She is Here!

Well the day began as we arrived at the hospital for the induction at 7:30 am. They get you checked in and into a room right away, do all the questioning, get you started on the IV, and then the nurse checked me - I was dilated to a 4 (from a 3 yesterday) and 75% effaced (from 50% yesterday). So my body was actually making progress on its own - those "Braxton Hicks" contractions were finally doing something!

They tried to start the Pitocin drip, but something was wrong with the pump so I may have gotten the very first "dose" but that was about it. So then we basically waited around for almost an hour before they got another pump so it was about 9:45 before they really got the pit going.

The contractions started pretty much immediately, and I was already at a 4, so I could have the epidural at any time, so about an hour and some debate, and finding out I was already at a 6 I asked for it.

We warned the anaesthesiologist that my epidural did not work with Jaycie and that they had to give me another one (after I was already dilated to a 9!) so he was aware of the problem. But when he put it in he said it was a text book epidural and I felt relief as soon as he put in the medicine!! Those back pains were magically healed. I was so excited!!

But not for long!!! about 12:00 I could feel the contractions in my back again slowly coming back and then they were full force again!! They tried giving me 2 more boluses of meds in the epidural and tried another medication but nothing seemed to work - it was back to a natural delivery!!

The Dr came in and broke my water about 12:30 and by then the epidural was just GONE! When he broke the water there was a small amount of meconium in the fluid - and that really scared all of us. So now we had the stress of the meconium and NO EPIDURAL! They had a special pediatric nurse practitioner on call for the delivery - which seemed more scary. But the Dr said that she was probably just under some stress since all the vitals looked ok. They put a heart monitor on top of her head to watch more closely.

I was pretty scared and panicked. The nurse checked me again and said when I feel the urge to push let her know- well as soon as she walked out the door there it was - that urge!!

I do not understand how or why some ladies choose to have a natural birth!! The delivery was not something I would ever decide to choose to feel ever again!! The Dr. came in and poked me with something and asked if I could feel this and I said yes - that was when the real panic and freaking out took place!! I realized that the epidural was gone and not coming back and I was very scared!

It took a little while - seemed like forever!! - for me to push our "little" girl out. She wasn't very cooperative. The nurses were great coaches and got me through it - Brad was right there, but I think he was just about as stressed as I was and all he could do was stand by me and try to be supportive. He was very worried about Kaylie and me.

But Kaylie finally cooperated and I was able to push her out at 1:17 pm. So I was basically in labor for only 3 1/2 hours compared to 9 hours with Jaycie. All I got to see of her was that she was very blue and had a dark head of hair! They didn't even give Brad the opportunity to cut the cord - they wanted to get her to the "meconium special team" right away.

They were a little concerned at first - her heart rate was 216!! They said it could just be due to the stressful delivery, but if it didn't go down they would have to take her to monitor and treat. But about 15 minutes later her heart rate came down on it's own.

The whole time this is going on I can't see her - Brad is at the table with her. But I was getting pretty scared. They FINALLY got everything done and her stable and wrapped her up to bring to me!! It seemed like forever, but it was probably 30 minutes after she was born before I got to hold her. But when I did it was the best feeling ever! Our precious little girl is here and she is ok!

The reason for the difficult labor - partially due to : She was 8 pounds and 4 ounces!! What a surprise!! She was 19 1/4 inches long. She was just completely opposite of Jaycie!! Her hair is pretty much black on top and a really dark brown on the sides! I told Brad though that for the past month or so that when I thought of Kaylie I thought of a dark haired little girl, but not really black- since neither of us has black hair! And just the fact that she has hair - that was a surprise too!! Because poor little Jaycie didn't have much hair at all - not til she was about 2!

So here she is our "little" Miss Kaylie Brooke!

Look at those chubby little legs and the belly on that girl! And those chubby little cheeks!


Jaycie of course was a little leery of the whole hospital setting and wouldn't come to me right away - except for a quick hug. But I won her over by telling her there were buttons on my bed she could push. I had talked to her about my special bed at the hospital before hand, so I think that did help. Jaycie was pretty into Kaylie. She wanted to hold her, so we told her she had to come sit with Mommy. So she sat there and held her and sat there some more - entertained by her sister and the TV.

After FINALLY giving up Kaylie she got down to play. But then saw that Pa was holding her sister and wanted her back right away! Already possessive about her sister!
Kaylie got Jaycie a present - a Big Sister shirt and some little figurines for her doll house. Jaycie LOVED her new toys!

All packed up and ready to go - we left the hospital the next evening about 6:00 pm. I was ready to go home to try and get some rest compared to the zero amount of rest you get at the hospital. And I really didn't want to be away from Jaycie again! That was the first night that I had spent away from her!!! Although she did fine with Mimi and Pa and I'm sure got anything she wanted! Brad did go home with them the first night just to get Jaycie settled and into bed - so us worrisome parents wouldn't worry quite so much! Which turned out to be a good thing because on the way home Jaycie got sick in the car! It turned out to be nothing - no virus, no temp - back to playing and having fun. But I would have hated for Brad's parents to have to have dealt with that one! Brad hung out til about 11:00 at home that evening before joining me at the hospital for the night just to make sure Jaycie didn't get sick again.

Then we just hung out for the day at the hospital letting them do all the "stuff" they do to you and your little one. And about 5:00 Mimi and Pa brought up Jaycie so she could be part of the "bringing the baby home brigade". And we began our life at home as a family of four with our girls!