Kinsley Mae's Birth Story
Friday
December 21st, 2012
First off I will give you all a fair warning that this is going to be a VERY LONG post. I love childbirth (weird I know), It is such an incredibly amazing thing and I feel deeply blessed to be able to experience it and all its joy. So of course I'm going to have a lot to write about it :) We also had a photographer capture every amazing moment for us and there are just way too many great pictures to choose from. So instead of trying to pick my absolute favorites and leaving so many out I decided to use a lot. The pictures do a great job of telling a story all in itself so I will try not to go overboard on the explanations :)
I owe a huge thank you to my wonderful friend Kirsten for taking all these pictures. She is the same photographer who did my Bridals, our wedding and reception and also my maternity pictures, and we just love her! A few months ago she told me that she wanted to start doing live births and wanted to start with someone who knows and trusts her and asked if she could photograph Kinsley's birth, I of course said yes!!! so our adventure begins...
At our last doctors appointment we scheduled our induction date for my due date, the 21st. The paper they gave us said the hospital could call us anytime from midnight to midnight, and that we would have to be ready to go within 30 minutes of the call...as you can imagine I was not too thrilled about this. Our doctor said it could be anywhere from 5am on, this still did not thrill me but it was a little better. The night before we brought Brody over to Ian's parents just in case we got called in super early so we wouldn't have to wake him, then we went home and did last minute preparations and cleaned. I wanted everything to be clean and in the right place for when we would be bringing our little girl home, we ended up staying up until 2am cleaning!! Really bad decision.. I know. We got to bed around 2:30am and sure enough got a phone call at 5:30am. luckily they gave us an hour to get there so I was able to shower! Oddly enough I wasn't as tired as you would think though, I was to excited and anxious and a little too nervous to be tired. I remember it still seeming so surreal, like it still wasn't really happening. It wasn't until we got to the hospital and I was actually in my gown in the bed when it really hit me what was happening, that this was it, the real deal!
Once we got there we found out that our nurse was a lady from our ward. She was so sweet, we were thrilled to have her. So she checked us into our room, I got my hideous hospital gown on and crawled into bed to get everything started! We had to go through some of the normal giving of information (most of it they already had from my false alarm on the 12th) and it was probably about an hour after we got there when I was check. At that point I was dilated to a 3. My doctor came in and saw me at 8am and broke my water. It was the weirdest feeling ever! When they broke my water with Brody I already had an epidural so I didn't feel it like I did this time. I was so not expecting it to feel like it did, there was a lot more fluid then I thought there would be. It also surprised me that it never stopped coming out! I thought it was a one time deal and once it was done it was done, but oh no...I was wrong. I felt like I was constantly peeing my pants! And when I would get up to go to the bathroom it was pretty bad, one time I completely drenched the floor...a little embarrassing to say the least. After he broke my water they got me started on pitocin. People are always telling me how much worse labor is when you are induced, that the pitocin is so much more painful. I have nothing else to compare it to though, and we didn't want to go over our due date since it was so close to Christmas so I welcomed pitocin once again. After my water broke and pitocin was started I was checked and was at a 3 1/2. My doctor told us he thought I would have the baby by noon...but I wasn't convinced.
Ian was amazing during the whole thing. He was so fun and upbeat and never failed to keeping me smiling and laughing yet so loving, tender and sweet. He was everything I could have ever wanted him to be. He knew exactly when to have fun and exactly when to be quiet and just hold me. I can honestly say that I was never once short or irritated with him, which is something I was afraid would happen since this whole experience was new to me too. He was always there for me, always by my side when I needed him even if i didn't voice it, he just knew. His love and adoration for me was so apparent, I was truly touched by his actions, by how much he cared for me. I am extremely grateful for the man that he is and the love that he has for me.
As I have mentioned plenty of times before I really wanted to go into labor naturally with this one (since I was induced with Brody). The one and only thing that kept me from doing this was how close my due date was to Christmas, we did not want to curse our poor daughter with a Christmas birthday, the 21st is already close enough. When we made the final decision to set our induction date for my due date I was honestly a little bummed. I was determined to somewhat feel what it was like to go into labor so I decided to hold off on the epidural. I had full intentions of getting it, just not right away. I really didn't know how long I wanted to wait, so it was kind of fun (if you can even use that word with contractions haha) and interesting to see what I could handle. These first contractions were nothing...piece of cake. In fact after feeling them I knew for sure I had been contracting at home, it was the later contractions, the ones that peaked off the chart that killed!
Obviously still doing just fine...letting our friends and family know today was the day! I was actually quiet surprised by how doable the first few hours were, I literally had to ask if what I was feeling was a contraction. I remember thinking they should turn the medicine up or something, that at this rate it was going to take forever!!
Ian got hungry and said he was going to get some food. I honestly cant remember if he said he was going to the store or just down to the cafeteria, but either way he was gone. Kirsten (my friend who took all these pictures) and I got busy chatting like girl friends do and didn't even realize how long he was gone. When he finally made it back he took me by complete surprised when he walked in with this gorgeous Christmas flower arrangement! For some reason it never even crossed my mind that he would buy me flowers, probably because we are so broke. He later told me that he planned to all along, even before we got to the hospital. What a sweetheart!
He also bough himself some donuts and was nice enough to not only bring them back but also eat them right in front of me...how rude!! Lucky for him this was not at the point where I was starving for some real food.
Ott actually wasn't the doctor who delivered Kinsley. The office that we went to was shared by Chalmers and Ott and we saw both of them. Chalmers was on call and delivered Kinsley (which made me happy, he was my favorite) but I still think this picture is awesome.
We both just love this picture...one of our favorites.
December was such a fun time to have a baby, the hospital was completely decked out! They had lights outside, fun decorations inside and people were giving things away like crazy! We were given a blanket someone made, two knitted hats, knitted booties, a bundle of socks burp rag shirt and blanket, and a night gown. That's on top of everything you normally get from the hospital anyways, talk about generous!!
Hospital water and ice...seriously heavenly. This is probably one of my favorite parts of being at a hospital.
The only thing they would let me have was juice and Popsicles, I asked for jello but they wouldn't let me!! So I enjoyed that Popsicle to its fullest.
And this is where the fun begins. I was still doing somewhat OK at this point but started feeling bad and consistent contractions. I was able to get through them if I just concentrated on them, unlike before where I could talk right through each one of them with no problem at all. At 11:40 I was checked again and was only at a 4. This was a little discouraging, 3 1/2 hours and I only dilated 1/2 a cm. I though for sure with all the pain I was starting to feel I would have been further along then that.
Sweet Ian helping me get to the bathroom. I had to drag that dang thing in with me and make sure everything was unplugged. That was another perk of not having the epidural right away, I could still move around and get up to go to the bathroom. I have to admit it was nice being able to feel my legs for most of my labor. I never did get up and walk the halls like I always here people talking about though.
And we're at 20, I believe that's the highest it got, and boy did I feel it. Sometime after 12:00 I started feeling extreme pain, in fact I was crying at this point! I was completely shocked at how quickly it turned for me...how it seemed like one minute I could handle it and the next I couldn't. It didn't seem at all like a gradual climb in pain, it seemed like it all came crashing on me suddenly. Even before when I was feeling the pain I could handle it, it was nothing like these contractions. These literally came out of nowhere, it was the strangest thing ever. It was like my body fit a wall, that it knew how much it wanted to feel, what it wanted to handle and it was telling me to knock it off and get the stinkin epidural!
This man was amazing. Words just cannot describe the love and tenderness he showed me during this time. He did not leave my side until after I had the epidural and was able to manage things.
This was my "I know its coming!" face. Even when I wasn't currently having a contraction I could not be at ease and comfortable because I knew right around the corner was another one!
Isn't my husband so handsome!! That smiling face gave me some happiness during all the pain. Just having him by my side, holding my hand made everything seem OK.
I don't know why I put myself through the torture of watching those dang contractions. I should have just ignored the screen, I knew exactly when they were coming all on my own. But instead I watch them in all their glory!
See that little drop by my left eye, ya that's a tear...pretty much sums up how I was feeling.
At this point I was done feeling pain. I had satisfied my need to feel the contractions and was ready to move on. I think Ian was ready for me to move on too because as soon as I said I thought I was ready for the epidural he was on the phone telling the nurse. It didn't take them long either, within 10 minutes the anesthesiologist was in the room getting ready to go.
I believe this was in the middle of a contraction, don't I just look miserable, actually I don't think
miserable even describes it. My nurse told me that I would have about 2 contractions during the procedure and I would have to keep my back very still for them. I remember thinking how the heck am I going to do that!
12:50ish I successfully received my epidural!! Thank goodness for these lifesavers, I would never in my life purposefully do all of labor and delivery without one!
Finally doing a little better! Since I was in such bad pain he gave me a quick dose right away, which he said would kick in about 15 seconds after I received it. Sure enough he was right and the pain was gone almost immediately. Boy did I love that doctor!!
After everything was done and I was all good and numb (around 1:10) I was check again and was at a 6. At this point her head was coming down really well and I was 85% thinned. The most comfortable position for me this whole time had been on my back and with the bed tilted up a little bit, but since her head had not been coming down well they had me take turns laying on my sides which ended up working and did manage to get her head to come down.
I was checked again around 1:50 and was at a 7 and having contractions every 2 to 3 minutes that lasted between 70 to 90 minutes...so I was told. Thank goodness I wasn't feeling them!! Also around this time another nurse came in and brought the baby bed thing out and got the clothes, diaper and all that stuff ready. This is when it hit us that it was happening soon! At this point I was feeling great. There was occasional pressure with the contractions but no pain.
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At 3:00 I was dilated to an 8, the nurse said I was very soft and her head was coming down well. I knew her head had to be very low because I started to feel a lot of pressure, it was getting close!
One last baby bump picture :)
3:40 I was checked again and was complete at a 10. I was not expecting it to go that fast, only 40 minutes and I dilated 2cm, if only the rest would have gone so fast!! Although I was at a 10 I still had a little work to do, as they put it. Her head could still come down a little, so instead of having me push right away and wear myself out they let Kinsley come down a little more on her own. This was when I started to feel nausea's, I had it bad with Brody and was wondering when it would come around this time and sure enough it did. Luckily I got some medicine through my IV and started feeling better before I actually threw up. I was also having major transition shakes, this I don't remember experiencing with Brody. My whole upper body would shake uncontrollably and there was nothing I could do to stop it. At one point I felt like my body was useless, I couldn't feel half of it and the half I could feel I couldn't control.
We never really had a plan for Ian, he wasn't sure where he wanted to be or what roll he wanted to play in the delivery. I was fine with him staying up by my head if he didn't think he was up for being down front and center. The poor guy wasn't even given a choice though, the nurses told him where to stand and handed him my left leg. In the end it all works out though. Ian could not get over how amazing the experience was. I don't remember him even looking at me while I was pushing, he was completely mesmerized with watching his baby girl enter the world.
This delivery was SOOO easy!! It was like a walk in the park compared to Brody, and his wasn't even that hard either. The main differences between the two were they let me wait to push with this one and they didn't make me push on every contraction (or push till they counted to 10!). I only pushed 3 different times. The first two periods of pushing they had me push a couple times, and for the last it took about 2 long ones and one really short push to get her out. I honestly felt like I was resting more then I was pushing.
These next few pictures are too funny! I don't even know what caused each of the reactions but they pretty much sum up what delivery is like!
It had been 4 years since I delivered Brody, which seems like a really long time, but it was just as special and felt strangely just as new this time.Watching our baby girl enter the world was one of the most amazing things. It made the 9 months of pregnancy worth every minute, every discomfort and every pain.
I started pushing at 4:08 and delivered Kinsley at 4:24. It was seriously the most simple and uneventful delivery ever!! The only thing that happened was at one point I think the doctor had a little trouble getting her shoulders out, but it only lasted a few seconds. He also thought that her right collar bone might have broke because he heard a pop but it ended up being fine. I hope all my children can be delivered this easily! I don't know if my epidural worked differently this time but the feeling was a lot different. There wasnt any pain, but I could feel more. I could feel her coming down and coming out. It was like this huge relief as she was coming out. I could also feel the placenta, which Ian said was huge in itself! He said he was shocked by how big it was, that I was able to fit not only our huge baby inside of me but also this extremely large placenta.
After our doctor pulled her out I just remember him saying "oh my gosh this is a huge baby!!" I don't know if its because I was just in awe of our little girl or what but the words huge honestly would have never crossed my mind.
I made sure beforehand that they were going to lay her on me right away. I could not wait to meet this sweet baby girl.
Ian cutting the cord :) This part might be a little gross, but hey this is a birth story after all so what do you expect. See all that white stuff on the doctor...after I delivered I was just laying there and all of a sudden I squirted out a bunch of liquid, it was very unexpected! It just came flying out, I felt so bad for the doctor although I'm sure he is used to it. Ian did say that he jumped back a little haha. During this time I managed to remember to ask If I had riped at all, to my surprise he said no!! I managed to deliver an enormous baby and didn't ripe, not even a little!! That made me one happy lady.
I don't know why I didn't see it at the time but after looking at this picture I now see why everyone thought she was so big! Ian says this picture looks like its straight out of a horror movie, the fact that anyone could have that big of a baby haha.
Right from the beginning she was such a good baby. As soon as they put her on my she calmed right down, in fact she really only cried when things were being done to her.
I don't remember what the scale was in but it wasn't in pounds so we had no idea what 49 meant. As soon as the doctor saw it he was in shock though, he said that had to be at least 10 pounds. I remember thinking no way, he has to be mistaking. I knew I had big babies but that's just ridiculous.
Sure enough the doctor was right, in fact she was almost 11 pounds!!! 10 pounds 13 ounces, no wonder I was so miserable the last couple months of my pregnancy.
I love that squished chubby face!! Right away she looked so much like her big brother.
I was so surprised that she cried real tears right away. I remember Brody's first tears being when he was circumcised a few days after birth.
One of my favorites. Seeing the pure happiness on Ian's face was unlike anything else.
Another one of my favorites :)
Our sweet nurse, Marsha Flint.
Kinsley nursing for the first time. She did awesome and latched on right away.
I wanted Brody to be the first to come in and see her, and I wanted it to be just him..I made sure Ian understood that! I wanted to have those first precious moments when he meet his sister be special and have him be the focus. I am very glad I did because I will cherish those memories and these pictures for forever. He had been so excited to be a big brother, he looked forward to this day for so long. He was so sweet and tender with his new baby sister. I couldnt have been more proud of my little man, my heart was melted by his love for his sister. As soon as he was with us our family just felt right.
We were all pretty sick with colds so we had Bro wear a mask. I love that you can see his happiness even through the mask.
Daddy holding her for the first time. Ian was such a sweetheart and let me have time with my baby girl without even asking to take her. Finally I realized that I was hogging her and gave daddy some time with his girl.
This was one of the sweetest moments of the evening. Watching the two guys in my life love and adore my baby girl was nothing short of incredible. I think its safe to say we have a Daddy's little girl on our hands :)
Everyone who flipped this up throughout our stay could not help but be quiet shocked by what they saw. One time while Kinsley was in the nursery the nurses told me she was next to a little boy who was about half her size, that's our girl :)
The beginnings of this relationship was absolutely the most precious, heartwarming thing to watch. I have experienced having a child before and that alone is an amazing thing. But to have another child and see your first fall in love with his baby sister, there really are no words to express how that made me feel. To see the love in his eyes for this sweet baby girl, I just couldnt get enough of these two. While Brody was watching over her I remember saying that she looked hungry, he must have heard me because my friend said that he turned to her and said "my baby needs more food please." It doesn't get much sweeter then that.
I adore this picture, everything about it is absolutely perfect. These guys were mesmerized by sweet baby girl, I don't think they even notice anything else going on, it was all about our little sweetie :)
December 21st 2012 was one of the happiest days of our lives. We feel so lucky and truly blessed to have this sweet little girl in our lives. Welcome to our family Miss Kinsley Mae.
