Labor Story (per request)

So several days in a row prior I had been having contractions at night (start around 8pm'ish), as frequent as every 5 minutes, but they would then go away when I'd lay down to go to sleep. Well on Thursday I started having them earlier in the day (like at 4:30pm). So here is the brief "low down" of events:

-3:30pm Trestin randomly starts vomiting. No fever, no diarrhea, no acting sick.



-4 pm take Than to chiropractor in Colfax



-4:15pm pretty good contraction, "Ooh! This is starting early today! Maybe it means something... no! Probably not!" I didn't want to get my hopes up



-6:00pm eating dinner, ctx (aka contractions) fairly strong ones about every 15-30 minutes



-8pm Garrick & Aleksia to bed, Trestin chillin' on the couch with me since he's still puking up everything he eats, and he's been wanting/trying to eat food. So not wanting to put him in bed to then be changing and changing and changing sheets/clothes he watches a movie with me (The Wedding Date, I love that movie! Such a chick flick)



-9pm Ctx every 10-15 minutes, and getting alittle stronger. Still not wanting to get my hopes up, I tell myself that they aren't the real thing, and decide to go put Trestin down (he hadn't puked in over 1 hour) and go lay down so they will go away, like they where doing all week long!



-11pm after laying down (watched Mad Money on computer via Netflicks watch now thing) contractions are alittle stronger, breathing through some, but they are 10 minutes apart. Now realize I've never had to make the decision to go to the hospital, it's always been made for me. With Garrick I had been in early labor for 1 1/2 days, went to my dr apt and he said, "You're a 3, go to the hospital!" And with Aleksia and Trestin my water broke, so that's an automatic ticket to the hospital. So I felt weird, being an L&D nurse, going to the hospital with ctx 1o minutes apart. "And what if they calm down and go away like all the other times! Then I'd feel like and idiot, and be sent home!" "No, then I'd just ask to be induced now instead of Monday." (yes I was having a conversation in my head with myself!) So I went to talk with Than. "It's up to you honey! But it would be better to drop off kids sooner then later!" I agreed, but felt horrible taking a puking Trestin to the Johnson's, who has 3 kids! *Tara, I really hope you're kids don't get sick! If they do, feel free to shoot me!* So we made some calls, and Than went to drop off kids as I finished getting ready to go (all the while thinking, "Oh I hope I made the right decision and this is the real thing!!!"



-12:25 arrive at the hospital. Now a traveling L&D RN was found to cover for me while on leave, well that was her FIRST night! Poor thing, welcome to WHMC, now deliver a baby while not knowing where stuff is! Well another L&D RN was called in to help her, who I really wanted to have in on the delivery anyways (I love all those I work with, but have created a special bond with this wonderful lady, and since this is 99% sure to be our last, I really wanted her). So it worked out perfect!



-1am checked and I was 4 cm! Anesthesia called for an epidural (luckily the one that was on lives 2 minutes away and not the one that lives in Spangle, which is over 1 hour away! This is my lucky day!)



-1:30am got my epidural. Actually once anesthesia arrived, the ctx got ALOT stronger! After I got up to pee just prior to my epidural I started getting the shakes (remember that), but just my legs



-1:50am by now my whole body was shaking (toes to teeth, Than was laughing at me because my teeth kept chattering, so I'd have to clench my teeth together). But the epidural was working! Instead of breathing through ctx, I was breathing to focus on not shaking so violently. I was feeling alot more pressure, but the pain was 80% gone! So since it was, and I was shaking, they checked me, and I was a 10! Wow, that was fast! 4 to 10 in an hour! So back when I was starting to get shaky, I was already hitting transition (the phase of labor when you go from 7-10 cm and can get shaky and panic-y). So those 3-4 ctx once anesthesia arrived that where alot more intense where very effective ones! So the doctor was called, and reluctantly came in, because he didn't fully believe that I had progressed that fast. Well I did!

-2:05am my water broke on it's own. I'm feeling ALOT of pressure, could push, but luckily with the epidural I didn't have the intense pain or the uncontrollable urge to push! So yet again, I was breathing to not push and wait for the doctor to arrive

-2:10am Doctor arrives, and I tell him, "Get you're gloves on!" Apparently he was out in the hallway chatting with the CRNA (anesthesia) and the RN had to tell him we needed him now. He was finally convinced when they got me into position while he got his gloves and gown on and he said, "Oh, wow, there's the head!" WE TOLD YOU!!!! Is what I wanted to scream, but I didn't. I love my doctor, but come on!

-2:15am So after one and a half pushes she was out! Apparently she was anxious to get out too, because once she got out past her eye brows her right arm shot out, almost reaching to be pulled out the rest of the way. Thanks to her arm and a fast delivery (slower helps things to stretch therefore preventing tears or typically the need for episiotomies) I got a small tear.

-Since she came so fast, they took her from my chest briefly to check her out, then brought her back. In all my breastfeeding classes, they showed us a video on Self Attachment, which was amazing! Baby is put on mom's abdomen after delivery, and with no help from mom, baby literally climbs up and latches on for the first nursing! None of my patients have ever wanted to do it, and since this is 99% sure to be our last, I wanted to try it! I'll spare you details, but it was amazing! She literally crawled up and latched on all by herself! It was a wonderful way to end the whole experience!

The whole thing couldn't have gone better! I was able to be taken care of during the whole thing by a dear friend who I absolutely love, actually by two wonderful RN's during delivery (a traveling RN that was wonderful, they couldn't have chosen a better person to cover for me while on leave!!!), it was a fairly quick process without alot of long and drawn out pain (short and quick which is more doable then long and drawn out), had a wonderful/loving/supportive husband by my side, wonderful friends to watch our children even though Trestin was sick (thank you sooooo much Tara Johnson and Rachel Packer!!!), and then the self attachment at the end! Way back before delivering Garrick I was kinda nervous to be delivering where I work, but now I wouldn't have wanted to deliver any where else! It's so nice to be in a familiar environment, to have the people I know around me and taking care of me. I truly work with the best people in the world! Thanks to all those that came to see us on their day off, or took a break from work to come say "Hi!" Now I think our family is complete, two boys and two girls, perfect!