The week of Hallie's birth (Nov 6th) I took off of work and officially started my maternity leave. I crocheted, napped, and basically did whatever I wanted to because I knew that would change shortly. That whole week, I wasn't feeling any contractions. Well, any more than usual. I thought they were supposed to get more intense the closer I was to delivering. My family placed bets on when she would get here and they were all later than her due date (jerks). I didn't even think it was going to happen that week either because I was feeling too good. I knew she had dropped because she dropped at 36 weeks.
So, Friday morning (Nov 10th), I woke up with "bad" contractions at 3am and was wide awake. So I thought I would crochet something for a baby shower coming up to get it done. I finished it around 6:30 and went to wake Nate up so he could go to work. Feeling the effects of being awake since 3:30, I layed down in bed. Around 6:45 am, I turned over and noticed that I either peed or something was happening. In fact, I said to Nate, "I just peed the bed" I went to the bathroom and noticed that it was not pee, but amniotic fluid. My amniotic sac had a hole in it. We looked in the toilet, and sure enough, it was really clear. Nate started freaking out and was like, "we've got to get to the hospital!!" We both knew we were having a baby today!
I felt gross so I decided to shower and shave while I could, so I took a hot shower and Nate was just pacing back and forth saying, "are you done yet?" "why are you in the shower??" "We gotta go!" We frantically made sure our hospital bag - which had been packed for weeks- was ready (or so we thought. Neither of us had packed more than one shirt...)
We got to Jordan Valley at 7:50 am and were admitted at 8:00 am. I knew it was going to be a long day because I was still only dilated to a 3. Our nurse was Wendy and she was wonderful. Dr. Wilson came in at around 9:20 am. and broke the rest of my amniotic sac. Before that point, it was just a slow trickle, but after he ruptured the lower part of the sac, it was all gushing out in one fell swoop.
After that, we just waited for nature to take it's course.
Wendy checked me again in about an hour and I was still at a 3 so they gave me Pitocin and we waited some more. I was at a 6 when I opted for the epidural at around 2pm. After that, I was able to sleep which was good because I had been up since 3 am that morning.
Finally, Wendy came in at about 3:30 pm because i was cold and needed a blanket. I was at a 10 and was ready to start pushing. I pushed with Wendy 2 sets of 3 pushes in a row. Hallie's head was already dropped into the birth canal. In fact, after I had pushed those 6 times, they were all like, "Oh, we better call the doctor". So Wendy had called Dr. Wilson and it took him about 30 minutes to arrive to the hospital. He prepped my cervix, I pushed for 10 minutes, and at 4:14 pm, I gave birth to my baby girl! 7 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long. It was such a surreal moment. She was absolutely perfect. We were a family of 3! They put her on my chest and I was just in shock.
Then I started to shake, which is normal apparently. The hardest part wasn't the delivery, but the delivery of the placenta. My placenta had been at the front of my stomach and was really attached. So much that the doctor had to try and get way up in there and try to pull the cord to release the placenta. This is where I was glad I had the epidural, because it would have been extremely painful. He ended up having to cut it out in sections. I was also bleeding quite a bit and had a second-degree tear that he was stitching up.
Once I was taken care of, my family and Nate's family came to visit her and took pictures for a while. Hallie got her first shots and then it was time to move to the recovery room. Everyone went to that room and the nurses stayed with me because I was still recovering from the epidural. They told me they could take the catheder out if I could go to the bathroom on my own. I made it to the toilet, but then everything started to get real dark and dizzy. I passed out a couple of times but finally got to a wheelchair and then the bed. It was such a weird feeling. We got the the room and Nate and Hallie were waiting for me. Then I tried to nurse Hallie...
Nursing is tough. It is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. In the hospital, I wasn't producing enough and so she was grumpy a lot. We put her in the nursery at night because we wanted to get some sleep and I wish I hadn't done that. She got used to the small nipple and easy flow of formula so when I tried to nurse, she would just scream. We tried what's called SNS where it's a drip system that attaches to your nipple via tape and so she gets the feeling of nursing with the nutrition of formula. It was incredibly messy and frustrating. I will talk about nursing and the first week home in my next post.
We had two nurses during our stay there and ironically enough, they both had a daughter named Hallie. They took really good care of me and it was nice to just spend time with Nate at the hospital and marvel over the miracle my body just made. I was discharged Sunday afternoon and that's where the real fun starts! We love our little Hallie Mae. I loved her cut go-home outfit.
We got to Jordan Valley at 7:50 am and were admitted at 8:00 am. I knew it was going to be a long day because I was still only dilated to a 3. Our nurse was Wendy and she was wonderful. Dr. Wilson came in at around 9:20 am. and broke the rest of my amniotic sac. Before that point, it was just a slow trickle, but after he ruptured the lower part of the sac, it was all gushing out in one fell swoop.
After that, we just waited for nature to take it's course.
Wendy checked me again in about an hour and I was still at a 3 so they gave me Pitocin and we waited some more. I was at a 6 when I opted for the epidural at around 2pm. After that, I was able to sleep which was good because I had been up since 3 am that morning.
Finally, Wendy came in at about 3:30 pm because i was cold and needed a blanket. I was at a 10 and was ready to start pushing. I pushed with Wendy 2 sets of 3 pushes in a row. Hallie's head was already dropped into the birth canal. In fact, after I had pushed those 6 times, they were all like, "Oh, we better call the doctor". So Wendy had called Dr. Wilson and it took him about 30 minutes to arrive to the hospital. He prepped my cervix, I pushed for 10 minutes, and at 4:14 pm, I gave birth to my baby girl! 7 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long. It was such a surreal moment. She was absolutely perfect. We were a family of 3! They put her on my chest and I was just in shock.
Then I started to shake, which is normal apparently. The hardest part wasn't the delivery, but the delivery of the placenta. My placenta had been at the front of my stomach and was really attached. So much that the doctor had to try and get way up in there and try to pull the cord to release the placenta. This is where I was glad I had the epidural, because it would have been extremely painful. He ended up having to cut it out in sections. I was also bleeding quite a bit and had a second-degree tear that he was stitching up.
Once I was taken care of, my family and Nate's family came to visit her and took pictures for a while. Hallie got her first shots and then it was time to move to the recovery room. Everyone went to that room and the nurses stayed with me because I was still recovering from the epidural. They told me they could take the catheder out if I could go to the bathroom on my own. I made it to the toilet, but then everything started to get real dark and dizzy. I passed out a couple of times but finally got to a wheelchair and then the bed. It was such a weird feeling. We got the the room and Nate and Hallie were waiting for me. Then I tried to nurse Hallie...
Nursing is tough. It is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. In the hospital, I wasn't producing enough and so she was grumpy a lot. We put her in the nursery at night because we wanted to get some sleep and I wish I hadn't done that. She got used to the small nipple and easy flow of formula so when I tried to nurse, she would just scream. We tried what's called SNS where it's a drip system that attaches to your nipple via tape and so she gets the feeling of nursing with the nutrition of formula. It was incredibly messy and frustrating. I will talk about nursing and the first week home in my next post.
We had two nurses during our stay there and ironically enough, they both had a daughter named Hallie. They took really good care of me and it was nice to just spend time with Nate at the hospital and marvel over the miracle my body just made. I was discharged Sunday afternoon and that's where the real fun starts! We love our little Hallie Mae. I loved her cut go-home outfit.
