Labor and Delivery

Saturday was the big day! When I found out that I was going to have to be induced I was pretty worried. I didn't want my risk for c-section to increase and I heard that being induced was one of the best ways of that happening. I had also heard that being induced increased pain levels, not that I had anything else to compare it to, but more pain was not something I was looking forward to. Even though I have never seen the same resident twice, I was fortunate enough to have a great team of doctors who were willing to sit down and talk about the risks versus benefits and give me reassurance about the situation. This, along with talking with the birthing instructor and other moms who had inductions, gave me the peace I needed to be calm about being induced.

Before heading to the hospital on Saturday night, Matthew and I ran some last minute errands around town. One of the errands included getting my "last meal" before having a baby. I chose to go to Chili's for some southwestern egg rolls and chips and salsa! Matthew tried something new, as per usual, and it was yummy!

After a late lunch we dropped some things off at home and Matthew gave me a beautiful blessing that continued to give me peace. There was one part in particular that stood out to me. At the end of the blessing Matthew said, " I bless you that this will be an enjoyable experience for you." I thought to myself are you crazy? do you know what I am about to go through? enjoyable? but I didn't mention this to Matthew. I didn't want to hurt his feelings and if that was what he was inspired to say, who am I to question.

We headed to the hospital around 6:30pm. It was about 8pm by the time we got checked and settled in and when they started the "ripening" medication, Misoprostol. When I went in I wasn't dilated at all, so we figured it would be a bit of a long road. Because the doctors needed to know how the medication was affecting me and Baby E, I had to be monitored continuously. This was slightly annoying because it meant that anytime I rolled over or had to go to the bathroom a nurse had to come in and readjust the monitors.

This shirt is the same shirt my mom wore to the hospital to deliver me and all my siblings!

I was able to sleep most of Saturday night. When I first started to feel the contractions it was just like menstrual cramps. After the 3rd round of the Misoprostol had cycled through my system (they gave me the med every 4 hours and I could eat between doses) the nurse took me off the monitors and said I could order some breakfast and after I was done eating the resident would come in and we would decide what to do next. I enjoyed a cinnamon roll and split some pancakes and an omelet with Matthew and then took advantage of being able to move around the room without cords for awhile. When they hooked me back up to the monitors we were all happy to see that I was still experiencing the contractions every 1-3 minutes. The resident checked my progress and I was dilated to 1-1 1/2 and she suggested we start the Pitocin. The nurse started to get things set up but it wasn't until 1 or 2pm that she was able to start the dose because my contractions were still close enough together on there own. Before starting the Pitocin some of my contractions were up to a 4-5/10 pain level so the nurse gave me a oral pain reliever to take the edge off.

I had decided that my game plan was to stave off an epidural as long as I could so that  could still get up and move around. This would allow me to have more positions to get in to find pain relief. I am really glad that I did it this way because especially early on it felt better to either stand and lean over my birthing(exercise) ball or kneel on the bed.

After a short while on the Pitocin my pain crept up to a 6-7/10 and the nurse offered me Nubain. This drug made me sleepy in between contractions and maybe didn't really dull the contractions as much as make me so drowsy that I didn't mind them as much. It was nice because I got some rest and was able to catch glimpses of the Superbowl (although it wasn't much a game to watch...go Seahawks)! I was told that the Nubain's effects would last 1-2 hours. The drowsiness did in fact last that long, but I felt like I had relief from contractions for about 4 hours.

Once my pain started to kick up again I spoke with the nurse and resident about my pain relief options. I still didn't feel ready to move to an epidural and I was only dilated to a 3 at this point. I still felt I had a long way to go. The resident told me that we could try Nubain again, but the likelihood of it working was much less than the first time. Other than Nubain an epidural was really the next step. I decided to try the Nubain again and lucky for me it did help although not for as long.

At about 9pm the resident came back in and told me I was dilated to a 4-41/2. I was disappointed with the slow progress, but she said it was great. We wanted to make sure I kept progressing so she suggested that they brake my water. Up to this point I was feeling pretty good. I even thought that I might be able to make it without an epidural. About 5 minutes after they broke my water my thoughts quickly changed! My contractions suddenly and quite rapidly went from 6-7/10 to 10/10 pain and instead of having a 1-2 minute break between contractions they were right on top of each other. Up until this point I was able to control my breathing and manage the contractions, but here, I needed help. I called Matthew over and asked for his hand. He was smart enough to follow our birthing instructors advice and only gave me two fingers. I say that I squeezed his hand, but Matthew reports that I crushed it. I had to release my pain somewhere because focusing on my breathing only helped so much at this point. I seem to recall that my mom either texted or called sometime during this time and helped to remind me to just count my breathing and this helped to refocus me.

Matthew said that it took about an hour for the anesthesiologist to come with the epidural and maybe this is surprising, but it didn't seem like that long to me. Don't get me wrong, this was by far my least favorite part of the whole experience, but it didn't seem to go on for an hour. With the help of my nurse and Matthew I was able to sit up at the edge of the bed for the epidural. The worst part was getting the numbing shot. My nurse said that my epidural was one of the easiest she had ever seen performed. She forewarned that in the future it might not go so smoothly. A short while after getting the epidural I was sleeping.

Soon the resident came back into my room to check on my progress and discovered that I had dilated to a 7 and that baby had begun to descend! She informed me that I would begin to feel pressure as baby continued to move down the birth canal and told me to tell the nurse when I "felt like [I] needed to poop". Not long after she checked me I began to feel the pressure she told me would come and soon I had a feeling it was time. I told the nurse and although I think she was a bit hesitant, she went and got the resident. The resident checked me once again and said, "Yep, we're ready to go!" She and the nurse told me that when I felt the next contraction to take a deep breath in, hold it and push down like I was trying to poop. As I did this they counted to ten and had me do it 3 times per contraction. Matthew held one of my legs, while the nurse held the other as I was pushing and after a few pushes the resident pointed out the baby's head to Matthew and he said "She has hair!"

After 3 or 4 contractions the resident told me that most first time moms have to push for an average of 2 hours. She then added that she didn't think I was going to have to push that long if I kept giving good pushes, but to be prepared to push for awhile. She then told me that the nurse would come get her when baby was closer to coming out. Within just a few minutes the nurse called the resident back in. The last few pushes were more uncomfortable than the rest, but overall pushing felt great. It was a wonderful feeling being able to do something productive with the discomfort of the contractions.

Sixteen minutes after I started pushing EmmaLynn came into the world. Matthew cut her umbilical cord and she was placed on my tummy. I felt overwhelmed with love and joy! She was so small and so perfect! Nothing else in the world mattered.

Then the nurse took E to clean, weigh, measure her length and warm her up. I told Matthew to get the camera and take pictures of her while I got two stitches and delivered the placenta. Matthew caught me slightly off guard when he looked over at me and proclaimed, "You look so good. You don't look like you just gave birth." I laughed and he took a picture.

Me right after delivery

The next few hours were spent staring at EmmaLynn and calling, texting and Skyping our families. The first thing Jordan said to Matthew was "She has more hair than you do!" We noticed right away the funny faces she made and my mom saw a "lot of Kofford" in her. I said that I think she has Matthew's nose, but he said that it looked just like every other baby's nose.

After I was cleaned up and the nursed helped me to feed E for the first time we were moved to a new room. Both Matthew and I were relieved to find more comfortable beds. E was taken to the nursery for a few hours while Matthew and I slept. The rest of the day was spent nursing, changing diapers and cuddling/staring at our new baby. At one point while I was holding her I looked over at Matthew and said, "You know what's interesting? That was a really enjoyable experience."