Baby Time--Emery's Birthday!!!

With each of the girls before I had them I was able to go and get a pedicure. It sounds like something silly but it makes me feel cuter since there really isn't anything glamorous about having a baby. This is what they looked like this time. I was just hoping that when they tried to turn this baby she would cooperate so I could actually see them.

Monday night I called to get our time slot for the morning. They asked a few questions to try and decide whether or not they were going to allow me to stay the following day. Luckily after a 5 minute conversation she said let me call Dr. Boheen and I'll call you right back. Shortly after she called back and said to tentatively plan on staying and having this baby one way or another. Tuesday morning we were told to be there at 9am. Once Matt's mom got there we ran Hallie to school and then Matt dropped me off at the hospital so I could get everything started while he took his mom and Gracie home to show her where everything was and get her settled.  While he did that. I got checked in and the nurse got everything ready to go. I changed my clothes, she did an ultrasound to check the position of the baby(of coarse she was still breech), got the monitors on to watch her, and she checked my I was dilated to a 5. The nurse was pretty shocked she said Im not sure how you are dialated that far when there is no head to make you dilate. The nurse called Dr. Boheen to let her know while she was doing that she verified with the charge nurse that they were going to keep me either way. Just as all of this was happening Matt got there. Once the charge nurse gave her the go ahead that I would be staying either way she placed my IV, called the anesthesiologist, and put in my catheter so that everything would be ready to go. The unit had a few priority things that pushed us back but by 11:30 everything was in place and ready to go. Dr Boheen had looked at her thru ultrasound several times and thought that turning her to the left would be preferred so she tried to turn her left first. I was really glad at this point I had my epidural but I could still feel everything until they got her transverse at my belly button and then below that was numb. But she just wouldn't go past that point so they decided to try the other way. Shortly after pushing her the other direction Dr. Boheen said she flipped were good. She then broke my water and asked for a scalp lead to almost tie her head down so she would have less of a chance to flip back breech. I felt almost like it was surreal I expected to feel her flip but due to my epidural I had no clue until she told me. Everyone in the room was thrilled but I had a pit in my stomach like we had just started the war and only won that one little battle. My contractions intensified as soon as she broke my water. She then asked the nurse to start some pitocin and get things rolling while she went to Ogden Regional for a c-section and then she would be back and we could have this baby. But before they did that they moved me to a birthing room and got us settled there. It was noon by this point and Matt was starving so he went to get some lunch just after he left the baby started dropping her heart rate with each contraction. My nurse had me repositioned multiple times and I immediately text Matt to come back. I was scared and to be bluntly honest was freaking out! It took what seemed like forever to get back but it couldn't really have been more than 5 minutes. I was so relieved to see him come thru the door and started to cry. I was shaking like a leaf but trying to calm myself down knowing it was doing the baby no good for me to be panicked like that. The nurse put some oxygen on me to help but it didn't really seem to help the baby was very unhappy with something that was going on.  At this point she decided not to start the pitocin until Dr. Boheen came back. The nurse reassured me that if needed we could be back in the OR in about a minute. But I have been there for c-sections like that and they are scary. I just wanted them to do what was best for the baby. She checked me to make sure she couldn't feel the baby's cord and she found a hand instead right up next to her face. I wasn't surprised she had had her hand up like that in multiple ultrasounds. At this point I was dilated to a 6+. This was also making it difficult for her to drop into the birth canal. The nurse called Dr. Boheen to come back as soon as possible to help assess the situation. She was there about 10 minutes later at this point it was 1 pm. Dr. Boheen checked me looking for the cord and also to see if she could move the baby's hand. She helped the nurse reposition me to a place where her decels were less severe. Then she had them start the pitocin to speed the process along. She said this baby isn't going to make any of this easy on you is she. Once we were settled she took the time to reassure me that everything was fine. They were watching me closely and if she thought at all that the baby was in danger she wouldn't hesitate to do a c-section. After talking to her I felt a lot better and was able to calm down substantially. Matt had given me a blessing the night before we came to the hospital and 2 different times he said that I would need to trust the medical staff to take care of me and the baby. Never did I imagine it would mean like this but I did my best to do what they asked me to do. About 1:45pm they came to check me again because I was feeling something different. I was now dilated to a 7 and -2 station but unfortunately she still hadn't moved her hand and even worse she now had her foot next to her face on the opposite side. Dr. Boheen seemed slightly worried and just explained there was no way she could deliver with both a hand and a foot on the sides of her face. I did the only thing I felt like I could do which was pray and send a text to our families asking for prayers that both the baby and I would be safe regardless of what had to happen. About 2:30pm Dr. Boheen came to check me again and found I was still progressing but the hand and foot were still in the way! She used her hands to push them back up the best she could but said the baby would have to do the rest. I was so glad I had my epidural they checked me so many times and tried to move the baby that I know I couldn't have handled it without it...thank you modern medicine! I remember thinking around this point that I was going to be completely dilated and going for a c-section since she had so many parts that wanted to come out at the same time. About 3:20pm I started to feel some change in pressure so I called the nurse and she came to check me I was dilated to a 9 and the baby had moved her hands and foot!!! She had also dropped into the birth canal hopefully keeping her from putting her hand and foot back by her face. She was still having decels but they seemed to be less frequent and not as severe which made me feel substantially better. She Came to check me again about 3:40pm and found that I was complete but my cervix hadn't completely thinned on the one side. Problem was is that the baby wasn't tolerating me laying on that side to help thin it out. The nurse went to get Dr. Boheen who had been in and out of our room or at the nurses station since this all started...she really is amazing! She came and check and told the nurse to set up for delivery it was time to push. Matt and I were a little shell shocked and the feeling in the room was a little more urgent than the other 2 girls. I assume it was because Dr. Boheen didn't want to give this baby any more time to misbehave than we had to so on the next set of contractions we started pushing. Then came the next "problem" every time I would push she would drop down and when the contraction ended the baby would get sucked back up. At one point Dr. Boheen had mentioned that it looked like she might have some red hair. Matt and I looked at each other and laughed. I have never wanted a red head they have skin that is so sensitive and the kids with red hair growing up all got made fun of  and I didn't want that.(Only a couple weeks earlier as we were making decisions about the delivery I was having a hard time and crying and I said to Matt and she is probably going to have red hair too!!) I had to push longer and harder than with the other 2 girls even though I still only pushed thru 5 sets of contractions. I still paid very close attention to her heart rate monitor noticing every time it dropped slightly. During the 5th set of contractions Dr. Boheen said its time to get this baby out. I was trying to push so hard and then I heard her soft cry. Dr. Boheen had had to reach slightly in to cut the cord because it was so tight around her neck! She came out white as a ghost! And pooped just after she was out all over the Dr. They asked if I wanted her placed on my chest...I said no get her checked out first.

As my Nicu friends looked her over and assessed her she gained slightly more color but not much. As I sat there feeling like I was in a movie I felt numb. I was surrounded by all of these emotions. Now knowing why the day had gone the way it had. I felt so relieved and blessed that she had tolerated me pushing with the cord so tightly around her neck. It could have been so much worse and I felt like our prayers really had been heard and answered that day. I honestly thought I would end up with a c-section until I realized she was out and doing ok. I was so emotionally exhausted from the roller coaster that had been our day. Even though she was still white as a ghost when they checked her oxygen sats they were in the high 90s. Then they were able to get her weighed and measured. This little girl is very particular and precise already. Weighing in at an even 7 lbs and 20 inches long she was also born at exactly 4pm.

After she was cleared they brought this tiny bundle of joy for me to hold.

For most of my pregnancy I felt like it was a dream I was pregnant. I think it is because of my miscarriage I was trying to protect myself from getting attached to this baby for fear that something would happen to her. But once they handed her to me it was a hopeless cause. Once I came to the reality that she was ours and after all we had been thru she was here and safe. Getting to meet her for the 1st time...so surreal but already in love with her!!!

Later that evening we had a few visitors. Kerry came after he got off work and Joy brought the girls up after they had dinner.

Hallie was so excited the morning we went to the hospital to get to wear her and Gracie's matching best big sister shirts. She got to share with her class that she was getting a sister that day and is very excited to have her little sister here.

When the girls got there Gracie squealed for about 30 seconds. She was so excited to finally meet this little baby that had been growing in my belly.

Both girls did so great being gentle and using their quiet voices so they wouldn't scare the baby. It was so cute to see how thoughtful and excited they were about her. They wanted to help with everything we needed to do with her. Gracie asked if she could give her a bath and feed her, she was anxious to be a big helper.

Joy had taken the girls to pick out gifts to bring they each brought flowers and they had picked out a toy for the baby although they were a little confused and disappointed at why she couldn't play with it. 

Our first pictures as a family of 5

From the beginning she has been a great baby. In the hospital she would wake herself up to eat every 3-4 hours and did great at nursing. Until my milk came in we also supplemented with formula after, she seemed to be much happier with that than just getting the little amount of milk I did have. She also has loved her binki. When she was born the nurse mentioned to me that she was pretty tongue tied but that didn't seem to impair her eating although the next morning her pediatrician clipped it so that it wouldn't effect her speech later in her life. She barely cried but didn't like being tied down for sure.

That night after all our vistors had gone home Matt went with Joy to make sure the kids got bathed and to bed ok as well as to grab a few things. That is one thing that is super nice about living so close to the hospital. After he got back the tech came in to help give the bay a bath. she didn't like it in the least and cried for most of it until she was wrapped getting her hair washed and back dressed.

Then we settled in for a quiet night we fed her and then sent her to the nursery. They were able to give her a bottle for one feeding so we could just sleep which was nice for us. As for me I felt pretty good. I had heard somewhere that if you use an abdominal binder(usually used with c-sections) that it would help the after pains. I remember my after pains with Gracie being worse than labor so I was up to try anything, Also with my U.C. I can't take a lot of pain meds because it irritates my gut so I needed to try other things before taking meds. That first day I did great with just tylenol. The next couple days I took a couple tylenol based narcotics to take the edge off and used my heating pad especially while nursing. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I had been feeling. At the end of the day Matt and I sat in our room taking turns cuddling our new baby and trying to take in all the events of the day. Then came the decision of naming this sweet little girl. We had come to the hospital with 2 names 1 that the girls and I liked(Addelyn) and 1 Matt liked(Taylor) but we couldn't really come to a decision so for our 1st night she remained nameless.