Kaitlyn's Hospital Pictures and a Birth Story
They're finally up on the website...you can find them at http://www.srhc.com. Once there, click on Web Nursery, baby photos, and find her name - Kaitlyn M, born on 12/15/07.
I think she did fairly well...even though she's not very girly looking in the photo. I was bound and determined to have her wear a neutral outfit. :D
Here's her birth story...under the cut, since it's so long.
Okay, here's the shortened version of Kaitlyn's birth story...she's napping and liable to wake up soon...and I have some errands to run. YUCK.
Anyway, I woke up about 5:30ish at my mother-in-law's on Friday, Dec. 14th with some cramps. They weren't big or really all that painful, so I just went on about my day. Had some "bloody" show, but didn't want to get my hopes up since I was pretty sure I'd have this baby AFTER Christmas. Tottered around Claudia's house until about noon, able to time cramps at about 10-12 minutes apart, lasting about 20-30 seconds. Not a big deal.
Went to my parents' house and put together the swing that Danell bought us for the baby. I was on the floor in the living room, crouching over all these parts and the contractions were irregular, at about 7-10 minutes apart, lasting about 30-45 seconds. I still thought I could do this for DAYS before giving birth - although my dad was hilarious. He was very jumpy...and every time I had stopped working to write down the time of a contraction, he'd start to pace. It was soooo funny!
At a little lunch...helped mom make a bow for the top of her Christmas tree...wrapped some gifts. By then, the contractions were starting to become regular at about 7 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds. I got a stopwatch from my dad and we started writing them down more. Decided I was probably not going to make it to my due date (still not thinking it would be TONIGHT) and went to Target to pick up some things. We decided we'd be staying at my parents' house instead of Claudia's since there were at least 10 people crashing there from the ice storm...and figured that bringing baby back to chaos could be bad... Shopped for a pack-n-play for mom's house (a mini-crib!!!), some last minute Christmas items (Dalton's present had fallen through due to shipping issues), and I was timing my contractions like a mad woman in the store. They were speeding up since I was walking around...like 4-5 minutes apart and 45-50 seconds in length. Went to my house and raided it in the dark for all the baby necessities. Didn't know how long we'd be without power....
Went back to my parents' house - mom had forgotten something and went to Walmart instead to buy it. I tried to soak in the tub, thinking I'd worn myself out or something and the contractions would stop. They slowed a little, but never stopped.
Called the doctor's exchange at around 6:00 pm. Dr. Hodges (who was on call - my dr. was gone) said to lay down on my side, elevate my feet, and drink water. Then, time contractions for a hour. As soon as I did, the contractions came on STRONG. We're talking 4-5 minutes apart, lasting 1- 1 1/2 minutes in length. They HURT. My dad was freaking out by then. I didn't last until 7:00 with timing contractions. I quit at 6:45 and decided to get ready for the hospital.
Dalton came to my parents' house to pick me up - he'd just got back from work - and everyone decided to eat supper. Except me. I could barely stand still - I was rocking back and forth and breathing...Dalton looked a little shocked. Finally, at around 7:30ish, we left for the hosptial.
I was admitted at 8:00, with a check showing that I was already a 3, almost a full 4. Continued to be monitored. My doctor was going to come in at around 10:30 for a check - she was at a ballet with her daughter. When she came in - at 10:00, thank God! - she checked me...I was a full 6, almost 7 and my water broke all over her arm. I begged for an epidural, panicking...I thought they couldn't give you one by this point. I was just thinking of what was to come - the contractions I'd been having were painful, but I was handling them with breathing and squeezing the hell out of Dalton's hand or the bed.
At 11:00, I was given some sort of IV painkillers, as I checked in at a full 7. That medicine - whatever it was, made me SUPER dizzy. Still not really pain free. The epidural man came in at 11:30...I was psyched. Those things really don't hurt! :D Happy happy day!!! After it kicked in they checked me and I was at a 9, but not enough of the cervix was out of the way so I could push. They told me to rest and labor down by myself.
At around 3:30, they rechecked. I was a full 10 and ready to push. I got situated in the stirrups, but my epidural had been wearing off on my left side. I could feel almost everything over there and my right side was dead weight. When the dr. came in, she had me push until about 5:00 before she had me quit. My contractions had slowed back down to 4 minutes apart and weren't strong enough to do any good. I was told to sleep some more - and they gave me more epidural. That thing probably killed me labor!!! lol
Anyway, they woke me up at 7:00 and got me resituated in the stirrups. I was soooo tired...and the epidural was pretty much gone again. The dr had some more put in, but at a diluted state...so it was almost NOTHING. At 7:20, I started pushing again. I pushed until 9:00...crying a couple of times, stopping and starting as I could...it hurt!!! Finally, little miss Kaitlyn popped out at exactly 9:00am - SUNNY SIDE UP!!! That's why she took so long coming out! Little stinker! I kept saying, "Oh, God! Oh, God!"
Dalton was a good labor partner - he helped me through all of the pushing - he was awesome at telling me what to do and holding a towel for me to resist against.
I had only a 2nd degree tear and baby got 9's on both Apgars. I was soooo happy that was all over!
Now to go enjoy my baby girl's first Christmas celebrations! I'm SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!
I think she did fairly well...even though she's not very girly looking in the photo. I was bound and determined to have her wear a neutral outfit. :D
Here's her birth story...under the cut, since it's so long.
Okay, here's the shortened version of Kaitlyn's birth story...she's napping and liable to wake up soon...and I have some errands to run. YUCK.
Anyway, I woke up about 5:30ish at my mother-in-law's on Friday, Dec. 14th with some cramps. They weren't big or really all that painful, so I just went on about my day. Had some "bloody" show, but didn't want to get my hopes up since I was pretty sure I'd have this baby AFTER Christmas. Tottered around Claudia's house until about noon, able to time cramps at about 10-12 minutes apart, lasting about 20-30 seconds. Not a big deal.
Went to my parents' house and put together the swing that Danell bought us for the baby. I was on the floor in the living room, crouching over all these parts and the contractions were irregular, at about 7-10 minutes apart, lasting about 30-45 seconds. I still thought I could do this for DAYS before giving birth - although my dad was hilarious. He was very jumpy...and every time I had stopped working to write down the time of a contraction, he'd start to pace. It was soooo funny!
At a little lunch...helped mom make a bow for the top of her Christmas tree...wrapped some gifts. By then, the contractions were starting to become regular at about 7 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds. I got a stopwatch from my dad and we started writing them down more. Decided I was probably not going to make it to my due date (still not thinking it would be TONIGHT) and went to Target to pick up some things. We decided we'd be staying at my parents' house instead of Claudia's since there were at least 10 people crashing there from the ice storm...and figured that bringing baby back to chaos could be bad... Shopped for a pack-n-play for mom's house (a mini-crib!!!), some last minute Christmas items (Dalton's present had fallen through due to shipping issues), and I was timing my contractions like a mad woman in the store. They were speeding up since I was walking around...like 4-5 minutes apart and 45-50 seconds in length. Went to my house and raided it in the dark for all the baby necessities. Didn't know how long we'd be without power....
Went back to my parents' house - mom had forgotten something and went to Walmart instead to buy it. I tried to soak in the tub, thinking I'd worn myself out or something and the contractions would stop. They slowed a little, but never stopped.
Called the doctor's exchange at around 6:00 pm. Dr. Hodges (who was on call - my dr. was gone) said to lay down on my side, elevate my feet, and drink water. Then, time contractions for a hour. As soon as I did, the contractions came on STRONG. We're talking 4-5 minutes apart, lasting 1- 1 1/2 minutes in length. They HURT. My dad was freaking out by then. I didn't last until 7:00 with timing contractions. I quit at 6:45 and decided to get ready for the hospital.
Dalton came to my parents' house to pick me up - he'd just got back from work - and everyone decided to eat supper. Except me. I could barely stand still - I was rocking back and forth and breathing...Dalton looked a little shocked. Finally, at around 7:30ish, we left for the hosptial.
I was admitted at 8:00, with a check showing that I was already a 3, almost a full 4. Continued to be monitored. My doctor was going to come in at around 10:30 for a check - she was at a ballet with her daughter. When she came in - at 10:00, thank God! - she checked me...I was a full 6, almost 7 and my water broke all over her arm. I begged for an epidural, panicking...I thought they couldn't give you one by this point. I was just thinking of what was to come - the contractions I'd been having were painful, but I was handling them with breathing and squeezing the hell out of Dalton's hand or the bed.
At 11:00, I was given some sort of IV painkillers, as I checked in at a full 7. That medicine - whatever it was, made me SUPER dizzy. Still not really pain free. The epidural man came in at 11:30...I was psyched. Those things really don't hurt! :D Happy happy day!!! After it kicked in they checked me and I was at a 9, but not enough of the cervix was out of the way so I could push. They told me to rest and labor down by myself.
At around 3:30, they rechecked. I was a full 10 and ready to push. I got situated in the stirrups, but my epidural had been wearing off on my left side. I could feel almost everything over there and my right side was dead weight. When the dr. came in, she had me push until about 5:00 before she had me quit. My contractions had slowed back down to 4 minutes apart and weren't strong enough to do any good. I was told to sleep some more - and they gave me more epidural. That thing probably killed me labor!!! lol
Anyway, they woke me up at 7:00 and got me resituated in the stirrups. I was soooo tired...and the epidural was pretty much gone again. The dr had some more put in, but at a diluted state...so it was almost NOTHING. At 7:20, I started pushing again. I pushed until 9:00...crying a couple of times, stopping and starting as I could...it hurt!!! Finally, little miss Kaitlyn popped out at exactly 9:00am - SUNNY SIDE UP!!! That's why she took so long coming out! Little stinker! I kept saying, "Oh, God! Oh, God!"
Dalton was a good labor partner - he helped me through all of the pushing - he was awesome at telling me what to do and holding a towel for me to resist against.
I had only a 2nd degree tear and baby got 9's on both Apgars. I was soooo happy that was all over!
Now to go enjoy my baby girl's first Christmas celebrations! I'm SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!