Warning! Talk of child birth coming at you!
Sunday, September 8
I had contractions all through the morning and afternoon. They didn't hurt at all and they weren't coming in regular intervals. I took a nap in the afternoon, anticipating possible labor through the night/early morning. Contractions seemed to stop around 4pm so we took the dogs for a long walk around the neighborhood. When we got back home, I bounced on the exercise ball for a little while and then we got some Taco Bell for dinner. I went to bed early and I just wanted to get some more rest for whenever labor would begin.
Monday, September 9
I woke up around 6:45-7am to let the dogs out to the bathroom. While I was waiting for them to come inside I felt one drop of liquid running down my right leg. I wiped it away and didn't think anything of it until I felt one more drop running down my left leg. I let the dogs back inside and used the bathroom. There was my mucus plug. I woke Angel up and told him I thought my water may have broken. I called the doctor and they suggested that we come in to get checked out. They told us to take our time but not to wait too long. So, we packed our bags into the car and set up the dogs going away bag and headed in.
We got to the doctor's office around 9am and they confirmed that my water had broken and that they would be admitting me into the hospital at that time. We asked if it would be okay for us to go home for a little "to get our things" but really we wanted to get some breakfast before the long labor journey. I still wasn't having any contractions at this time.
We went to Park City Diner and had a nice breakfast before heading back into the hospital. I was sent to our room where I was told to change into a hospital gown, scrub my belly, remove all of my jewelry, and get comfortable. A few of the people working in the hospital had mentioned me being there for an induction. We weren't really sure what was happening at this point so I finally asked the nurse if I was being induced. She said "that's what all this is prepping for".
They had me answer a ton of questions and put monitors on us to watch me and baby. At this time, I found out I was a fingertip dilated, 50% effaced, and -4 station. AKA nowhere near ready to give birth yet.
At 1:45 pm, they took off the monitors and said they wanted to see what would happen naturally, if my body would send itself into labor. They would put me back on the monitors every 3 hours but for now I was allowed to get up and walk around if I wanted to. Angel and I took a walk through the halls and tried to get comfortable.
Around 4 pm they came back to draw blood, monitor, and get me started on Cytotec to thin my cervix.
Around 6:45 pm I got hooked back onto the monitor. I was starting to have contractions at this time, pains in my lower back and period like cramps. They said they would come back around 7 pm to possibly start Cervadil to help thin and open the cervix.
I didn't see anyone again until 9 pm. I was having terrible back pains through the contractions. The contractions were strong but not in a regular pattern. Not sure if I could take another 12 hours of that feeling, I asked about pain medication.
At 9:30 pm, they checked me again. I was now 1cm dilated, 80% effaced, and -2 station. I felt like it was a long road to go still. They started me on Pitocin and got me an IV for pain meds.
Tuesday, September 10
Around midnight, I realized that my pain meds had worn off. I was having painful back contractions again and asked to use the jacuzzi tub. I was not allowed to use the jets because I was hooked up to monitors so the tub didn't really do anything to help me. I then asked for the epidural.
1:30 am - I got some rest. The midwife came in and fully broke my water. At this point I was 4 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and -1 station. My entire body was shaking uncontrollably from the hormones. The midwife said "she has a lot of thick hair".
I woke again around 4am to really bad shakes and returning pain. The nurse checked me and said I as 9.5cm dilated and would be ready to start pushing soon.
At 5am we started pushing. We pushed for 2 and a half hours but to me it felt like maybe 20 minutes. I had lost all concept of time and was very hot. I asked for multiple cold cloths for my forehead while Angel stood beside me in sweatpants and a sweatshirt.
Estella Selene was born at 7:23 am on Tuesday, September 10. She weighed in at 7 lb and 15.9 oz. She was 19 3/4" long. Coincidentally, on September 10 eight years ago, Angel and I went out together for the first time. It was the time when I knew we belonged together. Tuesday's are also special to us, when we worked off season together at Dutch Wonderland, we both had off on Tuesday's so that we could spend one day out of the week together. We were also married on a Tuesday.
Post delivery was incredibly painful. I felt nauseated and weak. My body was in terrible pain. I was cold and shaking and felt like I was going to pass out. We discovered that the main source of my pain was coming from my tail bone (as well as the typical swelling and stitches from my 4th degree tear). I was given medication for my bone pain but was told it could last a couple weeks. Estella has a very strong neck for a baby and we think she was leaning her head back, causing my tail bone to shift.
Postpartum (the 4th trimester)
Postpartum was pretty rough for me. I continued to have a lot of pain and limited mobility for a number of weeks after delivery. We spent most of our time sitting on the couch with a heating pad and very little movement.
We had a bit of trouble with breastfeeding in the beginning. Estella was not latching and it was incredibly frustrating. We began to supplement with formula but I did not give up. I met with the lactation consultants at Women and Babies 3 different times to get tips and help. We took a 3 day break from breastfeeding, and when I decided to try again, it just clicked. We had a long and successful breastfeeding journey from that moment on (until about 15 months of age).
Newborn photos by Whitney Luciano of Left of Center Photo
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