God was so good in the delivery of our special little girl. And this is the story from my perspective... and again from Andrew's.
My Perspective
The wonderful doctor and nurse Andrew and I worked with... we had an amazing birth team!
Last Friday afternoon I got home from school ready to enjoy the first day of spring break. I spent the afternoon calling friends and making plans for the week, because I was determined not to just sit around and wait for Bailey to make her arrival. Around 6 o'clock I started to notice some tightness that I thought might be contractions, but I wasn't too worried about it. We went over to our friends Greg and Abby's house to watch a movie. As we were walking up the stairs to their apartment, I said "I really think these may be contractions." We still hung out and watched Wreck it Ralph... during the movie I started timing the contractions on my phone and they were about 10 minutes apart. When we left, I jokingly said to them, "Maybe this is it."
When we got home, I told Andrew that maybe we should start moving our hospital bags toward the car... just in case. I called Amy, our amazing Bradley Method teacher. She said since it was late, try and get some sleep in between contractions.. it would probably be a while, and she was right. We tried to sleep out in the living room. Andrew got a couple hours of sleep, and I was able to sleep a few minutes between some of the contractions.
I got up in the morning an tried to keep myself distracted between the contractions. Watched cheesy movies on netflix... took a bath... rechecked the hospital bags. The contractions were going around 6 minutes apart, but seemed to be a bit inconsistent. Amy came over to help us labor through. The three of us went on a walk through the seminary campus. We probably looked ridiculous as we stopped every 5 minutes on the side of the road so I could lean on Andrew to get through the contraction. We went back tot he house and waited and waited. The contractions got closer and closer together. It started to get really rough around lunch time, but we were determined to stay home until the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. At that point the whole atmosphere changed, it was quiet and serious. All the lights were dimmed.
Around 3 p.m. we decided to head to the hospital. Surely I was far enough along! We drove there pulled up to the emergency room since it was a weekend, checked in at 3:23 p.m. on 3/23 (weird huh?) and the lady said we trumped the other people in line since I was in labor. After we filled out the paperwork they wheeled me upstairs. They went to check me... and I had not been checked the whole pregnancy. I seriously expected to be around 8 cm dilated and almost totally effaced. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in my life when they said I was only 3 cm dilated, even through I was 90% effaced. I didn't even realize that could happen! How could my contractions be less than 3 minutes apart, yet I was no where close! I wanted to cry. At that point I didn't think I could make it... I had already labored for almost 24 hours and we weren't close? Andrew and Amy were so encouraging. They helped me try different positions to progress the labor. I just kept rolling hoping and praying that it would happen fast! We were so lucky because our nurses were so helpful! Told them I only wanted intermittent monitoring so I could move around- they said okay. Said I would rather have a hep lock than an iv... they were down with that.
After about 3 more hours they checked me again and I was 8 cm dilated! In just 3 hours...
We labored, more... I had some back labor... kept going... until I felt the need to push. They checked me again and I was 9 1/2 cm dilated and had a cervical lip. This was a little discouraging, but since I had no drugs I could move and adjust to help get rid of the lip and get to 10 cm. This was the most painful part of the whole labor.... feeling the need to push and not being allowed to. But eventually it got resolved... and we were able to move to the next stage pushing. I felt like when you get to pushing you should feel relieved because you are almost there. But all I could think of was I wonder how long this is going to be... at this point I had not really slept in over 24 hours.
We had the most wonderful doctor, another blessing from God because my doctor was out of town! She not only was okay with me going natural but was helpful and supportive through the process. After about an hour or so (I am not really sure) of pushing, Bailey Drew arrived at 9:16 p.m 9 pounds 9 ounces- they put her right on my chest.. first comments
"She has so much hair!"
"She is so big!"
They did have to stitch me up a bit, but at that point I felt so much relief that I swear it didn't even hurt. I still can't believe that we were able to go all the way through naturally. It was really a team effort, Andrew, Amy, the nurses, and the doctor were all amazing and integral to the success. There were a couple of times I told Andrew I didn't think I could do it... but he kept encouraging me through it.
It was funny because after at the hospital they treated us a bit like celebrities. The hospital staff could not believe that someone delivered a 9 pound baby naturally. The doctor and nurses said they had never seen someone so determined or calm during labor before. It was funny, even when we arrived to the postpartum area my nurse said, "I already heard about you." Guess going natural is rarer than I thought?
All in all we were so blessed through the process. About 27 hours of labor including early labor, but I only had to do 6 hours of that at the hospital. We have beautiful healthy baby girl and I am healthy. God is good. :)
Andrew's Perspective
Thursday night, Stasia told me that she was feeling different. However, I had grown accustom to not getting excited too early so I tried not to think too much about it Friday. When she came home Friday night and we were on our way to some friends of ours to watch a movie, Stasia told me that she had been feeling more contractions that evening. I started getting a little excited, but we knew that it could be false labor, so we just waited.
During the movie, I noticed that Stasia was uncomfortable and fidgety. She was also on her phone a lot. After we left, she told me that her contractions had been consistently ten minutes apart. I remember walking to the car and feeling excitement and nervousness. Was this it? What were we really getting ourselves in to?
We got home from our friends and we settled in on the couches and waited. We watched some television to distract ourselves as we waited to see if the contractions continued. Throughout the night the contractions continued to get stronger and closer together. As they did, I got more excited and worried about Stasia and Bailey. Were they going to be alright? How much pain would she go through? Would Bailey be alright? What kind of parent would I make? All of these questions ran through my mind as we lay on the couches waiting. I had to keep praying to God to give me a peace about the entire process and to help me to rest in His sovereignty.
Stasia was incredible and finally told me to get some rest, so I was finally able to sleep for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I could tell that they were getting stronger as Stasia was noticeably more uncomfortable. We got ready for the day and called our parents to let them know that we were in labor. We then got all of our stuff ready for the hospital and began using all of the different things we learned in our Bradley Method birthing classes. It was stressful watching Stasia go through so much, and I hated seeing her in pain knowing there was little I could do to help.
After hours of labor at home, we decided that it was time to go to the hospital. By that time, our birthing coach, Amy, had joined us and was helping me watch the contractions and giving us advice. She really was an incredible help to me and I will be forever grateful to her. We got in the car and I drove as fast as I safely could to get to the hospital. We got checked in and went upstairs to our room. It was at this time that we had our most difficult time. The doctors checked Stasia at this time and told her that she was only three cm's dilated and 90% effaced. The look of disappointment on Stasia's face was awful. I knew she was down, but I tried to point out that she was 90% effaced and was definitely in active labor. However, I was disappointed as well and nervous as to how long this was going to take.
Once at the hospital, Stasia really started going through the most difficult parts of labor. I can't express how incredible she was. She did not scream or yell or even make a lot of noises. She was completely focused on getting through each contraction and resting in between. I tried to remind her to breath during the contractions and to rest in between them. The nurses were also incredible during this time. They worked with us, allowing Stasia to move around and brought us everything we needed. They were positive and encouraging regarding our desires to give birth naturally. I was very grateful for them.
They came in and checked Stasia again, and I was very nervous. To our delight, the nurse told us that Stasia was at 8 cm's! Stasia and I were so excited, knowing that things were moving along. After only a few hours she had progressed so much. Praise God! It gave us the energy and focus to get through the next couple of hours, which were very intense.
Finally we were able to meet our doctor. The doctor we had been with throughout the pregnancy had to go out of town and we had no idea who our doctor would be. The Lord was watching over us because this doctor was incredible. She never questioned our desire to go naturally and was unbelievably helpful. When the time came to push, she talked Stasia through each step, never losing her cool and always being positive. We got to 9 1/2 cm and the doctor was able to get the last half cm pushed around the baby's head and we were down the home stretch! Stasia, as always, was incredibly strong as she pushed through each contraction. Finally, Bailey Drew Skelton was born and gave us a little cry to let us know she was here! I will forever remember meeting our baby girl for the first time and am so thankful that God brought her into our lives.
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