Quick note before starting: I asked Jonny to take notes of times and things that were happening throughout the day of labor since I would be a little sidetracked to remember all of the times. :)
I'm actually going to start my story with the night of August 18. It was crazy to think that the next day our lives would change forever. It was crazy that after all the waiting and wishing and wondering and hoping, that our little girl would be with us in less than 24 hours. That night, my mom, Jonny and I enjoyed the time we had together. We went to church and then the rest of the day we just hung around the house. I wish we could say we did something awesome our last day as a family of 2 but we just rested...and right now, that sounds pretty awesome. Right before we went to sleep, Jonny and I wrote our thoughts down in our journal and then he gave me a blessing. I cried, he cried and my mom cried. It is amazing to know that he has the power to bring the spirit into our home and to help me feel at ease about having a baby the next day. After that, I just remember thinking, "All I want is a healthy baby." All the thoughts of "I don't want a C-section" or "I hope it doesn't hurt too much" didn't matter anymore. All I wanted was a healthy baby. I didn't care what I would have to endure.
So Jonny and I climbed into bed, said our last prayer together without a baby, and tried REALLY hard to go to sleep. But like my sister in law said perfectly, "knowing exactly when you are having a baby is like Christmas Eve x 100000!" Oh my this is sooo true. Jonny and I stayed up thinking about baby Neeley. We talked about her name, if we still liked it and wanted to name her that. We talked about her middle name. We talked about what we thought she would look like and who she would look the most like (ps I was CONVINCED that she was going to look exactly like Jonny. I had already prepared myself that she probably wouldn't look anything like me and I was ok with that). We got into bed around 9:45pm and we did not fall asleep until after 11:30pm. I woke up around 2:30am to some serious back pain. From 2:30 to 5:15 when my alarm went off, I tried to get sleep but I am pretty sure I just tossed and turned with my eyes closed the whole time.
Our alarm went off at 5:15 because I had to call up to the hospital at 5:30 to see if they had a room open. I got in the shower at 5:15 and got everything ready in case they said to come. I called at 5:30 and sure enough had a room open for me. So we packed the car, took some last minute pictures of the two of us before leaving our house as a family of two, and we were on our way. Here is us in her nursery before leaving that morning. (Thanks again mom for taking all these pictures, and helping and pretty much being the best ever!)
And here is a picture of us right outside the Emergency Room entrance.
We seriously felt like we were moving in. I had two pillows (which was the number one BEST thing I did. Hospital pillows are a joke), a camera bag, an over night bag and a sack of food since we had no clue how long we would be there or if the cafeteria food would be disgusting or not.
We walked through the hospital doors around 6:05am, and we were checked into our room around 6:25am. I was asked to get in the hospital robe and make myself comfortable since I would be laying on the bed for a long time. PS...I was still having back labor contractions the whole time. A few minutes after being checked in, the nurse came in and hooked me up to the monitor. They said before they do anything, they monitor you for 30 minutes to see if or what your body is already doing. She came back in about 40 minutes later saying that I was already having contractions a few minutes apart. I told her that I have been having them and feeling them since 2:30 that morning. Another thing that I am completely convinced of is that if your baby is overdue, I am certain they are telling you to get an induction date just so they can either come the day before or start to come on their own. Little buggers.
Here I am in the room, trying to get comfortable.
When the nurse came back in around 7:20, she started the Pitocin to make my contractions harder. She started me at the lowest dosage which is a 6 because my body was already doing stuff on its own. Right after she started the Pitocin and gave me the IV (WORST PART EVER!), she checked to see how much I was dilated. I was a 3. During that same visit, she had me sign a bunch of paperwork and then left. She came back in every once in a while to check my contractions and to see how I was doing.
After the nurse left, we just sat around. At 8:20, our pediatrician, who happens to be one of our closest friends here in town, came by our room. He makes rounds of all his babies before going into work. He stopped by to say hi since he knew I would be there. It was good to see a familiar face. Right after he left, Jonny noted "nasty breakfast." Ha! I did think it was pretty rude that the nurses bring in food, for you, that you can't eat. I wasn't allowed to eat anything and I was STARVING! So I just had to sit there while Jonny ate it. At least it wasn't good.
At 8:30, my doctor, Doctor Nelson came in to check on me, talk to me, and to break my water. Weirdest. Feeling. Ever. I can't imagine that happening without it knowing it was coming. It was weird enough when I knew it was happening! He checked me again and said I was almost a 4. After he broke my water, the contractions started to come closer together and get a little stronger. They got to the point where I had to just close my eyes and couldn't talk. I would just focus on breathing and getting through the back pain.
At 8:53, the nurse came in to tell me that my lab work came back and that I was ready for my epidural whenever I wanted it. 20 minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in and told my mom and Jonny that they had to leave the room while he gave me the epidural. 25 minutes later, I had tingling legs and my mom and Jonny returned.
That's when labor got awesome. I couldn't feel contractions anymore. The only way I would know I was having one was from the monitor. My mom and Jonny could see it on the screen and would tell me. Things got a lot more enjoyable. We were laughing. We were watching tv. We were talking. It was awesome. My mom just kept telling me how strange it was that I wasn't dying! (She gave birth to all 5 of her kids naturally. YIKES!)
At 10:20, the nurse came back in and gave me the catheter so I wouldn't pee on myself since, at this point, I didn't have much feeling. She came in again around 10:45 for more paperwork. From this time to about 12:50 we just hung out. We were messing with the camera. Looking up possible pictures to take in the hospital before we left. I was Instagram, Facebooking, and pinterest-ing...anything to pass the time.
At 12:50, Doctor Nelson came around for his lunch break check ups to see how I was doing. He checked and I was dilated to an 8! From a 4 to an 8 in 4 hours. He was telling me how he would see me soon. Jonny and I joked with him telling him that we have had to sit and wait for him before when he had to leave to go deliver babies and now its our turn to return the favor to someone else. Ha.
Around 1pm, our friend Molly, brought my mom and Jonny lunch. Not only was it lunch, it was one of my favorite places. I was so hungry. So again, I sat and watched them eat food knowing that all I could have was ice chips. I asked Jonny to take the cup of ice chips for me and I said "man, these ice chips seriously are filling me up." His response "Really?" I jokingly said, "No. Are you kidding me." We all laughed but inside I was just so dang hungry. Ha.
At 1:44, I told my mom and Jonny that I started to feel something different. Before Doctor Nelson left, he told me that when I start feeling pressure or the urge to push, to call the nurse. So I was telling my mom that I don't feel like it was pressure or the urge to push but it felt like a contraction. I hadn't felt a contraction since before I got the epidural hours before. I called the nurse and told her that I felt something different. A minute later, the nurse came in and checked me and said, "Oh. Yep you're complete!" I got emotional right away. This was it. No turning back now. We were going to have a baby.
At 1:52, the nurse started to have me push. She said that she would have me push until the head was crowning and then she would call the doctor. I pushed for 15 minutes with the nurse and the head was crowning so she called the doctor. She told me to stop pushing so the doctor could have time getting there. Ya... easier said then done. The doctor came in at 2:20. I pushed for another 14 minutes and at 2:34pm, Baby Neeley aka Naomi Lynne Neeley entered the world. 7 lbs 7 oz, 20 1/4 inches long. She was perfect. I just remember looking at her thinking "You are ours. All ours." Jonny cried. I cried. My mom cried. It was truly amazing.
We have a TON more pictures that I want to share that I will post later. Baby is crying... :)
FYI: This next paragraph may be a little TMI. Feel free to skip it :)
They did what they had to do while the doctor did what he had left to do for me. He and the nurse that helped me push before he got there did an amazing job helping me. They limited my tears to one first degree tear only needing 2 stitches. All the nurses were super supportive and helped me get through those dreaded pushes. The contractions with the epidural were nothing. Pushing on the other hand, miserable. I was so tired by the end. I just wanted to not have to push anymore and I only pushed for 45 minutes. I can't imagine those that pushed for hours. Ugh.
We had lots of love from our friends and family that congratulated us. Lots of people come and visit us at the hospital and at home. We had tons of help from people with food and anything that we needed. We have been truly blessed with great, loving people in our lives. THANK YOU to all of you who helped, loved, visited and congratulated us and this amazing new addition to our family. We love you all and are truly grateful for everyone!
We sure love our little bundle of joy. I am looking forward to finding another hour of time to write about the last 4 weeks of sweet Naomi's life. Until then, peace! xoxo
