I want to make sure that I record Kayden's birth story so I don't forget the details, so here it is!
Starting on Tuesday of this past week, I started to feel really crampy and more uncomfortable than normal. Greg was gone all day Tuesday for his research job, and I was afraid that I would go into labor that day because I hadn't felt good. Luckily, nothing happened that day, but I think that is when things got started.
On Wednesday, I was still really crampy and was having pains where my c-section incision was, so I went to the Dr, to make sure that everything was ok. The Dr. checked me and I was at a 1 and not effaced at all. but she said my cervix was soft. I also had a non stress done and everything looked great there as well. She didn't seem very optimistic that I would go into labor anytime soon, so I wasn't really optimistic either. The rest of the day I was so depressed and just down because I was so done being pregnant. Greg gave me a blessing and I felt from the blessing that it would be a few more days still, but I felt much better about life.
That night I started to have some other symptoms of labor, but at the time I didn't realize that is what it was. We went to the grocery store, made dinner together, and relaxed. At around 7 that night, I started to have pain near my incision again and it started to come more consistently. I started to write down every time I felt one, and noticed that they were coming anywhere between 5-10 minutes apart, which definitely made me feel more optimistic that something really might be happening! I put Deagan down to bed, and had contractions the whole time that were starting to get a lot more painful. I decided after he was down I was going to bounce on a ball for about an hour to see if that would do anything to help. So from 9-10 I did that and the contractions got stronger and closer together. I mentioned to Greg that I was having contractions, but both of us really didn't think that this was the real deal. Closer to 11, the contractions started to get really strong and painful. I was starting to get really nervous though because the pain was really strong near my incision, so I called my Dr. and he said I should go in just to make sure that everything was ok. I still wasn't really sure if I was in labor or not because I didn't go into labor naturally with Deagan and didn't really know what to expect this time around. I for sure that if we went to the hospital that we would be sent home. But we called our neighbor who is in our ward and asked her to come over to watch Deagan while we got things checked out. We left our place at around 11:30 after she got there and by that time, the pain had moved to my back and the contractions were every 2-5 minutes apart. I was beginning to get really nervous that my water was going to break in the car.
The worst part of the drive to the hospital was that I could move around while I was having the contractions. There was no position I could get in that would help ease the pain while I was sitting down. The drive went a lot quicker though than I was expecting it to feel. We got to the hospital, and during the day they had Valet parking, but it was close to midnight by the time we got there. We pulled into the valet area and decided we would just leave the car there and deal with it when we were settled upstairs. A hospital employee pulled up at the same time we got there and offered to get me a wheel chair and wheeled us upstairs to labor and delivery. When we got there, they told us that Greg would have to go back right then to park the car because we could not leave it where it was. So I was left by myself trying to register when I was in horrible pain. They were asking me what my social was, address, phone number and what not and I could hardly think the whole time they were asking me these questions. I remember reading or hearing how annoying it was to register when you are in labor because you could hardly think, and that is exactly what I was thinking the whole time.
They put me in a room to monitor the baby and to check to see if I as really in labor. By the time I was dressed in the gown Greg was back from parking the car and then we waited for what felt like forever for a nurse to come in. She finally came in, hooked me up to a monitor and checked me. I was dilated to a 6 and was 80% effaced. I was honestly shocked because I was not expecting to labor at home that long and to get that far a long before I got the hospital. I was also shocked that I was actually in labor! I was in so much pain by this point and was really scared that I wasn't going to have time to get an epidural because my labor was progressing so quickly. They also had to take my blood and do some kind of test to make sure I could get an epidural, which took FOREVER! I begged for something, and an hour later I FINALLY got some sadol (sp?). It took the edge off and I was finally able to relax. I was still in a lot of pain, but it helped so much! Another hour later I finally got my epidural but was almost dilated to a 9 by the time I got it. The epidural didn't hurt at all. The only thing that was hard about it was that I had to hold perfectly still while I was in transition. But I prayed the whole time that I would be able to hold still, and I did!
We had hired a doula to be there, but it just so happened that the night I was in labor she couldn't be there. She did have a back up doula, Heather, lined up, and she was such a great support! We loved having her there. We had a really crappy nurse, so it was nice to have the doula there to be our advocate when the nurse was being a B.
At one point, the pain was too much and it just felt like it would be easier to have a c-section instead of having to go through a vaginal birth, but because of my doula and Greg they talked me out of that crazy way of thinking. They reminded me that I had been working and planning on trying a VBAC since I had Deagan basically, so I could not just give up then. I am very grateful for that because I was not thinking clearly enough at that time.
I finally reached a 10 and I tried to push for a little bit, but Kayden was still pretty far back so the Dr said we would wait a while until he dropped more naturally. So we waited for close to 2 hours for that to happen, and that was the most miserable 2 hours despite the epidural. I felt an incredible amount of pressure so intense that it was painful everytime I had a contraction. I remember thinking at the beginning of every contraction that there was no way I could make it through one more contraction but of course I did. I would have about a minute break and then another one would hit. Finally I felt the urge to push so the Dr came in and we got to work!
Pushing was so hard and so scary! It was hard to know exactly how to push to make it effective and just thinking that I was actually going to push a baby out was really scary to me for some reason. I think that is a lot of reason why it was so hard for me to push because I was scared. The Dr. reminded me that this was up to me if I wanted to have a VBAC because I had to be the one to push him out. I finally found the strength that I needed to be brave and Kayden was born! It was the most incredible and empowering experience of my life! Honestly, by far the most intense and painful thing I have ever been through, but I can't not even begin to describe the feeling accomplishment that I felt.
They put Kayden on my chest and I just sobbed. It was over and my little man was here! They let me hold him for a while and then weighed him; 6 lbs 6 oz. He is so tiny and so precious! It is amazing to me that he is so tiny yet he is so perfect. Everything about him is perfect.
I waited in the recovery room until about 11 am and then was transferred to the maternity floor. There were so many births at the hospital that we ended up having to have a roommate. The minute we walked in the room, but Greg and I knew that we wanted to be out of here as soon as possible. The woman who I shared the room with was so loud and swore up a storm and her baby was the loudest and crankiest baby that I have ever been around. It was almost impossible to sleep and I knew that if I was going to get any rest it would have to be at home. Luckily, we were able to leave the next day in the afternoon because both Kayden and I were doing very well.
We have been home since Friday and life with two kids is going pretty good. Deagan really does seem to like his little brother. He wants to hold him all the time, and loves to point at all of his body parts. Today, however, he did start to show signs that this little brother thing is not all that he thought it would be. We decided that we were going to go for a walk because the weather here has been so lovely, and Deagan said that we all could come besides Kayden. He needed to stay home. We will see how this goes.
My mom has been here since Friday, and it is so great to have her here to help because I don't know what I would do without her help right now. It is so great. I am so grateful to finally have Kayden here.
Now the fun begins:)
