Friday, November 12, 2010

A Day We Will Never Forget.

It all began on Saturday, November 6th. Austin had to attend a school convention for most of the day, so I decided that it would be a perfect time for me to get out and do some activities to bring about labor. I was so anxious to finally have our little boy in my arms! So what did I do? I walked, and walked, and walked some more. First, I shopped and strolled around the mall with my mom and sister for four hours. Then, we went and shopped at Costco for another hour and a half. That was followed by a trip to Albertsons for another hour. I was exhausted by the time we finally got home, but made another trip to the mall an hour later to shop with my hubby.

Throughout the entire day I was having mild contractions and loving it! I wanted to keep walking all night long to make them get stronger. To our surprise, the next event happened so fast. When Austin and I were driving away from the mall that night, I lost the plug that protects the amniotic sac surrounding the baby!!! We were thrilled! This was when my contractions finally started coming on stronger and closer together. W knew that my water could break at any moment, so we went home and waited... I walked up and down the stairs for what seemed like forever, and sped-walked around the neighborhood with Austin until I couldn't anymore. I was exhausted and my feet were definitely agreeing!

I didn't have any big signs of my water breaking so we finally decided to 'go to bed.' Keep in mind that I was still having some contractions at this point that were about 10-14 minutes apart. I didn't want to go to the hospital for fear that they would tell me to wait until my water had officially broken. Austin and I were up all night long timing my contractions with hope that they would get closer together. I also thought that I was still losing my 'plug' as well due to all the bathroom runs that I was making.

By Sunday morning, my contractions were about 10 minutes apart and much worse so we decided that we better go to the hospital to see what was going on. We were taken into triage where they test to see if you can be admitted into labor and delivery. At this point, I was still worried that they would just send me back home! But when the nurses came back into the room after running my tests, they had an IV bag in their hands and told me that I was in!!! Little did I know that my water had really broken at 7:30 pm the night before and I had been in active labor all night!

Now, this is where it gets fun! I was told that my water had broken too early. We know this because my body was very far from being ready to deliver. Let's just say that it was as far from it as anyone could possibly get. I was barely dilated at all and was hardly even effaced! We were quickly informed that this would be a long labor. I did not mind. I would do anything that would give us our son.

So, to show you a summary of our Sunday, I will go by hour:

9:08 am - Arrive at Banner Gateway.
10:00 am - Officially admitted into Labor and Delivery Room 8.
10:50 am - Begin  IV Oxytocin. [This is a hormone that is used for inducing women. Since I was so far away from dilating, they began me on this right away. Mind you, this also brings on contractions much worse than doing it naturally...]
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...
...
...
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4:00 pm - Doctor Mikels [doctor-on-call for my regular OB/GYN] comes in to see my dilation. He unfortunately told me that nothing had changed. I was still far from delivery.
**My contractions were now about 2-3 minutes apart and very painful. But there was no way I was getting an epidural only dilated to a 1!
...
...
7:00 pm - Begin fake epidural. I was having contractions every minute, so I was given some medicine through the epidural tube that was not as strong as the real stuff.
7:30 pm - Given antibiotics through my IV. By this time, my water had been broken for 24 hours and the doctor feared infection.
...
8:26 pm - Water officially breaks! The leak had finally been broken!
9:00 pm - The nurse tests to find that I am finally dilated to a 2...
9:30 pm - Given the real epidural. Bad contractions.
...
10:40 pm - Given an oxygen mask. Every time my one-minute contractions would come, the baby's heart rate would sadly drop about 40-50 bpm below normal. He was hurting... The oxygen mask fortunately helped a lot!
10:50 pm - The doctor cut my Oxytocin in half. By this point I was at the highest dosage possible and they wanted to half-it to see if my body would start dilating on its own.
...
12:00 am - The nurse comes back in to test my dilation. She was shocked and had another nurse check to see if this miracle could really happen with me... I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push!!! Had I really gone from 2 centimeters to 10 centimeters in three hours???
12:20 am - Begin practice pushing with the nurse.
12:40 am - The doctor arrives at the hospital once more.
...
1:42 am - Baby Ryker is born!!!!!!







Ryker is a dream come true! He is perfectly healthy and we could not be more grateful. There is nothing in this world that we would not do for him.

This definitely was a day we will never forget!!!

13 comments:

Ashlee G. said...

I can't wait to meet him! What a beautiful post.

Melanie said...

so happy for you both :)

MeganHowell said...

Ok, I am a total stalker. BUT- NOT really... You see, I went to elementary school with Kristel and my husband was good friends with your husband in High School! (Ask him if Andrew Howell rings a bell!)

I just found your blog a few days ago and since I am pregnant too I was reading all your fun pregnancy updates... I am so excited for you guys!

Baby Ryker is so perfect!! CONGRATULATIONS! What a great story!
Have fun!!

Love,
Megan Howell

Melanie said...

beautiful story! i delivered at the same hospital and had a very similar experience. our little girl was already over due and my body was nowhere ready so i chose to be induced. i was worried she was going to be too large for me to deliver (they were guessing over 8lbs) if i waited any longer. but the contractions were awful. i made it for about 20 hours before i got the epidural (i was around 5-6cm). then a few hours later i was at 10 and ready to go! it was a good thing i didn't wait any longer, gemma was 9lbs 6oz! congratulations to you both! so happy for you!!!

(btw i'm austin's friend lincoln's wife)

:Brew Crew: said...

Congratulations!! Ryker is PERFECT and sooo adorable! What a precious moment!

Jacob & Clarissa said...

Congrats! He is adorable and I'm glad that you got him here alright! Sounds like it was a rough day!

Sharisa said...

Congratulations! I bet you guys are thrilled.

Miriam.Hornbarger said...

Yay! Let the fun begin! I can't wait to share experiences of baby moments with you! We can't wait to meet him! Congrats Kaitie & Austin! Welcome Ryker!

Love baby London! ;)

Rebecca said...

Exciting!! Sounds like a long day, but it's always worth it! Isn't it amazing how an epidural can make you relax enough to actually start dilating?!

I had a very similar experience with Carrie. Hardly ANY progress for about 15 hours, then I got an epidural, and a few hours later, there she was!

You guys will be great parents!!

the cattelain family said...

Congrats you guys! Ryker looks SO cute! We can't wait to meet him! We love you all!

Domestic Bliss(ters) said...

He is SO cute! I can't believe your water broke so early on in labor, I don't think I've ever heard of that before! You look great too. Hope you're adjusting to baby life well! It's a big change, but so worth it!

rahhlady said...

You guys were VERY VERY blessed. I had an infection from my water being broken for just 12 1/2 hours before COllin was born and that landed him in the NICU for 5 days. I am so glad that you are all healthy and doing great :)

Eric and Breana said...

That's so awesome! Sounds wonderful! Congrats on your little guy.