It was Monday June 1st. I started having contractions, (like I had been for the past several weeks)-but this time they were pretty consistent. Our house was landscaped, the carpets clean and I had taken on twenty new projects ;) it was time for baby! I had been keeping Brandon in the loop all day, and since he was just as impatient as I was-said, "If you're still having them by the time I get home from work, we're going in. Now go take miss ads for another walk"
Yes Sir!
Guess what? They continued, and by the time Brandon got home all of our bags were packed into the car and Adelie was all set for Nana and Papas.
We wanted to be sure I would be admitted before making them meet us at the hospital, so while I was being monitored and checked, Adelie and Brandon had a little daddy/daughter bonding in the cafeteria.
We had arrived at triage around 6:30pm-I was still 2cm dilated and about 65% effaced, but I was contracting like crazy. They wanted progress so I was instructed to bounce on the birthing ball to encourage my cervix to dilate. So bounce away I did, all the while exchanging snap chat videos of the shenanigans with Brandon and Adelie. Should have saved those-they were quite hysterical!
The nurse said because I was so close to my due date there was no way I would be sent home contracting like this, so we called Nana to come get Ads and Brandon made his way back into our room. Fast forward through a few more checks and tons more bouncing- I was finally at a 4 and officially being admitted! All loaded into the extra wide wheelchair, we made our way upstairs into the birthing room.
With Adelie-they gave me something to sleep and we started back up in the morning- I don't know why I thought this would happen, but this time, that was not the case!
We were going to keep going! Push right through the night! It was now about 11:30pm and I had placed the call to my Aunt Jo (my photographer/birthing coach/life coach) to head on up-she was just getting off work and was going to drive straight up!
Crazy! This was happening so much faster than with Adelie!
The first hurdle was the placement of my iv. The first attempt collapsed my vein. The second placement was on the side of my wrist-meaning I basically couldn't bend my left wrist. Terrible.
Soon after, in bounced the anesthesiologist team!
The first hurdle was the placement of my iv. The first attempt collapsed my vein. The second placement was on the side of my wrist-meaning I basically couldn't bend my left wrist. Terrible.
Soon after, in bounced the anesthesiologist team!
Once my epidural was placed-I experienced something I hadn't before-I got crazy dizzy and felt like I was about to pass out and my body went limp-The next thing I remember was the nurse shoving a cotton pad doused with alcohol under my nose. Instantly felt better! It was the craziest experience!
Apparently it was because my dosage was too high, and it was immediately turned down.
Another thing different this time was my ability to still move my legs!
With Adelie I couldn't feel, let alone move my legs. This time, I couldn't feel them, but could still move them-another crazy experience.
They wanted to see how I progressed on my own so they were going to let me labor and check me every few hours. Jo got to the hospital around 1am. She had an hour and a half drive to the hospital and was scared she would crash mid labor so she stopped and got a five hour energy for herself and Brandon and promptly drank hers-so when she got to the hospital she was ready to go! However-labor was slow, I was still contracting but not as strongly. I was thinning out but was still at about a 4, so the doctor said we would start piton to speed things up in a few hours, and to get some rest.
Rest? Are you kidding me?
Brandon and Jo curled up on either side of me. Brandon on an uncomfortable looking couch and Jo on a floral rolling chair the nurses found for her. Once reclined it about fell over backwards (with her in it), and between that and the curtain she used to shield the monitor lights, she was looking semi comfy ;)
Me? There was NO way I would be sleeping.
Between the anticipation of A's arrival and the pressure cuff going off every 15min, all I could do was watch those two sleep.
Around 4am they came in to break my water and see if that would speed things up. They would re check me at 5:30 to see progress and start pitocin if necessary. At this point I still hadn't slept, Jo had caught a couple hours and Brandon was sound asleep.
They started pitocin- I felt nothing. How glorious! By 8:30am I was a 6! To help move A down, they had me turn on my side with a ball between my legs, rotating sides every 15min. Jo was supposed to work that morning, so she ran downstairs to talk with her work girls who were on "my niece is having a baby you're on call" girls for someone to cover her shift. Brandon was stirring on the couch.
9:30am
All of a sudden my epidural machine started beeping and I started feeling some radiating pain in my back. After the nurse was called confirming my epidural needed more juice and that was paged out to the anesthesiologist, I felt two huge waves of pain. While they were pumping in the new juice as fast as they could, I had no control and starting bawling, so they quickly administered a pain med to my iv.
Pressure. SO much pressure!
The nurse asked if I wanted to be checked.
I almost said No-I had so much pressure
But I said yes, and I was at an 8 and her head was right there.
"I'm paging the doctor, let's get you delivered!" she said.
Where was Jo!?!
Frantically I called her and told her to GET UP HERE SHE'S COMING!
Literally in a matter of 10 minutes the doctor walked in, Jo ran in grabbed the camera, Brandon grabbed the video camera, two nurses dropped the bottom of my table, and it was go time!
It was 10am and the nurse says, "You're going to have this baby by 10:30!"
Ya right I thought-Great goal, but I know it's going to take longer than that.
First push- out came her head.
"Hold on"said the doctor.
What I didn't know at the time, but was told later-was the cord was around her neck and he needed to untangle it before I pushed again.
Good thing I didn't look at Brandon or Jo because they both said they held their breath because it looked kind of scary.
Ok-cord free.
Second Push-It's a girl!
4min-2 pushes.
Crazy faster this time around!
She was BEAUTIFUL!
Perfect in every single way! I can't believe I was ever nervous that my heart could love another as much as I loved her sister. My heart was so full and her daddy was beaming. So supportive and so excited to see his little girl! I could not believe how fast that delivery was! I think I repeated that five or six times within the first minute. AND she has blonde hair!
Because she came out so fast her little face was bruised, but only lasted a day.
She curled up on my chest after a brief cry to test her lungs and it was heaven. That first newborn snuggle can never be replaced. Such a reward for the past 9 months and a perfect start of forever.
We love you so much already little girl!
Without further adieu, we introduce our precious girl
Brandon
JoJo
Jacee-Party of One.
Showing photos of Big Sister :)
Thank you to JoJo for all of the support-laughs-photos-and for not pushing my epidural booster repetitively this time ;)
One of my favorite pictures ever!!!
Proud daddy
Nana Margaret
Nana and Papa
Fraunts Jenessa and Megan
Aunt Jamison
Uncle Jory
Papa Ron
Papa & Gigi
Gigi Grace
Papa
They wanted to see how I progressed on my own so they were going to let me labor and check me every few hours. Jo got to the hospital around 1am. She had an hour and a half drive to the hospital and was scared she would crash mid labor so she stopped and got a five hour energy for herself and Brandon and promptly drank hers-so when she got to the hospital she was ready to go! However-labor was slow, I was still contracting but not as strongly. I was thinning out but was still at about a 4, so the doctor said we would start piton to speed things up in a few hours, and to get some rest.
Rest? Are you kidding me?
Brandon and Jo curled up on either side of me. Brandon on an uncomfortable looking couch and Jo on a floral rolling chair the nurses found for her. Once reclined it about fell over backwards (with her in it), and between that and the curtain she used to shield the monitor lights, she was looking semi comfy ;)
Me? There was NO way I would be sleeping.
Between the anticipation of A's arrival and the pressure cuff going off every 15min, all I could do was watch those two sleep.
Around 4am they came in to break my water and see if that would speed things up. They would re check me at 5:30 to see progress and start pitocin if necessary. At this point I still hadn't slept, Jo had caught a couple hours and Brandon was sound asleep.
They started pitocin- I felt nothing. How glorious! By 8:30am I was a 6! To help move A down, they had me turn on my side with a ball between my legs, rotating sides every 15min. Jo was supposed to work that morning, so she ran downstairs to talk with her work girls who were on "my niece is having a baby you're on call" girls for someone to cover her shift. Brandon was stirring on the couch.
9:30am
All of a sudden my epidural machine started beeping and I started feeling some radiating pain in my back. After the nurse was called confirming my epidural needed more juice and that was paged out to the anesthesiologist, I felt two huge waves of pain. While they were pumping in the new juice as fast as they could, I had no control and starting bawling, so they quickly administered a pain med to my iv.
Pressure. SO much pressure!
The nurse asked if I wanted to be checked.
I almost said No-I had so much pressure
But I said yes, and I was at an 8 and her head was right there.
"I'm paging the doctor, let's get you delivered!" she said.
Where was Jo!?!
Frantically I called her and told her to GET UP HERE SHE'S COMING!
Literally in a matter of 10 minutes the doctor walked in, Jo ran in grabbed the camera, Brandon grabbed the video camera, two nurses dropped the bottom of my table, and it was go time!
It was 10am and the nurse says, "You're going to have this baby by 10:30!"
Ya right I thought-Great goal, but I know it's going to take longer than that.
First push- out came her head.
"Hold on"said the doctor.
What I didn't know at the time, but was told later-was the cord was around her neck and he needed to untangle it before I pushed again.
Good thing I didn't look at Brandon or Jo because they both said they held their breath because it looked kind of scary.
Ok-cord free.
Second Push-It's a girl!
4min-2 pushes.
Crazy faster this time around!
She was BEAUTIFUL!
Perfect in every single way! I can't believe I was ever nervous that my heart could love another as much as I loved her sister. My heart was so full and her daddy was beaming. So supportive and so excited to see his little girl! I could not believe how fast that delivery was! I think I repeated that five or six times within the first minute. AND she has blonde hair!
Because she came out so fast her little face was bruised, but only lasted a day.
She curled up on my chest after a brief cry to test her lungs and it was heaven. That first newborn snuggle can never be replaced. Such a reward for the past 9 months and a perfect start of forever.
We love you so much already little girl!
Without further adieu, we introduce our precious girl
Jacee-Party of One.
Beck-Family of four!
Now lets go home baby Girl!!
