Adeline's Birth Story

I'm still here and can't believe my sweet baby, that I longed to meet for so long, is over a week old! I'm trying to soak in every single moment--baby grunts and coos, breastfeeding, that precious newborn smell, sweet cuddles, and even late-night feedings and diaper changes.  It already goes by way too quickly! Her birth seems like it was just yesterday but at the same time seems like ages ago...we already wonder how in the world we went without her!

When I was pregnant, I found that reading birth stories was both intimidating and helpful.  Now that I've given birth I realize just how amazing and unique is that moment in life.  It was a time that brought Justin and I closer to each other as husband and wife and drew us nearer to God.  Ultimately, though, it was the moment in time that forever changed our world in a way we could have never imagined.

40 weeks

 Tuesday, November 8, 2011 (3 days past due date)

-I spent the day feeling more "normal" than the previous couple days.
-I had been having a lot of cramping in my stomach and back that felt like menstrual cramps.  I also had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks, but they had intensified and gotten to the point of me timing them a few times the past few days.
-I hung around the house for the cable guy to come and then went to lunch and out to run errands with my aunt and grandma.  (This may be TMI...) I had been losing my mucus plug for a few days, however, this day I felt extra leaking.
-I wondered all day if it was my water breaking and I didn't realize it...

-That evening I went to the bathroom while Justin was on the phone.  I still was wondering if my water had broken in a slow leak.  When I went to the bathroom I heard a "pop" sound that sounded similar to hard plastic cracking.  (Hard to explain.)  However, there was still nothing that for sure told me my water had broken and my contractions were not regular enough to time.
-I came out and told Justin that something was just off.  The pain wasn't getting my attention, but my body just seemed like it was kicking into gear.  (Again, hard to explain.)
-I went back and forth on if I should call my doctor.  Everything I had read and learned in our labor class said to always come to the hospital even if you just thought you water broke...since not getting attention can lead to infection if it did in fact break.
-I finally decided to call my doctor...which it ended up being the nurse on call.  She was NO HELP.  To put the story short, she basically said she didn't know what to tell me..."If you think your water broke, you should go.  But I can't tell you for sure what to do."  She was short, rude, and the phone conversation ended with me bawling in Justin's arms because she had been so rude with me and not any help.

10 pm--We decided to calmly get our bags, Justin gathered our "last minute" items, and we kissed Boone bye.

10:30--Got to hospital (I felt like the leaking had increased), we checked in, and they tested my leaking to see if it was amniotic fluid.  The results confirming enough to the nurse and she decided to call my doctor.

11:00--Word back from my doctor was for me to walk for 40 minutes, test again for amniotic fluid, and monitor Adeline's heart-rate for 20 minutes.  So Justin and I walked and walked for 40 minutes around the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital.  I think there was only one other couple there...it's like we had the place to ourselves.

11:40ish--We got back, the nurse got me situated in bed, and we continued to monitor Adeline's heartrate (which we became obsessed in listening to and watching).  I was having pretty consistent contractions but they weren't painful.  When the nurse left, she explained that we would probably be going home and asked me if my doctor was talking induction yet.  I explained that we were at my next appointment.  The nurse left and a few minutes later, we were watching the monitor. All the sudden, we started seeing the heartrate drop, and drop, and drop.  The monitors started going off and two nurses ran into my room and grabbed me to pull me to the opposite side and put oxygen on me.  Thank goodness, at this point, her heartrate started going back up.  I had had three contractions in a row and Adeline hadn't handled them well.  The nurse was close to giving me a shot (forget the name) to stop my contractions.  However, her little heartrate went back up and all was well.  The nurse responded with, "Well it looks like you've bought a ticket to stay."  We were beyond anxious over what had just happened.  Scariest moment of our lives.

Midnight--The nurses spoke with my doctor again and she decided that they would watch me overnight to see if I was going into labor myself.  If not, they would start pitocin to get labor going.  We finally called our parents to let them know we were at the hospital.  (We wanted to wait to see if were were staying before we let them know.)  They all decided to come early the next morning.  I was still very nervous and scared they would have to do an emergency c-section due to what had happened with her heartrate.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 (4 days past due)

We moved to our room in Labor and Delivery and were told to rest.  (Riiight.)  They finally gave me something to help me sleep (again, I forget the name) because they could tell I was anxious and obsessing over her heartrate.  At this point at night I was 1 1/2 cm dilated and 80% effaced.

our first nurse decorated our board when we got into our room

7:00 am--I was strep B positive, so they started my antibiotics.  My doctor came in and broke my water.  (Apparently it had never broken, but my body was giving me clues to get to the hospital!) They also decided to start pitocin because although I was having regular contractions, they weren't strong enough to make progress toward pushing.

Soon after this, our parents arrived.

11:00 am--I was 3 cm dilated, 100% effaced.  The nurse advised me to go ahead and tell her when my pain just increased enough to get my attention so that it would have enough time to kick in before the really painful contractions started.  Best. Advice. Ever.  (I later thanked her for this advice. Ha!) I asked for the epidural and he came in to start it right when my contractions were starting to be excruciating. It took a few really painful contractions for it to kick in

can't even begin to explain all the emotions

 11:30ish am--5-6 cm dilated.  Justin had just put in his lunch order with our family and we thought were were set in for quite a while.

1:30 pm--9 cm dilated...things were moving quickly.  They also checked for Adeline's position at this time and found that she was "sunny side up" (her face was up)--not ideal but workable.

2:30 pm--Adeline's heartrate dropped again to a scary point.  They checked me and I was 10 cm and the nurses scurried around again seemingly a bit worried about our sweet babe.  Again, I just knew this would lead to a c section.  The nurse called my doctor, who was at her office in the hospital, and I was told we would start pushing in 40 minutes.  Our nurse told Justin to go ahead and go out to the waiting room to let everyone know (there was quite the crowd at this point) that we would push in 40 minutes and it would probably take about 2 hours.  Longest 40 minutes of our lives! We watched every minute tick away, prayed together, shed some tears over anxiousness and excitement, and watched every move of her sweet heartrate on the monitor, just praying it wouldn't drop again.  (Funny side note...supposedly Justin seemed scared to death when he went out to tell family and he told them that for the first time in our relationship, I was the one keeping him calm.  Usually it's the opposite.  I'm sure it was the drugs. ;)

excited Daddy ready to meet his baby girl

3:30 pm--The doctor finally got there and we started pushing.  Again, this point was pretty scary because Adeline's heartrate started dropping each time I would push.  The doctors and nurses collaborated and still decided to have me continue pushing...they seemed confident that she would be okay, which calmed us down (to a certain point).  Supposedly since she was face-up, it was taking her longer to make her debut.  During this time, the doctor let me know that she was going to have to use a vacuum/suction device to try to get Adeline out.  However, due to all her hair, the suction wouldn't work.  They ended up having to use forceps to help Adeline out.

4:37 pm--After being in labor for about 9 hours and pushing for about 1 of that, Adeline Grace made her debut into this world! Her daddy hung out with her while they suctioned her, weighed her, and did all the other check-ups.  I was able to watch from the bed as they stitched me up.  After a few minutes, I was able to do "kangaroo care" with her, where she was laid on my chest skin-to-skin.

one of the first photos her daddy captured

already rocking a bow!

can't kiss those cheeks enough

she loves her daddy--this guy got complimented on by the nurses with his daddy skills

heading home

The rest of the hospital stay was great.  We had a wonderful experience, lots of visitors, and we have absolutely no complaints on how anything was handled by the hospital.  Although scary at times due to her little heartrate dropping, in the end, we have a sweet, healthy baby girl.  It was a blessing of an experience that we will always treasure!