Birth Story

Here it is. Kylie's birth story!

Monday 4/16
5:45am Lost mucous plug.

9:00ish Karen and I decided to go for a walk. We started walking and I felt a small gush. I bent over laughing and telling Karen, “I can’t stop peeing on myself”. I would take a few steps and have another gush and another big laugh. We walked about a mile and a half.

12:30 I’m still having uncontrollable gushes but I'm not sure if it's amniotic fluid or if the baby has shifted and is pressing on my bladder. Karen asks me to call the doctor’s office. The nurse on call tells me to head to the hospital for an exam. Karen packs our hospital bags.

2:15pm Arrive at hospital. A nurse confirms that I am losing amniotic fluid. She says we will be staying at the hospital.

3:20 Dr. Murray, the on-call doctor, conducts a speculum exam. My cervix is still long and not very thin.

4:50 Cervadil is inserted to ripen my cervix. Have to stay flat on the bed hooked to a fetal monitor for an hour.

6:00-10:00pm Taken off monitor. Walked around the maternity ward and bounced around on the birthing ball. Have a few mild contractions.

10:15pm I’m asked to shower to hydrate my veins. An internal exam shows no labor progress.

11:05-1:55am Pictocin drip is started. Start to have contractions on a regular basis. I’m hooked to a wireless monitor so that I can move around the room. Drip is increased twice and contractions become regular and very uncomfortable.

Tuesday, April 17th
2:00-4:15am This was the hardest part. I was having hard, powerful, make-you-cry-out contractions every two minutes. The contractions would last for 90 seconds, giving me only around 30 seconds of rest. Many times it felt like I would have four to six minute contractions before getting a break. Karen does a great coaching job encouraging me and loving on me through every contraction. But the hard and fast nature of these contractions for two hours has worn me down. Even while experiencing the worst pain of my life, I still manage to be funny. Karen tells me I had a string of curse words for several minutes that would have made a sailor blush. And at one point I asked her to take off her dang “Life is Good” tshirt insisting that life is really painful and that it just sucks.

4:15am I’m checked and I’m only 1 ½ cm dilated and 25% effaced. I’m told that the pictocin drip would have to be increased to speed things along. This is a hard blow because I can’t imagine labor getting any harder. I ask for an epidural.

5:05am Epidural is in. It takes the doctor two attempts and thirty minutes to get it in. I experience over ten contractions while in the hunched-over position praying that the epidural is going to work. Pictocin drip is increased.

5:35 I smile at Karen for the first time since 11pm the previous night. I tell her “this is the way to labor” and tell her I have absolutely no regrets in getting the epidural.

6:35 Nurse examines me and tells me that I’m 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. Pictocin is again increased.

7:00ish We meet Gayla, the wonder nurse. She has the most lovely disposition. Very calm and soothing and not at all chatty. Karen and I heave a sigh of relief and gratitude that this wonderful nurse will be delivering me.

8:10 My doctor comes in, examines me and tells me I’m 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. Pictocin is increased several times.

10:30 Start to have lots of bloody show. I’m 4-5cm dilated and 100% effaced.

11:00-1:00 Epidural feels like it’s worn off so at 11:00, I get it increased. Labor is in a very regular pattern. The baby’s heartrate has been fantastic throughout this entire labor process. At some point, it’s determined that the baby is facing up rather than facing down. Nurse Gayla puts me on my right side, almost on my belly, with my legs in a certain position to get the baby to move. Then we repeat this position on the left side. Because of this unique positioning and the fact that the baby is moving, Gayla stays at my side for two hours constantly moving the fetal monitor to assure that the baby is okay. When checked again, the baby is now facing down. My father arrives at the hospital from his flight from TN.

1:00 Once again, it feels as if the epidural has worn off. I’m really feeling those contractions again. But the good news is that I’m told that I’m ready to push.

1:00-3:28 Pushing for Kylie. Around 3:00 I ask for the epidural to be increased one last time. Thank God I did that because her head crowned for over 30 minutes. For a half hour I can see her lovely brown hair in the mirror at the bottom of the bed. Karen places a pillow behind my head and for every push during these two and a half hours, she gets her arm under the pillow to lift and support my head and neck. At the same time, she’s helping me to pull back on my legs. After each push, she wipes my face and neck with a cool washcloth and tells me what a great job I’m doing.
The labor room environment is perfect for me. Only one person is talking at a time (one of my greatest fears was that lots of people would be yelling at me during the pushing) and their voices are low yet very supportive and encouraging. There are lots of excited smiles and sweet, loving comments.

3:28 Kylie is born. Karen cuts the cord. My dad takes lots of pictures. The sight and feel of my daughter, here at last, is beyond description and beyond words.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things to add to this birth story as soon as I post it. As I read over it, it strikes me as a “just-the-facts” kind of story, but right now I can’t begin to touch on all of the emotional and spiritual aspects of the birth.

Thank you to everyone for all of your comments, your well wishes and your prayers. They mean more to me that you know.

-Wendy