Kai's birth story.

Ok. Of course having the new baby, its crazy to find the time to even blog anymore. My memory is failing me, so I hope I get all my details right! I guess I tell long stories, so sorry if this is a bit boring, But here we go!

After the blog that I wrote on August 18th, where I was having more painful contractions and questioning if I should call the Dr. and what-not. So finally at like 4 pm, I called the Dr office, and got voicemail, so I left a message saying I thought I was having contractions, but didn't want to go to the hospital and be sent home if it wasn't labor, and could I come by and be seen by the doctor. One of the girls from the Dr office called me back and said, "Can you come in right now?" so we grabbed my bag (just in case, but I really didn't think I'd need it, I figured we'd be home in a little while), and we headed to the doctor.
At about 4:45 pm, we went in, of course they checked my blood pressure and urine. The blood pressure was way up and there was protein in my urine. Then the Dr checked me (painful as hell), and I was dilated about 3-4, he said I was in early labor and I had a choice to make. He said, "You can go home, if you want to be comfortable there and come back when labor progresses more, or I can call Labor & Delivery and tell them you are coming over." I got really nervous. Rob asked, "If she goes to Labor and Delivery, is there a possibility that we'll be sent home? Or are they going to move things along?". Dr. Lunt said, "No, things are moving along anyway, but we'll probably do some pitocin to keep things going along." As scared as I was, I said, "Well, my mom would be mad if I didn't just go over, so let's do it!" The nurse walked us through the back way from their office to Labor and Delivery. As they passed us to an L&D CNA, I started crying. I felt so stupid, but I was realizing that this was it! I was so scared. She turned and saw me crying and asked if I was ok. I told her I was just scared. They wanted more urine, and when I was in the bathroom, I realized I was bleeding quite a bit, but I figured it was expected.

I got into a hospital gown and into bed. It was about time for the shift change, so I didn't see a nurse until the new one started at 6 pm. The CNA worked on getting things all ready for me, and Rob had called my mom on the way over here, so she showed up pretty quick after we did...heck, she almost beat us there! When the nurse finally came in, her name was Nicole, and she was the nicest girl ever! She was so great and I am so glad we had her! She got my IV going and said I needed to have a full bag of fluid emptied into me before I could get an epidural.
See, I hadn't been totally positive that I was going to get an epidural, but the pains I was having were so bad. I had really bad back labor all day, and it got so much worse once we were at the hospital, I couldn't even feel the contractions in my abdomen anymore, just the horrible back pain. My mom always tells me that I have a low pain tolerance, and I figured I did, but I just wanted to see how things were going to go. But the pain was bad enough to justify the epidural...why have all that pain if I don't have to?
Rob and my mom hadn't eaten, so at about 7 or 7:30 I told Rob to go get something for them. While he was gone I finished my bag of fluid, but I told them I wanted to wait for Rob to get back before I got the epidural. As they were getting things ready for the epidural, our nurse aparently had to go talk to her manager, so the nurse down the hall came in to get things ready. BLAH!!! It was the nurse that helped us when we had to go in to L&D in May, when I was having the first hydronephrosis pains. I was very unimpressed with her then, and when she walked in, from the look on my mom's face, I could tell it was a nurse she did NOT like, and had talked to me about. GREAT! She was pretty rough with me as she got me in position for the epidural, etc. She told my mom that only one person could be in ther with me when they put the epidural in, so my mom said it would be Rob, so when it was time for my mom to step out, that nurse escorted her way down the hall to a waiting room, by her arm. What the hell?? Is my mom a criminal? Thank goodness that was the last we saw of that nurse. When my nurse, Nicole, came back in, I asked if my mom talked to her about that nurse, and she said, "No, she just said that the nurse stressed you out", so I told her we've had bad experiences with her before, so she said that she wouldn't be back in there, she promised. Thank goodness.
So time for the epidural...that was an experience. It was just after 8 pm. Rob sat in front of me and put pressure on my knees to keep me from moving forward or jolting. The nurse held me at my shoulders...couldn't tell if it was to keep me still or be reassuring! It was pretty bad. When the needle went in I felt the most painful shock down my spine, and down my left leg. I shreiked so loud. I was bawling and I think Rob felt so bad and didn't know what to do. Finally the pains subsided and the nurse told me I did so good. She said most people jerk forward, and some have to have it done again, but I held perfectly still. It only seemed to numb my left side at first. I could still feel on the right, so I had some pains still during the contractions. After a while they propped me up to help "drain" some of the meds to the right side. It did help a lot. I could still feel a tiny bit, but it was good to feel when the contractions were. The nurse was excited to check me and see how far I was. I was a 5, couple hours later I was 5-6.
We let my sister-in-law, Jalee know that things were going on their way, so she came over around 10pm, I think. Dr. Lunt had come in before the epidural and said he didn't want to check me until I had the epidural, since when he checked in his office, it was so painful. I had been shaking like crazy since before the epidural, which is something I do when I am in pain anyway, and nervous, but it also happens in labor. I shook like crazy until after I had Kai. Rob kept feeling bad thinking I was cold, but I wasn't I was so hot. But Rob, mom, and Jalee were freezing the whole time. They said the room was very cold. I asked the nurse for warm blankets for them, but that didn't seem to last long, they got cold quick again.
I hadn't eaten since lunch, so I was starving, but I couldn't eat. They said I could have liquids, so finally I got some yummy grape juice (Jalee's suggestion of hospital juices), and broth, which was TASTY, since I was starving!
All of us were laughing and joking, the nurses probably thought we were crazy. Around 2 a.m., I was dilated to a 10. They wanted me to stay at a 10 for a while to allow Kai's head to cone more to come out easier. Since I had the epidural it wasn't painful, but I did feel quite a bit of pressure with each contraction, and I would tense up my muscles automatically and would try to relax. They turned my light off and try to sleep...yeah right. After an hour they were back to get things moving. The nurse and CNA were there to get me pushing to get Kai down more. They told me that with first births, its usually about 3 hours of pushing. I was quite a bit nervous about that because I was so tired, and hadn't slept in about 20 hours. I hoped I had the energy. My mom had a leg, and Rob was by my head to support my back with each push. I was thinking "Ok...here we go!" I had heartburn all day, and they gave me some Malox, but it hadn't helped. At the end of each push, I could feel the acid burn my throat and I felt like I was going to puke. They gave me a barf bag and finally it came into use. I almost felt like my pushing wasn't doing any good. I felt like I wasn't really pushing enough. The nurse kept saying how good I was doing and that he was moving down good. They started saying they could see his head and the nurse was trying to see what color his hair was. After a while with each push they could all see his head and all the hair he had. (I was so glad, I thought he was going to be bald!) An hour later the doctor got there and after a few pushes Kai's head was out and the doctor told me to sit back and relax, and he'd do the rest, and within seconds, Kai was out at 4:27 a.m., After 21 hours of labor. His little cry sounded like a car's motor trying to start, it was so sweet! Everything after that was such a blur! Rob held him first, and called his parents. I did tear, and the spot lights in the room weren't working so we had a portable spotlight that the dr was trying to work with, but he'd move and his head would block the light, so the stitching up took FOREVER! Finally I looked at him and said, "Are you stitching the whole thing up??" :P Kai was 8 pounds, 5 ounces, and 19 1/2 inches long. Rob's parents came and left, and the nurses wanted me to try nursing. By then I was SOO SOO tired, and it was a little frustrating. Kai was making little grunting sounds like a pig, it was so funny. We then got moved to the mom and baby floor and they had me try nursing again, and by then I was just like, "C'MON!! Just let me SLEEP!!!" It was after 7 am, and I had been up for 24 hours, Rob and I were so tired. Kai was in the little cart, and slept so quietly while we did for a few hours. He ended up having jaundice, and we had to stay an extra day. I really didn't mind. I had a hard time leaving, I cried as I packed my stuff to leave the hospital, it was nice to have people to help, and now we had to leave and face this alone. And the hospital food was REALLY GOOD! But....it was crazy that it was over and he was here.