I am sorry I haven't updated you since April and it is now July. In my defense, however, the past 3 months have been kinda crazy. I'm sure you understand. I'll TRY to do a better job at keeping you semi-updated...we'll see. I do have another midget to deal with now. :o)
~Erin
Alright...now it's time for the actual post. This is a moderate TMI (too much information) warning for those of you who don't want to know exactly how my labor and delivery went.
We were induced on June 28th - 4 days post my slated due date by the OBG's calculations (right on time by my calculations). The date was picked primarily because of the July 4th holiday and her delivery schedule. I didn't mind because I wanted to be done with the pregnancy.
We got to the hospital just before 6am. First thing was the IV placement - not fun. The nurse couldn't find a large enough or straight enough vein to suit her...this is not normal. I have great veins and phlebotomists love me. She poked around on my left wrist trying to get one..that hurt. Then she went for one on the back of my right hand. Also painful, but she successfuly found one. And thusly her shift was over. She was a sweetie, but I'll never let her poke me again if I can help it.
We had a "newbie" and one of the head nurses for most of the day 7am-3pm and they were great. (Shout out to Joy and Kara...like they'll ever read this.) We also had 2 medical students/residents check in on us. I don't mind being a guinea pig to help people learn. They were nice.
I feel like most of the day was just a waiting game. We were ready to go with the Pitocin drip by 7:30am, but didn't get that started until 8:30am becuase we were waiting for an MD to give the "okay" to start the drip. They were all busy. :oP
Pitocin drip kept progressing and I was at 4cm when they checked at noon. Dr. Wos said that at this stage they would break my bag of waters, but asked if I wanted the epidural first. I did want the epidural first...I still can remember waiting nearly an hour for the anesthesiologist when we had Mackenzie.
The anesthesiologist was busy in a C-section...so we waited an hour and a half for him. Epidural wasn't bad. Most people don't like to feel the "pain" or "pressure" that accompanies the spinal tap. I didn't mind. I knew it was worth the end results - less pain.
Once we were hooked up to the epidural, we had to wait another 45min to an hour for my OB to come break my water. She was in another delivery.
So by now it's 3pm...we've been in the room for 9 hours, on the Pitocin for over 6 hours, and I am tired. I watched Jeopardy and after it was over I took a 45 minute nap. :o)
It's impossible to get 100% comfortable when you're #1 pregnant, #2 in labor, and #3 hooked up to 5 different tubes/wires (fetal heartrate monitor, IV, contractions monitor, epidural, and blood pressure cuff). I found that lying down was what worked best, but I also realized that it wasn't helping anything progess. Once I sat more upright, I went from 5cm to 10cm in a little over an hour.
The epidural was nice...but it wasn't as effective as the one I had with Mackenzie. I could still feel a large portion of the contactions in my lower abdomen. I could 100% tell when I was in transitional labor because they "hurt" and I wanted to give up or demand to be checked for progress.
They checked me about 6:45pm and then everyone started to prep for delivery. I have no clue about time frame/reference after this point.
Four contractions with pushes and Kyleigh was here - 7:39pm.
We called her big sister shortly thereafter. Mackenzie came to meet Kyleigh around 9pm. She was super excited. Didn't know what to think about Mommy being attached to all the tubes/machines (a bit overwhelming for a 3 1/2 year old). She asked to see my stomach to make sure it wasn't broken. She was glad to see it was okay. :o)
We transferred to our post-partum room about 10pm. Kyleigh slept for a 4 hour stretch at one point that night. I made Brian wake up just one time. I was released to go home by 10am. Kyleigh took a bit longer to get released. They have a mandatory 24-hour bilirubin check and then we had to wait an hour and a half for the lab to come do the final blood draw on Kyleigh. We left Swedish at 9:30pm and got home at 10pm.
Not sure where to put this small detail, so I'll tack it on here at the end. They wouldn't let me eat :oP I was hungry and food commercials on the TV were not my friend...nor was the husband sitting next to me reading and eating peanut butter M&M's...I was able to eat once we got into our room and I was thankful.
I keep getting told that I am not "normal" with my labor/delivery/post-partum. I guess I'm just made to have babies. I love the fact that I feel I can easily walk around and be functional less than 2 hours post-partum. I also loved the strange looks I got from the hospital staff when they checked on me :o)
It's been a week since Kyleigh Faith arrived. We are overjoyed. She is an awesome sleeper, barely cries, and she eats well (I'm glad to be done with a clogged duct - I pray I don't get more in the near future).
We are blessed and we know it's only by God's grace that this is possible.
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