LABOR story-- or just scroll down for pictures. :)
I had the pleasure of sitting/laying through 4 non-stress tests. The first because contractions were 3 minutes apart for 2 hours. The second because I started bleeding. The 3rd because my blood pressure went high. The 4th because the doctor was confused as to why I wasn't yet in active labor - measuring 43 weeks, dilated 5... waz' up baby?
Three hours after the 4th stress test on June 6, 2013, around 8:30 pm, Andrew and I went back to the hospital. I was having contractions 3-5 minutes apart that were powerful enough to make me cry. My mom met us at the hospital to take Sarie, Mikey and James. My mom ran inside to get me a wheelchair, but I really didn't want to ride in it, I walked instead. "walked" -- paused, limped, cringed...
At the desk the nurse asked, "Last Name and spelling?"
I replied, "Rosenvall, R-O-S-E-N-V, as in Valley, A-L-L."
"And first name?" The nurse looked at me, turned to Andrew and said, "What's her first name and birthdate?" (I was in the middle of another contraction.)
"Amy, A-M-Y," Andrew replied, "and birthday... uh... February, 2nd NO, 1st, 2013...uh mean '80 no..."
He was obliviously nervous but eventually got the correct date.
They sent me to a room, I dressed in a lovely hospital gown, went to the bathroom and was greeted by blood...everywhere... Sat on the bed, the nurse came in, saw the blood... checked me, I was dilated to a 6.5, then asked me to walk across the hall into a labor & delivery room. I made it halfway across the hall before another contraction.
My mom came up to give us the spare keys we had left in the van, then she left again to take care of our kiddos. We had also arranged to have Andrew's mom show up at 10 pm to be with the kiddos through the night.
In labor & delivery, I was hooked up to the heart/baby, contractions monitor, an IV with antibiotics (strep b positive) and yes, I did request an epidural. I was very nervous to have an epidural because in a c-section the epidural froze my lungs and I couldn't breath. Apparently epidurals with c-sections are set very high so you feel nothing. I appreciated the epidural since it was much less this time and I could still tell when contractions came/went.
My nurse was named Kimmy. She told me, "We want the antibiotics to take a good long time, so we will encourage things to slow down, I will check you again in 1 hour."
She left and we waited. By now it was 10 pm. I was able to eat a lime Popsicle, and ice chips. Andrew dozed off on the couch about midnight. I was progressing faster than they wished, they slowed me down a little bit. Kimmy checked every hour and for the most part I was fairly comfortable and time passed quickly.
Around 2 Kimmy came in, checked me again, "Okay Amy, you are really close, but since this is your first VBAC we want you to wait as long as possible to let the baby descend on his own, I will check in 1 hour, but most likely you will be ready before then."
Then THE contractions started. The epidural machine allows you to click a button to increase the flow and you feel less- I didn't touch that button.
Andrew let me squeeze the daylight out of his fingers and around 3 am I was feeling the urge to push.... At 3:20 am Kimmy came in. I hear her ask the doctor, "Do you want us to call right when she starts pushing?" The doctor replied, "No, let her push for awhile then call me when she's closer."
I was set up, Kimmy gave me instructions on how to push and told me to push. One push, Kimmy ran to the door and called Dr. Aagard. In one push baby's head was at 3+ (if you know what that means?) Dr. Aagard hurried in, I pushed 9 times (3 contractions) and baby Peter was here!
He had an awesome figure 8 knot in his umbilical cord, we're lucky it didn't cause problems. I tore- and yes it still hurts.
8 pounds, 8.3 ounces, 20.5 inches. 3:43 a.m June 7, 2013
They took his downstairs to check his oxygen, because he looked rather red/darker to the nurses. But, that darker coloring runs in my family-- yep-- Peter was normal so they brought him back to L&D. (J looked like a Rosenvall - light color, blond hair, blue eyes. Peter is dark skinned, dark hair, very dark eyes so far.)
Kimmy.
G'pa Rosenvall
G'ma & g'pa Tolson
My sister Eileen.
My brother Matt.
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