Kendall MarieBorn May 1st, 2011 at 2:21 p.m.
Weighing 4 lb. 10 oz. and measuring 17-3/4 in.
So here is the birth story. Saturday, April 30th, was a beautiful day, so Billy and I decided to take Logan and Taylor to the playground. We met their cousin Kai and aunt LeiLani there and had an awesome time. Then we came back home, had some lunch, and put the boys down for a nap. Within a few minutes, at about 1:00 p.m. I felt a drip in my pants, so I asked Billy how much fluid is normally lost when the water breaks. When he told me it was about a soda can, I brushed off the idea of my water breaking. I went into our room, change my underwear, and, literally the next minute, I felt another drip. This time, it was a lot more, and Billy saw it leaking through my underwear and dripping onto the carpet.
Billy "Did you just pee your pants?"
Me "I don't think so. I'm not doing anything, honey. I think my water might be breaking."
As calm as ever, Billy told me to get some pants on and get a few things ready while he got the boys ready because we needed to go to the hospital right away. As emotional as ever, I started crying, telling him that I was not ready to have the baby. But at that point, I knew that ready or not, we needed to make sure it really was my membrane that had ruptured. As we were driving to the hospital, I kept looking over to Billy, amazed by how calm and steady he looked. I guess there's a reason why he's the doctor and not me.
Once we got checked in, they took my history, got a sample, and came back to tell us that my membrane had in fact ruptured and they were going to take me to a delivery room. It was about 2:15 p.m. then, and it was still going to be a while because I was not dilated at all, so I told Billy to go home and put the boys back down for their nap, and I would call him when things had progressed.
At about 4:30 p.m., the doctor came in and told me that because the baby was measuring so small, she didn't want to stress her out my inducing labor. So she wanted to keep me overnight, see if I would go into labor on my own, and go from there. If I did go into labor, we would continue with our plan to do a VBAC. If nothing had progressed, then we would have to do a c-section. When I asked why we couldn't give my body more time to go into labor, she said that there would be more chances of infection because of my ruptured membrane.
I knew that night would be my last full one, so when they offered to give me a sleeping pill, I took it with pleasure. I was kind of uncomfortable, being hooked up to the monitor and all, but I did manage to sleep, even through some minor contractions.
That night, Logan and Taylor went to sleep like 2 little angels, which reassured me, since this was my first night apart from them and the first night I wasn't there for bedtime. But I knew Billy needed to be there with them. They needed him much more than I did at the moment.
By 7:00 a.m., the doctor was back to check up on me. The nurse had reported to her that I was dilated between 1 and 2 cm. She ordered to give me petocin, then hung out in the lounge until the time came, which she had to do, considering the plan was now to have a VBAC.
Billy came over with Logan and Taylor around 9:00 a.m. As soon as they had woken up, they had grabbed their shoes and hung out by the door, ready to come and see me. They managed not to destroy anything in the room, under Billy's supervision, since I was still hooked up to a bunch of stuff. I could tell that Logan was somewhat disturbed by all the tubes and machines, and he didn't really want to come up on the bed with me. Taylor didn't care very much and was okay hanging out right next to me, maybe because all that stuff was familiar to him from spending time in the NICU. While they were there, my contractions started getting stronger and more painful. At about 11:00 a.m., they started getting really painful and I was ready for an epidural. I was also dilated to about 4 cm at that point. By then, Logan and Taylor were both a little disturbed by my struggles not to scream out of pain. Half an hour later, the anesthesiologist, who did his residency at Ohio State, came in and gave me the goods. The first contraction after that was still really painful, the second was bearable, and when he asked me about the third, it took me a second to even realize I was having one. His job was done. After the epidural, life was goooooood. Billy and the boys hung out with me a little longer then went home to get some lunch and go to sleep.
By 1:00 p.m., I was 6 cm dilated, so we knew the baby would be making her arrival that afternoon. But I didn't exactly expect to be fully dilated only 45 minutes later. At 1:45 p.m., my nurse told me I should call Billy and get him to come to the hospital ASAP. When I talked to him, Logan and Taylor were napping, so that was perfect. Billy called Paul, who headed straight over, and Billy was on his way. I wasn't nervous about Billy missing the birth because I figured I still had the whole pushing part to get through. But my nurse seemed a little nervous, and she kept asking if Billy was on his way. By 2:10 p.m., he was right by my side, and she told me she was glad he made it because she didn't think it would take very long for the baby to come. At exactly 2:15 p.m., I started pushing. I pushed through 4 contractions, and with about 3 pushes per contraction, for a total of 12 pushes, she was here. She was born at exactly 2:21 p.m. Pushing for 6 minutes was more exhausting than I had expected, but I quickly forgot that part when I noticed that she wasn't moving. She was pink, which was a good thing, but she wasn't breathing. The nurses took her to their little station and started working on her. The cord had wrapped around her neck and my placenta had abrupted, so the first 6 minutes of her life were very stressful and hard on her. I was sad not to get to hold her, like I had expected, but I just wanted her to be well and healthy, whatever it took. On a good note, I didn't tear at all, so it looks like recovery will be a piece of cake, which I'll need in order to keep up with 3 little kiddos under the age of 2.
That night, Billy told me Logan and Taylor had a really hard time not having me home. He showed Logan a picture of me on his phone, and Logan started crying. He grabbed the phone and wouldn't let go of it for a long time. He kept crying and asking for me. Taylor dealt with his emotions in a different way - by being naughty. He started biting again, which he hadn't done in a while. I also talked with both of them on the phone and it was awesome. It was the first time I was on the other end of the phone with them, and when I talked, they responded, both of them. They kept saying, "Mommy" and "Mama." They totally knew it was me, and I loved it.
I decided that night would be my last one at the hospital, if the doctors were okay letting me go home the next day. I felt there was no point in staying if Kendall was in the NICU anyway. I felt it was more important for me to be home with Logan and Taylor. because they needed me there. I could always visit Kendall a few times a day.
As far as how Kendall is doing, I'll let Billy write a post about that when he gets the chance. He is much better than me at communicating what's going on with her medically.
