At your 36 week appointment your doctors start to check you weekly to know how you are doing and how you are progressing. At 35 weeks I got the news that David was going to be out of town for a few days for a job interview. Not ideal, but I thought, "I'm only 35 weeks, no big deal". Then I go to my doctor appointment and they tell me I am 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. The nurse said "wow, first baby?" and the doctor said something to the effect of "you probably won't go into labor this week, but you never know! Best to prepare!" and that I probably wouldn't make it to my due date. That got me really worried. Like what if I go into labor and I'm all alone and baby is still too small! But fortunately, I got through the week just fine.
I think the next week (37 week appointment) I was 4 cm and 90%. All the doctors and nurses told me they thought it would be soon and they were (for lack of a better word) impressed that my body was progressing so easily for a first time mom. Now they really had me thinking that it could literally be any time now and that from now on any time the baby decided to come would really be okay.
At that 37 week appointment I was also approached to be part of the ARRIVE study. Which basically is a medical study looking at the effects of induction at 39 weeks vs. no induction vs. induction at 41 weeks. All the women in the study are randomized to induction at 39.5 weeks or waiting for your body to go into labor naturally/induction at 41 weeks. Basically, they are trying to see if there are any benefits to inducing at 39 weeks (which has been found beneficial in the UK, but no study has been done yet in the US). I heard about this study in our prenatal class and the nurse there thought it was a fantastic thing to be part of if you could (you need to have absolutely no pregnancy complications, be healthy, be a first time mom, etc). My doctor told me it was also an exciting study for them as doctors to be part of and that no matter which random group I was assigned to baby would be just as healthy at that point. He also told me that he didn't think I would make it to 39 weeks (so I probably wouldn't be able to be part of it anyway), but that if I did it would be an easy induction on me. So with that said, the next week I decided I would be part of the study.
At my 38 week appointment my doctor told me I was still at 4 cm. Which to be honest was a little disappointing. They had been telling me all along it would be early and that I was progressing so fast and now at 38.5 weeks there was no change.
The next morning they called me to tell me which group I was randomized to: the induction group and they had me assigned to have my baby Sunday. Then called me back and told me actually it was to be Friday (just two days away). This got me so anxious...was I ready for this?? We decided to tell just our parents that I was being induced because we didn't want to have to give millions of updates to everyone and wanted to be able to just enjoy the day....which thank goodness we did because of what happened next.
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| At the temple...which we thought would be our last night just with each other. |
Thursday night we get the call to go in at 6 am in the morning, but to call when we leave the house just to make sure they are ready for me. So I prepare and try to get as much sleep as I can, but obviously I am so anxious and excited that I am just up all night thinking. Like remember going to Disneyland as a kid or Christmas Eve?....that times about 100. So basically, I don't think I really got any sleep at all. I wake up and call. They said they didn't have any room for me...too many babies!...of course in Utah Valley in May ;) They said call back in a few hours. This process continues all day. I was feeling so disappointed. Here I had my hopes up and nothing and I kept getting the run around and feeling like it was never going to happen. They promise me the next morning (Saturday) I can come in at 6 AM. We wake up ready to go. Call. Again. No rooms available! Finally I just decided to go into work to get my mind off things. This was the most helpful idea yet. It really helped the time go by and give me something else to do! Finally I get a call around 2 that they are ready for me! We jump in the car and go.
We get there and it takes forever to check us in. They had just switched over to a new computer system that morning and all the assistants/nurses/doctors were still figuring out how to use it to check people in, order medications, process notes, etc. Finally at about 5 pm we had everything situated and they started me on pitocin. I can't remember if they had checked me after that or not, but about 30 minutes after the doctor came in to break my water and pretty soon I began feeling contractions. David and I were watching Ratatouille to pass the time. Pretty soon after that (maybe 20 or so minutes) the contractions started getting much much stronger. I thought to myself, "oh no, if it took this long to get the pitocin ordered and started I wonder how long it will take for the epidural??". At about 6:00 I decided that it was enough to where I could ask for the epidural (you really can ask for it whenever you want, but I wanted to feel the contractions at first and didn't want to be a complete wuss.....haha). Probably within about 2 minutes everybody came in and started the epidural. They told me even though they didn't know how to do it in the computer they would get me taken care of first and then figure out that part later--what a relief! The anesthesiologist took one look at my back and said that I had the perfect anatomy for an epidural (my spine is very poky and boney.....sort of like a dinosaur)...finally it was good for something!
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| When we first got to the labor/delivery room |
I can't remember exactly now, but I think they checked me again and I was somewhere around an 8. Then pretty soon later a 9. Then 10 and they had me rest and descend for 1 hour.
The nurse had me start pushing at around 9:00. We didn't push continuously, but she would have me practice then give me breaks for a few minutes while she got other things ready. She was great and kept telling me I was doing such a good job. That made me feel really proud and in control and like I could really do it. At about 9:30 the doctor came in and got everything ready.
I am lucky in that my epidural worked very well for me. I could feel the pressure of the contractions, but not much of the pain. Which was perfect because when the baby got down so far the monitor had a hard time picking up the contractions so I was really in control of when I should push. I also still had pretty good control of my legs and could pretty much still lift them up myself (although it was easier with help).
The hardest part for me about pushing was heartburn! There was so much acid in my throat and every time I would push I would just feel like I was going to throw up. Finally the nurse gave me one rolaid....but of course that wasn't enough for all the acid I had in my throat. The plain ice chips sort of helped, but I just had to deal with it and she let me know it was okay if I just had to throw up--it happens sometimes. Thankfully I didn't ever actually throw up.
Within a few pushes with the doctor and at exactly 10 pm Aaron was born! When he finally came out, I was still in the middle of trying to push really hard with my eyes closed and the doctor had to tell me, "Kristy, look, open your eyes!". I was astonished that he was finally here in front of me. It felt like such a miracle to me and I could feel that was a moment where my life would forever be different. They put him on my lap and I got to stroke him and love him for a minute. Then they took him over to get weighed, cleaned off, do all the test, etc. David stayed by me (because at this point my upper body was shaking and he was a bit worried), but I told him to go over to Aaron and take some pictures. Before I knew it Aaron was back on my chest, the doctors and nurses were gone, and it was quiet again. Aaron and I tried nursing and they left us alone for maybe an hour or so. They also brought me a turkey croissant and water (I was starved at this point), which David helped me eat because I was holding/nursing/cuddling/in awe over Aaron.
Then we were transferred over to the mother/baby unit and they gave Aaron his first bath. Finally around 3 AM (after two nights of basically no sleep because of the anticipation) we all went to bed. Aaron slept until morning.
The whole experience was great for me. I really enjoyed it all and to be honest it was a lot easier and better than I ever expected it to be! Really the hardest thing was all the anticipation and getting the run around about getting into the hospital for the induction. But all worth it in the end! Such a sweet, beautiful, perfect little baby.
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