I am getting to a computer faster than I thought I would. I transferred the birth story and pix to my portable EHD so hopefully I can give it all to you now. Now consider yourself warned...I wrote the birth story out last night and I wrote it so that I could remember everything. So...it is pretty long. Feel free to skip it if time is an issue! LOL!
Katelynn Elizabeth Phillips
March 6, 2008
5:55 pm
7 lbs 5 oz
20 Inches
One last shot of Mommy and just three...
I had been “ready” for months. For over eight weeks I was emotionally ready
and willing to have this baby. When
contractions and cramping started right after Christmas I became more and more
convinced that I would not be waiting until March for this new little one to
arrive.
I was wrong.
The weeks of contractions yielded nothing but an
uncomfortable and emotional expectant mother. As my due date neared and there
was still no baby in sight, I started trying to help things along. I tried almost everything to encourage labor
to begin. But, as much I wanted to go into labor naturally, it just wasn’t
going to happen.
A few weeks before my due date I had some minor
complications in the pregnancy. Nothing
that would danger the baby, but a situation that was causing me great
discomfort and left me in tears most days. My doctor took pity on me and set up an induction date so that if I hadn’t
had my baby by her due date, we would have a plan in place. I needed this “end
is in the sight” as much emotionally as much as I did physically.
March 6 was the day. Up until that day I was still hoping and praying that things would get
started on their own, but I had also accepted the fact that induction was
likely and that in the end it didn’t matter -- I would get to be with my baby
either way.
My appointment was set for 9:00 am. I woke up that morning at 3:30 am after
having a bad dream and couldn’t go back to sleep. After laying in bed for an
hour I decided to get up, have something to eat, and enjoy a little bit of
quiet before the day got started. I
played around on the computer a bit and just thought about the fact that by
that time the next day I would have my new daughter.
I wasn’t feeling well and I threw up twice in the next hour
which made me wonder if my body was trying to get things rolling on its
own. I didn’t worry about it too much,
though…either way I was headed to the hospital. We left at 8:30 am after taking the boys to school. I had quite a few contractions on the way,
but they were painless and were similar to what I had been having over the last
few weeks.
I checked in at 9:00 and after a series of check-in desks
and waiting rooms I finally got to go to my room. I met my nurse Duffy, got
changed, and started getting ready for the induction. We talked about my history and my labors and
had a lengthy discussion about pain relief.
Ah…pain relief. The
endless discussion in my brain over the past few months. I don’t fall into either camp -- I am not
convinced that the only way to be a good mom is to do labor completely
naturally and I am also not a “walk in, forget the hellos, ‘where is my
epidural?’ ” type. Having had three kids
and having gone through labor and delivery with and without an epidural, I know
that there are advantages and disadvantages to each. I had had an epidural with Caleb and didn’t
like the experience. However, when the anesthesiologist came in to talk to be
about my options we let my chart read, “patient wishes to avoid anesthesiology
but also wants to keep her options open.”
That was the truth -- I really wasn’t sure what I
wanted. I knew that some of it would
just depend on how the labor progressed. If it was going to be a long and drawn
out labor (as mine tend to be) I was leaning towards Stadol (a narcotic that
doesn’t ease the pain but does help you rest and relax more through it). I was
pretty sure I wasn’t going to get an epidural because of my experience with
Caleb, but I didn’t want to rule anything out, especially since Pitocin labors
can be really hard.
At 10:45 am my nurse checked me so she could give a full
report to my doctor before getting the okay to start the Pitocin. The monitor showed that I was already having
regular contractions 5-7 minutes apart but the internal examination showed that
I was only 1 cm dilated, only 50 % effaced, and that my cervix was completely
posterior. Basically, all the
contractions and cramping I had had for two months had done nothing.
We got the okay to start the Pitocin and after only one
blown vein (compared to the seven I had with Caleb!) the IV was going and it
was time to start waiting. We talked a
bit, watched a little TV, and did quite a bit of walking the halls to help get
things moving.
At 2:00 pm my doctor came to check me and I was at 4cm. The contractions at that point were fairly
regular but not very painful. I was
pleased with how things were going. We
decided to go ahead and break my water and I was excited to see if things were
going to speed up.
I emailed a bit, watched some more TV, and even tried to
take a nap. As the contractions progressed I worked through them fairly well --
good thoughts, visualization, and just trying to relax and remind myself that
my little girl was on her way. Although gaining in strength, they were
manageable. I was still debating what I wanted to do about the Stadol. They will only administer it up until seven
centimeters because it stays in your system for a few hours and they don’t want
to have a lot of it in your body at the birth. I decided to wait since I was
managing on my own quite well.
At 4:00 pm my doctor came back to check on me. The exam showed that I was 5 cm, 90% effaced,
and my cervix was in the middle (meaning it had moved half-way forward to where
it needed to be). I continued to work
through contractions and was happy that I was coping.
At close to five pm the contractions started to intensify
quite a bit. I could not longer handle
Jason talking to me or touching me and I was even having trouble thinking
positive thoughts through them. Between
contractions I was trying to make a decision about pain relief. I needed to
make a decision about the Stadol soon so that if I wanted it I could do it
before I reached seven centimeters. I
wasn’t sure I wanted it though --- I wanted to be fully alert and aware at the
birth and the unknowns of the drug discouraged me a bit. As the contractions continued to intensify I
started thinking seriously about an epidural. Although I had wanted to avoid
one, I also wanted didn’t want to be completely worn out physically or
emotionally. My thinking was along the
lines of, “if this is what 5cm is feeling like and I KNOW how much harder it
gets, then I would rather just get the epidural and save my mental and
emotional strength for the end.” After a
long talk with Jason and with my nurse I finally decided on a low dose
epidural. I was looking forward to relaxing a bit, chatting with Jason, and
gearing up for the birth.
At 5:15 they administered the epidural. They told me it would take 20-30 minutes for
the effects to be felt completely. However, they assured me that with each contraction I would start to
feel better. After quite a few contractions and no relief felt, the nurse
decided to call the anesthesiologist. My
nurse said that I really should be feeling relief. I wasn’t though -- my contractions were not
lessening but instead were coming faster and just as hard. I just kept thinking, “if this is 5 cm then
this epidural better start working SOON because I know how much harder it will
get.”
The anesthesiologist came in and decided to bump me up to
the regular dose since I wasn’t feeling any relief. He was there at about 5:40
and was fiddling with the machine. The
nurse just kept telling me that with each contraction things would get better
and I just kept thinking of how they were getting worse.
And then it happened. Nope, not relief from the pain. My legs started shaking. And I knew -- the baby was coming. I started feeling the urge to push and I
could feel the baby descending. Now,
this would have been a good time to tell someone that even though at my last
check I was only at 5cm, I was pretty sure the baby was on its way. I’ve delivered three kids and I know what it
feels like at the end. However, I didn’t
tell anyone. I just kept thinking that
we had to get the epidural to work first. After all, they kept telling me it would. I somehow convinced myself that if I didn’t
tell anyone that the baby was coming, the relief would come.
Soon after Jason asked me if the baby was coming. He tells me that he could see my entire belly
shake and descend. I didn’t even want to
tell him but I knew I had to. I
sheepishly said to him and my nurse, “I think the baby is coming.”
My nurse, who no doubt thought I was exaggerating a bit,
offered to check me. She casually sat
down to see if I had progressed any but barely needed to check me since she
could see that I was already
crowning. I heard her say as she quickly
stood up, “yep, you’re complete.” I could hear the surprise and slight worry in
her voice. I asked if I could push and she told me that it would be better if I
didn’t but if I needed to, I could.
I had warned her earlier in the day that although my labors
are slow and long, when it comes time to push I don’t waste time. I don’t think she was prepared for how
serious I was. They paged the doctor as they frantically tried to get things
ready. The table wasn’t set up, the equipment wasn’t out, and there was no
doctor. The nurse called for a midwife
to stand in in case the doctor couldn’t make it. The midwife gloved up and then the doctor
walked in (he had been a few floors up and was had been waiting for the
elevator when he was paged). I pushed as
he got his gloves on and the head came out. He told me to stop pushing, which I tried, but it was pretty
useless. I pushed again and out she
came. So much for being at 5 cm.
It was quite the whirlwind. No one expected things to go so
fast. I kept thinking how surprised I was that it was over. I felt great though and was so incredibly
thankful that I hadn’t taken the Stadol. I would have been out of it for the next few hours. And although I didn’t
get to enjoy any of the benefits of the epidural, I was glad I decided to get
it. If nothing else, it gave me
something to think about (“please let this start working!”) when things
were really hard.
She was perfect. A nice healthy cry, a five minute APGAR of
9, and a nice weight of 7 lb 5 oz. I got
to hold her for a few seconds before they cleaned her up and then after a few
minutes with the nurses they brought me my baby girl. I was so happy to be holding the newest
addition to our family.
I nursed her and then called Alaina to tell her the good
news. I was feeling so good and so happy. I was alert, happy, and not exhausted physically. It was really a wonderful experience and I
wouldn’t change a thing.
Welcome to the world little Katelynn. We have anxiously awaited your arrival and
now that you are here we are excited to see how you make your place in this
family and in this world. With your perfect little face, a dimple just like
Levi’s in your right cheek, and your little bit of brown hair, you make it hard
to do much else other than stare at you.
We will spend the rest of your life trying to be the best
parents we can be. We vow to give you
all the love and support that we can. We
dedicate you and your life to the God who has blessed us with the charge to
care for you. May you know His love, and
ours, more deeply every day.
*****
More pictures...
Getting ready to leave the hospital...
The night we left the hospital was INSANE! We were supposed to be discharged at 7:00 but we didn't get out of the hospital until after 10 pm. The kids were with us (because we thought we would be home nice and early!) and they were a WRECK. The discharge took forever and once we left it was pouring outside. There was a tornado watch in effect and when we got home there was NO POWER. We couldn't see anything. It was 10:45 and we had to try to get the kids in bed, Katelynn needed to eat, and I couldn't even see to changer her diaper. It was awful. But, I kept telling myself that in the morning I would be glad I came home. Jason rounded up some candles and she had her first meal by candlelight!
The power came back on in the middle of the night -- unfortuneatly, the storm took out Jason's desktop computer and it killed our phone and internet connection. Ugh.
The weekend has been really wonderful though. Our boys were gone for the weekend so it was just us as a family. We just hung out, got Katelynn settled, and just enjoyed one another. Katelynn is quickly learning that life at our house is a a blessed mix of laughter and chaos. She has taken in all in stride :)
As expected, Levi isn't too sure of this new little intruder. He seems surprised in the mornings and gives me this, "she's still here??" look. But Alaina was holding her yesterday and when she was done Levi climbed right up next to her.
*****
Thanks again for all of your love and support. Hopefully I will be back online by Tuesday morning and the blog can return to its regular scheduled programming :)
Hopefully I don't have too many typos...spell check won't work. Forgive me :)
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