Milly's Birth Story

On Tuesday April 12, 2016 at 9:45 a.m. I had my 37 week OB appointment with Dr. Huynh. I dropped Ruby and Ivy off at Marci's at 9:00 a.m. to make it to my appointment a half an hour early so I could be monitored through an NST and fluid check. This happened because the previous week I had a 36 weeks growth scan and was told that Milly had dropped from the 20% at 30 weeks to the 5.8% at 36 weeks, but later that same day had a Doppler/growth scan in the radiology department of the hospital where the scan showed everything was behind except for the belly measurement, which apparently that is the most crucial one they go by. So from all those findings Dr. Huynh decided to just monitor me.

Anyway, back to my 37 week appointment. The NST went well and Dr. Huynh checked my amniotic fluid which was good too. From there she checked my cervix which was only 1 cm and no effacement whatsoever. She also said that by feeling my belly Milly was still way up high. I asked her to strip my membranes, knowing that it would only do something if my body was going to do it on it's own. Dr. Huynh reminded me that if it was going to work it would work within 48 hours, and then she stripped me. I immediately went from 1 cm to 2 1/2 cm. I left the office feeling defeated. I had been effaced with the other kids by this time, and I was so sure that I wasn't going to make Emily and Mordecai's school play because my luck would be that Milly wouldn't come early like the others had. When I picked Ruby and Ivy up from Marci's I complained to her and then called Cherstin to complain and then texted Wanda complaining during Mordecai's piano lesson.

After my appointment I took a nap, and didn't feel anything. No cramping, no bleeding, bloating, etc. Then later that night after Mike and I bathed kids and put them to bed we settled down on the couch to watch a show. While watching a show I had one tight Braxton hicks contraction and that was it, and it didn't surprise me because that was when Milly was active and I would have a few Braxton hicks tightening. We went to bed about 10:30 p.m. like normal.

I woke up at 2:30/3:00 a.m. to Mordecai turning on his bedroom light, he had a bad dream, and when I got back in bed I felt a little off. There wasn't any pain, tightening, contractions or anything I just felt different. About 3:30 a.m. I woke up to go to the bathroom again and when I wiped there was some blood and discharge which I dismissed because I knew spotting could happen from having my membranes stripped, but when I climbed back in bed I felt a tightening contraction. Then another one 10 minutes later. I started to time them and they were coming every 10 minutes but there was no pain. I decided I would text Mom to see what her thoughts were, but she was sleeping of course. Finally about 4:00 a.m. I was starting to think I possibly could be in labor and went downstairs to watch some TV and time them some more. About this time they got farther apart like 13-15 minutes and I decided they weren't real, because if they were real they would get closer not farther apart, and they would start being painful, which they weren't. At 5:00 a.m. I went back upstairs to go back to bed and slept for about an hour when I was rudely awoken by a super tight contraction at 6:00 a.m. and then another one 13 minutes later. Then as I was trying to go back to bed my Mom finally texted me back asking what was wrong. I slid out of bed and when downstairs to call her and tell her what I had been experieincing. While talking to her I had another tightening contraction and this one I kind of had to breath through. Mom told me she thought I was in labor, but because I was so unsure to monitor them for another half an hour and then I would know for sure. Around this time, 7:00 a.m., Mike was waking up and so were the kids because it was time for the morning rush for school. I alerted Mike and then we talked to the older kids so they knew what was going on, and then we did our morning routine. We showered, I made lunches and Mike took the kids to school. During all of this the contractions were still there and coming every 10 minutes, some more stronger than others. We called our friend Laura who had 'warned' me that I better call her if something happened before Mom got here and then we called Dr. Huynh to see if she wanted me to come to her office or labor and delivery. Laura got here and Mike and I were very grateful for her because we knew the younger girls were in good hands.  

We got to the hospital and checked in to triage about 9:30 a.m. By the time I was hooked up to monitors I was having contractions about every 5 minutes. When our nurse Betsy checked me at 9:53 a.m. I was 4 cm and 50% effaced, which was a big change from the day prior so they admitted me, especially since this was our 5th baby. We got to our room, 252, at 10:59 a.m. and then was monitored for another 30 minutes and started my IV, which took 3 nurses and 2 tries with a blown vein, before they let me get up and walk the halls. I was uncomfortable by this point, contractions were getting stronger and sometimes I felt like my water was going to break.

At 1:00 p.m. Dr. Huynh showed up to check me and recommended that I get my epidural because the anesthesiologist was going to be getting out of a C-section soon and there were a lot of other women in labor. Up until this point I hadn't wanted to get the epidural for fear of stalling labor. At 1:13 p.m. I was 6 cm and 90% effaced. At this time contractions were getting intense so Betsy called for the back up anesthesiologist and I had my epidural by 2:00 p.m. Dr. Huynh came back at 3:45 p.m. and broke my water and advised us that even though I was so numb I could and would still feel pressure for when Milly came down and she was sure I would have a baby within the hour. I did feel pressure and when Betsy checked me and I was complete and she could feel her head coming out when I talked/laughed. Betsy called Dr. Huynh down about 4:15 p.m. Dr. Huynh, ran to our room and quickly gowned up while Betsy disassembled the bed and then within one contraction Milly Ann was born at 4:26 p.m. weighing in at 6 pounds 2.4 ounces, 20 inches long and a 13 inch head.

Shortly after Milly was born Mike raced to Emily's first Tashco piano competition. We were hoping to not go into labor until after her competition so we could all attend, but obviously that didn't happen. Emily did well...there were some mistakes but I think it was because of the chaos of the day.

Friday the 15th Milly had a weight check and she was in the 5% for weight weighing 5 lbs 10 oz. Just yesterday the 20th, she had a one week weight check and she gained 3 ounces, 5 lbs 13 oz, and went up to the 7%. My milk came in on day 3 which I think has been helpful. Milly sleeps really well at night waking up only once between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. and then again around 5:00/5:30 a.m. to feed and goes right back to sleep immediatlye.

We were so grateful for all of our friends help in getting kids home from school, to piano lessons, and competition, plus all the dinners and meals. We feel truly blessed.