Isabella's birth story.
well....due date came and went and I was ready to have her!! Dr. Gray agreed to set up an induction for me, but was worried it wasn’t going to work… which made me have mixed feelings about, but in the end was glad we induced that day...Robert and I went to our church’s' home bible study Sunday night and had a great time fellowshipping with our friends and studying the bible. Then off to the hospital we went. Such a weird feeling to drive to the hospital and “check in” to have a baby, especially when you work there! It was very surreal!! Amy got me “up & running” and then it was time to sleep – HA! Ya right!! I don't think either of us slept much that night, we were too excited the big "birthday" was about to be here!
Robert's sleeping situation in the hospital. No wonder he wanted to go home at 24 hrs!
We had all our family waiting by facebook and their phones for updates. I had been contracting strongly all night but was only mildly uncomfortable. Then 6am came and the pitocin was started - OUCH! what a BEAST pitocin is! I was soon at 6 on Pit and my water broke. Shortly after, I thought I was going to lose it! Robert was great support with heat packs and massage, but the pain was too much! By 7am, the day shift had started and one of my favorite nurses, Kerry, was my nurse for the day. I am so grateful for her -when she walked in and saw my face in pain, she knew immediately knew that I needed pain relief and started trying to convince me to take meds. I was not dilated-UGH, so somehow I figured meds would not be a good idea at this point… also my mom went natural and I wanted to see if I could do it- NOPE I could not! Well, I got some Stadol, which didn't touch me, so I went on to get the epidural and was a happy camper after that! It’s funny I tell my patients all the time they need to relax so they can dilate and I wasn’t even able to take my own advice! Go figure!…I soon started to dilate very quickly once I was comfortable… I spent the day sleeping, watching arrested development with Robert and checking facebook. Since I delivered in the unit where I work, I had coworkers coming in all day to check on me - so sweet!
my "Labor Day"...had to keep up with facebook, of course!
My parents made it in to town that afternoon and we were visiting when I started having a crampy feeling again…great epidural wearing low. So out went the fam and in came Dr Gray.
He checked me and looked suprised, stating, I don’t feel any cervix. (he had told me the day before that if I didn’t dilate by that afternoon he was going to send me home! And here I was at 10cm!!) Robert, who hears my terminology all the time but isn’t always sure what I’m saying just sat there, while Kerry is jumping up and down with excitement – cracking me up!
I’m like YIKES...HOLY COW...SERIOUSLY?! I’m complete? Its all happening... just like that?!!? I did not expect to have such a quick “easy” labor since I’m a first time mom! So I filled Robert in: It is time to PUSH! (He didn’t know what we were all excited about –if the baby was about to be there right then or what!)
It's Showtime!!
We had a few minutes together alone and suddenly we are both a big bundle of nervous energy!! Finally, it’s SHOW TIME! Since I was hurting again, I got redosed and started pushing. I hate that I got redosed because it took 2 ½ hours, and the epidural wore off again! I save you the details, but I had a really hard time due to HEARTBURN? What?! That was not supposed to happen! It was scary though – because the nurses and me didn’t know what was up and it was getting worse and worse (difficulty breathing then having to push makes for a huge challenge!!) I remember having about 20 different nurses come and go and stay –with about 12 people in the room most of the time, just hanging out!
Robert was at my side the whole time, supporting me and loving on my as usual! I always say it, but I’ll say it again – I have the BEST husband in the whole world! I LOVE him more than anything! He was an amazing support to me in labor!
My mom had originally not planned to stay for delivery but she came back to check on me and stayed too – pacing in the corner, praying every time I pushed! I am so thankful she stayed and was able to be apart of Isabella’s arrival.
Of course the nurses switched shifts at 7pm and a whole new crowd of nurses were coming by (I work nights so it was my girls and it was fun to have them there) – Amy was back to take care of me as well as Melanie – both were excellent nurses for me the whole time, and took extra good care of my when I was so extremely miserable!! Shortly after shift change, my epidural started to wore off again (Yep, I delivered her without drugs- CRAZY!!) and my chest pain worsened (which was Horrible, almost worse than labor pain)…I remember thinking, I’m not even able to breathe, I’m going to have to have a c-section, lets just do it. I want her OUT now!! I asked them to get the doc for me, so he came. I trust Dr. Gray and he seemed to think she was fine, but concerned about my chest pain. He was suggesting meds to take and I was like no, that wont work, no, we’ve tried that, ok, I’ll do that…(apparently you can’t take the RN outta ya, even when in labor) I think they gave me some Zofran…I was still miserable but with Melanies’ & everyones’ encouragement, I realized I was close and I could do this! Towards the end, I remember just listening to them count for me...blocking out every other noise in the room in between contractions/pushing, thinking she is almost here…I would turn and look at Robert and somehow I got enough strength to get through! I seemed “so close” forever…I was on the verge of giving up again when finally everyone’s noise level increased and I knew I was close. I just closed my eyes, prayed hard and pushed through all the pain with all my might- I was just listening intently for that one, very specific, sound...my baby's cry. About that time, I finally heard it...Isabella hollering! I looked at Robert and was overwhelmed with JOY! My mom’s face was priceless, everyone was smiling and Isabella looked great – she pinked up right away (WHEW!) Robert cut her umbilical cord and then she was placed on my chest. I immediately began to rub her and couldn’t stop smiling or crying! How AMAZING that was! I just couldn’t get enough of her and stared at her forever! I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like and she was gorgeous!! She looks just like Robert!!
Just 1 minute old!
Little did I know how much life would change, nor how much love my heart could hold! It had been such a long exhausting day. We were sleep-deprived with red-rimmed eyes and loving every minute of the delirium! how GREAT it is to have Isabella here FINALLY, with us, where she belongs!
Daddy's first time to hold Izzy
Robert's sleeping situation in the hospital. No wonder he wanted to go home at 24 hrs!
We had all our family waiting by facebook and their phones for updates. I had been contracting strongly all night but was only mildly uncomfortable. Then 6am came and the pitocin was started - OUCH! what a BEAST pitocin is! I was soon at 6 on Pit and my water broke. Shortly after, I thought I was going to lose it! Robert was great support with heat packs and massage, but the pain was too much! By 7am, the day shift had started and one of my favorite nurses, Kerry, was my nurse for the day. I am so grateful for her -when she walked in and saw my face in pain, she knew immediately knew that I needed pain relief and started trying to convince me to take meds. I was not dilated-UGH, so somehow I figured meds would not be a good idea at this point… also my mom went natural and I wanted to see if I could do it- NOPE I could not! Well, I got some Stadol, which didn't touch me, so I went on to get the epidural and was a happy camper after that! It’s funny I tell my patients all the time they need to relax so they can dilate and I wasn’t even able to take my own advice! Go figure!…I soon started to dilate very quickly once I was comfortable… I spent the day sleeping, watching arrested development with Robert and checking facebook. Since I delivered in the unit where I work, I had coworkers coming in all day to check on me - so sweet!
my "Labor Day"...had to keep up with facebook, of course!
My parents made it in to town that afternoon and we were visiting when I started having a crampy feeling again…great epidural wearing low. So out went the fam and in came Dr Gray.
He checked me and looked suprised, stating, I don’t feel any cervix. (he had told me the day before that if I didn’t dilate by that afternoon he was going to send me home! And here I was at 10cm!!) Robert, who hears my terminology all the time but isn’t always sure what I’m saying just sat there, while Kerry is jumping up and down with excitement – cracking me up!
I’m like YIKES...HOLY COW...SERIOUSLY?! I’m complete? Its all happening... just like that?!!? I did not expect to have such a quick “easy” labor since I’m a first time mom! So I filled Robert in: It is time to PUSH! (He didn’t know what we were all excited about –if the baby was about to be there right then or what!)
It's Showtime!!
We had a few minutes together alone and suddenly we are both a big bundle of nervous energy!! Finally, it’s SHOW TIME! Since I was hurting again, I got redosed and started pushing. I hate that I got redosed because it took 2 ½ hours, and the epidural wore off again! I save you the details, but I had a really hard time due to HEARTBURN? What?! That was not supposed to happen! It was scary though – because the nurses and me didn’t know what was up and it was getting worse and worse (difficulty breathing then having to push makes for a huge challenge!!) I remember having about 20 different nurses come and go and stay –with about 12 people in the room most of the time, just hanging out!
Robert was at my side the whole time, supporting me and loving on my as usual! I always say it, but I’ll say it again – I have the BEST husband in the whole world! I LOVE him more than anything! He was an amazing support to me in labor!
My mom had originally not planned to stay for delivery but she came back to check on me and stayed too – pacing in the corner, praying every time I pushed! I am so thankful she stayed and was able to be apart of Isabella’s arrival.
Of course the nurses switched shifts at 7pm and a whole new crowd of nurses were coming by (I work nights so it was my girls and it was fun to have them there) – Amy was back to take care of me as well as Melanie – both were excellent nurses for me the whole time, and took extra good care of my when I was so extremely miserable!! Shortly after shift change, my epidural started to wore off again (Yep, I delivered her without drugs- CRAZY!!) and my chest pain worsened (which was Horrible, almost worse than labor pain)…I remember thinking, I’m not even able to breathe, I’m going to have to have a c-section, lets just do it. I want her OUT now!! I asked them to get the doc for me, so he came. I trust Dr. Gray and he seemed to think she was fine, but concerned about my chest pain. He was suggesting meds to take and I was like no, that wont work, no, we’ve tried that, ok, I’ll do that…(apparently you can’t take the RN outta ya, even when in labor) I think they gave me some Zofran…I was still miserable but with Melanies’ & everyones’ encouragement, I realized I was close and I could do this! Towards the end, I remember just listening to them count for me...blocking out every other noise in the room in between contractions/pushing, thinking she is almost here…I would turn and look at Robert and somehow I got enough strength to get through! I seemed “so close” forever…I was on the verge of giving up again when finally everyone’s noise level increased and I knew I was close. I just closed my eyes, prayed hard and pushed through all the pain with all my might- I was just listening intently for that one, very specific, sound...my baby's cry. About that time, I finally heard it...Isabella hollering! I looked at Robert and was overwhelmed with JOY! My mom’s face was priceless, everyone was smiling and Isabella looked great – she pinked up right away (WHEW!) Robert cut her umbilical cord and then she was placed on my chest. I immediately began to rub her and couldn’t stop smiling or crying! How AMAZING that was! I just couldn’t get enough of her and stared at her forever! I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like and she was gorgeous!! She looks just like Robert!!
Just 1 minute old!
Little did I know how much life would change, nor how much love my heart could hold! It had been such a long exhausting day. We were sleep-deprived with red-rimmed eyes and loving every minute of the delirium! how GREAT it is to have Isabella here FINALLY, with us, where she belongs!
Daddy's first time to hold Izzy
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