Thursday, March 12, 2015

lyric's birth story

seeing as my memory is slowly fading of this special day, i thought it was time to put in to words what experiencing labor for the first time was like and to write down every detail with the hopes that i can continue to remember throughout the years! if you read this entirely, props to you!

i had made the decision early on to deliver at the hospital in murray which was quite the drive from our home in orem. every doctors visit was up in murray so we would make a whole day out of it whenever we had an appointment. whether it was going shopping in salt lake, a quick trip to ikea, or going out to eat at our favorite restaurants that were up closer to our doctor. (yes, tyler went to every single appointment with me!)

due to the fact that around 35 weeks i had an early birth scare with contractions every two minutes and a quick trip to the triage where they had told me i was dilated to 2cm and 70% effaced, i had our hospital bags packed for weeks. so for every following appointment after that we brought our bags in the car. (a little over prepared, i know.) my doctor had assumed i would go early since i was dilated earlier than most.

friday the day before lyric was born, i went to the doctor for my 38 week appointment where he had told me for the second time i was still dilated to 3cm and 80% effaced. i was so discouraged and confused because my contractions had progressively gotten closer together and much more painful. i had so much pelvic pressure down there that even walking was quite the challenge. my doctor was convinced i would go into labor that night or the next day.

tyler and i had made plans with our friends tyler and lexi to go eat at the cheesecake factory up in murray that friday night. after talking with my doctor, we decided to stay near the hospital until dinner, just in case my contractions got worse. we went to a few baby stores to get a few last minute things and i thought walking would speed things up! i could barely function walking in and out of buy buy baby and target. i remember saying to ty, "i don't think i'm going to make it!"

as we were walking into the cheesecake factory to make a reservation, out walked elder david a. bednar with his wife. tyler turns to me and says "you should've said hi to him! maybe he could've said something to get that baby here!" oh, the weirdo husband i have! as we sat down to wait, i downloaded an app on my iphone that tracks every contraction & the length of each contraction. we ordered our food and i tried my best to stay distracted while pressing a button on my phone each time a contraction hit. they were every 3-5 minutes for an hour straight! after dinner we decided to call the on-call doctor at the hospital and see what he suggested that i should do. he told me to lay flat on my side for an hour, and if they didn't slow down, then to head into the hospital. we sat in the parking lot and i laid my seat back in our car for another hour. looking back, i just laugh at this extremely long day of hanging around near the hospital! that is the only downside about delivering so far from home. they definitely didn't stop at this point, so to the hospital we went! i got checked into the triage only to be told i was at a 3+ dilated and 90% effaced. i just looked at tyler, almost tears in my eyes, thinking to myself what an emotionally draining day. they checked us out of the hospital and we headed home.

saturday morning at 8:00 i woke up to a call from my doctor asking how i was doing, and that he saw i was in the hospital last night. after hearing my response of a sleepless night with plenty of contractions, he said he was going to be in the office for about an hour and to head up to murray quick. he was going to try to get this baby to come today! we got to his office with it being completely empty; just my doctor and us! he stripped my membranes and said that the baby's head was right there. he knew i was having a baby that day! we headed home to try to take a nap and after 15 minutes of laying there, i thought i was going to die. i was breathing through each contraction as they came. i knew i was in labor. we went to grab some lunch with my mom and for the third time in 24 hours we were heading back up to the hospital!

i checked into the hospital around 2:00 and they told me that they already had a room ready for me. gosh we loved my doctor! he was so personable and sweet to us from the beginning. they checked me and i was 4+ dilated and 100% effaced! the best news i had ever heard. my nurse came in and hooked me up to an iv, got all my information, and the wait was on. i asked for my epidural right away. in walked the anesthesiologist explaining how the epidural worked and how he was going to insert it. i turned on my side as he stuck the needle in, holding on to tyler's hand so so tight, and surprisingly i didn't feel any pain, just a little bit of pressure! as soon as that was in, it was smooth sailing from there. i was comfortable and at peace, ready to meet my baby girl. my doctor came in about 30 minutes later to check on me and to break my water. i was 5cm dilated, he proceeded to tell me i would most likely be at 10cm and ready to push within the next 5-6 hours! whoo! he had the nurse put me on a low dose of pitocin to help my labor go a little faster. we texted family members and told them she was coming! my mom arrived shortly after that.

after an hour of being on pitocin, my doctor came back to check on me and i was at 9cm! he immediately told the nurse to get me off pitocin while he ran to do an emergency c-section and then he'd be back to have me start pushing! tyler and i were shocked, we expected it to be a couple more hours like he had said. my nurse kept saying, "wow labor usually doesn't happen this fast with your first baby!" while i continued to chew on ice chips, tyler flew down to the cafeteria to grab a burger. he was so hungry he thought he might pass out during labor! in walked my doctor 30 minutes after i had last saw him, and he checked me again... i was at a 10!!!!

with my husband on my right, my nurse on my left, and my mom up by my head, he told me to do one practice push. the breathing technique i really struggled with! i look over at tyler and he's breathing with me! i started to laugh, how cute right? after just one push my doctor yells, "i can see her head! she has so much hair!" they watched as her oxygen went down a little bit, they hurried and threw an oxygen mask on me. three more fast pushes and she was out, a total of 10 minutes pushing! she came in to this world at 6:06 pm. i heard her little cry as tyler cuts the umbilical cord sobbing. that moment was so special for me, to see my husband in tears as he meets his daughter for the first time. they laid her on my chest to do skin to skin and nothing else mattered in the world. instant love. she was beautiful.

all in all, i loved my labor experience. i wish i could do it all over again! i loved being so close knit with my little family in one room for two days. i was in pure bliss.

5 comments:

  1. So beautiful! <3 Congrats, Hillary! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful!!!!! I'm almost at 39 weeks, so I can't read enough birth stories :) Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pakistan and find your key to situation. Car rent Islamabad Try not to hesitate remaining around for costly cabs or attempting to design tangled transport courses around the city. Poor auto rentals in Islamabad diminish the essential for open transportation, and accomplice you from exhibit A point B speedier than you can state "stores.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Things are very open and intensely clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very beneficial
    wordpress
    blogspot
    youtube
    កីឡាបាល់ទាត់

    ReplyDelete