I realized today that I need to write about Adelaide’s birth day before I forget it all.
We were scheduled to be induced at the hospital on April 3rd at 10:00 AM. Jacob had that I have a really nice meal for dinner the night before so that I’d have the energy for my “marathon.” He picked up some Honey Balsamic Chicken and pasta from Macaroni Grill. It was delicious and he’s so cute. Going to bed knowing that we’d be having a baby the next day was surreal. It was so hard to sleep.
On the morning of the 3rd we got up early to get everything ready. My mom was on her way down from Utah to stay with us. We stopped by the apartment office to leave keys for her to get in to our place. Our favorite office lady was there and was so excited for us. I kept glancing at the empty carseat in the back hardly believing that next time we were in the car there would be a baby in there.
When we got to the hospital we called from the desk to tell them we were there. We waited 20 minutes for someone to finally come out and get us. The charge nurse, Denise, walked up to us and immediately said, “Why are you getting induced if you’re only 37 weeks??” I was so caught off guard! I explained what had happened that week and the pre-eclampsia symptoms. Apparently the latest labs she had on file for me were from early March before any of the problems started. I found it so odd that if she was concerned she asked me about it instead of calling my doctor.
She took us to a delivery room and got us set up. She got me hooked up to the monitors and the blood pressure cuff which took my BP every 30 minutes all day. It drove me crazy. Denise got me worked up right from the start by pointing out that the baby’s heart rate was going down right after each contraction. Apparently it’s normal to happen during a contraction but is bad if it happens right after. She said if that didn’t stop before my doctor, Dr. L, left the hospital (she was there doing a c-section) that she’d probably have me in the OR! I absolutely did not want that to happen. Luckily after a little while the baby’s heart rate became normal again. They had someone come in and take my blood to run the same labs they’d done when I was there being monitored on Tuesday.
Dr. L came in at 11:30 AM to check me. I was still only a 2 and 70% effaced, like I had been a few days before. She went ahead and broke my water and put in an internal monitor. Denise finally started the pitocin at 12:00. Dr. L checked on me again a little while later and told me to get my epidural whenever I wanted it.
The pitocin was increased every 20 minutes during the afternoon. It was really starting to get to me by about 2:00 PM. That’s when Denise came in and was surprised (impressed?) that I was “breathing through” the contractions. It was the only way I could manage them. She offered me some IV pain meds at 3:00 PM to try and delay the epidural. I’m not sure if this was a good thing or not. It made me feel GREAT… between contractions. It hardly did anything for the contractions themselves. It made me incredibly sleepy but I couldn’t sleep because of the contractions. She said ideally it would hold me off for another hour. At 4:00 PM I was still feeling like I could breathe through them for a little bit longer. We decided to try to make it to around 5:00 PM for the epidural because that’s when the anesthesiologists changed shifts and Denise said the current doctor on call was awesome.
Around that time Denise went on a break. Another nurse, Haze, came in to visit with us because she’s LDS and heard we were too. She was quite a character. She chatted with us for awhile, which helped distract me. But when I brought up our plan for the epidural she brushed me off. Finally at 5:05 PM she called the anesthesiologist on call and he said he’d be there within 30 minutes. Well, apparently he was gardening and needed to shower so he didn’t get there until close to 6:00 PM. By then I was REALLY feeling it. When he got there I couldn’t even talk to him, I was in so much pain. He was a really nice guy from New Zealand with a great accent. I expected the epidural to be a pretty yucky procedure but I didn’t find it uncomfortable at all. And just as I suspected would happen, Jacob had fun learning about all the procedures. The anesthesiologist spent a bunch of time chatting with him.
My mom had shown up at the hospital during the epidural time and was waiting to come in until we were set. Originally we’d both decided we didn’t want her to be in the room for the delivery. It just seemed like it would be awkward but I actually loved having her there. She helped keep me distracted and positive.
Denise went home at 7:00 PM and Cindy, the nurse I had on Tuesday, came on. She was much more laid back about pushing the pitocin and checking my progress. The last few hours seemed to drag. The anesthesiologist bumped up my epidural. I mentioned to Cindy that I was feeling a lot of pressure but she didn’t take me very seriously. At 11:00 she said she’d check me in a little while unless I wanted her to check me then. I said to check me then and surprise, I was a 10! I don’t think she’d really believed me about the pressure.
She called Dr. L to come in for the delivery. My doctor is strict about being there for the pushing so she doesn’t let the nurses start without her. By the time she finally showed up around 12:00 AM I was in a lot of pain again and tired and really wanting to be done. I started pushing around 12:10 AM. At first I was frustrated because I couldn’t tell if I was pushing right. And the nurses quickly started getting on my nerves because one of them kept HISSING in my ear and they were one either side of me giving me DIFFERENT counts. I tried to just focus on Dr. L and Jacob. They were great. Jacob knew just when to talk and what to say. And Dr. L is like a hyper cheerleader. I was so tired but she really kept me going.
It was incredible when they had me reach down and feel her head. Everybody was talking about her hair. The last few pushes made really quick progress. At one point I noticed them doing something and asked if the cord was wrapped around her neck, which it was. But she was fine. Before I knew it they were yelling at me to open my eyes and watch her come out. I can’t even describe that moment. I was so exhausted but it was amazing. The wonder on Jacob’s face just made it complete. My mom really hung back during the pushing but I loved that she was there and got to witness the birth.
At 12:42 AM Adelaide Kathleen was born. They scooped her up on my chest and cleaned her off. Jacob and I both cried. Jacob cut the umbilical cord. Adelaide was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. I was in love with her nose right from the start. And I was also surprised how little hair she had since everybody had been talking about it. I didn’t get to hold her for long because she was “retracting” – having trouble breathing. They took her from me and moved her to the warmer. Jacob and Mom went with to take photos and video. They weighed her and she came in at 6 lbs 15 oz, but they said in that case they round up to 7 lbs. After cleaning her up they let me hold her for a few more minutes before taking her to the nursery to watch her breathing.
I didn’t have my heart set on any certain delivery so I wasn’t disappointed. The only thing that made me sad was that I didn’t get to hold her longer before she went to the nursery to be monitored. Jacob went with and took videos and photos that he showed me when he got back to the room. She was so alert at first! Later as I was falling asleep I said to Jacob, “We’re such bad parents. I didn’t even count her fingers and toes!” and Jacob said, “Don’t worry, I counted them twice.”
Writing this story seems inadequate to describe the amazing experience it was bringing our first daughter into the world. It has been a long journey to get her here and there was just nothing sweeter than the moment I first held her in my arms. Our lives are completely different now than they were but it’s hard to remember what it was like before because this is infinitely better.
Welcome to the world, little Addie. We are over the moon to have you in our family.
Here are a few more hospital photos, edited courtesy of a proud Grandpa!
