So on Friday, May 2nd (my due date), after I left the doctor’s office for my 40
week appointment that showed really no more progress than the week before, I ran
to the mall to get some sandals my friend has that I liked. I then went home and took a hot bath to help
reduce the low back pains I had been having off and on since the night
before. After the bath, I was feeling a
little better so I then asked Caleb for his help with a certain induction
method. We decided to go eat at Bonefish
grill and use our gift card. On the way
there, around 5pm, I was having waves of stronger contractions unlike I had
felt before. I began to use my
contraction app, that tracks their length and intervals. When I sat down across from Caleb, he began
to take notice of how fidgety I was and saw me timing something. Needless to say he freaked out and wanted to
leave at once. I assured him it could
just be early labor and we should just finish dinner. The whole way home, I was still having
contractions that were starting to get stronger, longer and closer together. He
debated going to the hospital right then. When we got home, he loaded up the truck and I
stayed calm and just let the dogs out and fed them. I began to test the “position change” to see
if it were true or false labor. It was
leaning more on the verge of true, so I called the after hours phone line. I spoke with the mid-wife and she said if
they were less than 5 minutes apart to go on in. We arrived at the hospital around 8:30 and
they put me on a monitor. The contractions
were coming, but not with a steady pattern.
I had dilated to one. She said
they would monitor me for an hour before they would admit me. After one agonizing hour, no more dilation
had been made, so they sent me home with 2 Percocet’s. I had to walk all the way back out to the
main garage, stopping for contractions looking quite silly I guess. The ride home was awful, but Caleb wanted to
stop at Krystal. As we were waiting to
order, the contractions just kept coming so he decided he better go inside to
order instead based on my vocalizations.
We got home and I went straight upstairs to take another bath that this
time did not help at all. My usual
comfortable positions were now awful. I then
laid down and they just kept on coming. I
walked. I stood up. I swayed.
I sat down. I straddled
chairs. Nothing was helping. I called the admission nurse again after
having taken the pain medicine 3.5 hours prior and she advised me to take the
Lortab Rx he had given me earlier that day for the back pain. She said that in 30 minutes nothing had
improved to come back to the hospital. 30
minutes later, we were heading back to the hospital. Just before we left, I began to shake and
vomit. I had not thrown up in about 6
years. I knew this was the real thing.
We arrived back at Erlanger around 3am and this time managed
to find the Stork parking that was a closer walk than before. She already had filled in my sign in sheet
again. They took me back and checked for
dilation, and this time I was a 3. I was
so relieved, but asked her if she was just lying for me to get me
admitted. She laughed. She was so sweet. They again hooked me up to monitors and I waited
as she called the on call doctor, luckily MY doctor. She came back and told me I was being
admitted and an epidural was on the way.
I could no longer hold conversations with anyone at this point, so I was
just moving along as I was told. I finally
was able to “focus” on relaxing by staying as still and quiet as possible. I remember singing silently “you are my
strength when I am weak, you are the treasure that I seek, you are my all in
all. Seeking you as a precious JEWEL,
Lord to give up I’d be a fool, you are my all in all.” Caleb had gone to move the truck to the
garage at this time so I just laid as still as I could praying over and over
that the epidural was coming. Ginny, our
amazing charge nurse, soon came and so did the anesthesiologist. They helped me get in position and talked me
through getting the scary, yet wondrous epidural. As crazy as it made my legs feel, it was
worth it to have relief from low back pain for the first time in 30 hours.
I could now hold a conversation with my nurses and get to
know them a little. I managed to fall
asleep after 4 am and so did Caleb.
Olivia came in around 6:30 before her shift to say hello. Not too much later, Caleb’s parents also
arrived. I soon progressed to a 5 and
they broke my water. My parents arrived
and the excitement was building but I was able to take little cat naps as
diffusing lavender with my diffuser helped me stay relaxed. I made it to 10 cm by noon and my nurse said
it wouldn’t be long after that. There was
intense pressure building down below despite my epidural. I really couldn’t get
comfortable again and it was all too familiar of the pain from the night
before. At this time, I had to go back
into focus mode, so all my updates to my friends/family ceased as I couldn’t
multitask. My awesome day shift nurse
Hadleigh, came back and said I was stage 2+ and we would start pushing. She had high hopes it wouldn’t take
long. An hour later, after my mom and
Caleb were helping hold my legs and Erica was holding my back, we were getting
no where fast. My doctor then came in
and monitored the pushing process. He
said due to her size and my size that it probably wasn’t feasible for a vaginal
delivery but he would allow me to try as long as I wanted. I was so very torn as I didn’t want to “take
the easy way out” and give into a c-section, but I also didn’t want to push for
3 more hours and still end up having one anyway. I was beyond all exhaustion both mentally and
physically by this point as I had not slept in almost 36 hours time. I began to have a breakdown feeling
disappointed in myself especially since I had had a great pregnancy this whole
time. I agreed to the c-section, but was
not happy about it. More epidural came
and therefore more uncontrollable shaking. I had to take this awful liquid junk
and they made me lay flat after that. I began
to feel nauseated, fearing if I need to throw up how in the world I would be
able to since I couldn’t move myself. I was
afraid of aspirating to death on the surgical table. Everything from there was a big blur. My friends and family came to say things to
me, Caleb had on his brave face and my father in law prayed over me. I remember being in the OR, still nauseated with
both arms strapped out to the sides like a crucifixion. The nausea and fear returned. I kept thinking “this is supposed to be a happy
day and I’m beyond miserable.” The
shaking worsened, causing my neck to tense up in great pain and then my entire
jaw line did too. I couldn’t even hear
what everyone was saying. I just felt
Caleb and Erica’s hands on mine. Erica
was there to take pictures of Wylie, but she ended up just being the awesome
person she needed to be to support me as well.
I dozed in and out of sleep only to finally be awakened by the cry of my
baby girl. At least she was safe is all I
could think of. It seemed like forever
before they brought her to see me and I kissed her over and over. I could then begin to feel more pressure and
the doc explained they were putting me back together again, layer by
layer. The neck and jaw pain and shaking
continued. They finally weighed her, 8
pounds 14 ounces. She was a big girl,
but she was also face up and her head was bruised from being rammed up against
my pubic bone, stuck. She would have
never come out vaginally. I had made the
right choice, although it was not my first choice. Erica continued to take pictures of just my
head, having the not so perfect birth experience. I kept falling asleep. Exhausted, they finally wheel me into
recovery, and hand me my perfect baby girl.
We immediately got to do skin to skin contact and begin
breastfeeding, although I had no idea what I was doing. I was just so happy to be sitting upright and
with Caleb and my baby girl. Our parents
got to come in a little while after and then we were moved to mother-baby
room. I am pretty sure I was delirious
as I don’t remember much else that night.
I managed to get a couple sets of 3 hours of sleep in that night between
nursing checks for both Wylie and me. It
felt great to finally get the IV out of the crook of my left arm and the foley
out. Around 5am Sunday morning, I stood
up out of bed for the first time in 26 hours.
No wonder I hurt all over. Who stays in the bed that long and has a
c-section? It was not my ideal plan. But
God kept both Wylie and me safe and that’s all that matters.
Looking back today, I am so thankful for the amazing nurses,
anesthesiologists, surgical techs, my doctor, my husband, my family and my
friends who were all there for me and looking out for our best interest. It was very scary but I felt the Lord’s
presence around me. Today has been great
as it started out with me getting to take a shower and move around the
room. We have had lots of visitors and
of course everyone is in love with our Wylie Jewell. We are extremely blessed. While I’m very sore, stiff, and swollen, I
know I will recover eventually. It didn’t
occur to me until this afternoon exactly what a major surgery I endured
yesterday. While I didn’t have the birth story I was expecting, I did get the
sweetest girl in the world and to see the most awesome husband and daddy jump
in like a pro. My heart is full and I couldn’t
ask for more.
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