Ok well after almost 4 weeks you would think I would get the chance to write it all out.....but every time I start to go and do it something comes up! I am glad I wrote in a journal during the labor so I could remember! I won't go too in to detail, even though I know all of you want to know details :)
I did get induced, Lila didn't want to start on her own.....we went in on Friday the 14th morning around 7am and got all admitted and everything. I met my nurse Melissa, who was great, and got all set up in my room and dressed in the horrible nightgowns and by 8:30 she started putting the iv's in with my medication for Strep B plus the pitocin. The iv wasn't the greatest thing, I am not a big fan of a huge needle going into my hand, especially when she tried it in my arm first and couldn't find a vein. I was also hooked up to the monitor for the contractions/heart rate. Everything was fine.....I was still only dialated at about a 2 or 3. Honestly with the pitocin it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be instant pain but it took awhile. I was on a low dose and the contractions were coming but they were hardly anything. Jason and I just kind of relaxed.....we watched Wayne's World and Caddyshack on tv and that kept me pretty distracted.
Around 11:30 my midwife came in and broke my water......WEIRD! I am glad that didn't happen on it's own at work or in public because it was seriously a little uncomfy. It didn't hurt, just the weirdest feeling. From there that is when the contractions starting getting stronger. I didn't have any pain medication going through me at all.....I didn't really want to have that and the epidural so I just stuck it out! I got up and walked around for a bit and sat in the rocking chair and Jason, Rose (my midwife), and I just chatted for a bit. She told me that if I wanted the epidural to let her know because it could take an hour or so for the guy to come and get everything done and for it to start working. I am not trying to sound like I am an amazing person or anything, the contractions were hurting but they were not unbearable and I thought I could keep going and then Jason suggested and Rose that I think about what the pain will feel like in over an hour or in two hours when I decide when I want it so I thought about that and told Rose to get the guy!
He came in around 4 or 4:30 I think, with his little cart. He was hilarious.....I am so glad he had a sense of humor and was so friendly. I DID NOT look at anything that was on his cart......I leaned forward and let him do his work. He shot me in one spot and I guess it didn't like it so he had to move up and do it again. Not going to lie, it was a little painful. The needle prick felt like a bee sting but then he did something after that hurt like crap. Jason and him were having this huge spinal anatomy conversation back there during the entire thing.....I was leaning forward biting on a pillow and they are back there using six syllable words! It was fine though! Free lesson! I started feeling all tingly and then had no feeling from my knees up to my belly button probably. My contractions were super strong but there was nothing! It was pretty amazing! The only drawback I think about the epidural (and I think it was that) was that I got an insane headache which led to me being nauseous which led to throwing up. I know a lot of people have worse drawbacks with epidurals but I got pretty lucky. I still wasn't dialating as fast as they wanted me too so they kept turning the pitocin on higher and then lower.
At 8pm I think I finally got to a 5 or 6. My Mom, sister Stephanie, and niece Mylie were driving from Idaho and they thought when they got here she would be born but they got to Davenport about and hour and a half before she was actually born. They came to the hospital to see me and then Stephanie stayed in the waiting room and my Mom and Mylie went to the hotel. That was around 10 or 10:30 I think. Right before they came in I was checked and had progressed to around an 8 but her head was turned the wrong way and I had to lay on my left side and have her turn. OH MY GOSH.....that is when I started to feel the pressure......WOWA. I think I laid like that until around 11 and then I was checked again and she said I was ready to push! The spotlights went on then(I was laughing pretty hard at that moment because they turn all the lights off and have these insane spotlights turned on all pointed towards my ********* it was like a show was about to start!) and everyone started getting ready. I remember thinking, I can't believe I am about to have a child....that is when it was really starting to hit me. At 11:48 Lila Kristine was born by Rose and her Dad. I am so glad Jason was able to help deliver her....that was such a neat experience for him I know. I pushed for about 45 minutes I think and we were shooting to have her out before midnight. Pushing wasn't too bad, it felt great to push actually because I could definitely feel the pressure but when she was about to come out it hurt like nothing else. I look up to all of you mom's who have delivered without the epidural. I don't even want to know what that feeling is like besides the pressure.
When she came out I looked down and she had her cord around her neck kind of and I remember her being so purplish/bluish, her head so cone shaped, and SCREAMING. Also gobs of dark curly hair. They put her on my chest and she continued to scream but I had the chance to look at this little angel that had been growing in me for the past months and it was so surreal. I noticed her long fingers and huge hands (actually the nurses kept saying, look at the size of her hands!), I saw dimples, and her dark eyes. I didn't even see Jason cut the cord, I was so focused on her face and calming her down. She didn't calm down, actually she screamed the entire time they checked her.
My family came in right after I was fixed and cleaned up and it was so special to have them in there right after. I wasn't really out of it but I remember it being so surreal and thinking, "Wow I just had a baby and I am in the hospital room with my family." It was kind of like when I got married and I was in the Temple with my family and I was thinking the same type of feelings. They were both HUGE life changing events and I felt like everything would have changed abruptly at that moment but it didn't. My sister keeps saying how special it is when a new baby is born because she is "fresh from Heaven" and I have been thinking about that a lot lately and how amazing that is for me to have her in my life so innocent and not knowing anything except for the wonderful people she was with before she was born. I keep thinking about how my Grandma Lila, Grandma Kona, and Grandma Lois were probably the last ones to hold her and give her kisses before sending her down here and how I am snuggling with someone who was just snuggling with them. My mom also said something I won't forget, "Now you will know how much I love you because you have a baby now."
It was so amazing to see Jason holding her too right when she was born and looking at his face when she was being placed on my chest. I loved him even more and couldn't have asked for a better husband to be by my side while I was delivering. He was SO calm and interested in everything that was going on. Because he was so calm that made me super calm and I didn't even freak out once. I didn't even cry once, until after she was born and even then I don't think it was until my Mom was holding her. Jason and I keep talking about how great of an experience we had with our AMAZING nurses and my AMAZING midwife. It was such an easy delivery and has been a pretty great recovery, which I am glad because next time it will ease my nerves thinking back on this. Also, we are so blessed to have this beautiful little girl in our lives and we are so excited to be her parents and watch her grow!
