Birth Story: How It Started

Last traditional picture. Taken around 2am on May 8th before we got in the car for the hospital.

On Saturday, May 7^th, Andrew and I went to bed at about 10:00pm. At about 11:30pm I awoke to contraction and my water leaking. Some women experience a gush of water, and their bag of water (amniotic fluid) breaks all the way. Mine simply got a whole and leaked with tiny gushes here and there. I woke Andrew up at about midnight after I was sure my water was leaking and that my contractions were continuing. He stayed up with me as I went through each contractions and he paid attention to how long they were lasting, and the intervals in between each one so I wasn’t the one watching the clock. My contractions were a constant 5 to 6 minutes apart, and growing in intensity. So since that was going on, and my water was leaking, we decided it was time to call Doc. S at 1:30am and let him know what was going on and ask if we should go to the hospital or stay home. 

Off to the hospital and about to become parents!

Doc. S said it sure sounded like labor had started and to go ahead and go to the hospital so I could be checked on there. So we grabbed our things and got ready to go the whole three minutes it takes us to go to the hospital from our home. We got checked in, went to my LDRP (labor-delivery-recovery-postpartum) room to get hooked up to monitors so they could track my contractions, and Kayley’s heart rate, and waited for a bit so information could be gathered. Kayley was doing fine, but unfortunately my contractions decided to start to become irregular (most likely due to anxiety about the whole ordeal). So they took me off the monitors and had me walk up and down the hall for hours to help my contractions get going. It definitely helped them stay consistent and grow in intensity, but whenever I stopped to rest a bit my contractions would go from 5 minutes apart to about 8-10 minutes apart. It was very frustrating. 

Attached to the monitors.

Oh, they also check to make sure my water had started to leak. They basically did a swab test and sent it to a lab, but the results came back negative. I told my nurse that I was 100% sure my water was leaking and that the test was wrong. She told me the test can come back negative sometimes when it’s actually positive and that she’d check my next pad (when you’re leaking amniotic fluid you of course want to be wearing something to catch it all. Don’t want it ruining your clothes). And yup, sure enough, the nurse concluded that yes my water was leaking and the test came back wrong.

Normally I think they would have sent a pregnant woman home with her leaking water and inconsistent contractions, but since I was scheduled to be induced the next day, they decided to go ahead and keep me there and just go ahead with induction – especially since my contractions weren’t doing what they are supposed to be doing. They weren’t even helping me dilate more! Doc S came by the hospital around 10am Sunday morning to check on me, and my cervix was still only 2cm dilated, same as my last check-up appointment with him a week earlier. And after so much walking, hard contractions, and no sleep! I was not very happy with my body and getting frustrated about it too. Yet at the same time I wasn’t super worried or upset. By this time my mom and sister, Heidi, had also joined us at the hospital to be my other support people.

So Doc S and I decided that it was time for some Pitocin. Pitocin is a medication that is a form of oxytocin. And oxytocin is a natural hormone in your body that helps to stimulate contractions. Pitocin helps to induce labor, but can also make contractions stronger and harder to manage. So I was given some Nubain to help handle the pain (it’s like morphine). All this was administrated via an IV that took them four sticks to get into one of my finicky veins. We shortly discovered that a side effect I have to Pitocin is a bad stutter. That was annoying to deal with, but it could have been worse.

And that’s where I’ll leave you for now. The rest of the story will come later. After all, my newborn babe deserves and needs lots of love and attention. 

Kayley on her floor gym for the first time.

Best Mother's Day Gift Ever!

She’s here! Tadpole has been born! Our dear sweet little Kayley Gianna was born on Mother’s Day, May 8, 2011. She weighed 7lbs and 11oz, and was 19.5 inches long. Her eyes are a blue-grey right now, and we can’t really tell what color her hair is. Her hair is dark and light at the same time. 

Kayley is such a wonderful gift from God. We are so happy she is finally here! And we praise God for her. There will be more updates later, but as I am enjoying my new babe, and recovering from 17 hours of labor, I probably won’t be updating for a little while. Her full story will come in the future!

Thank you all for your prayers, support, encouragement and love!

Non-Stress Test #2

Andrew started his paternity leave today! It’s so nice to have him home. ^_^ Though I keep thinking it’s Saturday.

Today’s non-stress test for Tadpole went well. She wasn’t as active as last time, so I was given some nice cold water to try and wake her up a bit. That made her move a little, but she needed to be a bit more active for the test. So they gave me a juice box. Tadpole really reacted to the sugar! Her heart rate went up and she started move a lot! (Proof what sugar does to a child.) We took a picture of the reading to show you all. She was mostly reading in the 130s before I drank the juice, and then it did this:

Tadpole's reading is on the left

The lines drawn through the reading is when I pressed the clicker to indicate that I felt Tadpole move.  Like last time I didn’t have any contractions during the test (the squiggle line on the right). I kind of wanted to see what the reading would be for it, but I’ll have to wait to look at it when we’re in a delivery room.

Here’s what it looks like to be hooked up to the machine for the non-stress test. 

Anyway! Tadpole is still doing just dandy. She’s nice and cozy in my womb, and we still haven’t come to the time God has deemed her to be born. We’re curious as to when that is, but still fine and content waiting for the time to come.

Weekly Picture

That’s right, we’re still here! And my goodness has Tadpole been active in the womb tonight. I think she must have been playing music in there or something. Hehehe.

Well, here’s my weekly picture!  Now entering week 41.

Week 41

 And for fun, here’s a glimpse at how Hoshi likes to lay across me during the day.

Yes, Hoshi is laying across my baby bump. I guess she likes the warmth of it. And Tadpole likes when Hoshi purrs.

Now off to bed! Gotta get up for my doctor appointment tomorrow. We have another non-stress test.

Ultrasound #3

Today’s ultrasound went great! My sister, Heidi, accompanied me since Andrew had to be in at work today. During the ultrasound Tadpole was sound asleep, so she made it really easy for the tech to get all the measurements and information he needed to assesses how she is doing. All the measurements are right where they’re supposed to be! Tadpole’s measurements are in the average and still able to vaginally deliver range, and my amniotic fluid level is good too. So this means she's doing great and still thriving well in the womb.

It was fun to see our little girl again and see the flickering of her heart. When the tech showed me what her face looks like it was pretty funny because one side of her face was pressed up against my uterus making it looked squished, and she had a hand on the other side of her face making the other side look a little squished (remember she was sound asleep). She looked like she was trying to make a funny face for us to see. And her little toes are so adorable! I can’t wait to play with them. And it looks like she has a nice amount of hair at the moment too. I wonder what color it is.

It will be such a joy for us to meet her face-to-face and examine every inch of her!

Non-Stress Test

I had a non-stress test for Tadpole today to check and see how she’s doing. What they did for the test is place two monitors on my belly: one to measure my contractions, and one to measure Tadpole’s heart rate. They then also gave me a clicky button to hold and click whenever I felt Tadpole move. Basically they were creating a chart (that looks like an earthquake reading) to analyze if Tadpole is doing well and can stay in the womb or if she needs to come out now. The chart looks like this (this is not my chart, I found it online):

This is not my chart.

The top read is the baby’s heart rate, and the bottom read is the mother’s contractions. A line through both reads would be made when the clicky was pushed to signal the mother felt the baby move.

During my 20 minute test, I didn’t have any contractions, so the bottom line was pretty boring to look at. But Tadpole’s heart rate was continuously going up and down, between about 135 and 160 – nice and healthy. And my chart had a lot of lines on it to show when I felt her move. What the doctors want to see on these charts is an increase in the baby’s heart rate when she moves or when the mother has a contraction. You could say Tadpole had a “perfect” reading. Her heart rate would increase each time I felt her move and would calm back down again when she was still. Though there were a few times when there wasn’t a signal for her heart rate, but that was because she kicked the monitor so it couldn’t read a signal. Andrew and I found it pretty funny. Hehe ^_^

To let you all know, two nights ago I was wide awake for about 2 and a half hours due to having contractions every 10-12 minutes. Some were intense and other just felt like very mild cramps, but since it continued for so long I started to wonder if the frequency and intensity of the contractions were going to increase and turn into labor. Well, I’m not here posting about Tadpole being born, so obviously that didn’t happen. Instead they abruptly stopped and I haven’t felt many contractions since. I was hoping that this meant my report from Doc S today would have a change from last week’s report on my cervix. To my disappointment I am still measuring exactly the same.

I’m still only dilated 1cm, my cervix is still about 2cm long (it shortens and moves forward as labor draws near – it’s part of effacement), and it hasn’t softened much more either. BUT! I am still at peace about God’s timing in all this and knowing that Tadpole will be born when she is meant to be born. I’m fine if she stays in my womb a bit longer, and I’m fine if I go into labor right now. I’ve been praying this would be my attitude, and that I would put my trust in God for His perfect timing, so I am very happy I feel at peace about my body’s condition and that Tadpole isn’t out of the womb yet.

We did set up a few more appointments if Tadpole decides to stay in the womb a bit longer. As I mentioned in my last doctor update, we’ll be having an ultrasound tomorrow. This ultrasound is to look and see how Tadpole is doing, to check my amniotic fluid level, and make sure there isn't anything abnormal going on in my uterus. It’s another “test” to make sure Tadpole is healthy where she is and does not need to come out yet, or to determine that she does need to enter the world for her own health and safety.

We also have another non-stress test schedule for this Thursday to check on her again. And if she isn’t born by Monday next week, and if labor hasn’t started, I will be getting induced at 7:30am. Induction is starting labor via medical methods. Women are induced for reasons such as: the mother’s water broke, but contractions haven’t started, due to the mother having preeclampsia (which is associated with high blood pressure), bleeding during pregnancy, there is an infection in the uterus, or if a mother is over 42 weeks pregnant. We won’t be over 42 weeks pregnant, but we will be only a couple days away from it. The chances of Tadpole not getting enough nutrition or/and oxygen from my placenta increases as pregnancy approaches and goes past the 42 week mark. We went ahead and schedule the appointment for being induced now since Doc S said that the slots at the hospital can fill up quickly so it’s best to schedule and then cancel than having to hold off for possibly a couple days to be induced.

So! That’s what went on at the appointment today. Andrew and I loved that we were able to listen to Tadpole’s heart beat for 20 minutes. There’s just something about it that is not only reassuring, but comforting and a joy as well. And tomorrow, we’ll get to see Tadpole! Either via an ultrasound or in my arms. ^_^

Here’s what a baby’s heart beat sounds like in the womb: