Every Step of the Way, I Prayed

Saturday, July 30th, two days until my scheduled C-section, I woke up in a good mood for the first time in a long time! I showered, got the kids dressed and off we went to collect the rest of Brice's school supplies and to Publix to fill the fridge.  Justin, on the other hand was grumpy, so we left him on the couch to himself.  The next day my aunt would be arriving to help with the kids while I went in for Kyle's delivery and I was so excited to have her there to distract me from Monday's events.

That night, Justin made us tacos for dinner.  We put the kids to bed and he went out for some adult beverages for himself and a Cherry Coke for me.  I had been having my usual contractions all day but they were the ones I'd been having for weeks.  Not painful. Not regular.  Just a little annoying.  I sat on the couch and watched "Catch Me if You Can".

Saturday, July 30th 8:45pm- a real contraction, I thought.  I glanced at the clock just in case another one came.  This one was lower in my abdomen, the kind only ladies know about.  Sure enough about 11 minutes later I had another one.  And, so they continued sometimes six minutes apart, some times up to 11 minutes apart.  At about 9:20pm, I said something to Justin.  He'd had a drink and was enjoying his "buzz".  Since he hadn't been in the best of moods, I wanted him to enjoy it, plus, I wasn't sure if the contractions would continue or not.  So, his "buzz" had worn off and I told him I'd had about six or seven contractions that were timeable.  I asked him if he wanted to have his parents just come up and spend the night in case it turned into something real and we needed to get to the hospital fast.  I knew Robin would be in the car in one hot second!  I was afraid they would get all the way up here and then everything would stop.  Justin was calm but at the same time wouldn't allow me to get up off the couch!  So, I just laid there watching the movie and timing the contractions.  They weren't bad enough that I had to breath through them, just a little uncomfortable.  Justin asked what I would need for the hospital and we both agreed that we should at least head to the hospital just to see if it was for real or not.

I called my parents to give them a heads up and let them know what was going on.  They agreed I was doing the right thing and that even if I got sent back home, no big deal.  At one of my last appointments, I told the doctor I was very anxious about having another delivery like Anna's.  She told me to not be shy and just come on in if I suspected something.  The entire pregnancy, especially at the end, I prayed that I would know if the labor was real or not.  With my other two, labor began with my water breaking.  I needed a clear sign like that again and luckily I did realize when something was different.

The Reynolds arrived around 10:15pm.  We woke Brice (his request) to let him know what was going on.  I was fine and calm the whole way down except I was shaking.  Justin said I did this with Anna but I don't remember half of the 1.5 hours with her so...We were on our way and I called the hospital to let them know I was coming.  When we arrived, they were having to clean a room for me.  I sat in the waiting area contracting and chatting with my parents for a good 30/40 minutes.  I prayed little Kyle was okay in there and that no harm was being done.

They got me to a room and checked me. 2-3cm, completely effaced and contracting every two minutes.  So, guess what?  I was staying.  The same doctor that I had seen about feeling anxious was on and came in to see me.  We told her that we would love to try and have a regular delivery but if at any point she felt uncomfortable to take me to the OR.  The nurse started my IV and got blood work so I could get an epidural whenever I was ready.  About 1:30am, I decided to go ahead and get the epidural.  I was only 4cm and not in a whole lot of pain but I wanted to have the epidural in, in case problems arose and we needed to make a run to the OR for a C-section.  There was no way I was missing out by being knocked out for my last baby.

The epidural was so strong.  I got an immediate headache, felt nauseous, and couldn't feel ANYTHING below my waist.  I tried to sleep, but instead prayed.  I kept a close eye on Kyle's heart rate.  I couldn't help myself.  I prayed he would tolerate all of this, I prayed that the epidural would quit having so many side effects, and that it wouldn't slow my progression down.  I prayed that he wouldn't poop before delivery ( not good), I prayed that his cord wasn't around his neck.

At 5am the doctor came in to check me again...4cm.  What?!  You've got to be kidding me.  I felt a little deflated.  Did I do myself a disservice by getting the epidural when I did?  I couldn't think like that though.  I was trying to make the best decisions to have the best delivery possible.

The sun rose and the day shift staff arrived, including one awesome labor and delivery nurse.  I would not have had the experience I did without her.  I truly believe she helped make it all happen for us.  She was awesome.  Turning me every hour, propping my legs up so that Kyle could make his way down, getting me ice chips.  By the way, I was ravenous the entire labor.  My ice chip diet hardly did the trick.

Sunday, July 31st 10am.  Doctor arrives again and decides to break my water.  A big step in my book.  We now enter a new phase. Will Kyle tolerate not having a nice cushy area when I have these contractions?  Will I deliver before a fever sets in and then we have infection risks?  I am STILL 4-5cm.

11:30am- I call the nurse in because I'm feeling more pressure.  She checks me and I pray that something has happened because if I'm still 4-5, there might be some words said. 8cm!!!  Yahoo, progress!

12pm-Please come back awesome nurse, something is going on...10cm!!  We did it. (I'm not sure at what point this occurred but I was in major pain having to really breath through each contraction.  They were coming every two minutes with so much pressure and Justin was awesome helping me breath through them and relax on my "down time".)  So now, Kyle is still very high and I feel as though I'm in labor with Brice again.  I pray that he makes his way down.  The doctor and I have decided that we are not going to push for 3 hours like I did with Brice because it does no one any good.  I push a few times and the nurse says, he is still high, you need to let him come down on his own.  But what if he isn't going to fit?  She puts me straight up in the bed with my legs almost underneath me Indian style.  Justin describes it as very zen-like.

I sleep a little and pray a little because I'm reaching my breaking point.  How much longer will this go on?  How much longer can Kyle tolerate this?  Or me for that matter?

1:30pm-I call the nurse back in.  I need to know the plan, how much longer they are going to let me do this.  How much time do we give him to drop?  The nurse walks in and without two words out of my mouth, she says, you're done, aren't you?  She knew.  Another reason she was so awesome.  She said, Okay, let's try pushing again.  I pushed through maybe three contractions and then she said, please don't push anymore, I need to get the doctor.  The doctor was called, twice, much to Justin's annoyance, and I pushed twice.  The doctor then told me to stop pushing so she could get her "garb" on.  At this point, she was having to hold Kyle in!  I pushed one more time to get his shoulders out and out he came at 1:58pm.

He cried immediately and they put him up on my chest.  I suctioned him myself and then they took him to the table to check him out.  It was worth every minute of those 17/18 hours.  I did it.  I had a regular delivery with pain medication!  It was stressful no doubt, a mental game at times.  But, Every Step of the Way, I Prayed.  And, I got just what I prayed for...

 Above, right before pushing...I told myself I'd look good for this delivery and so I put on make-up just before!  Below, suctioning his mouth and nose.