Mummas in JH: February 2013

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I realize I haven't posted on here in over a year. It has been a busy year! Here is a quick update!

1. I got really sick and ended up having my gallbladder removed in December 2012

2. Pregnant!

3. We moved into a larger place.

4. I had baby Noelle on Nov. 19!

Here is Noelle's birth story. I figure if you read a birth story you are prepared to hear a little bit of gore. So I didn't edit that out too much (not that it is very gory as far as births go). I know this is coming three months after her birth and I've wanted to do it just about every day since. There is little free time these days but tonight I decided I just had to do it. So that said, here you are:

With Noelle I assumed that I was going to have an early labor. I had Owen 5 days early and the girls were 3 weeks early (although they are twins). I also started having semi-uncomfortable contractions around 37 weeks in the evenings and some mornings. I would time them at every 10 minutes and then they would eventually go away. So when my due date came and went I was, as most pregnant woman who go past their due date probably are, discouraged and frustrated. We hadn’t gone anywhere too far from Jackson and there was a couple events I didn’t go to all because I thought she would come early. My doctor also turned out to be very pro-induction because of the fact that it is more “convenient” for everyone. However, Noelle was doing great in there and although I started seriously thinking she would never come we decided not to intervene before 41 weeks. I also really wanted her to come because my mother in law had come down when I was 38 weeks pregnant and was leaving a few days after I would be 41 weeks. I didn’t want her to be here for three weeks and get very little time with Noelle. My due date was November 17, a Saturday, and on Sunday when I went to church I felt silly that for so long I had told people I thought she’d be early and there I was past my due date and as pregnant as ever. I really didn’t think she’d come without my being induced. At my last dr. appointment I knew that I was 2-3 cm dilated but only 50% effaced. Monday morning I woke up at 4 a.m. as was usual (I was struggling with pregnancy insomnia) and was having mild contractions every 10 minutes or so. I decided at first not to even time them. I was over being excited about labor when everything turned out to be false labor. I just tried to go back to sleep. However, I kept having contractions and they started to get a little more intense and a little closer together. I started timing them and the intervals went from about every 10 minutes to every 5-6 minutes. When I went to the bathroom I saw some blood which made me think this might be the real deal. Around 5:50 I woke Matt up and told him he might want to get ready just in case.

Now, we have to back up a bit to what happened with my labor with my twins. I was already at 5.5 cm when he broke my water to put me into labor. I had very mild contractions for about an hour after that and started to feel pressure. I said I just needed to use the restroom and they got frantic and rushed for the doctor. I was embarrassed because I was not having painful labor at all. I was only mildly uncomfortable and I didn’t want the doctor to come in just to find out that I needed to poop. I was 8cm dilated at that point and 10 minutes later I was at 10 cm. The transition from 8 to 10 cm was intense as I went through transition but that was the only part of my whole labor that actually was painful and felt like labor. A couple pushes later on the first contraction and Adelyn was born.

Because of how my labor with my twins went I knew that I could possibly have a very fast labor and not feel like I’m in real labor until I go through transition- but by then I would be too late to try to rush to hospital. However, I also knew I was not as dilated as I was with them. I didn’t know how long I should labor at home or if I should wait until it was hard for me to walk/talk through contractions just like everyone else does. My doctor told me I could labor at home for a little while so I wasn’t sure exactly what I should do or when I should go. I was able to almost completely hide when I was having a contraction, was able to smile and talk through them normally, and was able to walk around normally. I was being ridiculous, I know, but I felt embarrassed and did not want to go to the hospital in that state. I didn’t want everyone to get excited for it only to be false labor again. I didn’t want to be told to go home or be pressured to induce since I was already in the hospital and potentially dilated enough to be admitted even though I wasn’t in real labor. Matt, on the other hand, was frantic. He wanted to rush to the hospital right away. He did not want me having a baby at home. So the scene at home was him literally pacing around trying to get me to hurry up and me taking my oh so sweet time getting ready. I put on make up, I got dressed, I made sure I had everything I wanted while Matt begged me to hurry and not put on makeup. Maybe I was being unsubmissive, well, probably. Again, I just did not think there was any rush. This couldn’t possibly be a big deal yet. If it was the real thing I didn’t want to have to labor at the hospital for too long. When I was finally ready I asked him if we could please just watch a movie and wait longer. No was the firm answer. We left, got to the corner of the street, and I begged Matt to go back so I could get a banana. I knew they wouldn’t feed me there. He reluctantly turned around. The hospital is literally a mile from our house so we were there in no time. We got there at about 6:40 and I walked up to the counter. I’ll never forget the look on the nurses face when, with a smile, I announced that, “I think I might be in labor, but I’m not sure.” She graciously gave me the “Oh, honey, you just have no idea” look and asked if I had checked in at the emergency room counter. No, I hadn’t. She told me I probably should do that first. I said, “Well, this is the deal. I had twins a few years ago and I was like this (smiling and in very low pain) up until I was 8 cm dilated and then was at 10 cm 10 minutes later. I have no idea what is happening right now.” Her face dropped and went a little bit paler and she rushed me in the room to check me. They had me change into the gown and while I was changing they pulled my chart. I guess there was a warning put into my chart. I forget the word they used but they basically put a note in my file that they shouldn’t mess with me as I deliver quick. They started knocking on the door asking me to please hurry and change. When they checked me I was at 6 cm and was still only 50% effaced. I had some more time but they weren’t going to let me off the hook. They were still afraid I would have her any minute and would not let me walk around at all. We called Tiffany (my sister in law) and told them her it was the real deal and she should come over now.

They put me in a room and got the monitors hooked up and put the iv in. The nurse put the iv into a nerve the first time and it hurt, badly. She tried to adjust it and left it in but I asked her to please take it out and do the other arm. For weeks later I would still have shooting pain down my hand and fingers from that damaged nerve. My doctor was out of town so another doctor was going to deliver me. She wanted to break my water and said that the baby may come by 7. I couldn’t believe that. She broke my water but there was not really any water that came out. My water had not broken before and the doctor was very confused as to whether or not she even broke my water. She was wondering if I had felt leaking or anything like that. I hadn’t. When Noelle was born there wasn’t really any water that came out either. I’m not sure where all her water went as just a few days before that her fluid levels were checked and were fine.

From here on out I didn’t pay any attention to time really so everything is approximate. I just remember the order of events. Tiffany got there within just a few minutes. Thankfully it was her day off. They checked me again a half an hour or so later and I was 7-8 c.m. dilated but still 50% effaced. They decided to let me walk around a bit. They could tell when I was having contractions because of the monitors and would ask me if I could feel them. I could, but they didn’t really hurt. I was still able to walk, talk, smile, and laugh through them. They couldn’t believe it. About 45 minutes to an hour later of walking the contractions started to get more intense and I was starting to have to concentrate through them. I announced I was no longer going to smile through contractions. They were maybe on the 4-5 scale for pain. They checked me again but I was not progressed any further. They said she was still pretty far up there. I thought that finally I had it coming and I was going to experience real labor; that I would actually labor for awhile the way real woman do. I just stood there for awhile after being checked in the delivery room unsure of what to do. I could feel the contractions were starting to get very painful and I didn’t know what to do. I said that I just wanted to kneel down on the ball. They suggested putting the ball on the bed and that is what I did. I put the ball on the bed and put my arms and head down on it and told Matt to put pressure on my back. I thought I was having back labor and that she was turned the wrong way and figured I would have to do this for awhile. For about 20 or so minutes I panted and cried a little through back to back contractions. I looked up at the monitor at one point and saw that the contractions were rising sharply then a long plateu. Over and over. I knew that meant transition. I almost said out loud that I didn’t want to do it anymore and I wanted them to make it stop. I decided that would be foolish though as this was the only real pain I had been in and it was only a few minutes. Most women go for hours and hours of that. I thought of my friend Leslie who went through 40ish hours of hard labor. I assumed I still had hours to go but the doctor checked me and her head was right there. I didn’t even feel her come down. I wasn’t mentally prepared to start pushing. They told me to roll over and I told them no. I did not want to move. I thought of my friend Becky who had a big baby just before me and how painful she said it was. I thought Noelle would be big and I just wasn’t ready for that just yet. They made me turn over and I made a quick resolve to be courageous and do what had to be done. I started pushing. Maybe for only about 10 minutes or less. He head came with only a few contractions. Her shoulders then got stuck and the cord was wrapped around her neck but was quickly pulled off. The doctor had to tug a little to get her shoulders out and then she was born!

They put her on me and I just got to hold her fluffly little chub chub body and look at her sweet face. I put her up to nurse but she just licked and moved her lips. She never really tried to latch on. The nurse assured me this was ok. I was in bliss being able to hold my baby. With Owen they quickly took him away from me to measure him and then didn’t return him to me for over an hour… wanting for my blood pressure to go down (I won’t get into that to refrain from anger here) and with the girls being twins I didn’t get to hold them at all until we were all moved into another room. I was just loving being able to hold, snuggle, and kiss on my sweet baby girl for as long as I wanted. She was just like I thought she would be from how she acted in the womb. Sweet, content, and laid back.

She was born at 8:26 a.m. 8 lb 7oz 20.5 inches.

I just can’t get over what a little blessing she is.