I was scheduled for an induction July 18th. Our baby was small and the Dr. thought it better that she be out than in. She was in the 6th percentile and there are complications that could arise if we kept her in there much longer. At first I was hesitant about an induction but after talking with my Dr. more about it and praying about the decision to be induced, I felt good about setting a date to have her come. My family and I were all praying that maybe I would go into labor by myself and I was a little disappointed the night of the 17th when I still wasn't in labor, but after being induced and everything going so smoothly- I know Heavenly Father had a plan and I am so thankful that he was taking care of me and our baby. I had been having small contractions for the last 2 weeks and knew my body was gearing up for our baby coming, so this made me feel good that my body was already starting on it's own. I had to go in twice a week for a few weeks to have Non-Stress-Tests done to monitor our baby and her heart rate and make sure everything was okay. Sometimes her heart-rate would drop when I would contract and so they wanted to monitor her and make sure she was okay in there.
July 17th we ran around crazy cleaning our house from top to bottom. Spencer cleaned the cars too! We were ready for this baby. The morning of July 18th we waited for a phone call to tell us to come in. It was weird having a baby this way and waiting for a phone call to tell me to come in to have my baby. Around 10am they called and asked us to come, so we loaded the car with our bags, camera, video camera, snacks and pillows and drove to the hospital. I remember Spencer parking in the parking lot and me just breaking down in tears. I was emotional and didn't want our life to change. I wanted to have our baby and knew it would be okay, but knew our life would never be the same with just us two. I was being selfish. I remember crying for a good 5 minutes and Spencer holding me tight. He was my rock through the last month of my pregnancy when I would just cry for no reason at all... or for many reasons all bunched into one crying fest. Anyway... we finally got out of the car after a prayer and went into Labor and Delivery.
I was strapped up to the machine right away and was already having small contractions (this was a good thing!:) The nurse hooked me up to Pitocin and we started the labor process. Everything went smoothly with the contractions. They were starting to become more regular and closer together the more Pitocin the nurse gave me. She would come in about every hour and give me more Pitocin so the contractions started getting super hard and longer. My sister Sarah came into the room around 1pm and that is when they started getting intense. They hurt SOOOO bad! It is a pain that you can't even describe. It is a period cramp times 1,000. It is a pain that isn't just skin deep but goes into your bones. It hurts your whole body and not just the spot that it's coming from. I didn't think you could have this amount of pain all at one time. Around that same time the Dr. came in and could tell I was in a lot of pain. He broke my water (weirdest feeling ever!) and asked if I wanted an epidural. I was at 5cm and didn't think I wanted the epidural till I was at a 7.. but after having those really hard contractions I told him I wanted it. I asked him if it would slow down the labor process and he said it wouldn't so I was all about the epidural. I don't know why anyone wouldn't! :)
This sweet old man came in and gave me an epidural and life was good! I could still feel pressure when I had a contraction but no pain. At first my right leg went all numb, but after a while I could still feel my legs and lift them and still no pain with the contraction. It was the best epidural ever! I was scared of being paralyzed from the waist down and not being able to feel anything, but I could still feel and move both my legs! Around 5pm the nurse said she was going to take me off Pitocin and see how my body did because she thought the Pitocin was making the baby's heart rate go down with each contraction. She was a little worried, so off the Pitocin I came and for the next hour I didn't have a contraction. I guess my body needed the Pitocin because after an hour she put me back on it and luckily this helped level our baby's heart rate because after she put me on it again, her heart rate was fine! Around 6pm the nurse came in and said I was at 6cm and so Sarah then left to get some dinner. It was funny because up till today Sarah was so nervous that she would miss our baby's birth and kept telling me to call her no matter the time of day. She even set something on her phone to allow me to call her in the middle of the night even if it was on vibrate. Anyway.. she left to get dinner and at 6:45pm the Dr. came in and said I was at 9 cm. We were all surprised and the nurse said it was almost time to push! WHAT! push? I was thinking in my mind.. I never really prepared myself to push.. how do you push? Spencer hurried and called Sarah to tell her to come back quick and she thought Spencer as joking! She didn't believe him at first, but hurried and got her dinner and quickly came back! After about 30 minutes I was at 10 cm and the nurse said we could start pushing until the Dr. came back in. For some reason around this time I was FREEZING and my body started shaking really bad. I couldn't get warm enough. The nurse brought in a warm blanket and Sarah let me put her blanket she had just made for our little girl on top of that. I was still shaking! It was really weird. The nurse said that happens with all the hormones going on! Anyway, we started to push with Sarah holding one leg and Spencer holding the other. The nurse coached me on how to push and how to breath. It was hard at first to know exactly how to push and what to push.. but I got the hang of it and Sarah and Spencer were such great mentors and cheerleaders helping me with each contraction. After about 10 minutes of pushing and still no sign of Doc. the nurse had me stop pushing because she said the baby was about to come! So we rested for a while until our Dr. came and was ready to deliver. After about 15 more minutes of pushing and the Dr. being so patient with her coming our sweet baby girl was born! She weighed 6 lb 5 oz and was 21 inches long! Right away they set her on my chest so we could have skin to skin. Right away my thoughts were that she looked liked an Ellingson baby! She had a TON of beautiful auburn hair with a tint of red in it! She was ours. She was perfect! Sarah was so great to be in the room with us and I know that Spencer and I were both so grateful she was there! She helped me to nurse for the first time too which was SUCH a big help! It was so precious watching Spencer hold our girl for the first time and watching him take care of her in the hospital. I don't think I changed one diaper when we were in the hospital!:) I will never forget the first night Spencer and I were laying on my hospital bed together and it was around midnight. We both couldn't sleep because we were nervous our baby girl would stop breathing or something silly... I remember she made a small choking noise and both Spencer and I leapt from our bed to make sure she was okay. It was a total first time parent thing to do, but we love her so much and were so nervous about everything at the beginning. It was tender!:)
My overall delivery experience was so good. I rant and rave about my Dr. to anyone we talk to. I absolutely loved how he delivered our baby girl and was so patient with me pushing and not quick to give me an episiotomy. He helped stretch me out so I didn't tear and was just super friendly and nice! After 2 days in the hospital we decided on her name. We had it picked out for the whole pregnancy but once she was born we were nervous to name her. We were nervous because it's such a permanent thing that she has for the rest of her life.
Here are some pictures that Sarah took in the delivery room and then afterward with people that came to meet Charley! She is very loved. I didn't get any pictures with Spencer's family, but his parents came as well as his brother Tim and his family! My sisters Megan, Danielle, Bailey and her husband Justin and Sarah and her family came to visit too! Thank you everyone for your love!! :) Charley is very blessed!
SOOOOO glad I could be there-- seriously one of the best days ever. Birth is such an amazing, beautiful, special, spiritual moment and I'll be forever grateful that you let me share in Charley's birth day. YOu guys are awesome parents and she is one extremely lucky little girl!!
ReplyDeleteAnd just for FYI journaling sake, I arrived at 1 pm and you should add how I went to get dinner at 6 since you hadn't had a contraction in an hour and Spencer had to text me to say you were at a 9 and I better get my food to go. I totally thought he was pulling my leg. :)
Beautiful story! You're a momma!
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