Peyton's Birth Story!

On February 5, 2013 at 41W 1D at 8pm we went to the hospital to start the induction process with a dose of cytotec.  Starting at 7 AM that morning I started to feel some cramping but thought it may just be a fluke. Well they continued on for the remainder of the day consistently being 30 seconds long and about 7 minutes apart. I was happy to find out that these were in fact real contractions once we got to the hospital because they were pretty uncomfortable and if they weren’t I was concerned about actually  being able to carry out my natural birth plan. So we started the cytotec soon after we got there and settled in for the night, thankfully we were able to watch the UK game! For some reason I thought these meds wouldn't do much to me and I was fully expecting to get a full nights rest ... Wrong! Pretty early on in the night I was contracting regularly and frequently, having somewhere around 3 contractions within 5 mins each lasting a min long. Needless to say I didn't get a wink of sleep and had to start using some of my coping techniques. They ended up not giving me the second dose of meds because I was already progressing fairly well.

At 4AM I was very uncomfortable and ended up vomiting. I decided to get a bit of pain meds in my IV before we started the pitocin. But before that my nurse checked me and I was 4cm dilated. During my check she accidentally broke my water, this is probably the most disgusting feeling in the world! At 4:30ish AM we started the pitocin and these contractions were so much easier to handle than the previous ones. I was able to labor on the birthing ball which was amazing, laboring in bed is probably the most excruciating thing ever! Within a few hours I was already to seven centimeters. This was all going so quickly that everyone thought we would have a baby by lunch ... Not so!

 I stalled out at 7 cms for about 3 hours. I was also continuing to vomit multiple times with nothing really left in my stomach. To paint a beautiful image of this blissful birth, imagine me on my birthing ball, being very loud during contractions, vomiting and leaking a ton of fluid. Pretty awesome huh? At this point I just couldn't take the pain anymore or the discomfort of it all especially since I wasn't making any progress. We decided it was time for some drugs! This ended up being such a great decision. Getting the epidural was NO FUN! They were able to insert the cath in between contractions but ended up administering the medication during a contraction. It felt like I was being shocked all over my left leg while also having a horrific contraction. I'm pretty sure that was the loudest I screamed all day ... Jordan could hear me all the way down the hallway. Even with the pain it was still the best decision ever!

 I was feeling great for about 30 minutes but then started to feel contractions again. The nurse administered some more meds but I still didn't feel a difference so I asked her if there was a kink or anything and she told me it just takes time. I gave it a few more minutes but the pain was just too much especially because they had me in a very odd position to help move her down. The nurse called the anesthesiologist and he found that they hadn't connected the meds to the cath in my back. Jordan was furious when he found this out and I wasn't too pleased either but once we were connected all was well again. Very soon after the epidural was placed I was 100% effaced and 9 cms. I continued to labor with the epidural in various positions to get her to move down more and to finally dilate that one more centimeter to be complete! At this point I was certain we were going to have a baby by 1:30. Well 1:30 rolls around and I'm still stuck at 9. My doctor came to check on me when he was done with patients for the day which was somewhere around 4. At this point I was still at 9. He pushed on the top of my stomach and felt to see what was going on with her head. He was explaining that she wasn't able to move down any farther because her head was too big and my pelvis was too small. As soon as he started explaining this I broke down because I knew exactly what was coming next. He recommended getting a c-section for the best result for everybody. Of course I agreed but was pretty devastated that after all the research and hard work I had done to get the birth I wanted, it was all for not. I was pretty terrified during the whole process because I hadn't educated myself on this process at all. Jordan was so amazing during this whole process. He was calm, comforting and so so supportive! I’m sure he was grossed out by everything going on but he never let on.

After the decision was made everything moved so quickly. In no time at all we were going down the hallway towards the OR. There were so many people there and it was sooo cold. Everything got started and before I really even realized it our sweet girl was born and boy was she loud. There was no doubt her lungs were fully developed. Jordan went and got her after she was cleaned up a bit and brought her over to me. She was already totally calm and happy to be with her dad. I was able to touch her and kiss her sweet face before they left for the nursery. They started putting me back together and in about 30 minutes I was in our recovery room. Jordan brought Peyton in very soon after and I was able to hold our sweet little girl. She nursed immediately and has been a champ ever since. I found out later that while Jordan was in the nursery with her they were having some skin to skin time and she tried to nurse him as well!

Although this delivery did not go the way I had planned or imagined in the slightest it was still an amazing experience. For months prior to the due date Jordan and I diligently prayed that God would have His hand on mine and Peyton’s birth and delivery and I have no doubt He was with us. Jordan was completely amazing throughout the whole process and there was no way I would have done as well as I did without his support. So far recovery has been going great and I have easily been able to move around with very minimal pain. I have already lost half of my baby weight which I was not expecting at all, let’s hope the rest falls off just as easily.

We had our first doctor appointment today and everything was great, we have a sweet healthy baby on our hands! Thank you to everyone who prayed for our family during this time, took the time to come by or congratulate us, we are so so appreciative of your support. Also if you made it all the way through this post you’re a trooper. 

Right before we left for the hospital. 

Sofie loving up on her new little sister. 

Our Sweet Girl.