ada's birth story
Some Background Info
Throughout my pregnancy, friends and family would often ask me about my birth plan. The truth was, I didn't really have one, and I definitely didn't put a ton of thought into the one I did have. Mostly, I just figured I wanted a vaginal delivery if possible, and though I was open to trying without an epidural, I figured I would end up getting one. But like I said, this plan wasn't super concrete. This is because I'm diabetic (always, not just when pregnant), and I knew that there was a high likelihood that my plans would be forced to change when delivery time came. I didn't want to get my heart set on any certain way, since there were definitely no guarantees that I'd get that.
When I was around 30-35 weeks, I started asking my doctors what they thought my delivery would look like. They kept stalling and saying we'd wait to find out X information at Y appointment before we could make a more concrete plan. At one point, my OB said we were waiting until my 36-week ultrasound to find out size and go from there. My 36-week ultrasound revealed that Ada was head down and on her way to being a 9-pound baby. Using that information, my perinatologist recommended that I be induced sometime between 38 and 39 weeks, and he said a vaginal delivery would be fine.
I was so excited! I would get to meet my baby girl earlier than 40 weeks, get her OUT OF ME before 40 weeks, and the timing would work out great -- since it would be an induction, we could choose when it would happen, meaning we could schedule for a Friday so that Russ could get a weekend on both ends of his one-week paternity leave from work. It also just so happened that my out-of-town friend (who had told me she'd love to do birth photography for me) who has a crazy life right now would actually be IN PROVO on that date (September 23), and that that was pretty much the only day that would work out for her to do photography anyway. It was perfect! But it was my perinatologist who recommended between 38 and 39 weeks, and it was my OB who would ultimately get to decide.
I had to wait four more days after my ultrasound before I had an appointment with my OB. When I finally did get to meet with him, he checked my cervix and said, "How are we going to get a baby out of there?" Apparently my cervix was nowhere near ready, so my doc said he didn't want to schedule that induction just yet, and instead asked me to come in a week later (38 weeks) so he could check my cervix again. I was so crushed. I had totally thought that I had my dream delivery right there on the table, and then he just yanked it away from me. I was a little emotional that day.
A week later, at the time that I was supposed to meet with my OB, he was delivering a baby during my appointment, so I didn't get to talk to him! That really sucked because I had already been in limbo for the whole week, and now I still didn't get to get out of it. I scheduled a new appointment for later on in the day. When I went back, he checked my cervix again, and there had been no change. He still didn't want to commit to a Friday induction date (the Friday that was just 4 days later), and said maybe we could do the following Monday. But after reviewing the information from the perinatologist, he wanted another ultrasound first. Why? Because the notes from the peri said that Ada was breech! Even though she had been head down! Apparently the notes default to whatever the previous visit said unless you go in and change it, and Ada had been breech in her earlier ultrasound. This was kind of frustrating, but another ultrasound turned out to be a blessing.
On Thursday (the 22nd), I went in for another ultrasound. I was hoping for fantastic news of head down and measuring at 8 pounds, perfect for a vaginal delivery, but that is not the news I got. She was head down, but now, instead of measuring at something that would work out to be 9 pounds by 40 weeks, she was currently measuring at 10 pounds 4 ounces, even at only 38 weeks 3 days. While the perinatologist agreed that one of the measurements could be off (the 9 pound or the 10 pound 4 ounce measurement), he seemed more confident in the later measurement. Therefore, he switched his recommendation to a C-section because it's difficult to get a big baby's shoulders out of the birth canal, and he mentioned all sorts of scary stuff about shoulder dystocia and how if you can't get the shoulders out in 4 minutes, the baby could die! Which means that sometimes in order to get the baby's shoulders out, the doctor has to break the baby's bones! It was all too much for me, so I agreed to the C-section. It wasn't my top preference, but I would way rather be safe than sorry.
Since I no longer needed to have a "ready cervix," I was back to being able to schedule the birth. I talked to my OB and told him we were hoping to deliver the next day (Friday the 23rd) so that Russ could still have a weekend on each end of his paternity leave; the doc agreed that would work and scheduled us to come into the hospital at 7:30am to prep for a 9:30am C-section. That was less than 20 hours away! It was finally getting REAL.
The Birth Story
The birth story may seem a bit choppy because it's difficult to recall every detail and the order of every detail, especially since I had a lot of drugs in my system. But here's what I remember :)
On the evening of the 22nd, I did a few things to prep . . . I posted a final bumpdate, packed a hospital bag, and took out the trash. Russ packed a hospital bag and did some dishes. We really didn't do that much, but things felt so hectic to me! I was told not to eat anything past 2am, so I had some Fruity Pebbles sometime shortly before bed :)
Ada seemed to know she was coming out the next day, because she was very active from the time I found out. Sometimes it seemed like she was ready to get out NOW and so she kept pushing on me, but other times it seemed like she was making sure I got to enjoy her last few kicks inside me :) I did enjoy them, even when they woke me in the middle of the night :) (I also had another bowl of Fruity Pebbles when I woke up at 1:20am hahaha)
I woke up at 6 to make sure everything was good to go. I did my hair and makeup because I knew that with no labor, I could look pretty much as good after giving birth as I did before. There was so much excitement between Russ and me :)
Somehow, we got out the door a little late, so we didn't end up getting to the hospital until 7:45am. When we got out of the car and started walking in, Russ saw a car like my mom's and said, "Look! Your mom is here!" We laughed at his joke and then he continued, "She's probably just sitting inside and when we get in there she'll be like, 'You're late!'" We laughed some more and then opened the doors to that exact scenario! My mom stood up to give us hugs and said, "You're late!" Hahaha the whole thing was so funny because we didn't really think it was my mom's car; we weren't expecting her! But although we had decided against having other family around for delivery time, I actually didn't mind that she had come.
We spent the next hour or so in the C-section suite (basically just a labor room designated for people having C-sections -- nothing fancy haha). We chatted, I changed into my hospital gown, and nurses tested my vitals, found Ada's heartbeat, and inserted an IV. I complained about being hungry about 100 times probably haha . . . Fruity Pebbles didn't hold me over so well! My doctor also came in and basically described the order of things to me, and the anesthesiologist came in to inform me about when they would do what and how certain meds would affect me. Uncle Rick also came to say hi before delivery . . . he would have assisted with the delivery except that he had to go in to work at 9. Boo.
Probably 15 minutes before they came to get me, I sent my mom outside so that Russ and I could have some time alone together. It was at this point that I really started feeling nervous. It's like they can tell you every detail of what will happen, and yet you still don't really understand until you've gone through it, so I was feeling a little overwhelmed. Part of the reason was that I knew they would wheel me into the Operating Room to do the first few steps without Russ, and I really didn't like the idea of being separated from Russ. He was my rock! So in those few minutes he held my hand and told me he loved me and that everything would be okay.
They soon wheeled me to the OR. Once there, they had me get onto the table where they administered the epidural. I was sitting up, leaning forward, and holding onto a pillow (I always imagined they just gave epidurals with you lying on your side). The OR was cold, and I still felt so many nerves! They had me lay down and put my arms out like a T. They hung a sheet so I couldn't see my tummy anymore. For some reason, I had thought I would be completely lucid during the surgery; instead, I felt like I had no control of my body or brain. My arms were shaking and I seemed to be shivering, though I'm not sure whether that was from the cold or the meds.
Russ came in and I was so grateful to see him. He held my hand/arm/shoulder and caressed my face. Since physical touch is my love language, I caress Russ's face a lot. I just like to touch his cheeks and run my fingers through his hair and idk. It's probably weird how often I touch his face haha. But he doesn't touch my face as often, so when he does, it just feels extra sweet to me. He gave me exactly what I needed throughout the entire surgery.
They started to cut me open and I was still feeling pretty crazy and nervous. Every 30 seconds (it seemed) or so, the anesthesiologist would ask me if I was feeling dizzy or nauseous or some other discomfort. Whenever I was, he would give me more meds to counteract the negative feelings. I still felt pretty crazy and not in control, but it was nice that at least some of the sensations could be assuaged.
While the doctors cut me open, they were chatting about Grey's Anatomy. It was so weird how they were just having a totally normal conversation while performing a surgery!
At first, Russ had been sitting down next to my head, but once the doctors really got going, he stood up to look over the sheet. He was originally planning to be a doctor, so somehow he can stomach that sort of thing haha :) Not only did he hold my hand and touch my face throughout, but he also kept telling me how great I was doing, and that I was amazing. It's interesting . . . I really wasn't doing anything -- I was just laying there while other people did all the work to get Ada out. But despite the fact that I wasn't actively pushing or actively doing anything, it still felt so difficult. I didn't like all the sensations the drugs gave me, and I didn't like not really knowing everything that was going on. So when he said those nice things to me, it made me feel so good and so appreciated and so loved. He is absolutely the best person I could have asked for as a husband, and the best person to have at my side during delivery.
When they cut open the placenta, apparently a lot of fluids gushed out. Russ said, "Wow!" and his face registered some major surprise haha :) I had found out at ultrasounds that I had a lot of fluid, but I guess I, personally, will never know exactly how much that was haha.
When they got her head out, everyone was saying "Look at all that hair!" Someone -- possibly Russ -- said, "It's so dark!"
I knew she was going to have a lot of hair because the ultrasound tech had told me that at my previous two appointments, but I obviously had no clue what color it was going to be -- my hair is strawberry blonde, but was more red when I was born. Russ's hair is a darkish brown, but I believe he was born with dark hair, then went lighter as a baby/young child, then got darker as he grew up. So really, Ada's hair could have been any color. I was secretly hoping for dark hair though, so when I heard that, I was so excited!
According to Russ, after they got her head out, they struggled to get her shoulders out. They really had to stretch me. Thank goodness for drugs!
Sometime during the surgery, I wondered if babies cry after coming out from a C-section. That might seem dumb, but I just didn't know every detail of how a vaginal delivery differed from a C-section. So after they finally got her out, it made my heart swell to hear my girl cry! She sounded so cute and just . . . alive! Like it was crazy to know that she had exited my body and was in the outside world now.
Also something that was said a lot as soon as she was out of me was, "She is so big!" Everyone was blown away by her size, and I was anxious to hear what she weighed.
Shortly after they took her out, someone moved the curtain a little bit so I could see her 10 feet or so off to my left. She looked greyish-blue. I was a little worried, but the doctors didn't seem worried, so that reassured me. Apparently they just had to clean her off to get that color off?
Russ left my side to go see her, and it made me both happy and sad . . . I needed two of him! One for me and one for her! But it was fine :) He watched as they cleaned her off, and I kind of watched, but I was also feeling very drowsy and exhausted, so my eyes closed often, too.
When they finally weighed her, I was astounded to hear that she weighed ELEVEN pounds. I had really thought the ultrasound give-or-take-a-pound rule was going to err on the lighter side and she'd be in the nine pound range. I mean, you hear about people who have huge babies, but now I WAS one of those people! My mind was really blown haha. Everyone was pretty surprised!
When they had her cleaned off, they wrapped her up and let Russ hold her, and then he came over to stand by me. He had tears in his eyes, and it was the sweetest thing. He adored her already, and it was just so, so sweet. He told me more about how amazing I was, and how beautiful Ada was, and my heart was just so happy.
At the same time, it was so weird because I knew that was my baby, and that she is who I had been carrying for 9 months, but it just felt so surreal. I almost felt a little bit disconnected from the whole thing.
But then they lifted me from the operating table to a hospital bed and placed Ada on my chest, and that's when it all felt real for me. This was my baby! And I just wanted to give her all my love and care :) I was still so drowsy and drugged up, but I was happy to finally have her in my arms and in my life!
Throughout my pregnancy, friends and family would often ask me about my birth plan. The truth was, I didn't really have one, and I definitely didn't put a ton of thought into the one I did have. Mostly, I just figured I wanted a vaginal delivery if possible, and though I was open to trying without an epidural, I figured I would end up getting one. But like I said, this plan wasn't super concrete. This is because I'm diabetic (always, not just when pregnant), and I knew that there was a high likelihood that my plans would be forced to change when delivery time came. I didn't want to get my heart set on any certain way, since there were definitely no guarantees that I'd get that.
When I was around 30-35 weeks, I started asking my doctors what they thought my delivery would look like. They kept stalling and saying we'd wait to find out X information at Y appointment before we could make a more concrete plan. At one point, my OB said we were waiting until my 36-week ultrasound to find out size and go from there. My 36-week ultrasound revealed that Ada was head down and on her way to being a 9-pound baby. Using that information, my perinatologist recommended that I be induced sometime between 38 and 39 weeks, and he said a vaginal delivery would be fine.
I was so excited! I would get to meet my baby girl earlier than 40 weeks, get her OUT OF ME before 40 weeks, and the timing would work out great -- since it would be an induction, we could choose when it would happen, meaning we could schedule for a Friday so that Russ could get a weekend on both ends of his one-week paternity leave from work. It also just so happened that my out-of-town friend (who had told me she'd love to do birth photography for me) who has a crazy life right now would actually be IN PROVO on that date (September 23), and that that was pretty much the only day that would work out for her to do photography anyway. It was perfect! But it was my perinatologist who recommended between 38 and 39 weeks, and it was my OB who would ultimately get to decide.
I had to wait four more days after my ultrasound before I had an appointment with my OB. When I finally did get to meet with him, he checked my cervix and said, "How are we going to get a baby out of there?" Apparently my cervix was nowhere near ready, so my doc said he didn't want to schedule that induction just yet, and instead asked me to come in a week later (38 weeks) so he could check my cervix again. I was so crushed. I had totally thought that I had my dream delivery right there on the table, and then he just yanked it away from me. I was a little emotional that day.
A week later, at the time that I was supposed to meet with my OB, he was delivering a baby during my appointment, so I didn't get to talk to him! That really sucked because I had already been in limbo for the whole week, and now I still didn't get to get out of it. I scheduled a new appointment for later on in the day. When I went back, he checked my cervix again, and there had been no change. He still didn't want to commit to a Friday induction date (the Friday that was just 4 days later), and said maybe we could do the following Monday. But after reviewing the information from the perinatologist, he wanted another ultrasound first. Why? Because the notes from the peri said that Ada was breech! Even though she had been head down! Apparently the notes default to whatever the previous visit said unless you go in and change it, and Ada had been breech in her earlier ultrasound. This was kind of frustrating, but another ultrasound turned out to be a blessing.
On Thursday (the 22nd), I went in for another ultrasound. I was hoping for fantastic news of head down and measuring at 8 pounds, perfect for a vaginal delivery, but that is not the news I got. She was head down, but now, instead of measuring at something that would work out to be 9 pounds by 40 weeks, she was currently measuring at 10 pounds 4 ounces, even at only 38 weeks 3 days. While the perinatologist agreed that one of the measurements could be off (the 9 pound or the 10 pound 4 ounce measurement), he seemed more confident in the later measurement. Therefore, he switched his recommendation to a C-section because it's difficult to get a big baby's shoulders out of the birth canal, and he mentioned all sorts of scary stuff about shoulder dystocia and how if you can't get the shoulders out in 4 minutes, the baby could die! Which means that sometimes in order to get the baby's shoulders out, the doctor has to break the baby's bones! It was all too much for me, so I agreed to the C-section. It wasn't my top preference, but I would way rather be safe than sorry.
Since I no longer needed to have a "ready cervix," I was back to being able to schedule the birth. I talked to my OB and told him we were hoping to deliver the next day (Friday the 23rd) so that Russ could still have a weekend on each end of his paternity leave; the doc agreed that would work and scheduled us to come into the hospital at 7:30am to prep for a 9:30am C-section. That was less than 20 hours away! It was finally getting REAL.
The Birth Story
The birth story may seem a bit choppy because it's difficult to recall every detail and the order of every detail, especially since I had a lot of drugs in my system. But here's what I remember :)
On the evening of the 22nd, I did a few things to prep . . . I posted a final bumpdate, packed a hospital bag, and took out the trash. Russ packed a hospital bag and did some dishes. We really didn't do that much, but things felt so hectic to me! I was told not to eat anything past 2am, so I had some Fruity Pebbles sometime shortly before bed :)
Ada seemed to know she was coming out the next day, because she was very active from the time I found out. Sometimes it seemed like she was ready to get out NOW and so she kept pushing on me, but other times it seemed like she was making sure I got to enjoy her last few kicks inside me :) I did enjoy them, even when they woke me in the middle of the night :) (I also had another bowl of Fruity Pebbles when I woke up at 1:20am hahaha)
I woke up at 6 to make sure everything was good to go. I did my hair and makeup because I knew that with no labor, I could look pretty much as good after giving birth as I did before. There was so much excitement between Russ and me :)
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| before entering the hospital! |
We spent the next hour or so in the C-section suite (basically just a labor room designated for people having C-sections -- nothing fancy haha). We chatted, I changed into my hospital gown, and nurses tested my vitals, found Ada's heartbeat, and inserted an IV. I complained about being hungry about 100 times probably haha . . . Fruity Pebbles didn't hold me over so well! My doctor also came in and basically described the order of things to me, and the anesthesiologist came in to inform me about when they would do what and how certain meds would affect me. Uncle Rick also came to say hi before delivery . . . he would have assisted with the delivery except that he had to go in to work at 9. Boo.
 |
| last photo as a family of two! |
They soon wheeled me to the OR. Once there, they had me get onto the table where they administered the epidural. I was sitting up, leaning forward, and holding onto a pillow (I always imagined they just gave epidurals with you lying on your side). The OR was cold, and I still felt so many nerves! They had me lay down and put my arms out like a T. They hung a sheet so I couldn't see my tummy anymore. For some reason, I had thought I would be completely lucid during the surgery; instead, I felt like I had no control of my body or brain. My arms were shaking and I seemed to be shivering, though I'm not sure whether that was from the cold or the meds.
Russ came in and I was so grateful to see him. He held my hand/arm/shoulder and caressed my face. Since physical touch is my love language, I caress Russ's face a lot. I just like to touch his cheeks and run my fingers through his hair and idk. It's probably weird how often I touch his face haha. But he doesn't touch my face as often, so when he does, it just feels extra sweet to me. He gave me exactly what I needed throughout the entire surgery.
They started to cut me open and I was still feeling pretty crazy and nervous. Every 30 seconds (it seemed) or so, the anesthesiologist would ask me if I was feeling dizzy or nauseous or some other discomfort. Whenever I was, he would give me more meds to counteract the negative feelings. I still felt pretty crazy and not in control, but it was nice that at least some of the sensations could be assuaged.
While the doctors cut me open, they were chatting about Grey's Anatomy. It was so weird how they were just having a totally normal conversation while performing a surgery!
At first, Russ had been sitting down next to my head, but once the doctors really got going, he stood up to look over the sheet. He was originally planning to be a doctor, so somehow he can stomach that sort of thing haha :) Not only did he hold my hand and touch my face throughout, but he also kept telling me how great I was doing, and that I was amazing. It's interesting . . . I really wasn't doing anything -- I was just laying there while other people did all the work to get Ada out. But despite the fact that I wasn't actively pushing or actively doing anything, it still felt so difficult. I didn't like all the sensations the drugs gave me, and I didn't like not really knowing everything that was going on. So when he said those nice things to me, it made me feel so good and so appreciated and so loved. He is absolutely the best person I could have asked for as a husband, and the best person to have at my side during delivery.
When they cut open the placenta, apparently a lot of fluids gushed out. Russ said, "Wow!" and his face registered some major surprise haha :) I had found out at ultrasounds that I had a lot of fluid, but I guess I, personally, will never know exactly how much that was haha.
When they got her head out, everyone was saying "Look at all that hair!" Someone -- possibly Russ -- said, "It's so dark!"
I knew she was going to have a lot of hair because the ultrasound tech had told me that at my previous two appointments, but I obviously had no clue what color it was going to be -- my hair is strawberry blonde, but was more red when I was born. Russ's hair is a darkish brown, but I believe he was born with dark hair, then went lighter as a baby/young child, then got darker as he grew up. So really, Ada's hair could have been any color. I was secretly hoping for dark hair though, so when I heard that, I was so excited!
According to Russ, after they got her head out, they struggled to get her shoulders out. They really had to stretch me. Thank goodness for drugs!
Sometime during the surgery, I wondered if babies cry after coming out from a C-section. That might seem dumb, but I just didn't know every detail of how a vaginal delivery differed from a C-section. So after they finally got her out, it made my heart swell to hear my girl cry! She sounded so cute and just . . . alive! Like it was crazy to know that she had exited my body and was in the outside world now.
Also something that was said a lot as soon as she was out of me was, "She is so big!" Everyone was blown away by her size, and I was anxious to hear what she weighed.
Shortly after they took her out, someone moved the curtain a little bit so I could see her 10 feet or so off to my left. She looked greyish-blue. I was a little worried, but the doctors didn't seem worried, so that reassured me. Apparently they just had to clean her off to get that color off?
Russ left my side to go see her, and it made me both happy and sad . . . I needed two of him! One for me and one for her! But it was fine :) He watched as they cleaned her off, and I kind of watched, but I was also feeling very drowsy and exhausted, so my eyes closed often, too.
When they finally weighed her, I was astounded to hear that she weighed ELEVEN pounds. I had really thought the ultrasound give-or-take-a-pound rule was going to err on the lighter side and she'd be in the nine pound range. I mean, you hear about people who have huge babies, but now I WAS one of those people! My mind was really blown haha. Everyone was pretty surprised!
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| this one is not from right after delivery, but I don't have one from that time since we didn't take any photos in the OR. |
But then they lifted me from the operating table to a hospital bed and placed Ada on my chest, and that's when it all felt real for me. This was my baby! And I just wanted to give her all my love and care :) I was still so drowsy and drugged up, but I was happy to finally have her in my arms and in my life!
**ashleynicole
PS -- keep an eye out for Ada's birth story according to Russ sometime soon :)
gosh - you are a rockstar!! and little ada is so cute!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! You did great and she is cute!
ReplyDelete