Labor and Delivery

I fell asleep okay Sunday night but woke up from a bad dream at 4 am and couldn't fall back asleep.

5 am I decided to get ready for my 8 am induction.

Shower

Dishes

Last minute packing

Prayer

Left for the hospital with Andrew

Very last belly shot. Waiting around for something to happen.

After being admitted, Dr Ostler broke my membranes, I was dilated to a 3.

2 hours later after no success at starting labor on my own we started Pit at 4 ml/hr.

1 hour later still no contractions so we upped to the Pit to a drip rate of 8 ml/hr.

1 hour after, very irregular and weak contractions so we upped the Pit to 16 ml/hr. By this time I was starting to feel  let down. The excitement of it all had gone away because we where waiting for something, anything to happen. 

I felt remarkably better and happier when someone would let me eat a little something. Even though it was just an Italian Ice.

Around 1:00 I was finally in Active Labor and having regular contractions. The Pit drip rate at 28 ml/hr which I guess is rather high, they usually top off around 20 ml/hr. Dilated to a 4.

I honestly don't remember time frames or the order of events really well after that point. I just took it one contraction at a time. At first I was able to manage just fine by focusing on breathing and relaxing and was even able to somewhat keep up a conversation. By the time Ashley arrived to be labor support around 6, I was really starting to feel them. I could not get in a comfortable position and really REALLY had to focus on breathing through each contraction. Andrew was a champ and rubbed my feet and hands and back and what ever else I asked of him. Mom and Ashley would stand in when Andrew needed a potty break or something. It was fun to have them all there, it made it more of a party in my mind than a long terrible painful ordeal.

By the time I was dilated to an "almost" 8 (around 10:00 or so I think?) I could tell I was reaching my limit. I was SO TIRED! I remember it being so difficult to open my eyes and stay awake. I think I can blame that on getting up so early, lack of food, and laboring for so long. I did although start to wake up when they told me I was finally to transition and it would supposedly soon be over. I remember thinking "I'm actually going to do this!".

I think this is were we had all the laughing episodes. It started with Ashley being given an Italian Ice who had apparently never had one before and didn't know how to eat it. All i heard was mom say "you do know how to eat that right?". It may not be terribly funny to you but to me, at that moment, it was hilarious. I was laughing/ crying so hard and every time I would laugh I would get a massive contraction that would hurt sooooooo much but I couldn't stop from laughing. I think for the next 20 minutes this went on as someone would say something funny.

Soon after that though my laughter turned to cries of pain and I started thinking "there is no way I can do this". That's probably where I went wrong and why I ended up getting an epidural. My self talk turned negative and I stopped believing peoples words of encouragement. I should have told someone how I was feeling much earlier than I did so that they could have helped me overcome it. I waited till I really went out of control to voice how I was feeling and after being checked again and not making any progress I asked for an epidural.

HEAVEN ON EARTH! It felt so amazing to finally get a break and to finally FALL ASLEEP. That's all I wanted was a nap and that's what I got, actually, everyone slept after I got my epidural. Andrew, who is never ever able to fall asleep anywhere but a bed passed out so completely that he didn't notice the nurse come in to check me and hour later and announce that it was time to push. He woke up to me in pushing position, the doctor in position, and my labor team surrounding me.

Pushing was one of the easiest parts for me, probably because I was all numbed up and couldn't feel a thing.  I think continuing to work out through my pregnancy (before the high BP) helped a ton with this part. All the nurses and the doc kept telling me what an amazing pusher I was. I'm grateful I was able to push so well because I don't think I would have had the energy to last much longer than what I did. I believe I pushed for 20 minutes or so.

Denali's heart rate had been great through out the entire delivery right up until her little head what about to pop through. I guess (I say I guess because I was so focused on the task in front of my that I didn't really know what else was going on. All of this I heard later from my labor team) her heart rate dropped down to 90 so Doctor Ostler decided to get her out of there as quick as she possibly could and ended up performing an episiotomy. She came out with the next push and I remember starting to lift up my gown so that they could place her on my tummy while Andrew cut the cord. Next thing I know Dr. Ostler is telling Andrew she needed to cut the cord so Denali could get some help as soon as possible. So I saw her for 2 seconds and she came out. I remember I couldn't hear any crying which worried me because I knew that healthy babies cried loudly after having their airways cleared.

My nurse was a great liar, which once again I found out later, because she very calmly told me that Denali was just a bit stunned and that she just needs a little help breathing. She reassured me that it was no big deal and that Denali would be fine in no time, and I believed her.

They ended up taking Nal to the NICU where I believe they gave her some steroids for her lungs and helped her to breath. She ended up breathing on her own after 10 minutes and was doing great but they kept her in there to continue monitoring her.

Andrew, Ashley, and my mom where able to go see her and be with her in the NICU which I'm grateful for. They came back with pictures of her which let me know and see that she was okay.

I finally got to see her about 2 hours later in the NICU on my way to postpartum. I was able to breast fed her for a couple minutes before I snarfed down a sandwich and passed out. The next morning they brought her to me where I was once again able to feed her and cuddle her all day.

My placenta ended up being terribly callused (due to the high blood pressure) which meant that Denali hadn't been receiving enough nutrients for the last couple weeks she was in my belly. I'm so grateful for my doctor who felt strongly that she needed to come early. I'm also incredibly grateful for the technology we have that aloud my daughter to breath and to survive.

Holding Denali the following morning. (I look terrible, I know)

I've heard that it's not always love at first sight when you meet your baby but it really was for me. I can not get enough of that girl! She's actually quite easy to take care of as of now. She only cries when she is hungry, tired, or or needs a change. She sleeps about 4 hours at night before she needs to be fed and goes right back to sleep. We'll see how her sleeping, eating, and playing patterns change over the next couples weeks. For right now, I'm just grateful she is so easy.

These are the only pictures I have. If you would like to see more check out my sisters post.