Our Birth Story

I've been meaning to blog about this for 4 weeks now... I've been a little busy ;)

Our precious, perfect Kaiser Clinton Perkes was born on Monday, July 1, 2013 at 02:29.  We couldn't be happier and we couldn't feel more blessed.  This is our story: (Yes, I like to remember everything, so it might be more detailed than some of you would like to know...)

On Friday June 28th, the day I posted last, (and 4 days after my due date) I went to see Dr. Kirkman for one last appointment.  He checked me and I was 3 cm dilated, and 80% effaced.  Unfortunately, that was not far enough along for him to send me to labor and delivery so we planned for my induction date of June 30th in the am.

So the wait continued...

Saturday night was the last night we would have together before Kaiser joined our family.  That night Scott and I both got very little sleep.  We were too anxious/nervous/excited for what Sunday morning brought.  I got almost 4 hours of sleep and Scott got about 2.  We called labor and delivery at 5 am on Sunday morning (June 30th) to make sure I could come in for my induction, and they told me to come in at 6:30.  So we showered, and packed the rest of our hospital bag, said a family prayer, and headed to the hospital to have our baby.

The dreaded "last prego picture"

We checked in and Brooke was assigned as my nurse.  Brooke was a friend I met in college so it was fun to have her.  I got dressed into my gown and kept thinking how weird it was to be a patient, let alone a patient in the hospital where I work.  This was the first time I have been in a hospital, overnight, with an iv in my arm.

They hooked me up to the monitors and they showed very mild contractions--huh, go figure.  I didn't really know that's what they felt like.  Apparently I had been contracting, just not very much at all.  They started my fluids, and eventually my pitocin.  I was still 3 cm and 80% effaced when I was first checked.

We had room 14 in Labor and Delivery

The first few hours flew by.  They kept upping my levels of pitocin to increase my contractions, I was walking around, and trying to keep the baby's heart rate monitor on me (that was quite the task because he was moving around so much inside me)!  Every time I would get checked, I was steadily progressing.  It was quite encouraging.  I think that is why the time flew by...

Dr. Kirkman came in and broke my water at 10:30 that morning.  Haha, that was definitely a warm feeling...  However, not much fluid came out.  We decided to monitor it for the next little while.

By around 2:30 that afternoon I had progressed to a "6" and my contractions were getting quite strong and very uncomfortable. I tried walking around to help the pain, and laying/sitting in different positions sitting in bed... I was feeling contractions in my stomach of course, but the most painful ones were in my lower back and bum.  Definitely not what I expected.  AT ALL.  So, since I never had any intention of going natural, I decided that it was about time to get my epidural.  The anesthesiologist came in at about 3:30 and gave it to me.  It was definitely a weird feeling.  I was really nervous so as I sat on the side of the bed, I held Scott's hands super tight.  The lidocaine shot was somewhat painful, but the weirdest part was when they put the actual epidural in--there are definitely a lot of nerves in your spine :) haha...

The bed turned into a throne :)  It helped immensely with my back labor. (Before my epidural...)

After the epidural was placed, I felt great!  I couldn't feel a thing in my lower back, stomach, bum, or legs.  It was really great, yet weird feeling.  I could feel it starting to work within minutes of him placing it.  It worked perfectly--I was still able to move my right leg a little bit, but my left leg was completely gone.

So, after getting the epidural, I had hoped that it helped me progress quicker because a lot of people do progress really fast after.  However, it was basically the opposite for me.

I was still a six when they checked me again at 1630...

Shift change was at 1800.  Jolene was coming on and when Brooke gave her report, they checked me and I was still a 6 at 1830...

I was getting slightly frustrated :(

Some time after shift change, I noticed that with every contraction I would have, the baby's heart rate would drop a little bit.  So I put oxygen on to see if that would fix the problem.  It did for a short time.  But we were still monitoring it because his heart rate was not staying consistent.  It would either drop, or get really high.  Because of this and the fact that I wasn't dilating further, they ended up putting an "IUC" inside of me to measure the severity of my contractions.  The severity of them were measured in "MVU's" and they should be around 200-225 range.  Initially, mine were good.  Around 225.

We were getting really frustrated with my progress.  When Jolene would check me she would say, "Well, you're still a 6, but you're getting softer, and your cervix is feeling better and better each time."  I was getting really worried that since I wasn't progressing, I would end up having a c-section.

Around 2100 I was laying on my side trying to relax.  I had oxygen on (again) to try to help his crazy heart rate.  All of a sudden, three nurses came into my room because his heart rate dropped dramatically.  My doctor had been watching my strip at home and had seen what happened with that.  Jolene came into my room and said Dr. Kirkman was going to come in and check me at 2230, and if I hadn't made progress, we better do a c-section because along with my lack of progress, baby wasn't doing well and was getting really tired.  They measured my MVU's again and they were now at 300. Jolene had to stop my pitocin all together because baby was just getting too beat up and tired from the long, hard contractions every minute or so.  This was the first time I had realized that he was being affected by the long hard labor :(  It made me so sad to think that he was in there getting so beat up and tired from it all too...

Anyways...Before Dr. Kirkman came in, they decided that they would try to stabilize his heart rate by trying one last trick--an amnio infusion.  Like I said before, when they broke my water, not enough fluid came out.  Baby was sitting so low that not enough could come out, and he was in a bad position because he was so low.  So they hooked a bag of fluid up to tubing, and put it inside me.

I love this picture of Scott--he was helping me calm down while I was so stressed

So, at 2230, Jolene came in to check me before Dr. Kirkman got here and she said "So, you're still a 6. But I actually feel really good about this check."  She then went on to explain that when she checked me with Brooke at shift change, Brooke said I was a 6 and 80% (I think during a contraction), but she really thought that I was a 4 and 70%.  But since they like to stay consistent, she called me a six.  So she said that now I was really a 6 and completely effaced!  So she said that she was really happy with that.  WHEW!  And baby was doing better, and a lot more fluid came out, so the amnio infusion worked!  Thank heavens...

Dr. Kirkman came in at 2300 and they both checked me and agreed that I was 8-9 centimeters.  YES!  I finally progressed!

We watched the clock hit midnight--We realized we were going to have a July baby instead of a June baby.

At 0045, they came in to check me and I was an Anterior Lip.  So I was so close to complete.  Jolene told me to rest for 30 minutes and she would come back and check me.  At 0115 I went complete!  Finally!  Since baby hadn't been doing well throughout, I didn't have to rest and descend.  So at 0120 I started pushing.  This was the part I was the most anxious about.

She and Scott each took a leg and put them in the stirrups, and she explained the pushing process to me.  She also gave me a mirror so that I could watch what was happening with each push.  I was hesitant about that at first, but I actually quite enjoyed being able to see my progress.  And when the next contraction started, I began pushing.  I pushed with all my might because I was so ready to meet our little guy.  It was definitely not easy.  It was freaking hard.  I couldn't feel any pain, but I could feel a lot of pressure which was really painful.  (If that makes any sense.)  I got the adrenaline shakes for the last 45 minutes.  I couldn't stop shaking and shivering.

This is my strip--red is baby's hr, blue is my contractions/pushes during contractions.

At about 0215 or so, I was crowning.  So Jolene called the NCU and Dr. Kirkman to come deliver my baby.  They got there almost immediately, just in time for the last 4 contractions/pushes.  They were the longest, hardest contractions I'd had.  I was so tired from giving it all I could I almost cried.  Or maybe I did, I honestly don't remember... When they said, "one more push" to get his shoulders and the rest of his body out, I gave it all I could and pushed so hard because I knew I couldn't go through one more contraction.

He came out!  He was here!  The most beautiful boy I'd ever seen!  They suctioned him out, put him on my stomach and cleaned him off.  Scott cut his cord and he didn't cry, but he let out a small whimper.  It was the saddest whimper I'd ever heard.  I felt like he was telling me how tired he was :(  I helped them wipe him off and couldn't believe my eyes!  He was so tiny and floppy!  He just laid there and didn't move much because he was so tired.  NCU took him to clean him off, give him his shots and drops, do his weight and measurements, and all that jazz while the doc sewed me back up.

First time touching/seeing my sweet boy.  He was so tired and floppy that he just laid there.

He finally cried!

7 pounds 4 ounces!

21 inches long!

Holding him for the first time was magical.  I can't explain it.  Watching Scott hold him for the first time was the same.  He was here, he was perfect, he was ours!  ...He was really beat up and so tired... but he was perfect!

. love .

As Scott was holding him, we decided that we would officially name him Kaiser Clinton Perkes.  :)

That is the smile of one proud daddy :)

I was able to do skin to skin with him, and feed him.  He did wonderfully.  He was the most perfect, healthy baby.  We were all three so tired from the 20.5 hours of labor, lack of sleep, and stressful labor. But I know we've never been happier!

He looks quite beat up :(

Skin to skin

I can't even explain the feelings that I have towards our little boy and towards Scott.  The experience was so spiritual and life-changing.  I feel so much closer to Scott now for being able to birth our baby together.  Even though it was so hard, it was more than worth it and we wouldn't change a thing.

Our first family picture!