Thursday January 26, 2012. A normal day by all means. At least it started out that way. When 7:00 pm hit I just got ultra sick of being pregnant. Like, trying to do something about getting this baby out. Not that I hadn't been on multiple walks, cleaned, tried to stay busy, got my membranes stripped twice, and done other things to try to get baby girl out, but NOTHING had worked so far. So, my friend, Jade, told me to try a breast pump.
Pulled it out.
And I added my HypnoBabies CDs on top of that.
Aliyah and Taya had gone to bed and Jace took Xander to his church ball game, so I was able to get nice and relaxed. Honestly, I didn't think it would work. I had tried the same thing (minus the CD) earlier in the week and I got some pressure waves while I was using the pump and almost as soon as I stopped so did the pressure waves. (That's what we call contractions in HypnoBabies.) So, I did that for the length of the CD...not exactly sure how long that is because I fall asleep on and off. I think about an hour. Jace came home, got Xander to bed and we decided to put in Burn Notice cuz I just checked a few DVDs out at the library.
We probably got 10 minutes into it when I had already had 2 or 3 pretty strong pressure waves. I just had a different feeling about these ones. I didn't want to say anything to Jace if nothing was going on, but I just mentioned that I was having some. He asked if he should go shower. After a few more minutes and another really strong pressure wave I told him if he wanted to shower he probably better do it then, just in case.
I started thinking all scenarios in my head for who we were going to have watch our kids. I didn't want to bug people. My parents were coming down this weekend for my nieces birthday anyway, so I texted them to find out where they were...Nephi. Not helpful. So I texted Jade...my awesome friend!!! I asked if she would love to sit and be bored on my couch until my parents could get down here. She agreed, but she had to wait for her husband to come home and then come over and that would be about 30 minutes. I told her we would wait, and to call before she came...just in case it was a false alarm and the pressure waves had died down.
So, while Jace was frantically getting some HypnoBabies CDs onto the Ipad before we left I was sitting on my birthing ball, trying to relax to one of the CDs. I got a super intense pressure wave that I just couldn't relax through. At that moment - 9:13 - Jade called to see if she should still come over. I told her yes and we were leaving right then. (Don't judge me. My kids were all asleep and there was no way I was having this baby at home...or in the car.)
So, we made our way to the hospital. I stayed pretty relaxed until about 2 minutes to go. It was weird because I didn't feel like I was getting a whole lot of pressure waves, but when they came they were intense. Some I could relax through and it was a breeze and then I would get one that I could tell was doing something because breathing was even hard to do.
We made it to the hospital, I grabbed the ball and walked inside. And what does the nurse do...put me in the "observation room." HELLO! I am obviously in labor! They ask what number baby this is...4! I think I know when I'm in labor after 4 kids!!! Anyway, I was actually really annoyed by that (can you tell?). Jace was too, actually. So, I got all changed and they wanted to monitor the baby's heart rate and my pressure waves so I got all strapped up to those and while they were asking me their 8 million questions I had about 4 pressure waves I couldn't talk through (because I was trying to shut out everyone and do my thing, which I had almost given up on at that point). I got a really intense one and told the nurse I felt like I had to push. (At that moment, it wasn't really true. But they weren't taking me seriously so I decided to make them.) The nurse said she would check me and said "Well, you're an 8+ with a buldgy bag. Can you move to another room?" So, we got moved to the actual delivery room (YAY) and they called my doctor. I am GBS+ so they had to give me an IV. They shoved a dose in me in 15 min.
It was just about that time that I really did have to push. And probably the worst thing at that moment is not being able to because your doctor isn't there. I told them I had to and they said, "Let me call your doctor and find out where he is." He was still 8 minutes away. So, there I was bouncing on the ball with one earphone in trying to listen to my CD, but being Chatty Kathy in between my pressure waves, so I felt like I never really got control over them. It was my own fault.
Anyway, Dr. Chalmers FINALLY came in. So I got into the bed to the push. It was actually really relaxed in the room. I think I was the only one that was semi freaking out because I knew that now came the pushing. (For me, the scariest part.) Dr. Chalmers just said he was going to sit back and let me do my thing. That was helpful because I didn't have the nurses counting to 10 making me push on the contractions. I just got to let my body work. But, I think I was just too anxious to get her out. I pushed when I shouldn't have. I actually let out a little scream and felt so stupid for doing it that I apologized in the middle of pushing. And I remember asking if she was out yet (meaning her head) and I think it had just barely started coming, which discouraged me a little and I said, "She has to get out of me, right now." Looking back I feel like a moron. Anyway...
She made it out! YAY! At 10:30 after being in labor for 2 1/2 hours little Camdyn Faith Vernon was born. She weighed 8 lbs 1 ounce and was 19 1/2 inches long.
Enjoy the story through pics now.
Poor baby was so bruised from coming out so fast. Her face is still a little purple.
We didn't have a name for her until I was discharged the next day. Jace finally just gave up and let me name her whatever I wanted. I mean, it's only fair after delivering her, right?
It was very low key after the delivery. The nurses let us just relax for a bit and I nursed the baby. We didn't get up to the recovery room until around 12:15 AM. My parents were just getting into town and we got permission for them to come visit for a bit.
I'm not sure who she looks like. That nose is throwing me off. She's got the cheeks like the other girls, and I guess she looks like she belongs to us, but she's kind of like a stranger to me. I had in my mind that she would like Aliyah because that's what Taya looked like. But she is definitely her own person.
I sent her to stay in the nursery for the night in hopes that I could get some sleep. I maybe got 2 hours between the nurses coming in to take your blood pressure, and the awesomely NOT comfortable bed, it just didn't happen. When the nurse brought Camdyn to me the next morning she said that she was having a hard time keeping her body temp up so she'd been under the lights a few times and they had to take her blood. So sad.
My kids and Jace came to visit us around lunch time. My poor kids. Please don't mind the fact that Aliyah dressed herself and had lovely bed head, Xander slept in those clothes, and Taya was still in her jammies with bed head as well. I don't think any of them had brushed their teeth. And Aliyah missed school that morning (which I was kind of glad about when I saw her). But, Dad was taking care of them and when that happens whatever the kids want to do, they do. So, whatever...right? We were all happy.
The first thing they said when they walked in was "I think we should name her Camdyn. Where's baby Camdyn?" (I don't know if Jace told them to say that or not.) They all got to hold her. Even Taya, who was a little jealous when everyone else was holding the baby.
After they left it was a pretty quiet day. Camdyn had her biliruben test at 4:30 so we had to stay until we got the results. They were concerned because she test positive for Koombs (?) which makes it more likely they'll have jaundice. And also since I was GBS+ and only got 1 dose of meds in they were watching her for infection or something. So, we just hung out. The Homer's stopped by and visited. (Holla!) And as soon as we got the results we were able to go home. :)
It was a party when I got there. The kids got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa for a few hours that day so they were at our house cooking dinner with Nat and Tabs when we showed up. The kids couldn't wait to see their sister again.
Taya getting mad because she couldn't hold her
I was SO worn out. I showered and headed to bed. Last night I fed her 3 times. And she is an eater! I've never had a kid eat so much.
And now we're at today. I had to take her to get her heel pricked again. They were worried about that jaundice. Luckily, her levels were low and she doesn't have it. She's our first baby without it. Yay!
She is still changing daily. She's not as swollen, but her face is still bruised. That nose is throwing me for a loop. Adjusting to 4 is gonna take some time.
I'm healing well. My stomach has already shrunk quite a bit. (Must be all the crossfit.) But it's sore, mostly from lack of muscle use. And the cramps I get when nursing are SUPER intense. Very comparable to my pressure waves at the end. Serious. That's not so fun and I'm hoping it stops soon.
Some things I already know about little miss:
- If she's sleeping, she's sleeping. She won't wake up for anything
- she'll eat when she wants
- Xander scares her...a lot (he's kind of loud)
- the kids adore her and are always asking where she is
- she likes to suck on her 2 middle fingers (darn it)
- she has a strong suck! I feel like her binki will fall apart
- she's content
