Kayli

Birth Story

Kayli's birth was very easy and very fast.  We barely made it to the hospital.  All the details can be found below.  Enjoy!

So, the entire birth story. Where to start? How about with the loss of the mucus plug, because that's when I started thinking that our baby would arrive sometime soon.

On Sunday morning, I woke up when Xander did (7:00am) and went into my office. My mom, as usual, immediately came out of her room and took over with Xander. I felt bad about that, because I felt like I'd been taking advantage of her over the past week. So, I stayed out there for a while, but I was working on my computer as usual.

Eventually, I decided that 'keeping them company' by being in the same room was silly. So, I went back to bed in Xander's bed. I woke up at 10:30. Wow. That was the latest I'd slept in a while. Maybe my body knew what was about to happen.

10:45am - lost mucus plug

I got up to get ready to go to brunch, and found that I had lost my mucus plug, or at least much of it. Being me, I took pictures. Last time, lots of people asked me what it looked like, so this time, I took pictures. If you want to see them, feel free to ask.

We had brunch reservations at 11:30am at the Crowne Plaza downtown, where we often go for brunch when my family visits. I decided that I really needed to take a shower, just in case I was going into labor. I really didn't want to go into labor unshowered, for some reason. My mom rescheduled the reservations for 11:45am.

I took a very nice shower, shaved my legs, dried my hair, put on makeup, and basically felt very good. No contractions were noticeable at this point. I put on Delia's digital watch, just in case. She had loaned it to me so I could time my contractions.

11:45am - brunch at Starz restaurant at the Crowne Plaza hotel

We drove downtown to the brunch and had a good time. I joked about trying to eat enough food to push the baby out the other end. I did eat a lot, including a cheese omelette, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and a waffle. I love brunch! Definitely my favorite meal.

14:00pm - went for a walk with my mom

We wandered around the neighborhood, walking at a reasonable speed.  I kept an eye on my watch, so I knew when a contraction would hit.  They weren't painful at all, but I knew that they were happening. 

16:20pm - ordered two pizzas

I still wasn't sure that I was in labor (apparently because I'm not very observant), but we thought that we should eat something, just in case. I thought about cooking something, but decided that I'd been cooking every day, so I could slack a little bit, and we decided to
order some pizza. I knew something was wrong when I couldn't decide which coupon to use, or what to order on the pizza. Travis had to make those decisions, and he even ordered the pizzas, which means that something was really unusual, because I never make him order the pizzas.

16:29pm - announcement of labor

16:29pm - emailed update list with "Baby: Labor... (almost Baby: Labor(?)...)"
16:31pm - emailed moonbeams with "Labor!"
16:34pm - emailed MOMS Club with "I'm in labor!"

While we waited for the pizzas, I made some phone calls and sent a bunch of emails, telling people that I was in labor. As I was writing the first one, to my email update list, I actually almost called it Baby: Labor(?) with a question mark, because I still wasn't sure. No
real pain yet, and I could still talk through the contractions. They were definitely noticeable by this point, though. By the time I finished writing the email, I had removed the question mark.

I called Travis's dad and told him that we were headed to the hospital. He laughs now because he said that I rather abruptly said, 'Oh, I need to go', and hung up, apparently having a contraction. I called the Raymers and left a message for them. I called my aunt Becky, and I may have called my aunt Teresa. I called a lot of people to tell them I was in labor and/or that I was going to the hospital, but I can't remember who now. Feel free to remind me!

I tried to time all of my calls with the end of a contraction, then I watched my stop watch so I could get off the phone before the next one hit. So, the calls were pretty short, but hopefully I was reasonably polite about it.

17:06pm - took picture of myself in burgundy suit (LABOR)

I had planned on taking pictures of myself in labor. Not because you'd be able to tell that I was in labor (except maybe by the glazed look in my eyes), but so you could see how big my belly ever got. So, I put on my burgundy body suit and took a picture. I had a really hard time scrawling the sign that I'm holding. That's about when I knew that this was serious. When talking to a nurse at the hospital the next day, I laughingly described how hard it was to write the sign because I was shaking so much, and she said that I was probably going through transition (dilating from 7 to 10 centimeters).

I took this picture less than an hour before Katherine was born.  The contractions were about six minutes apart at this point.

I then packed up the few remaining things that I thought we needed at the hospital. Video camera, laptop, etc. The things I couldn't pack up ahead of time because they are in frequent use in the house. I put everything in the car.

Travis was eating pizza by now, so I told him that I thought we needed to go. He went upstairs and changed his pants in anticipation of blood, and we were off.

17:20pm - left for the hospital

We left for the hospital around 5:20pm.  The contractions were about five minutes apart.

Before we went, I called the hospital to page Cat to tell her we were leaving. I was very excited that she'd be the one to deliver our new baby, because she delivered Xander two and a half years ago, and I wasso pleased with how she handled everything. Any of the midwives would have been welcome, but I thought it was special that the same one would deliver both of my children.

I leaned out the back door, where I had seen Xander and my mom playing, and told them that we were going. My mom hugged me with tears in her eyes and told me that she loved me and that she hoped everything would go well.

I kissed Xander goodbye and told him I was going to go "pop the baby out" (his expression) and would see him soon.

I wanted to tell Melissa I was leaving, so I had to find her in her room. She was on the phone. As an afterthought, I asked her to clean up the cat puke that Lex had left on the landing before everyone else arrived. She asked what she should use, and I gave her detailed instructions on how I clean cat puke off our new carpet. Looking back, that was a pretty silly way for me to spend my time. But she did a good job, so I guess it was worth it!

By the time I was heading downstairs, I was gripping the handrails during a contraction, feeling very shaky and having some difficulty breathing.

Cat hadn't called back yet, but I decided that I couldn't wait until she did, so we jumped in the car. 'jumped' is probably not entirely accurate, in my case.

17:23pm - page Cat while driving to the hospital

In between contractions, I managed to call the hospital to page Cat again. The nurse was concerned, I guess, and said that she'd call her at home this time. Sometimes, the midwives had warned me last week, the pager doesn't work. I gave the nurse my cell phone number.

The ride to the hospital was probably the hardest part of labor. At about 5:25, I looked at the clock and said that I'd consider 5:30pm to be about the time that labor started. Ha! By now, my contractions were about two minutes apart, and quite painful. I was tilted in my seat, feet propped against the firewall, unable to sit straight in the seat. When a contraction hit, I would grab Travis's shoulder in his leather jacket and just try to breathe.

17:30pm - Cat calls me back

Cat called the cell phone a few minutes later. By now, the contractions were two minutes apart. Cat didn't say this on the phone, but she told me later that she wasn't sure that we'd make it to the hospital. She was looking for us on the side of the road.  Wouldn't that have been exciting! Scary, though... I mean, I did want to give birth in a hospital for a reason.

Travis talked to me a little, but mostly he was trying to get us to the hospital safely. He told me, "Right now I need to focus on getting us to the hospital, but then I'll take care of you." He was very considerate of me. He said that he was worried because he was recognizing the sounds (shuddering breathing sounds, I'd guess) I was making during the contractions as those that I made pretty late in labor last time, so he knew we were getting close.

17:39pm - arrive at emergency room entrance at Greene

I was irritated that we had to go into the Emergency Room entrance, because we had never been there and it was oh so slightly farther away than the Main Entrance. Probably 30 seconds, but I did notice. Travis dropped me off at the door, and I went in by myself. I grabbed what I could, then we had a short discussion of what he should bring in with him. Laptop was most important. For music during labor, you know. Ha!

It was very surreal. The emergency room was nearly empty, with two patients there and another one being checked in. I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, do I have to wait to get checked in? I hope I can get the nurse's attention enough to let her know I'm in labor." She saw me, though, gestured me to the second check-in window and said, "Have a seat." I said, "Umm... I'd rather not." She quickly asked why I was there. I said, "I'm in labor?" She said, "Your name?" I said, "Jennifer Doom", and she made a very quick call to the Women's Center (I assume), and all she said was, "Hello, I have... oh, all right." Apparently they knew I was coming. She got out a wheelchair and I hesitated. I said, "Do I have to ride?" She said, "They'd prefer it." I didn't feel like arguing, though sitting wasn't comfortable during my last labor. I sat down and she started to push. I was irritated that my shoes caught on the wheels. Travis caught up with us in the waiting room.

Every metal strip in which the flooring changed from hard floor to carpet or vice versa was pretty uncomfortable. I'm sure the contractions were only a minute apart by then.

17:44pm - arrive at birthing room

We got up to the Women's Center, and I was so glad to see those familiar surroundings! Travis had to open the door for us, and I remember thinking how silly it was that they didn't have automated doors.

They wheeled us to the first room (Room 3, oddly), and parked the chair. I hesitated, trying to remember if this was the same room Xander was born in, and prepared to ask for the other one if it wasn't. Travis said, "Oh, same room!" and I believed him (he was right), so I got out of the chair and went in.

It was a flurry of activity in there. There was a tray of metal shiny instruments in there and I said, "What do we need those for?" I didn't remember there being metal shiny instruments last time, and it was scary. The nurse (Sharon) said, "Oh, we like to be prepared." I forgot about it.

Sharon introduced herself and said, "Are you ruptured?" I said, "No." "Would you like to empty your bladder before I check you?" I said, "Oh, I don't need to be checked." She looked at me as if I were crazy and I said, "Yes, you do." I thought about fighting, but Cat wasn't there to back me up and I figured that it wouldn't do any harm to be checked. I was thinking that last time, I didn't let them check me until I had labored for a long time (5 hours), so I'd be sure that they'd have encouraging news for me.

17:46pm - water breaks

I did go to use the bathroom, and after I sat down, I relaxed and thought "OK, baby, you can come out now." Instantly, my water broke. It was one of the best feelings in the world. So much pressure was relieved and I was suddenly much more comfortable. I felt incredibly open.

It did take me a minute to clean myself up, then I headed out.

I walked out and said, "Well, NOW I'm ruptured." I felt pretty amused by this. I also remember thinking that it was really happening. Very considerate of me, I think, to have my water break on the toilet. No one had to clean that up!

17:50pm - nurse checks me, declares me to be 'complete'

I asked Sharon what position she'd like me to be in to be checked. She said she didn't care, so I just put one foot on the bed and leaned over. Travis held me. I expected it to hurt, somehow, but it didn't.

She said, "Well, you're complete." I said, "What does that mean?" She said, "You're fully dilated. That baby is ready to come out. All that's left is the shouting." I was completely shocked and in a state of disbelief. I had come to the hospital anticipating another five
hours of labor. That shows how clearly I was thinking!

I stood there next to the bed and hung on Travis's neck for the next contraction, and Sharon said that any time I felt like I needed to push that I should go ahead. She asked if I needed to, and I said, "I COULD, but I don't NEED to."

Travis asked what position I wanted to be in for pushing. I said, "Actually, the toilet felt pretty good. I'll try that." I started walking to the bathroom, then thought, "Do I really want my child to be born on the toilet? No." So I turned back around and went to the bed.

17:55pm - Cat arrives, throws on an apron and gloves (barely)

I got stuck with one foot on the bed again, holding onto Travis's neck, then told him I wanted the same position as last time. He swiftly got into position, and I climbed on. That made me want to push. I held out for one more contraction, then pushed on the one after that. Travis whispered to me, "Cat's here!" I had just been waiting for her, so I was relieved to hear that.

I heard a lot of shuffling around as they told Cat she didn't have time for scrubs. They did find an apron for her to put on, and gloves.

I heard someone say, "The baby's crowning." I felt that, and knew we were really close.

Between contractions, I managed to say, "I want Travis to tell me the gender of the child!" Someone said, "OK, no one says anything." I said, "We don't want the Vitamin K shot, we don't want the erythromycin eye drops!" Someone said, "Well, she's together!" I thought that was funny.

17:58pm - Kayli arrives!

I was ready then. I pushed really seriously (and made some very loud noise), and felt the head come out. Someone said, "There's the head." I thought, "Just the head? Wow." I took a breath and kept pushing (and made some even louder noise) and felt the body slide out, all long and lumpy and slippery and it felt so good.

After Birth

Someone had the baby - I assume that it was Cat. I heard one tiny little half cry, so I knew the baby was breathing. I climbed off Travis's legs and made my way to the bed, careful of the umbilical cord. I lay down in the bed and they brought the baby to me and laid her on my chest. Oh, she was so tiny. She was a little pale, but not for very long. Travis took some pictures.

Gender

I glanced between her legs as they were positioning her and didn't see anything, suggesting to me that she was a girl, but I didn't really know. I also didn't really care at that point.  I just had a baby!  Someone slipped and said something about moving 'her'. I was too involved in touching her wet little floppy head. Travis said, "It looks like a little girl!" That felt right to me.

I talked to her in a bit of a daze, telling her how loved she already was, and anything else that came to my head, including "What are we going to do with someone as little as you?" and "I've forgotten how to move someone so small!"

Nursing

I managed to get her close to my nipple, and she latched on. She wasn't very interested right then, but she stayed there, just not sucking. Her little arm across my breast was so pale and bluish... but I never worried about that. The pictures are surprising, though.

I was so shocked and excited and amazed that I had already had the baby. I mean, I hadn't really accepted that I was in labor yet, but here I was with a baby! Amazing.

Cutting The Cord

They clamped off the cord after it stopped pulsing, and I asked if Travis wanted to cut it. He declined. They asked if I wanted to. I said, "sure". I didn't feel there was anything particularly special about it, but I'm not one to turn down an experience. I was still pretty shaky, and cutting it was surprisingly difficult.  It was very rubbery and tough.

Placenta

I delivered the placenta basically painlessly shortly afterwards. It just slipped out without much effort. Cat saved it for me because I wanted to look at it and touch it. Last time, I didn't think to ask, and I was sorry to have missed it.

After we called people, I took a few minutes to touch the placenta and take some pictures. Cat showed me around my baby's home of 10 months, and it was very interesting! I can't believe I could be interested in something like that when there was a new baby, but this was my only chance to see it.

Shower

I took a shower shortly after the placenta was delivered and we had made a few calls. Cat was nice enough to turn it on so it was nice and hot when I got there. I just wanted to get all unbloody before anyone came to meet her. The shower was easy, and just shocking to me
that I was standing there with a flaccid belly and a new baby in the next room. The shower felt great. I asked Cat to 'fetch' my pajamas, which I felt bad about, because she wasn't there to fetch things for me, but I had forgotten to bring them into the bathroom.

18:16pm - start calling people to announce the birth

18:16pm - call my mom and sister at my house
18:20pm - call Travis's parents
18:33pm - call my dad
18:34pm - call Becky
18:59pm - my dad calls back

We started calling people at about 6:15pm. It was funny calling my mom and sister back at our house. I said, "Hi Melissa!" She said, "Oh, it's Jenny!" I said, "We have a baby!" She started crying and told my mom, then asked if it was a girl or a boy. I said, "Do you want to know on the phone?" She said "Yes!" but I asked if Mom wanted to know, too. She asked, then said, "Yes!" So I said, "She's a little girl."

They wanted to know her name, but we hadn't even talked about it since we found out her gender. I thought we had a name, but it is so hard to tell someone for the first time, because then it becomes real and immutable. So, I couldn't tell them anything.

I called my aunt Becky, who also couldn't believe that I was calling so quickly.

After that, I figured out how to use the phone card to make calls from the hospital phone, so I don't have the times that I called anyone else.  Everyone was surprised to hear from us so quickly.  It was very fun!