First of all, I have to say... I LOVED labor and delivery!!! It was a wonderful experience. So unique and beautiful. I'm stoked to do it again. :)
So Wednesday afternoon on July 8, 2009 at 2:30, I called my doctors office because I had been feeling really wet all day and began to have a red discharge. When I asked them if it was a big deal or not, they said that I should probably come in and get checked. So I called Payden to come home from doing homework on campus, and at 3:00 we went in. My doctor wasn't scheduled in the office that day so I saw a different doctor. He checked me and I was the same as I was two days before at my check up, dilated to a 2 and 95% effaced. After that exam he used some chemical reacting paper and checked if my water was leaking because I was feeling so wet. In fact it was! I didn't quite know how to react cause up until this point, it was me just being really paranoid about everything while everything was really normal. So my water was leaking and had been since the night before so he called my doctor and sent us over to the hospital to HAVE OUR BABY!!! :) We couldn't believe it! We ran home to change clothes and to get our bags we had packed and I ate something. (very important to eat something before you go to the hospital, once you get there they won't let you eat a thing! I am not one to easily go without food.)
We arrived and got checked in at the hospital at 4pm Dr. Watson was already there waiting for me. He checked me again after I got dressed in my "pretty" nightgown and then decided to fully brake my water. This was an experiece let me tell you! It didn't hurt at all but it was very unique. He takes this long croquet hook thing and brakes your water. When he does this it feels like the mississippi river is flowing out of you at a boiling temperature! It just keeps coming! Payden's eyes were huge and he called me a camel for holding in all that water. haha Dr. Watson was sitting on the bed but he had to get up cause it flooded everywhere and he almost got drenched.
So I had had some contractions before this but nothing steady like they should be. After he broke my water almost instantly, I started having contrations 2-3 min apart and lasting for about 50 - 80 seconds each. They started out not bad but they grew stronger and stronger by the moment. We were told that labor could last quite a long time so I decided I needed to stay busy ad keep my mind off the contractions. Ash had met up with us at the hospital at this time and brought me a coloring book and some dice so Payden and I could play our favorite dice game. Coloring didn't last too long until I was bored and then we started to play a game of dice.
I really couldn't focus much on playing at this point because my contractions were so strong and frequent. The anesthesiologist was busy and about to go into a surgery so my nurse gave me some medicine through my IV to hold me over until the other anesthesiologist could be called in to come and give me my epidural. At this point I was almost dilated to a 4 and they told me I could have it whenever I wanted. I WANTED.
I felt nothing more then the prick of the needle to numb me before the epidural was put in. Really the IV hurt worse! By this point I was just really tired from the pain meds before the epidural. Within 10 min I no longer felt my contractions at all!!! THANK HEAVENS! From now on I pretty much just chilled and relaxed. Every now and then I would try and get a little sleep and I could no longer have water, only ice chips, so Payden was feeding those to me. With an epidural you have to stay propped up on your side so ever hour I was switching sides, all the while being completely obsessed with being able to hear Braylies' heartbeat and making sure the monitors were up load enough and that they were in the right spots. When I went to sleep Braylie got really sleepy too and her heart rate went down so the nurses were keeping an eye on it.
Occasionally I needed to wear on oxygen mask to make sure that she was getting enough. One time it went really low so the nurse had to come in and tickle her head to wake her up and it automatically went up after she did that. The nurse then told us that she thought she would have a lot of hair just from feeling her head. We had no idea that she would come out with as much as she did!
I threw up once from eating too many ice chips... :) what can I say when I can't eat or drink, this was the next best thing.
During delivery I had Payden of course, my twin sister Ashley, my mom, and my sister Kim.
My dad was there but outside the room...
It was really nice to experience this with them. It was also really comforting. I started pushing at 4:30 in the morning on Thursday the 9th and she was born at 6:10 that morning. Braylie came face up instead of face down how they usually are born so it was a lttle more traumatic for the both of us then it would normally be. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and her heartbeat was dropping really low and the doctor was getting worried so he used the vaccum to help get her out quicker. Because of this she was born with a bump on her head with a bruise and a couple really small scabs. The swelling went down in a couple hours and the bruise was gone in a couple days and then a week later the scabs were gone.
It really only hurt to push the last ten min of pushing. I just loved the whole experience though! She was so beautiful when she came out and she had her eyes wide open and looking at me. :) I couldn't believe that she was inside me that whole time and now here she is. It was absolutely amazing! There is nothing like being a mother and having that instant love and instinct kick in for your child.
I am so glad that I got the epidural! I really got to enjoy and love the labor and delivery process instead of just being in pain and being mad the whole time. I can now look back and feel very positive about it.
The First Family Picture:
