She's HERE! Peyton Day's Birth Story

Peyton's Birth Story

August 17th, 2014

We were on our second power walk of the day on the evening of Saturday August 16th, 2014.  We stopped and chatted with various neighbors who were curious about when little P would be joining us.  I assured them that she would be at least another two weeks arriving-  most likely Labor Day weekend (fitting, right?)  Little did I know that little Miss Peyton had other plans for us...

We had dinner that night at Brookridge (our gym/club) and sat outside, as the August weather was being very nice to us KC residents. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and making a quick run to the store to get milk for cereal for Sunday morning that we would end up NOT needing...! Chris and I went to bed at 11:30 and 60 minutes later I woke up to a "I'm having an accident in my bed" sensation.  Over the next 10 minutes or so, I figured out that my water had broken and I started to do some legit deep breathing to start this whole process out calmly... which believe it or not I did! I woke Chris up and then called my OB- the on call OB called me back and told us to come in... also mentioning to "not clean the house or do any picking up" which was comical as I was doing just that as I was on the phone with her.  She couldn't have been nicer and made me feel more at ease just in our short conversation. 

So at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 17th the adventure began! :) We gathered our things which were already pretty much pulled together in the "hospital staging room" - a.k.a what used to be the guest room- and headed to the hospital. Since it was the middle of the night, we went to the ER- where the lovely (sarcasm) security man asked us if we were there to "see someone." Strange question to ask someone 9 months pregnant with a suitcase. We were checked into the triage area where a nurse confirmed that my water had broken but I was still not dilated at all, nor was I having contractions.  My effacement was the same it had been for 3 weeks (50%) so no progress had been made, other than the water works in our bedroom. Since my water HAD broken, protocol was to be admitted. 

Our first nurse we had was so, so nice- her name was Terri.  She told us the plan for the night was basically a waiting game to see if my body would go into labor on its own or not.  I had to be hooked up to the fetal monitors every 20 minutes out of the hour but the rest of the time I could power walk the halls- which we did.  Surprisingly, the night flew by.  Morning was around the corner and nurses would be checking for progress (need to be dilated to more than a 1 or I would have to have Cervadil, a drug that softens your cervix).  I really did not want the Cervadil, as it would mean I'd be bedridden until noon when they'd start Pitocin (labor inducer/helper)- and anyone who knows me knows that me being forced to be stationary for any length of time is not good for anyone...  7:00 a.m.-ish rolled around, the nurses checked me and low and behold I was dilated to a 3! HALLELUJAH! :) No Cervadil! I was put on Pitocin to get things moving (still wasn't feeling contractions much and they were 8-10 minutes apart and irregular) at 8:30 a.m. or so. 

With the start of the Pitocin, I promptly asked if we could pair the Pitocin with my epidural- to which the on call doctor (not my usual doctor but the nice lady from my 12:30 a.m. phone call) replied "no."  She wanted my contractions to be more regular and closer together- which to me translated to "I want you to feel more pain."  Not cool.  So we waited.  To pass the time, Chris and I just talked and listened to music on my tablet (John Mayer radio on Pandora- highly recommend...).  I also had my face fan that I can't live without so between the music, cool breeze, ice chips, and occasional popsicle I was dandy.

 

By 10:30 or so I had started to feel cramping but nothing unbearable.  Contractions were much closer together but still irregular.  I asked again about the epidural and my wish was granted- the anesthesiologist arrived around 11 to administer it.  Unfortunately, our wonderful family vet's husband who was going to do my epidural was done with his shift right as I was ready for it- so he didn't get to do it. I'm sure he was devastated (sarcasm)... but the lady we had was great. Very assertive and the whole thing was no big deal.  My waist down slowly went numb but not completely- my legs felt tingly... kind of how your body feels when something is falling asleep. Kind of strange.  I felt a little yucky after getting it... not sure why.  Felt very anxious and nervous (not emotionally but my body was acting this way).  Chris got a cool washcloth for my head and after a little while I felt calmer and cooled down.  Maybe an adverse reaction to the epidural but nothing unmanageable. 

Around 1 or so (everything is "or so" because let's be real- this is all a blur), I was checked for progress again and I had gone from a 3 to a 4... I was bummed. Could this move any slower? Chop chop! The waiting game continued as I was switched from laying on one side to the other- getting turned by nurses with a half dead weight body was quite the experience.  Those girls are saints.  Thinking we were truly going to be there all day and probably the week following in labor, I was impatient but calm.  I got checked again around 3:30 and the nurses couldn't believe that I had gone from a 4 to a 10 (or "complete") in such a short period.  They asked if I felt the need to push to which I replied no.  The doctor decided that since baby was fine and so was I that I would "labor down" for awhile- basically my body was ready to rock and roll but I didn't feel any sensation to do so- so I got to lay there and let things naturally progress, baby moving down etc. without any real work on my part- yes, please!

We found out that my wonderful doctor would be coming in at 5! I was elated.  I wanted P to wait til then to come so that my doctor could deliver her but hey, I wasn't in charge.  The other OB who I had had all day called my doctor and updated her- my doctor came in a little early so she could deliver our baby! So cool.  The nurses had me do a couple of practice pushes a little before five and pretty soon my doctor arrived.  The room was being prepped and a flood of people had come in- all calmly though, which was nice.  Keeping the mood calm was good.  :) As this was going on, Canon in D was playing on my tablet which was a little emotional,  as it was what I walked down the aisle to at our wedding.  My doctor came over and informed us that it was game time- so at 5 or a little after I started to push for real.  7-8 pushes and 15 minutes later, Peyton Day came into our world!  I couldn't believe how fast it went.  When they pulled her out and held her up, I immediately burst into tears and said "Oh my gosh, she's real!" to which the nurses all laughed. My word for this whole pregnancy experience was "surreal" and seeing her finally confirmed that she had indeed been in my tummy for all that time and was the real deal.  Chris cut the cord and they put her on my chest right away.  Wow. The feeling was indescribable.  I immediately knew she was mine and my life would never be the same.

My parents had been in the waiting room for not that long (we called to have them come up once the time got closer for her to arrive) and they were shocked with how quickly she came, too!  Chris went out to get them and they wanted to know her name- to which he wouldn't tell. :) My mom had guessed her name a few months ago- very eerie!- and Chris and I had been looking forward to seeing their reaction when we told them that they had been right all along. 

We were moved to our 'mommy/baby room' a couple hours later and the true adventure began and continues.  I couldn't stop thinking about how unreal the whole day had been and how I wasn't scared at all through the whole thing like I thought I would be.  Chris was wonderful through everything and seeing him as a dad made me fall in love all over again.  It's the craziest thing.  We were so blessed to not have any complications and also for me to be comfortable through the whole process.  I might even consider giving it a go a second time. ;) Not anytime soon though! We've spent the past week enjoying family time (Chris's and mine) with our sweet girl and getting to know her.  We've been learning how to care for her and are so in love.  

Peyton is truly a gift from God and we are forever blessed to be her mommy and daddy.