· I'm finally sitting down to finish this story 4 months later, and it's amazing to me how much of the not so fun parts of labor and birth I've forgotten. I look back now and I have so many good memories of the first few days of Jaklyn's life.
I woke up the morning of June 22nd with so much nervous excitement. It's a crazy thing to know your baby's birthday (which I was pretty sure would be June 23, since I was scheduled to be induced starting that evening) Tyler and I puttered around the house, not sure what to do with ourselves until it was time to pick Mom up at the airport. I think we both breathed a huge sigh of relief when we saw her, someone experienced was here!
I was scheduled to go into the hospital at 8 PM, so we had some time to kill. The anticipation! My mom tried to keep our minds off of it by taking us out to lunch, grocery shopping, and finally she made us dinner. I talked to a friend, took a long shower, and then it was time. Tyler gave me a sweet blessing, I gave my mom one last hug, and we were off!
At the hospital we checked in and they took us to our labor and delivery room. They gave me my IV to get me full of fluid before starting the Pitocin. Then they gave me the cytotec, to thin my cervix. The cytotec gave me some light contractions, but they gave me a sleeping pill so I would be able to sleep through them.
I woke up the morning of June 22nd with so much nervous excitement. It's a crazy thing to know your baby's birthday (which I was pretty sure would be June 23, since I was scheduled to be induced starting that evening) Tyler and I puttered around the house, not sure what to do with ourselves until it was time to pick Mom up at the airport. I think we both breathed a huge sigh of relief when we saw her, someone experienced was here!
I was scheduled to go into the hospital at 8 PM, so we had some time to kill. The anticipation! My mom tried to keep our minds off of it by taking us out to lunch, grocery shopping, and finally she made us dinner. I talked to a friend, took a long shower, and then it was time. Tyler gave me a sweet blessing, I gave my mom one last hug, and we were off!
At the hospital we checked in and they took us to our labor and delivery room. They gave me my IV to get me full of fluid before starting the Pitocin. Then they gave me the cytotec, to thin my cervix. The cytotec gave me some light contractions, but they gave me a sleeping pill so I would be able to sleep through them.
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At 1:50 I woke up to go to the bathroom, and while I was washing my hands, I suddenly was standing in a lot of fluid. I called for Ty to come help me because I thought my water had broken. Ty came in and helped me back to bed (he thought I had just lost control of my bladder). When I got back in the bed, I could still feel liquid coming out, and we realized that my water had broken. We called for the nurse and she said she had talked to the doctor and he had given the okay to start the medicine to give me contractions, which they hadn’t planned on starting until morning. That started more intense contractions, but I was able to sleep through them for the most part because of the sleeping pill.
At 1:50 I woke up to go to the bathroom, and while I was washing my hands, I suddenly was standing in a lot of fluid. I called for Ty to come help me because I thought my water had broken. Ty came in and helped me back to bed (he thought I had just lost control of my bladder). When I got back in the bed, I could still feel liquid coming out, and we realized that my water had broken. We called for the nurse and she said she had talked to the doctor and he had given the okay to start the medicine to give me contractions, which they hadn’t planned on starting until morning. That started more intense contractions, but I was able to sleep through them for the most part because of the sleeping pill.
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The nurse checked my progress at 8:30 AM and I was dilated to a 2, which was a little disappointing after all the contractions I had been feeling. She said she expected the baby to arrive around 3 PM. Then Dr. Scroggins came in and checked me again, and he said I was at a 4!
At this point the contractions were a little harder to get through, so I decided to get the epidural. Everything went smoothly with that and soon I was able to rest and sleep through the contractions while my mom read aloud to me. A couple hours in Tyler was taking a nap and the contractions started to get pretty intense, even with the epidural. The nurse came in and checked me and realized I had progressed very rapidly to an 8, and was now entering the transition phase.
This part is a bit of a blur, but for some reason the epidural wasn't working on the right side of my body. The pain was pretty intense, so the epidural man came in to give me a little more. In hindsight, I maybe should have just worked through that part since I was so close, because with the extra dose of the epidural I was very numb. It is a very strange feeling to not feel your legs! I couldn't even reposition myself or turn on my side without help.
Finally it was about 1 PM, I was at a 10, and the nurse announced her estimation was wrong and we would have a baby within the hour. I was about to have a baby. This was the part I was most worried about, since there is not really any way to prepare to know how to push. The nurse coached me and explained how and what it should feel like to push, which would have been really helpful if I could feel something at this point (which I couldn't).
Somehow even though I couldn't feel anything I got the hang of it and Tyler could see a full head of dark hair which kept me going. Pushing wasn't nearly as bad as some people's experiences. I was able to rest between pushes, eat ice chips, and all and all it wasn't as tiring and hard as I expected. I only pushed for half an hour before the nurse told me to stop so that the doctor could make it there in time.
Everything from here on out happened so fast! The doctor came in, they told me to push again, and then again...and then the pressure in my belly was gone, there was a baby cry, and before I knew it she was on my chest. She stopped crying immediately and looked around at the world. I remember how alert she looked just taking it all in.
We stayed that way for a while, me bawling and her snuggled up on my chest. It was truly a moment I will never forget, looking down at this little girl that just moments before had been inside of me. It was so surreal finally seeing what she looked like (just like her dad like I had hoped) and so beautiful.
The nurse checked my progress at 8:30 AM and I was dilated to a 2, which was a little disappointing after all the contractions I had been feeling. She said she expected the baby to arrive around 3 PM. Then Dr. Scroggins came in and checked me again, and he said I was at a 4!
At this point the contractions were a little harder to get through, so I decided to get the epidural. Everything went smoothly with that and soon I was able to rest and sleep through the contractions while my mom read aloud to me. A couple hours in Tyler was taking a nap and the contractions started to get pretty intense, even with the epidural. The nurse came in and checked me and realized I had progressed very rapidly to an 8, and was now entering the transition phase.
This part is a bit of a blur, but for some reason the epidural wasn't working on the right side of my body. The pain was pretty intense, so the epidural man came in to give me a little more. In hindsight, I maybe should have just worked through that part since I was so close, because with the extra dose of the epidural I was very numb. It is a very strange feeling to not feel your legs! I couldn't even reposition myself or turn on my side without help.
Finally it was about 1 PM, I was at a 10, and the nurse announced her estimation was wrong and we would have a baby within the hour. I was about to have a baby. This was the part I was most worried about, since there is not really any way to prepare to know how to push. The nurse coached me and explained how and what it should feel like to push, which would have been really helpful if I could feel something at this point (which I couldn't).
Somehow even though I couldn't feel anything I got the hang of it and Tyler could see a full head of dark hair which kept me going. Pushing wasn't nearly as bad as some people's experiences. I was able to rest between pushes, eat ice chips, and all and all it wasn't as tiring and hard as I expected. I only pushed for half an hour before the nurse told me to stop so that the doctor could make it there in time.
Everything from here on out happened so fast! The doctor came in, they told me to push again, and then again...and then the pressure in my belly was gone, there was a baby cry, and before I knew it she was on my chest. She stopped crying immediately and looked around at the world. I remember how alert she looked just taking it all in.
We stayed that way for a while, me bawling and her snuggled up on my chest. It was truly a moment I will never forget, looking down at this little girl that just moments before had been inside of me. It was so surreal finally seeing what she looked like (just like her dad like I had hoped) and so beautiful.
It was just as wonderful as I had always imagined seeing my sweet husband hold our precious baby for the first time, and it still melts my heart.
It was wonderful to have my mom there during the birth. She encouraged me and reassured me that everything that was happening was normal.
We still hadn't decided on a name when she was born. We had come with two, and said we would decide when we saw her for the first time. When we had spent some time with her we both felt like it should be Jaklyn Ann.
The hardest part about the hospital was having to stay an extra day to treat her jaundice. Looking back, I totally overreacted about this (which I attribute to hormones). But I was so distraught we had to stay longer than expected. I cried a lot and the nurses may have thought I was a little crazy. Since it is pretty likely to happen with subsequent children, I will be much better prepared.
She came out with the sweetest chubbiest cheeks, and so much dark hair (that is just now starting to fall out and is looking a little lighter). It was love at first sight that has just gotten stronger every day.
