Well, before I forget some of the details, I thought I would share our labor and delivery story, so if its not something you prefer to hear about...then don't read this post:
Monday night, Sept. 1st, Shane and I made a trip to the hospital because I had been leaking a clear fluid all afternoon, and wanted to be sure it wasn't amniotic fluid. I wasn't having any contractions and was pretty sure my water didn't break, but the nurses told me to come in to have it checked out. They hooked me up to the monitors and I had one major contraction in 1 hour and little ones they called 'irritable ones'. The doctor on call checked to see how much I had dilated (I was between a 1-2, I also had a nurse check me when I first got to the hospital...for those who don't know, it is extremely painful to be checked...at least it was always for me) and the doctor also did a full vaginal exam (you know, the kind with the 'quacker', also not fun) and saw fluid pooling, but it tested negative for amniotic fluid. She also did an ultrasound to check my fluid and it was around 8cm. Shane and I then went home.
Tuesday morning, Sept. 2nd mom and I each got a massage, then got ready for my doctor's appointment at 11:30am. I had felt a few contractions, but figured they were just braxton hicks. Shane, mom and I headed to the doctors. While we were waiting in the room for the doctor, I had felt another contraction. Since I had been to the hospital the night before, my doctor wanted to do her own full vaginal exam and ultrasound. After all that, she checked to see how much I had dilated (I was now between 2-3cm and 70% effaced). My doctor also stripped my membranes, which there are no words to describe how painful that was, especially considering that within the last 18 hours I had been checked 3 times and had to full vaginal exams. My doctor told me that I would experience contractions and some bleeding the rest of the day and that there was a 25-30% chance that stripping the membranes could cause me to go into labor within 24-48 hours. She said to go to the hospital if I begun to have contractions that I could no longer stand, no matter how far apart they were.
We left the doctor's office and went out to eat at Pizza Hut. I had begun to have a lot of contractions soon after leaving the doctor's that were pretty painful. After lunch mom and I dropped Shane off at work, and picked up the Grand Am and drove to Muscatine Tire & Wheel to leave the Camry off to have the brakes redone (the first set they put have been squeaking terrible)! We then went home and finished making soups and freezing them and made 2 loaves of zuchinni bread. I continued to have contractions, but they began spreading farther apart. I tried to stay on my feet and walking around to keep them coming. At 5pm, mom and I went back to pick up the Camry and dropped the Grand Am off for Shane at his work. We then decided to go walk around Younkers for awhile to keep the contractions coming. We spent about an hour there and I was beginning to get uncomfortable.
By 7:30pm when we sat down to eat supper, the contractions were coming closer and more intense. Around 8:30pm I got on the website contractionmaster.com to track my contractions. I did this for about 2 hours and my contractions were varying 2-5 minutes apart, and I had had all I could take, and told mom and Shane it was time to go to the hospital. So they loaded up the car and we were at the hopsital by 11pm. (I am sooo glad we live so close to it!)
Once we got there, I changed into a gown and they started to monitor me. The contractions were getting really uncomfortable to just lay in the bed, so they hooked me up to the wireless ones so I could get out of bed. The nurse checked me and I was a full 3cm. My legs also shook uncontrollably.
About 1 am the nurse told me I was going to be staying and that someone would be into start me an IV and draw blood. At that time I told her that I would like to be able to have some pain medication thru my IV when I was able. When she brought me the medication, I asked her if it would make me nausea since I know narcotics can do that. She said she has never had anyone experience nausea with it. 2 minutes after she put the medication in my IV, my whole body became overly warm and I became dizzy and the world wouldn't stop spinning. I couldn't even open my eyes or function. The nurse said she would call my doctor to see if she could give some anti-nausea medication. After one round of that and an hour later, I was feeling no better, so she called my doctor and she said to give me 2 different kinds of anti-nausea medication at one time to see if that helped. And at this point I told the nurse that I would want an epidural because I knew there was NO WAY I was taking anymore narcotics thru my IV.
Also around 2 am, scare #1 occurred, Emma's heartbeat began to drop, so the nurse kept having me move from side to side to try and get Emma's heart beat up. I could barely move myself, and each time I did move, I felt like I needed to throw-up, but didn't have the strength. I also had to be on oxygen during this time. Thankfully, I wasn't fully aware during this time, I just remember feeling so sick and praying to God that Emma would be okay.
At 3am, the anesthesiologist made it in to give me the epidural. The narcotic was beginning to wear off and I was feeling my contractions again. Shane was a great help in getting me thru the contractions while I was getting the epidural and could not move. Once the epidural was in at around 3:30am, it didn't take long for it to take effect. I believe Shane and my mom were relieved!
A little after 6:30am, scare #2 occurred, this time the nurses could no longer pick up Emma's heartbeat. They tried moving me, tried moving around the monitor on my belly, they even took the wireless monitor off and put the other one back on and couldn't get a constant beat. They put me back on oxygen and I had to stay on it until I delivered. My mom had to leave the room since she gets so nervous during these times. I was also beginning to get scared with seeing the look on the nurses faces, especially when one nurse told the other that she needed to call my doctor to come in asap.
When my doctor made it in, she broke my water and put an internal monitor in (they twist a little wire into the baby's head) to get Emma's heartbeat. The first try didn't work and we couldn't get her heartbeat. So my doctor tried again, and finally it worked! She made the comment that my baby might have a lot of hair and thats why the first try didn't work! (little did we know!) At this point I was dilated 5-6cm and I was finally able to rest a little.
I think it was around 8:30am when my new nurse, Cathy (she was also our birthing class teacher) came in and checked me, I was now dilated to 7cm. She asked if I would like a little Pitocin to speed things up since my contractions were slowing a little. I said sure. She told me to let her know when I started to feel a lot of pressure. Around 10:15, Cathy came in to check on me, and asked if I was feeling any pressure...I said, yeah a little. She said she wouldn't check me again until I did start to feel alot, then for some reason decided she would go ahead and check me. When she did, to all our surprise, I was fully dilated!!! She then called for my doctor and got the room ready for delivery.
At 10:30am, with Shane holding one leg, and Cathy holding the other and my mom video taping, I began to push. With the first push Cathy, my mom and Shane could all see that Emma's head had lots of dark hair! My doctor arrived around 10:45am. When Emma's head was out, she began crying and blinking, and after the doctor suctioned her mouth, out came the rest of her and they laid her on my chest! She was born at 11am. It was such an amazing experience and Emma was sooo darn cute...nothing like I could have ever imagined! I was surrounded by such peace and happiness, I couldn't even cry (the only other time in my life did I experience that feeling was on my wedding day!) While Emma was on my chest, Shane cut the cord!
After a few minutes the nurse took Emma to wipe her off and wrap her in a blanket. During this time, my doctor worked on sewing me up. I ended up with only a 1 degree tear, but had a hemotoma, thankfully she knew what she was doing and was able to stop the bleeding, but the deep stitches are taking the longest to heal from. After the nurse handed us back Emma, we spent a few minutes looking at her, then tried getting her to breastfeed. It was a great success, it only took a few minutes to get her latched on, and she nursed on each breast for a total of 45 minutes! Breastfeeding has gone great ever since!
Eventually, we let the nurse take Emma to the nursery for their routine stuff, like weight check, bath, etc. Shane went with her and took pictures and did some video taping. I was then able to get up and go to the bathroom and clean up and change, then moved to my new room.
Shane and I felt extremely blessed with the nursing staff at the hospital and left feeling very pleased with our experience. The only thing is that I wish I would have stayed the 2nd night...my gut told me to, but I didn't.
Its hard to believe that this all happened just 2 weeks ago, it feels like a lifetime ago!
Shane helping me thru contractions
Monday night, Sept. 1st, Shane and I made a trip to the hospital because I had been leaking a clear fluid all afternoon, and wanted to be sure it wasn't amniotic fluid. I wasn't having any contractions and was pretty sure my water didn't break, but the nurses told me to come in to have it checked out. They hooked me up to the monitors and I had one major contraction in 1 hour and little ones they called 'irritable ones'. The doctor on call checked to see how much I had dilated (I was between a 1-2, I also had a nurse check me when I first got to the hospital...for those who don't know, it is extremely painful to be checked...at least it was always for me) and the doctor also did a full vaginal exam (you know, the kind with the 'quacker', also not fun) and saw fluid pooling, but it tested negative for amniotic fluid. She also did an ultrasound to check my fluid and it was around 8cm. Shane and I then went home.
Tuesday morning, Sept. 2nd mom and I each got a massage, then got ready for my doctor's appointment at 11:30am. I had felt a few contractions, but figured they were just braxton hicks. Shane, mom and I headed to the doctors. While we were waiting in the room for the doctor, I had felt another contraction. Since I had been to the hospital the night before, my doctor wanted to do her own full vaginal exam and ultrasound. After all that, she checked to see how much I had dilated (I was now between 2-3cm and 70% effaced). My doctor also stripped my membranes, which there are no words to describe how painful that was, especially considering that within the last 18 hours I had been checked 3 times and had to full vaginal exams. My doctor told me that I would experience contractions and some bleeding the rest of the day and that there was a 25-30% chance that stripping the membranes could cause me to go into labor within 24-48 hours. She said to go to the hospital if I begun to have contractions that I could no longer stand, no matter how far apart they were.
We left the doctor's office and went out to eat at Pizza Hut. I had begun to have a lot of contractions soon after leaving the doctor's that were pretty painful. After lunch mom and I dropped Shane off at work, and picked up the Grand Am and drove to Muscatine Tire & Wheel to leave the Camry off to have the brakes redone (the first set they put have been squeaking terrible)! We then went home and finished making soups and freezing them and made 2 loaves of zuchinni bread. I continued to have contractions, but they began spreading farther apart. I tried to stay on my feet and walking around to keep them coming. At 5pm, mom and I went back to pick up the Camry and dropped the Grand Am off for Shane at his work. We then decided to go walk around Younkers for awhile to keep the contractions coming. We spent about an hour there and I was beginning to get uncomfortable.
By 7:30pm when we sat down to eat supper, the contractions were coming closer and more intense. Around 8:30pm I got on the website contractionmaster.com to track my contractions. I did this for about 2 hours and my contractions were varying 2-5 minutes apart, and I had had all I could take, and told mom and Shane it was time to go to the hospital. So they loaded up the car and we were at the hopsital by 11pm. (I am sooo glad we live so close to it!)
Once we got there, I changed into a gown and they started to monitor me. The contractions were getting really uncomfortable to just lay in the bed, so they hooked me up to the wireless ones so I could get out of bed. The nurse checked me and I was a full 3cm. My legs also shook uncontrollably.
About 1 am the nurse told me I was going to be staying and that someone would be into start me an IV and draw blood. At that time I told her that I would like to be able to have some pain medication thru my IV when I was able. When she brought me the medication, I asked her if it would make me nausea since I know narcotics can do that. She said she has never had anyone experience nausea with it. 2 minutes after she put the medication in my IV, my whole body became overly warm and I became dizzy and the world wouldn't stop spinning. I couldn't even open my eyes or function. The nurse said she would call my doctor to see if she could give some anti-nausea medication. After one round of that and an hour later, I was feeling no better, so she called my doctor and she said to give me 2 different kinds of anti-nausea medication at one time to see if that helped. And at this point I told the nurse that I would want an epidural because I knew there was NO WAY I was taking anymore narcotics thru my IV.
Also around 2 am, scare #1 occurred, Emma's heartbeat began to drop, so the nurse kept having me move from side to side to try and get Emma's heart beat up. I could barely move myself, and each time I did move, I felt like I needed to throw-up, but didn't have the strength. I also had to be on oxygen during this time. Thankfully, I wasn't fully aware during this time, I just remember feeling so sick and praying to God that Emma would be okay.
At 3am, the anesthesiologist made it in to give me the epidural. The narcotic was beginning to wear off and I was feeling my contractions again. Shane was a great help in getting me thru the contractions while I was getting the epidural and could not move. Once the epidural was in at around 3:30am, it didn't take long for it to take effect. I believe Shane and my mom were relieved!
A little after 6:30am, scare #2 occurred, this time the nurses could no longer pick up Emma's heartbeat. They tried moving me, tried moving around the monitor on my belly, they even took the wireless monitor off and put the other one back on and couldn't get a constant beat. They put me back on oxygen and I had to stay on it until I delivered. My mom had to leave the room since she gets so nervous during these times. I was also beginning to get scared with seeing the look on the nurses faces, especially when one nurse told the other that she needed to call my doctor to come in asap.
When my doctor made it in, she broke my water and put an internal monitor in (they twist a little wire into the baby's head) to get Emma's heartbeat. The first try didn't work and we couldn't get her heartbeat. So my doctor tried again, and finally it worked! She made the comment that my baby might have a lot of hair and thats why the first try didn't work! (little did we know!) At this point I was dilated 5-6cm and I was finally able to rest a little.
I think it was around 8:30am when my new nurse, Cathy (she was also our birthing class teacher) came in and checked me, I was now dilated to 7cm. She asked if I would like a little Pitocin to speed things up since my contractions were slowing a little. I said sure. She told me to let her know when I started to feel a lot of pressure. Around 10:15, Cathy came in to check on me, and asked if I was feeling any pressure...I said, yeah a little. She said she wouldn't check me again until I did start to feel alot, then for some reason decided she would go ahead and check me. When she did, to all our surprise, I was fully dilated!!! She then called for my doctor and got the room ready for delivery.
At 10:30am, with Shane holding one leg, and Cathy holding the other and my mom video taping, I began to push. With the first push Cathy, my mom and Shane could all see that Emma's head had lots of dark hair! My doctor arrived around 10:45am. When Emma's head was out, she began crying and blinking, and after the doctor suctioned her mouth, out came the rest of her and they laid her on my chest! She was born at 11am. It was such an amazing experience and Emma was sooo darn cute...nothing like I could have ever imagined! I was surrounded by such peace and happiness, I couldn't even cry (the only other time in my life did I experience that feeling was on my wedding day!) While Emma was on my chest, Shane cut the cord!
After a few minutes the nurse took Emma to wipe her off and wrap her in a blanket. During this time, my doctor worked on sewing me up. I ended up with only a 1 degree tear, but had a hemotoma, thankfully she knew what she was doing and was able to stop the bleeding, but the deep stitches are taking the longest to heal from. After the nurse handed us back Emma, we spent a few minutes looking at her, then tried getting her to breastfeed. It was a great success, it only took a few minutes to get her latched on, and she nursed on each breast for a total of 45 minutes! Breastfeeding has gone great ever since!
Eventually, we let the nurse take Emma to the nursery for their routine stuff, like weight check, bath, etc. Shane went with her and took pictures and did some video taping. I was then able to get up and go to the bathroom and clean up and change, then moved to my new room.
Shane and I felt extremely blessed with the nursing staff at the hospital and left feeling very pleased with our experience. The only thing is that I wish I would have stayed the 2nd night...my gut told me to, but I didn't.
Its hard to believe that this all happened just 2 weeks ago, it feels like a lifetime ago!
Shane helping me thru contractions
Getting an IV in 1 arm while getting blood drawn from the other
Feeling better after my epidural
Shane and I waiting for Emma to arrive
Me and my mom
Baby Emma has arrived!
Very happy parents!
Emma getting cleaned off
Daddy checking out Emma
Shane falling in love with his baby daughter!
What Emma was doing while nursing! Her dad took this shot!
Me and my beautiful daughter!
Emma in the nursery getting checked over
Emma's toes(I think she has her dad's big 'big toe')
Emma getting her blood pressure taken
All bundled up!
Emma and her daddy
Checking out our new blessing!
Lovin' all that hair!
My sweet baby Emma!
Dressing Emma for her hospital picture
All dressed and ready to go!
Heading down to get her picture taken
My mom, me and Emma
The Struckman family!
Leaving the hospital!
Some how we are leaving the hospital with more stuff than we came with!
Shane unloading Emma!
Emma sleeping peacefully in her carseat
Home
1 comment:
There is no feeling like the feeling of a new child in your arms. I look at your photos and I feel everything you felt in my memories of my son's birth a few years ago.
Little face!
The people in my room were so busy talking about Lane's hair I couldn't get an answer:
Is he okay?!
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