Ivy's Birth Story

Last night I went out to get some frozen yogurt with Marci and Mine for my last independent outing sans kids for a while.  As we were sitting and just visiting I started to get a little anxious/nervous for what was going to happen and change today.  After I got back I packed some toiletries and clothes and then took a Tylenol PM to help me sleep, which did nothing at all.

This morning came way too quick not to mention early.  I got up at 4:45 a.m., probably from the nerves. I was supposed to be at the hospital by 6:30 a.m., so I got up, showered, ate breakfast, packed Emily's lunch, packed the rest of my stuff and headed off to the hospital. The plan was for Mike to stay and help Mom with getting the kids ready for the day and get Emily off to school and then meet me at the hospital.

I checked in on time. It felt really surreal thinking that by the end of the day I was going to have another little girl. I got my I.V. started, hooked up to the monitors and my first bag of antibiotics when Dr. Huynh showed up at 7:30 a.m. I was having small braxton hicks contractions showing up on the monitor when she got there.  She checked my cervix, which was at 2cm but still 50 % effaced.  She then explained what the cervadil gel was going to do and the process of putting it in. She felt the gel would surely work since I was already dilated and effaced and because this was my fourth child. The gel was placed at 8:04 a.m.  Her inserting the gel was not the most comfortable feeling.

I was to stay in bed for as close to an hour and then I was free to get up and walk around. At the hour mark I couldn't stand it any longer and I got up and went to the bathroom.  Claudia, my nurse, had made a comment that another nurse who had the gel said it feels like like a burning sensation or like fire crackers going off inside your vagina. I think that was an accurate explanation.  Mike finally got there around 9:00 a.m. after dropping off Emily, a gas stop, and a potty stop for Mordecai.  By the time he got there I was already having tightening contractions but nothing painful. I was cautioned to go by what I was feeling as opposed to the monitors because my belly was so small the monitor might not pick up what they actually were at.  We went to walk the halls, which felt eerily familiar to Ruby's labor day.  By our 3rd time around I was having so much pressure in my bottom area that I decided I didn't want to walk around anymore.  Claudia brought in the the birthing ball and that was the best position to sit. She checked the baby and me and I was still only a 2.  I opted for a walking epidural and that was oh-so-nice. Around 11:30 a.m. I got my second dose of antibiotics and then opted for a regular epidural since the pressure was getting pretty strong. Once the epidural was in I went from 2cm to 4cm and  I also went from 50% effaced to 90% effaced within an hour.  Dr. Huynh showed up around 12:30/12:45 p.m. like she said she would and broke my water. While she was breaking my water she told me I was a 4 and then emptied more water out and then said, "And now you are at a 5." Mike and Claudia had a small bet as to when she would be born. Mike said 2:00 p.m. and Claudia said before 1:30 p.m. I wasn't so sure.  I was so numb that I thought it would be a while before I felt anything, but Dr. Huynh was telling me that if I felt any pressure or pain to have Claudia check me because she thought it would be very soon.  Around 1:15 p.m. I started to feel a little more pain again and by this time Claudia was in my room checking the monitor.  While she was doing that she got a call from Dr. Huynh who was also watching the monitor from her office. She asked Claudia to check me and when she did she got back on the phone and said, "Yeah, you should come on down there is a head there." I immediately felt overwhelmed.  I still couldn't hardly feel anything and I was thinking, "I can't be ready, I can't feel anything, how am I going to know how to push???"  Before I knew it Dr. Huynh was there and the NICU nurses and it was time to push. Dr. Huynh said that when she said to stop pushing I needed to because she felt like she was going to come fast and if she came too quickly she could tear me or have breathing distress.  I did half a push and was told to stop so she could get the shoulder out, then pushed the rest of the way and she was out.  I couldn't believe it!!! One push! She was so easy. She was born at 1:27 p.m. (Claudia won) and weighed 4lbs. 3oz. and was 17 1/2 inches long.  I really did think she was going to be bigger, but I was wrong, clearly. When Mike went to cut her cord he made a comment about how her cord and placenta didn't look 'right' or 'normal' persay. Dr. Huynh agreed and said that that is the reason she was probably having problems growing. We wont know anything for sure until probably my 6 week post-partum check because we have to wait on the pathology report.

Her APGAR scores were 8's and 9's, and everything about her is perfect. We are lucky that her lungs and heart are fine.  We don't get to go home until Thursday which is a day longer than I am used to because they need to make sure her blood sugars are okay and that she can keep warm on her own. We are supplementing with a syringe of formula until my milk comes in to make sure she doesn't lose too much weight so she can come home. We all just love her so much and are really glad she is healthy.