The Birth Story

Warning: This is going to be a very long and TMI-ish post.  So read at your own will, if you don't want to read, you can always scroll down to the pictures!

Thursday, August 29
I had an OB appt, and was checked and was 4cm dilated, 70% effaced, and 0 station, no further progress from last week.  But Jeremy did say that he thought it would be "anytime soon" which could be between today and 2 weeks from now.  We asked if there was anything more we could do to speed things along...a chiropractic adjustment was mentioned along with other things, using a breast pump, evening primrose oil, massage, etc.

After the OB appt I had to pick up KK from school because he had a dentist appt and the follow up from his nose being cauterized.  At the dentist, he had a cleaning and they found no cavities!  I was so super excited.  We've been trying to do better with brushing his teeth, now we just have to be better with flossing.  After the dentist we went to Goodwill and I found a crib set that I really liked and it is gender neutral so I bought it.  KK's ENT appt went very well, everything looks like it is healing beautifully and the doctor said he doesn't need to see him back unless he starts having bloody noses again.  But from the surgery until now, he has had 1 very small bloody nose.

KK had soccer practice later on in the day and after that my parents met us back at our house.  My dad wanted to go swimming and my mom was going to teach me to can tomatoes, since I had a TON of ripened tomatoes that needed to be used before it was too late.  So while Dad, Mr H., and KK went to the pool, my mom and I started canning the tomatoes.  Although, I should say, my mom pretty much did all of the work.  My back was in soo much pain, it had been progressively becoming more painful for a couple of days.  So, mom had me sit and relax a bit and she just canned the tomatoes for me.  I LOVE my mom!

When the boys came back, Mr H. ran to 'Five Guys' to pick up dinner for all of us while KK got dressed and my dad showered in KK's bathroom.  Mom and I ate our food while we waited for some of the jars to set and the others were submerged in the boiling water.  I had to leave for a book club meeting before mom and dad were ready to leave.  From what Mr H told me, mom finished the canning and got KK ready for bed and even read him part of the Harry Potter book we're in the middle of.

Book Club is always fun, it's pretty much talk about the book for a half hour and chit-chat for the rest of the time.  Great food/snacks and great girl time.  I must have been showing signs of being in pain or something because a couple of the girls asked if I was alright.  They even joked about getting a towel for me to sit on just in case.  They all told me that they probably won't see me at church on Sunday...I laughed and told them that this baby was so stubborn that I will probably go into labor at 42 weeks.

Friday, August 30

I tossed and turned ALL night, I was so uncomfortable...my lower back and pelvis were killing me, not to mention all of the bathroom runs in the middle of the night.  I probably woke up every hour just trying to find a comfortable position.  I know that I tossed so much that I woke Mr H.  I claimed more than half of the bed...Mr H was so scrunched up on his side of the bed, I know it wasn't comfortable for him either.  I couldn't help it though...and he's a good sport, he just felt so bad that I couldn't get comfortable or get any sleep.  I woke up to my back hurting so badly...he suggested that I call his chiropractor and see if they could squeeze me in today.  I am lucky that the chiropractor is in our church family (ward) and he was able to squeeze me in for 9:15 am.

Once at the appointment, he took a look at me and was telling me that I should have seen him earlier because my right leg was about an inch shorter than my left and that could be the reason behind my pelvic pain.  He told me that I was so off, that I would need for come in a couple more times for adjustments just to get things right...he also said to come in after I have the baby to make everything better and aligned after labor.

After the adjustment I scheduled another for next Friday and then headed to McDonalds for breakfast...because it was on the way and I had a few other things I needed to do.  After picking that up, I headed to Wal-Greens to pick up KK's allergy medicine, pay for it, then when I walked to the car I felt a trickle in the middle of the parking lot.  "Hmmm...that's weird" I thought!  So I jumped into the car took a look at the time, 10:12 am and drove to the gas station, got out to start pumping and more trickling...I don't think I was wetting my pants, but maybe I could be!?  I was about 85% certain that my water broke.  So after pumping gas, I came home and tried to clean myself up in the bathroom.  I sat on the toilet and called Mr H. to tell him the news, mind you, I had just called him about 10 mins ago to tell him I was done at the chiropractors office and how that went.  So, when I called this time, he was joking with his co-workers saying that hopefully I was calling to say my water broke...and that's exactly what I said.  I told him not to rush home though...that I didn't feel any contractions yet.  The plan was to do most of the labor at home and just go to the hospital when it was unbearable.

I hopped in the shower to make sure that I was presentable and clean before things started progressing further.  After the shower, I tried putting on my bottom under clothes and a gush of amniotic fluid squirted onto the carpet next to my bed.  I just laid a towel over it, until I was able to clean it up later.  Mr H. came home fairly quickly and helped me clean up the mess and help finish packing the hospital bag.  The contractions had started, but they weren't bad at all...very tolerable.  I let my birth coach know that my water broke and told her that we would let her know when we were heading to the hospital.  I was still up and walking around, with a huge beach towel between my legs.  I stripped my bed sheets and started them in the wash...I wanted clean sheets when I came home from the hospital.  Mr H. was keeping track of the contractions, how far apart they were and how long they lasted.  I made sure that my dad would be able to pick up KK from school, I called the school and let them know KK would be parent pick up.  It's a good thing my dad took Friday off because of the holiday weekend.  Mr H and I discussed when we should go to the hospital, he wanted to go now (contractions were about 5 min apart and 35-45 seconds) and I wanted to wait...because they were tolerable.  So he convinced me that we should go to Wal-Mart and get a few last min things and eat lunch then we will go to the hospital.  So that's what we did, after paying for the last min items we needed, we headed to Chick-fil-a to order some lunch.  I knew that once I was at the hospital that they wouldn't let me eat until I had the baby, so I needed to make sure that my tummy was happy.

On the way to the hospital I felt a little foolish because I wasn't in major pain yet and I kinda felt like a wimp for going in before I was dying of pain.  But my contractions were 3 mins apart and 35-45 sec and I knew that I should be monitored.  They got us checked in and up to the triage area, where I gave them a specimen, was checked, and the amniotic fluid was collected to be examined.  We stayed in the triage area for a while until there was a room available.

Once in the room, my contractions kind of slowed down.  I wanted to walk but was told that they needed to check with the midwife.  I kept waiting for the answer from the midwife, but I never got it.  An IV was placed in my hand, it burned a whole lot...I thought my whole hand was on fire.  Saline was running as well as an antibiotic because I was GBS +.  I thought maybe the antibiotic made it burn, but after it had stopped infusing, my hand was still on fire.  I asked for the IV to be placed somewhere else.  A very kind nurse named Maulee (she was from Jamaica) placed another IV on the inside of my forearm and it felt better than the one placed in my hand.

Around 4pm  my nurse, Dawna, came into the room and with a very demanding tone, told me that she was going to start pitocin.  I told her no, that I would like to try some natural methods for helping the contractions move along.  She was very mean and said, "Your midwife already talked to you about pitocin and you guys consented and I need to start it now because you're not progressing!"  I asked her if I could walk.  She continued to TELL me that she was going to start pitocin and that I had been ruptured for a while now and nothing was happening.  Again, can I walk!?  Well, you're at risk for an infection once your water has broken and so pitocin needs to be started, I already talked to your midwife, she continued.  My birth coach piped in and explained that we wanted to try natural things to get my labor going first.  Boy, Dawna was NOT happy about that, and told Heather (birth coach), "Excuse me, who are you!?"  Heather explained who she was and told Dawna that she needs to take it down a notch because in our birth plan quiet voices are to be used.  Dawna was not happy to be told to tone it down.  She said that pitocin needed to be used or else she'll call the midwife.  "So basically you're not going to let me walk!?" I said.  After that, she LET me walk, but wasn't happy about it and told me that I only could walk for 20 mins.  During the walking my contractions did pick up, but once I was told to lay back down in the bed they stalled again.  Dawna was very adamant about starting pitocin, we asked to talk to the midwife, Dawna was clearly agitated.  While waiting for the midwife, I concentrated on relaxing, which was hard to do with a nurse like Dawna.  Mick, our midwife came in and apologized, because she had not, in fact, talked to us about pitocin.  I explained to Mick, that I didn't mind using pitocin, but first, I don't want to be bullied into using it and secondly, I wanted to exhaust all of my natural options first.  I asked if there was something else we could do before pitocin.  Mick was very understanding and said we could try the breast pump, but they would have to try and find one that wasn't currently being used in the family beginnings part of L&D.  While they tried to find a pump, my birth coach suggested that everyone give Mr H. and I alone time to try to stimulate the contractions naturally.

Once contractions started picking up, Mr H. continued to be very encouraging

Helping me through the contractions

Once the breast pump was ready so was shift change...THANK GOODNESS!  Danielle was my new nurse, it was like day and night compared to Dawna.  Danielle wheeled in the breast pump and the gadgets that went with it and helped me hook it up to myself.  By this time, the contractions were still tolerable but intense.  Danielle made me chuckle when I pulled down my gown to put the breast pump on, and she commented, "Oh the baby won't have any problem latching onto these!" We used the pump for an hour, 10 mins on and 10 mins off.  I could definitely feel the contractions intensifying and become more frequent.  They let my body rest for an hour with no more stimulation to see if that may have kick-started my body into regular contractions.  Now this is where my brain starts to go fuzzy...

...I know that eventually my contractions started dying out again and pitocin was our last option.  I was happy, though, because we exhausted all of our natural ways of progression.  They started it at the minimum dosage (2gtts/min).  I remember the contractions intensifying and began breathing hard and moaning through the contractions.  I didn't know who was in the room or what was being said because I was really concentrating on relaxing and blowing out the pain.  I shifted and changed positions, because all of my pain was in my back.  Having experienced normal labor and back labor, I can tell you that back labor SUCKS more!  There were people taking turns rubbing and massaging my lower back and legs, which I appreciate.  Heather was a great coach, talked to me gently, gave me places to go in my mind, she was amazing.  I was sitting on the birthing ball leaning on the side of the bed, breathing through the contractions, but eventually they got to a certain point when I couldn't take it anymore and I asked for Nubain.  I LOVE Nubain, I had it with KK, and it was just enough to kind of take the edge off for a little while and give my body a break and that's what I needed.  It was about midnight and I had been in labor since earlier in the day, I was tired and needed to rest my eyes.  After the medication I was finally able to close my eyes and rest for about an hour.  It was a wonderful hour...it was!  But I could tell when the meds wore off because the contractions were intense and they woke me up.

Saturday August 31

After laboring for an hour without any more medication, I realized that I couldn't do it anymore they were so intense and I was so tired.  I broke down and asked for an epidural, it was around 2:30am, about 16 hours after my water broke.  I kind of felt like I was giving up that I was a wuss, but it was so intense I thought I was going to die.  The initial poke of the numbing needle made me jump but the contractions I felt as I was curled up made it really difficult to sit still.  Once everything was in place both of my legs were becoming very numb and dead.  I needed help getting settled back into the bed.  I began to feel nauseous and threw up everything in my stomach, Mr H. was right by my side through all of it, even rubbing my shoulder as I puked (He MUST love me!).  I was so tired that once the epidural took effect, I closed my eyes and was knocked out for a little while.  I'm pretty sure that everyone else took a little nap too.

I wasn't able to get into a deep sleep, I could still feel pressure, I still needed vitals taken, and because I had an epidural I needed to be straight cathed every couple hours to make sure my bladder didn't get too full.  I missed my KK very much.  I hadn't seen him since early Friday morning after putting him in the bus.  I know he was being taken care of, but I still missed him lots!

Shift change was at 7am and we were bummed that Danielle wasn't going to be our nurse who helped our baby into the world, she had been great and respected our wishes.  She knew, however, that we did NOT want anyone like Dawna, so she made sure we got a nurse who would be like minded as her.  Our nurse was Lisa, who had someone orienting with her, was nice and they continued monitoring me.  They checked me and I was a 7, so I was told to rest.  I was excited to be a 7 because before that, I had been a 5 with no more progress.

Around 11am (I think!?) I started to feel some pressure and I asked to be checked and I was at a 10.  JM texted my dad to let him know I was ready to push very soon.  Even though I was at a 10, the baby was still high so they let me labor down.  After laboring down for about 20 mins, I started to feel some pretty good pressure.  I was checked and given the go-ahead to push, but Mr H. needed to run to the bathroom real quick.  Once he got back he saw KK and my dad in the hallway and brought KK into the room so that I could see him really quick before I started pushing.  It was so great seeing him, I missed him soo super much!  Once everything was situated I was given the green light to push.  The first push I blew out my air, instead of holding my breath, the midwife had me stop in the middle of that push and try again on the next contraction.  With the first real push I had the baby's head out, baby was suctioned, and the next contraction and push had the rest of the body out.  The baby was laid on my chest and it was so beautiful!

I was a little worried at first because the baby had a hard time breathing and moving the mucous out of its lungs.  The apgar scores were 8 and 9.  I finally lifted the baby up to see the gender and was pleasantly surprise to see boy parts, I cried, "It's a boy!"  During the whole pregnancy I thought the baby was a girl but was so happy to have a healthy little boy!  I was just in awe with my little boy!  I tore pretty good on both labia's and needed to be stitched up.  My birth coach needed to leave and go be with her family, I was grateful for all the help she gave me.  Mr H.'s reaction to seeing his first born son being brought into this world was priceless.  He was so emotional, it made me love him so much more...to see how much he valued and treasured this experience is just too difficult to put into words.  He got it!  He understood what a miracle this precious spirit is.

This is KK's reaction to hearing the baby cry for the first time.  I don't think I have EVER seen a more excited face on him than this one!

KK listening to the crying baby out in the hallway.  Notice the sandals he is wearing are mine!  lol

Once I was stitched up and decent my dad and KK came into the room to see the new baby.  I was so happy to see KK's reaction when he finally met his little brother.  He was over the moon!

I wish this picture was more clear, Mr H. was so happy to see his baby, he just couldn't get enough

First Family Photo

I love these boys

My children!  I get to say children and not child now!

I was so glad that it is done and he is here

Watching the nurse take the baby's vitals

  Hello World!  Meet Emron Thomas Hilsdorf, born August 31 at 11:54 am.  He weighed 7 pounds and 14 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.