Clara Elizabeth is Here!

Delivery story! Very long post - pictures are at the bottom

On June 13th I had a regularly scheduled prenatal appointment down in Fontana. I was 38 weeks and 2 days and had had absolutely no contractions at that point. So I packed Tyler in the car and drove down the hill. The appointment went normal. I measured ok, he asked me AGAIN how big Tyler had been when he was born, and reminded me AGAIN that she would be smaller (really, I get the point), and then checked me. I had made absolutely no progress. I was 0% effaced and 0 cm dilated. Then he sent me for another NST - "just to make sure" although he said we would be seeing each other next week and probably the week after that - considering my progress - or lack thereof. So at the NST her heart rate and movement were great and the technician made fun of my doctor for continuing to send me in for NSTs when everything was fine. Then she checked the amniotic fluid level. To my surprise she told me she had to get the perinatologist because my fluid level looked low. She left with the warning - "you may just have this baby today." Uhhhhh what? The peri came in, checked the fluid level, and said, "Ready to have this baby?" Well no, but do I have a choice? So he scheduled the induction right then and sent me over to the hospital. In complete shock I walked over to the hospital (which is just right across the street) and checked in to be induced. I called Mark who wouldn't believe me at first and then my mom who asked me to stall. Luckily for her it was a busy day in the labor and delivery unit and my induction was pushed back again and again and again for women who were actually IN labor. I waited for 2 hours in the L and D waiting room (with Tyler) before they finally called me in. Mark and his parents got there right about then and whisked Tyler away. It was hard for me to let go of my baby. I missed him tons while I was in the hospital, more than I thought I would.

Anyway, they set me up in a triage room where I again waited for a couple hours before the doctor on call finally had a minute between deliveries to start the induction. They didn't start me on pitocin right away, but started with something called cervidil since I wasn't even effaced yet. They warned me that the cervidil could take 24-48 hours to even start working. Ugh! Two days for it to even start! I'm pretty sure Mark almost got up to leave me at that point. How much boredom can one man take? The doctor said she wouldn't even check me until it had been in for 12 hours - which would be at 4:30 the next morning. I resigned myself to a long hospital stay, told Mark he might as well hit the town and see what he could find in Fontana, and turned on the TV.

About 4 hours later I began to feel tiny contractions, but nothing regular so I ignored them. Around this same time they moved me into an antepartum room (MUCH more comfortable). Mark had come back by then and we discussed our options for the remainder of the night. My mom was able to find a flight and was arriving at 10:30 that night. We decided that Mark would go home to sleep and my mom would stay that night and then they would switch off the next day. It seemed reasonable. By the time Mark left to go pick up my mom at the airport my contractions were starting to come faster and stronger, but the nurse and doctor kept to their 4:30 am check time. After progressing with Tyler so fast part of me was pretty sure that I was going faster than they thought I was. I wanted to remind them that I was pretty good at acting normal during labor and that was the reason they ignored me with Tyler, but I didn't. Again, I trusted that they would know better than me.

My mom and Mark got back around 11 pm and Mark left soon after to get some sleep. About half an hour after he left my contractions started to near the unbearable point and I started getting the shakes, which I learned during my labor with Tyler meant that I was nearing transition. I shared my concern with my mom that I was actually going faster than they thought. I started to worry that I would miss my time for the epidural if they kept refusing to check me. The next time the nurse came in (around midnight) my mom asked her to check me. (This is the reason you need your mom there. I needed someone to stand up for me and tell the nurse what was up. This story would have been a lot different if she hadn't been there to do that for me, because I don't think I would have been brave enough to do it myself.) The nurse obliged (I'm sure while rolling her eyes) and checked me. HOLY COW! Being checked has never ever hurt so bad. I don't know if it was because of her or if it was just that fact that I was in labor already, but I pretty much wanted to die. Anyway, a look of surprise came over her face as she told me that I was already at a 4 or 5 and that if I wanted the epidural she would have to order it now. YES PLEASE! (Seriously, they should just write it down in my chart that I move fast and that when I think I'm dilating I am and to not be thrown off by my casual behavior. It would save me a lot of pain and them a lot of embarrassment).

We quickly moved into a labor and delivery room and ordered the epidural. She told us that if I kept progressing this fast I might want to call Mark and get him back here if he wanted to be there for the birth of his daughter. So poor Mark was called after being asleep for a mere 20 minutes and summoned back to Fontana. The epidural man arrived around 1 and luckily it went SOOOOO much smoother this time. Mark got there around 1:30 and we began the waiting game. I tried to get some rest, but I started getting a deep pain in my back. I pushed the epidural button, but the pain just got worse. I was sure something had gone wrong with the placement of the epidural like he'd hit a nerve or something. The anesthesiologist came in to check me a little later and I told him about the pain. He said that the epidural was just wearing off and to push the button, so I did and he left. The pain kept getting worse and I started getting the shakes again and started feeling nauseous. Now I was sure he'd hit something wrong. I finally called the nurse and explained to her what I was feeling and that the epidural wasn't helping at all. She looked at my catheter and at the pump and asked me to press the button a couple times. Finally she figured out that the pump had never been hooked up to my catheter so every time I pushed the button nothing happened. What I was feeling was actually back labor with no epidural. Well no wonder it hurt! Anyway, she got me hooked up to the pump and within 15 minutes I was feeling much much better.

It was around 3:30 am at this point and I tried again to get some rest. But I just couldn't sleep because I kept getting this weird pressure/something coming out feeling. It wasn't a very regular feeling so I ignored it. My epidural with Tyler had been so strong that I had never even felt the need to push let alone the baby coming out, so I didn't really know what I was looking for. Plus, the last time they had checked me a couple hours before I was only at a 6. I just assumed my labor had slowed down after the epidural. Around 4 something the nurse came in and I asked if my contractions had slowed down. She said they had, but that I was showing signs of coming close to delivery on the monitor. So I said, "Well, I am kind of feeling like something is between my legs - you know - like a head." I really did say it more as a joke, even though that really was what it felt like. She gave me a weird look and went to see how far I'd progressed. To my surprise (and hers too I'm sure) she said the baby was crowning and on its way out. She called quickly for a baby nurse and doctor and quickly got me set up to push. Little did we know this baby wouldn't need much pushing to come into the world. She had me do 2 or 3 pushes before the doctor got there and then told me to stop as she was coming faster than the doctor was moving. The doctor arrived within seconds after that and started getting all prepped. They kept reminding me not to push and I tried, I really did. I finally said, "I'm not pushing, really, but she's coming whether I want her to or not." And come she did. The doctor pretty much turned around right in time to catch her. He had me do a couple little teeny pushes to get her all the way out, but for the most part she slid out pretty much on her own. Clara arrived at 4:51 am June 14th. (I had to giggle just a little since initially they told me they weren't even going to check me until 4:30 am and instead I delivered her not long after that). It was love at first sight! She weighed 6 lb 5 oz and was 18 3/4 inches long. Not bad for being two weeks early and measuring small to boot! When I got home and looked up size averages for babies she was really only a week behind the average 38 weeker - so pretty much all that worry for nothing!

We stayed in the hospital another day and a half and although I had a small melt down that first night since I hadn't slept in over 48 hours, things went pretty smoothly. However, we had a couple minor scares with her during her testing. She failed her hearing test the first time, but passed the next day. She tested coombs positive, which means our blood crossed during delivery so she had a higher chance of jaundice, but fortunately continued to test in the low range so she never needed bili lights. And she kept spitting up and choking on amniotic fluid and mucus that was still in her stomach. Apparently most vaginal delivery babies have that stuff sucked out of them somehow as they are squeezed through the birth canal, but since she came so fast it wasn't all squeezed out. This was the scariest to me because she really had a hard time getting it out on her own. That whole first day after delivery I didn't sleep because I was afraid that she would choke while I was asleep and I wouldn't be able to help her. They performed a procedure called lavage on her twice to try and get it all out, which helped a lot! So fortunately, everything turned out just fine and she was completely healthy and beautiful!

Finally we were released and able to take her home. I know some people like their stay in the hospital but I for one can never wait to get out! The nurses were great and everything was fine, but I just wanted to be in my own home, in my own bed, with my own little family. I was so excited to get home to see Tyler and to see how he would react to his new little sister!

All in all it was such a great experience! Clara is amazing! She is such a sweet, content, happy baby! I thought it was impossible to love another little human being so much after Tyler, but it is possible! Somehow your heart just opens up even bigger! I am madly in love with her and with Tyler and though at times I find it hard to divide my attention between the two of them equally, I know we'll keep figuring it out. I feel so incredibly blessed to have two such wonderful, beautiful children! And so blessed that everything turned out great with Clara after all those scares. And so blessed that her labor and delivery went so well and so smoothly. Recovery has been cake compared to Tyler. I only had a 1st degree tear with her, compared to the 4th degree with Tyler and it has been night and day. I LOVE BEING A MOMMY!

And finally, some pictures!

Father and daughter

Mommy and Clara

Clara's first day

Foot prints and first bath

Tyler meets Clara for the first time