Ok, I've been really bad about updating this thing, especially towards the end of my pregnancy. Kaylyn was born April 1, 2010 (I know, an April Fool's Baby) at 10:51 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long.
I must say that I had what I would call an easy pregnancy. Other than my kidney stones, 34 total, the pregnancy progressed as it should. If only delivery were the same. Chris and I went into the hospital March 31, 2010 at 7 p.m. to begin the induction process. I still had not dilated at this point so my doctor gave me Cytotec to try to thin my cervix out and help me dilate. Well after four hours I was only dilated to 1 cm. I was put onto a clear liquid diet from my doctor (but I could have orange jello!) and was also put onto strict bedrest due to my blood pressure continuing to rise. I think this is when my stress began to set in. It was difficult just laying in that bed. That was not how I had pictured my labor at all. Anyway, I was then given another round of Cytotec and then another. Needless to say, 17 hours into labor I was only at 1 1/2 cm. Now my original plan was to go through the birthing process as naturally as possible. Well, after being in labor for that long and not progressing, I saw the loooong road ahead and determined that for my sanity (and Chris', my mom's and sister's), that an epidural was what I needed to do. I was having contractions, however, not enough to really jump start things.
I was then given Pitocin to see what that would do...well it didn't do much. I finally made it to 3 cm but with LOTS of help from my doctor. Pitocin was continued and I was given medicine to help me sleep since I would eventually get to the pushing stage. Well a few hours of sleep led to me being able to relax. I finally made it to 6 cm and then to 8 cm. Ok, great we're almost there....well not exactly. I truthfully do not know how long it took to get to 10 cm (once again, I only made it with serious help from my doctor). I think I really only made it to about 9 1/2 and felt the need to push. That's where my doctor stepped in thank goodness and helped me get to 10 so that I could push.
Now, pushing is hard and it hurts I'm not going to lie. However, it is the light at the end of the tunnel, or it was for me. The only difficult part was that I was exhausted (at this point I had been in labor for 26 hours!) and my epidural had pretty much worn off. My doctor ordered a second round of epidural to help with the pain which was great, except I was then at a point where I couldn't feel a thing and that included knowing whether or not I was pushing like I was supposed to.
This is where things get a little hazy for me. I know that I pushed for about 2 hours. I remember feeling to exhausted and overwhelmed with the idea of not being able to make it through. That's about all I remember. I ended up blacking out and not being able to push towards the end of labor. I'm guessing it was just all of the strain that had been put on my body up to this point. I was told after delievery, the parts that I am unable to remember.
Kaylyn had dropped down quite a bit and her head could be seen. Her head was about 3/4 of the way out when I started having trouble pushing. At this point she had to come out. We could push her back in and do a C-section and the pressure on her tiny body was putting her into a bad situation. I have to thank and give so much credit to all of the nurses, doctor, and family that were in the room. Kaylyn would not be here if not for them. I was in bad shape and they were truly a blessing to have by my side. Anyway, since I was having trouble pushing, I had nurses pushing (or rather body slamming) my stomach to get Kaylyn out. Her head made it out but then her shoulders were stuck. Apparently her shoulders are wider than my pelvis and therefore, made it difficult to get through. Since this was the case, we figured there would be some sort of damage done to her clavicle but thankfully, that is fine. When she came out (as I'm told because I do not remember), Kaylyn had the cord around her neck (but it hadn't been that way for long) and had blue splotches on her body from the lack of oxygen. She was immediately placed in the warmer and taken to the special care nursery. I didn't see her. Chris, Jennifer, and mom did and honestly, it may be a good thing that I hadn't.
My doctor spent the next hour or so putting me back together. I had such bad tears (yes, plural) and was swelling so much that it was making it difficult for her to get it all done. Plus, we had all been at this process for so long already that my doctor was getting tired. The pediatrician on call that night came in to let us know how our little girl was doing. Within a short amount of time he had seen major changes for the good, however, they were still monitoring her closely and she had to be given oxygen. Chris got to go see Kaylyn which made me happy because I wanted to make sure that our little girl was ok. After I was all done, my mom and sister saw Kaylyn. Again, she continued to improve. I was so out of it after all of this all I could think of was drinking my fountain drink (that was supposed to be my reward for having Kaylyn-guess you had to be there to get it) and going to sleep. The nurse that I had was so amazing and wonderful. When I finally felt up to it (which was 2:30 a.m.), she put me in a wheel chair and took me to meet my little girl. Now, I was still out of it but seeing Kaylyn was amazing and heartwrenching at the same time. I was able to look at my little girl, touch her even, but that was it. I couldn't hold her, couldn't feed her. My perfect idea of labor and delivery didn't happen.
At that point I felt as though I had let everyone down since I had needed so much help getting Kaylyn here. Now, I know better. Kaylyn stayed in the special care nursery for almost 48 hours before joining us. Again, I loved going in there to see her, but it was so hard not to be able to hold her. The moment that Chris and I were able to, is a time that I will never forget. I think that was the point that made everything real for us.
Kaylyn is amazing! She has a personality already and we love every second that we have with her. She is such a blessing and I cannot imagine my life without her. I will post pictures of her soon (it's 2 a.m. and it's feeding time!). I just thought it was about time I updated everyone on here!
Until next time...
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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