A little run-down of the day my sweet baby girl was born and the days leading up to it. To have for myself in the future.
Friday, February 1st - My last doctor's appointment.
I was already dilated to a 3 and around 80 percent effaced. I was explaining to Dr. Paul that I hadn't really noticed contractions yet, but I just felt cramp-like pains sometimes and pressure. As I said this he laughed and told me I was having a contraction right then. He showed me that if I had my hand on my belly, I could actually feel a tightening. Had a total "Aha!" moment. Dr. Paul told me he didn't want to go past my due date (Tuesday the 5th) without inducing. I felt a little uneasy- I had heard enough stories about miserable, looong, inductions because the body wasn't ready for labor yet. He explained that my body WAS ready for labor. It was safer at that point to get baby girl out rather than leave her in where complications were more likely to arise. So, we scheduled an induction for Sunday morning at 5 am. He thought there was a good chance I would go into labor before then. If not, Sunday morning they would just give me a little jumpstart and my body would probably take care of the rest pretty easily.
I spent the afternoon hanging with my mom and getting lunch and pedicures. It was fun to just be with her that day and is something I won't ever forget. When I called her after the doctor's appointment she told me she had totally gotten emotional and called my step-dad Rick worried that she hadn't taught me everything yet I needed to know, etc. etc. Rick apparently laughed and reminded her that they weren't going anywhere and there would still be plenty of time for that.
As the evening came, I was noticing contractions very clearly now. They would come every 10 minutes or so. I thought for sure I'd be going into labor that night. I was excited and anxious. Chase took me out to dinner thinking it'd be our last date night before we were parents. We had a great night together just getting excited as can be. When we went to bed that night, we honestly thought we'd be up in just a few hours to head to the hospital.
Saturday, February 2nd - Still not in labor.
I woke up rather annoyed. I was excited and ready for this baby!! At this point I wasn't really noticing contractions very frequently. I still had them, but they were a little sporadic. After I told my sister the news Friday that I would either go into labor soon on my own, or be induced Sunday, Daryn started freaking out and booked a flight from Salt Lake for Saturday morning. So Saturday morning D and Kade came up to our house to hang. It was a beautiful February day and we thought that maybe the key to getting this baby out would be a little off-roading in Chase's truck. The four of us piled in and hit the hills just west of Providence, our community.
[Note to future self: off-roading doesn't induce labor. Pretty much just is uncomfortable and makes you feel sick]. I tried to smile through it still though and just laugh at the situation. We spent the rest of that day with our families. Hanging at my parents' house for quite a while, watching the Rebel basketball game, and also a walk in the park with Chase's dad and our niece and nephew. My anxiety level totally creeped up throughout the day. I had thought I was going to do this thing on my own for sure! I was still nervous about being induced and having a bad experience. Luckily, my best friend Megan came to the rescue with a long and reassuring telephone conversation. She had one of those induction experiences that I was uneasy about, but gave me that assurance that if you are body is already getting close to labor prior to being induced, it would be an entirely difference story than hers. I felt much better after our talk and tried to just relax the rest of the night. Not going to lie, I was still totally anxious. I went to bed just hoping again that my water would break before my alarm went off at 4 am.
Sunday, February 3rd - best day ever.
4 am - Alarm clock goes off. My water hadn't broke and I was going to be induced. Instead of being annoyed at this point though, I'm more excited and ready to get this show on the road.
{last bump pic before heading to the hospital}
5 am - Arrive at Summerlin Hospital and get the paperwork and everything started.
6:30 am - All of the paperwork and procedural stuff is done. I'm hooked up to an IV and ready to start Pitocin. Unfortunately, the nurse can't find a pump for the Pitocin. She says to hang tight for a bit while they get one.
8:30 am - Oh hey, here's that pump that you've been waiting two hours for! Finally, I start to receive the medication. Over the past two hours, we pretty much just hung out. As I was hooked up to the monitor I had been having contractions on my own once again. Still a bit sporadic, but they were coming. I told myself that I was already heading into labor and this whole deal would just speed it up. I was convincing myself that I wasn't "cheating" with an induction because I was already on my way and would have gone into labor myself that day anyhow.
12:30 pm - I had slowly been progressing from being dilated to a 3 to a 5 in about four hours. I wasn't in pain but could definitely feel the contractions during this time. They felt like cramps and had a clear tightening sensation. But it wasn't bad enough that I wanted any medication for it yet. Chase fell asleep for a while during this time and I tried to watch TV. (Tried is the key word here). He grabbed breakfast at some point. After I was dilated to a 5 around noon they decided to break my water. For the past month of my pregnancy I had been worried my water would break and I wouldn't realize it... another note to future self: you definitely KNOW when your water breaks. As soon as it broke, my contractions become INTENSE. Like my pain scale went from a 2 to a 10 with a snap of a finger. I tried to tough it out for a while but it was rough. I would have to just close my eyes and breath deep the whole contraction. For all of you moms out there who went natural- I applaud you.
1 pm - After 15-20 minutes or so I told Chase that epidural sounded great and let's get that going. I was nervous it would take the doctor a while to make his way to me, so I figured I'd quit trying to be tough and just get the process started. It didn't take too long, maybe 10 minutes for him to get there and all set up. During that time I think I said at least 5 times to Chase, "Whyyy would anyone ever go natural? Whyyy would you choose this?" Ha. [Don't be offended all you natural mamas out there. I totally respect your decision but in the moment thought you were all a bunch of wackos]. The anesthesiologist was great and did an awesome job. Some people talk about how big and scary the needle is or how that part of labor hurts... Nope. That guy was like my personal hero. It took a little bit for the epidural to kick in, but it was a total relief afterwards. I still could feel a bit of pressure and tell when a contraction was coming, but the relief from pain was awesome.
2 pm - An hour after the epidural, I could really notice the pressure during contractions and thought that the real deal couldn't be far off. Throughout the morning, I had two nurses looking after me. One of them said she'd check me around 2:30 to see how I was progressing. When the other had come in at 2, I was telling her how I could really feel the pressure. She laughed and said to give myself another push of the epidural to increase the medication. She also thought it would be smart to check me then. After doing so she smiled, gave me a big high-five, and said I was at an 8. I started getting emotional, I was so happy. Chase and I had a little moment then, knowing that this little girl would be here REALLY soon now.
2:30 pm - The other nurse still checks me when she said she would. 10 cm. Chase is wide-eyed...
"this is for real!" Nurse calls for everyone to get the delivery table ready. She calls Dr. Paul again and says to come NOW. She then teaches me how to push.
2:50 pm - I start pushing as Dr. Paul is pulling into the parking lot, coming from another delivery at Valley Hospital. Chase does an awesome job coaching me through it all.
3:31 pm - Baby Girl arrives. She is set on my chest while Chase cuts the cord. He at first said no, thinking he was going to hurt her. I tell him he's fine and to go for it. Baby girl is not quite as pink as you'd want her to be though and isn't really screaming much. She does a bit, so I wasn't completely scared but both Chase and I were a little bit nervous. The nurses take her over to the warming table and clean her up and work on her. She cries a bit more. Both Chase and I had tears in our eyes too. It was an amazing few moments. She weighs in at 8 lbs 9 oz and 18.5 inches long. A big baby! Far bigger than anyone was guessing based on the size of my bump. The nurses then say that they need to take her to the nursery for a little extra help, because she's not adjusting well. They also explain this sometimes happens and she's going to be fine. I remember being a little teary (not necessarily sad tears, just totally overwhelmed, happy, and a little bit scared tears) and asking if I can hold her first for a minute. They give her to me just for a bit. I looked down at the sweetest little face and said hello I'm your mama. It was incredible. Sadly though, they had to take her away and Chase went along with. I was never really scared, but I did wish they'd just hurry up because I wanted to see my baby. I had my phone and was texting Chase making sure she was okay and asking him to send some pictures. He sends a handful of pictures and videos.
4:30 pm - After a little while he comes back to tell me that she's great and perfect and gives me the biggest hug. He says how he's so sad to be in there without me though. I tell him I'm fine and to stay with her, so he goes back. At this point we let our families know that she's arrived.
5:30 pm - The nurses bring her back!!! Best thing EVER. We both hold her (Chase, for the first time) and love on her and just enjoy the moment... delayed as it was. She has big blue eyes and a full head of darker blonde hair. Chase and I talk about our few names that we had been thinking, but know it's the one that we've loved all along - Miss Collyns Kaye had made her debut.
{Collyns Kaye meeting her namesake - Aunt Daryn Kaye}
{heading home from the hospital}
That day was obviously one of the best days of my life. The experience brought Chase and I even closer than I thought we could be. I learned that the relationship of husband and wife definitely becomes even sweeter when you add the relationship of mother and father. That night after everyone left was one of my favorite parts about that day- watching Chase just loving his role as a brand new dad and even more so, just loving his little girl. My heart exploded and expanded to another level as I spent that night with my little family and as a new mom.
