*This is meant to be record of our birth process. I have
written this more for my memory than for anyone else, but since I have gotten
the question several times in the last two weeks “how did labor go?” I thought
I would share and save myself the time (and confusion) of trying to retell it
to each person that asked. I don’t think there is anything too gross or
explicit in the details here, but none the less the details are plenty! If you
are not a fan of my wordiness please feel free to skip to the end for the
pictures of our adorable baby girl.
The Story of Jayney Joy Joining the World!
I had started having strong contractions two different
nights about a week before my due date but they were the kind that started and
then stopped with no outcome. This made for an anxious week leading up to
baby’s due date. I wasn’t so much worried as I was ready for a change. I had
grown terribly uncomfortable in the last few weeks of my pregnancy, with lots
of hip pain and swelling to my feet.
We were scheduled to be induced, Monday, February 6th
at 7:30am. This was due to the prediction that baby’s size was potentially
bigger than ideal for delivery without a c-section. The hospital called us at
5:30am to tell us they were too full for us to come in. I was disappointed but
not surprised as I had been warned that we could get pushed back several hours
if not days by my doctor and friends. We were told to call back at 10:00am.
I tried to go back to sleep but was too uncomfortable. I got
up and watched TV on the couch. I had been having minor contractions on and off
all night, but I didn’t think much of it since that had happened before without
getting anywhere. I started having stronger contractions around 9:00am, lasting
45 seconds each, 8 minutes apart. At first I thought I was just working them up
in my head and dreaming them bigger than they really were since I wanted to
have a reason to have a baby this day! I was somewhat relieved when the
contractions kept getting longer and stronger, meaning that it wasn’t all my
imagination.
I called the hospital just before 10:00. They were still too
busy but I told them I was starting to have contractions on my own. I honestly
think they thought I was lying to get to come in. They said stay home until 4-5
minutes apart and 1 minute long. They said to call back at noon to see if
things had slowed down. I was beginning to think our induction might not happen
today.
When we called back my contractions were 4-6 minutes apart
and right at a minute. I talked to our doctor and I was thrilled when she told me
we were no longer considered an elective induction, go ahead and come in! Our
doctor was as pleased with the news that I was having contractions as I was
because she was going to have to tell me we would have to reschedule the
induction for later in the week. This
baby was making up her own mind about coming today! Apparently our little girl
just needed a deadline to push. I can’t imagine where she might have inherited
that tendency.
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| Leaving to go to the hospital |
By the time we were checked into the hospital and hooked up
to the monitors, about 1:30; my contractions were just 2 to 3 minutes apart
lasting over a minute. At that point I
was dilated to a 4 and 80 percent effaced. Then we waited and I labored through
more contractions.
At 3:30 I was dilated to a 5-6, feeling more contractions
than I wanted and decided it was time to get the epidural. It really was not
bad to get at all. Of course I was nervous about the risks but the pain from
getting it was nothing compared to contractions. The anesthesiologist said I
was a fantastic at holding “the position” (which was basically slouching over a
pillow) and told me I could give classes on proper positioning technique.
Apparently my bad posture has one time in my life when it can be beneficial. I was very comfortable at this point and
enjoyed having the ability to breathe again. We had a beautiful sunset to watch
as we passed the time.
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| Our pretty sunset |
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| Very happy to be all hooked up to the good stuff! |
Things were progressing slow and steady but baby was still floating
up -2, meaning she wasn’t coming down into my pelvis very well, despite
contractions. Our Doctor said my water was right there and could easily be
broken but because of how high baby was she didn’t want to yet, due to the risk
of the cord getting pinched when the bubble of the water was gone.
At 6:30 I was very excited to get some broth, Jell-O and
juice. I couldn’t have anything solid because of the chance I would have to get
a c-section if baby didn’t move down. It
may not sound like much but after eating light since the night before, flavored
liquid really hit the spot!
By 7:15 I was dilated to a 7, baby had moved down to a 0 in
my pelvis and the doctor came in to break my water. At this point we got all
wired with internal monitors for baby’s heart rate and the pressure of my
contractions. Then our doctor said she would be back to check in on us in about
an hour and we waited some more.
When I was checked next, baby had come down but we were told
she was “sunny side up,” meaning she was facing up instead of down. This position is more difficult to deliver
due to the shape of the head, so we were hoping she would turn on her own so we
could avoid c-section.
At 11:30 I had made it all the way to a 9.5 and was fully
effaced! The nurse wanted me to do a few test pushes to see if we could get
dilated fully but I was starting to get a bad headache which made me feel
really nauseous. I was given meds and let rest a bit. Once I felt my headache
go away it seemed like my epidural was starting to get pretty weak. I was just
hurting too much to push. The anesthesiologist came back and gave me a little
boost.
Pretty soon, a bit before 2:00, I was feeling up to doing
those test pushes to get dilated. So for the next half hour the nurse had me
roll on one side, push some, and let me rest a minute. Then she would roll to
my back, have me push again before rolling me to my other side to push and
repeat… I thought this was going ok, but
because the epidural was so strong I wasn’t able to push very effectively.
Our doctor came and checked on us about 2:30. She said that
since baby was still face up and I wasn’t getting that last .5 dilated, a
traditional delivery was looking less promising. She gave us the “deadline” of
4:00 am. If no changes had happened in that time we would be moving towards
getting a c-section.
After a long hour of “resting” and letting the epidural wear
off a smidge, I started feeling a lot more pressure so I called for the nurse
to come check us. I was just sure I had made some sort of progress and was
utterly disappointed when she said there was still no change. I was stuck at a
9.5. I figured that there was no way in the half hour before our doctor retuned
that it would change in time. I wasn’t really upset at the prospect of
c-section, more just that this had gone on so long with so little progress. I
don’t like working that hard without getting much in return, and the real work
hadn’t even started yet!
I was so surprised when the doctor came in to check about
4:00am and said we were there! Finally fully dilated and ready to start with
pushing. Again baby seemed to push a deadline just a little too close. Baby was
still facing the wrong way but we were going to try and see if she would turn
with regular pushes.
From 4:00 on was where the real battle began. With some work
through several contractions the baby’s head was finally visible! This was very
exciting for me because I thought we were really getting close and then upon
further question of how much they could see Dusty held up his hand and showed
the tiniest of gaps between his thumb and pointer fingers. Seriously! I was
thinking this baby HAS to be almost here and he tells me he can see like two
hairs on the top of baby’s head! I was
glad hear I was making some progress but having a hard time with the slowness
of the pace. I couldn’t tell what was going on down there other than knowing
even with an epidural it hurt and I kept waiting for the nurse or someone to
tell me I was almost there. When I asked
next “how close is she?” the nurse smiled sweetly and said “Oh honey, it’s the
longest inch of your life.” Not the most
motivational speech but I was glad to hear the honest answer rather than
continuing to think the next push could be the ONE. Somehow, knowing that birth
wasn’t super close made me accept the fact that I had to keep working, much
more than being told repeatedly “you are almost there” and having it not be
entirely true.
I kept pushing until about 6:00 when our doctor came in again
to see how we were progressing. Our doctor checked me and found baby had rolled
face down sometime in the pushing up to this point as we had hoped would
happen. After having her monitor me through a few contractions she decided it
was time to deliver the baby! This declaration meant lots of equipment and
people being positioned into the small room. Our doctor wanted to help speed up
the work I was doing with contractions with the use of a vacuum to pull baby’s head
through. She cautioned me that if the vacuum didn’t help make that extra little
difference we need to move baby out, we would be looking at a c-section once
again.
Once the vacuum was in place, I pushed through one
contraction. Then our doctor took the vacuum off and I rested and waited for the
next big contraction, which I was feeling much more of now that my epidural was
wearing down again. When the next contraction came, the vacuum was put back on.
Dusty tells me that Baby’s head came out with the first push on this
contraction. I wasn’t really that coherent at this point so when they said “we
have the head!” I was still thinking “yes, we have seen it for a while now” and
didn’t understand they meant her head was actually out!
After pushing for so long I didn’t have a very clear
understanding that this was the final moments of pushing. I felt like I would
just have to keep pushing forever! So it was very much to my surprise, on the
second push of that contraction when our baby came out the rest of the way!
The nurses placed this little slimy blob up on my stomach
and I remember thinking “where did she come from? No one told me this was the
last push or anything!” I stared at this little person in amazement and
listened to those first few precious cries for breath, while thinking “oh my
goodness, you are really here!” After all that slow progress and work, part of
me couldn’t believe the last few minutes had gone so fast! I kept looking back
and forth from our baby to Dusty. Although, he had a better view and wasn’t as
surprised as I was, I remember thinking that his face reflected the same
amazement and awe with the situation that I was feeling.
Our little Jayney Joy Walsh had finally joined us out in the
world at 6:38am, February 7th, weighing in at 8 pounds 13 ounces and
was 20 inches long! We could not have been happier!
The cord was cut, and the doctor started to stitch up some
of the tearing that had occurred. I mentioned that I was able to feel a lot of
what she was stitching and was thankful when they gave me another boost to my
epidural. From here the nurses checked on Jayney and got all her vitals, making
sure she was healthy before returning her to us, to ogle over, count ten
fingers and toes and take in the miracle that we had been given!
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| Just a few minutes after Jayney arrived! |
*I want to note that while my record here mostly
catalogs what I was going through and what was happening with Jayney, Dusty’s
role through everything was irreplaceable. He was such a trooper through all
17.5 hours I was laboring in the hospital. He stood by me to hold my hand,
helped me remember my breathing, updated our families regularly and kept me
well stocked with ice chips. He was not at all fazed by the graphic nature of
the birthing process and made me feel like I was the strongest woman on the
face of the earth with his encouragement.
I really don’t think I could have made it through without him.
Here are a few more pictures from the first few days with our girl!
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| First bath |
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| All bundled to go home |
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| Welcome to your new home Jayney |
