagan Olsen
7lbs 2oz, 20 inches
Born 10/19/12 at 8:13AM
Now enjoy all the beautiful pics of newborn goodness from our hospital stay!!
Hated getting clean!
All cleaned and ready for the public!
She is pure perfection!
