Great Expectations: A Birth Story

How I pictured it happening:

• My water breaks on its own. Hopefully at home, though I worried about it breaking somewhere like Wal-mart or Target. Or the grocery store. But I was ready. I had towels, blankets, a gallon of water, and a garbage bag in the back of my car just in case.
• I labor at home, comfortably resting/sleeping through the first few hours of contractions. Eating light snacks, walking, bouncing on an exercise ball, and relaxing in the bath.
• We finally make our way to the hospital. I request a room with a tub, a birthing ball, and a nurse who supports natural birth. I’m free from monitors and able to walk the halls as I’d like.
• Our room is set up like this: lights dimmed, ipod connected to speakers, motivational saying taped to the wall where I can see it, Jon next to me offering words of comfort and support.
• Baby takes her time coming, but it’s a peaceful process and despite wanting to give in to the epidural when I dilate to a 7+, I manage to work through the pain and end up delivering naturally without any problems. Baby is immediately placed on my chest and I’m so happy to have her there and she wants to feed right away! After she feeds, Jon gets a chance to have some skin on skin contact with her and we are the perfectly bonded family!

How it really happened:

• After weekly checks for any dilation, and weekly disappointment with no progress, it became apparent that my water breaking on its own wasn’t going to happen. Oh, and my mom and sisters both went over and all had to have their water broken. Dang genetics! (My mom termed us as a “tight crotch family”.)
• I tried to dance her out at a Judd’s concert with my Mom on her birthday, but it didn’t work.
• Arrived at Intermountain Medical Center at 8:30 pm on Dec 16^th to begin scheduled induction after spending the afternoon and having dinner with Sara, Sami, Em, Brett, Eden, and Avi.
• After 4 doses of Cytotec and a sleepless night (for me. Not Jon. He slept just fine.) in the hospital, I still didn’t dilate and they sent me packing! I had to have a non-stress test the next morning to make sure the baby was okay. She was just great in there!
• We hoped that my body would kick into gear over the weekend and tried to help it with lots of walking and sex – Doctor’s orders! No luck.
• Monday, Dec 20^th we reported back to IMC at 8:30 pm for another scheduled induction. We knew that this time we would be leaving the hospital with a baby – no matter how she came. Thankfully, Jon kept detailed notes and a timeline of everything. I’m so grateful he did!
• 8:20 pm – Arrived at hospital. Requested room with a tub and had to wait for them to clean one.
• 9:30 pm – finally got in room and began intake process. Nurse had a hard time with Heploc (3 sticks total in both arms!) and eventually had to have charge nurse place it. Blood pressure briefly spiked – I was nervous! Because medications were involved, I was hooked to the monitors continuously and wasn't able to walk or move around easily and I never even got close to using that tub!
• 10:15 pm – Started Cytotec (25ml)
• 1:15 am – 2^nd Cytotec dose (50 ml)
• 4:15 am – 3^rd Cytotec dose (25 ml) Constant contractions all night. Dilated to 2, 90% effaced. I tried listening to my relaxation scripts on my ipod to help manage the pain, but I got so frustrated with how long it actually took to get to the relaxation that I switched over to peaceful piano church music. I was half-way tempted to throw my ipod at Jon while he slept peacefully on his little bench!
• 7:20 am – Decided to take Fentanyl to help take the edge off of contraction pain. Jon was wide awake now and helped me with my breathing.
• 8:00 am – Checked by Dr. Terry. Dilated to a 3, fully effaced. Discussed options, realized that lack of dilation meant Pitocin would probably be needed, and if a C-section was needed then an epidural was recommended. Dr. Terry agreed to break water after epidural was placed.
• 9:10 am – Epidural placed by Dr. Rigby
• 10:40 am – Dr. Terry broke water
• 1:10 pm – Dilated to 7, decided Pitocin wouldn’t be needed
• 2:00 pm – Dilated to 8
• 3:30 pm – Still at an 8
• 6:30 pm – Started small dose of Pitocin after discovering still at an 8.
• 7:15 pm – After consulting with Dr. Terry, C-section was decided on. We texted our friends and family members to let them know they could head to the hospital!
• 7:32 pm – Jon gave me a wonderful blessing. We were taken to OR, I was very uncomfortable for some reason. I couldn’t stop shaking, my neck really hurt, and my arms ached from having them stretched out to my sides.
• 7:49 pm – She was removed from her nice warm resting place and welcomed into this cold world. 8 lbs 7 oz, 22 inches long. Jon was able to be next to me while they operated, but went straight to her as they cleaned and weighed her. Once she was bundled and warmed, he brought her over to me to say hi. I was so happy she was out and healthy, but I was sooo extremely uncomfortable and achy, that I had a hard time concentrating on her or being excited.
• We were finally wheeled back into the delivery room. I was so cold, tired, and couldn’t stop shaking. I didn’t even have the strength to hold her. I think Jon was disappointed in that. We had talked so much about the importance of skin-to-skin contact and bonding and when I showed no desire or interest in that, I think he was confused a little by that. It was so great to see him hold her and to see him so natural with her. I loved looking at her and seeing her so peaceful in his arms.
• Jon’s parents were the first to arrive to see her. I don’t remember much about their visit, other than I was so cold, shaking, and tired. I couldn’t keep my eyes open! I do remember asking Jon to please put the camera away because I was so swollen that I couldn't even smile, my cheeks were so puffy!!!
• My parents and Emilie were next to arrive, just as Jon’s parents left. I had warmed up by then and was somewhat alert enough to be able to hold her for a few minutes. I was so tired that it didn’t last long though. I just didn’t have the energy to care about anything other than resting. I had pictured a much more emotional and raw bonding time for the two of us, but I think the C-section and all the medications I was on made it challenging to really be in the moment like I had pictured.
• At my recommendation, Jon left to go to the final tryout for the Warriors. We both felt it was important for him to be there since he is head coach and they were announcing the team that night. I felt good about him going and was glad I had my family there as they moved me upstairs to my recovery room.
• We had such wonderful nurses and caretakers at the hospital and our stay there was great. We had lots of visitors the next day and finally decided to name her Sydney Anahera Law. Anahera means 'angel' in Maori. Our NZ family asked if they could give her a Maori middle name to help keep her tied to her roots there. Of course we were thrilled!
• We were able to bring her home on Christmas Eve, after getting a jump start since our battery had died while sitting in the parking lot all week!

My recovery has gone well. I broke out in hives as a reaction to the blood pressure medication I had to take since my blood pressure spiked 4 hours before they released me from the hospital. The hives lasted for a little over a week until we figured out which medicine had caused it. That wasn’t much fun! But we are having so much fun with this littler girl! She is such a joy in our home and brings a sense of calm and peace to our hectic lives.