On Thursday, July 11, 2019 we welcomed Kathryn into our family! The whole pregnancy she measured a week or so ahead, so I was hoping she would come in June, but instead I was induced on her due date. On Wednesday, June 26th, I came down with a stomach virus and got super dehydrated so we ended up in labor and delivery to get IV fluids and Zofran. I was still taking Diclegis for morning sickness, but it wasn't touching the virus. I was also having contractions every 4-5 minutes, but they weren't intense so I didn't think much of it. However, because of my history of fast deliveries they didn't want to send me home if I was 4 cm or more, but I was only 2 cm dilated so they felt comfortable sending me home. I was both disappointed and relieved. I wanted her born in June, but I also didn't want to go through labor and delivery when I was that sick and fatigued. Nate came home from work when I told him I was sick on Wednesday and he stayed home the rest of the week to help me recover.
The next week was the week of the 4th of July. There were a lot of things going on that week (Nate's mom and sister's birthday, Independence Day, my sister's birthday) so I didn't really want her born that week, but I was to a point where I didn't care anymore. However, on Wednesday, July 3rd, Jared came down with the same virus I had and could not keep anything in him for 2 days. Nate again stayed home from work Wednesday-Friday. On the evening of July 4th, we thought he was better, just fatigued, but then everything started coming out both ends and he was complaining of severe pain around his belly button. After a call to the doctor, they wanted him to go to the ER to get fluids and make sure he didn't have appendicitis. Thankfully, it was just a virus so they gave him fluids and they sent him home with a prescription for Zofran. He still felt sick for a few days and would still throw up without the medicine, but he did get better by the next week. I was again disappointed and relieved that she wasn’t born that week either.
The second week of July Jared was better, I was better, and I was more than ready to have the baby. On Monday, July 8th I woke up in the middle of the night with severe pain in my kidney area. I didn't know what was going on, but I managed to change positions and go back to sleep, hoping it would be gone when I woke up in the morning, but it wasn't. I called the midwife and she said it was likely muscular and not kidneys since changing positions helped the pain. Nate came home from work again and said he wasn’t going to go back for 2 weeks. I already had a chiropractor appointment scheduled for that afternoon since I had been going weekly since 32 weeks for sciatica. The chiropractor said my spine was twisting and where the ribs connected to my spine weren't aligned correctly. What the heck?? I was so done being pregnant. I had a midwife appointment the next day (Tuesday) and I told her that I was ready to be induced ASAP. The next day (Wednesday) was already full at the hospital, but they got me in for Thursday, July 11. Catie was the midwife on call that day, and while I liked all the midwives at the clinic, I was hoping she would be the one to deliver my baby so waiting an extra day was fine. At my appointment I was dilated 3 cm (almost 4 cm) and she tried stripping my membranes because I really wanted to go into labor on my own and not be induced, but I had reached my limit and just needed the baby out.
On Thursday, July 11, we didn’t sleep well because of the anticipation of having a baby, and around 5:30 am Nicole woke up with the runs. I was concerned about her being sick, but I was having the baby that day even if she was sick. I was done. Around 6:00 I threw up (morning sickness), and then Nicole threw up at 6:55 so we spent our remaining time getting sick kid stuff ready for Aunt Sue who was arriving at 7:00. We got to labor and delivery at 7:30 and got called back shortly afterwards. After a gazillion questions and another cervical check (I was 5 cm at this point and baby K was at a -1 station, and my mucus plug was falling out), Catie decided to break my water and see what would happen. Vanessa, a student midwife, was helping her. It was 9:00 at this point. I asked for a breast pump to see if I could get some contractions going without Pitocin, because I really wanted an unmedicated birth. I wanted my body to do its thing without interventions, but my biggest priority of course was a healthy baby and to not be pregnant anymore.
I pumped for 15 minutes and then took a break. I was disappointed because nothing happened. The nurses came back and were getting stuff ready and asking more questions so I wasn’t able to pump again for about 25 minutes. Within a couple minutes of pumping the second time I had to stop because contractions started and I needed to move to get comfortable. I think it was about 10:30 at this point. I labored with a birthing ball for a little bit and then the nurse suggested that I get in the tub so we got that ready and I got in. I was in the tub a while and things started getting intense and slowly people started coming into the bathroom. At one point, Catie asked me if I was feeling the need to push, and I said yes. In between contractions I got out of the tub and made my way to the bed. They had thrown a towel over me since I wasn’t wearing any clothes.
I crawled on the bed and leaned over an exercise ball and then started pushing, on my hands and knees, no clothes on. I have no idea what time it was by this point or how long I pushed, but all I know is I could tell that this baby was big! At first, I was pushing gently, trying to ease her out, but once they said they could see the head I bore down and had her out within a few more pushes, and it hurt like crazy! I was screaming at the top of my lungs! She was born at 12:30 pm. When she was out, everyone was commenting on how big she was, saying she looked 9 pounds. I took a moment and suddenly realized that I had just had a completely natural birth, with only intermittent fetal heart rate monitoring and no IV. I had no cords/tubes/monitors/etc. attached to me at all during labor. I was in shock that I actually did that. I rolled to my back and they put her on my stomach while they were waiting for the placenta to be delivered. I tore pretty good, so after the placenta came out, they began the uncomfortable process of stitching me up. They tried to numb the area, but it didn’t work very well, and with no epidural, I felt everything.
Meanwhile, Kathryn peed on me and I was concerned I was going to jostle her off of me and onto the floor since I was jumping with every needle stab so I asked Nate if he wanted to hold her. He took her and they did the evaluations they needed and weighed her. They said the weight in grams (4148) and the student midwife exclaimed, “41!” I didn’t know what that meant, but they then said that was 9 pounds, 2 ounces and the 91st percentile! Since she was over the 90th percentile, she was considered large for gestational age and had to have her blood sugar monitored for the first 12 hours. She was borderline low when she was born, but thankfully she never had any additional issues with it. Once I was stitched up and got her back, she immediately started nursing and needed no help getting latched. She knew exactly what to do. I ordered lunch and was hoping that food would taste good again, but it didn’t. Nine months of morning sickness and food still made me gag even after delivery.
Once I moved to the recovery room, I was still in shock for a while. Everything seemed surreal. Finally, by about 5:00 that afternoon, I was starting to come back to reality and was overjoyed to have my baby Kathryn Ruth in my arms and not in my belly anymore! Nate went home and got the older kids. Thankfully Nicole only threw up once and was fine after that so she was able to meet her new baby sister that night. While the kids were at the hospital, Kathryn got her first bath and the kids got to watch. I wanted to go home the next day, so the next morning was busy with all the stuff that needed to happen before we could be discharged, and we left the hospital around 2pm.
The next week was the week of the 4th of July. There were a lot of things going on that week (Nate's mom and sister's birthday, Independence Day, my sister's birthday) so I didn't really want her born that week, but I was to a point where I didn't care anymore. However, on Wednesday, July 3rd, Jared came down with the same virus I had and could not keep anything in him for 2 days. Nate again stayed home from work Wednesday-Friday. On the evening of July 4th, we thought he was better, just fatigued, but then everything started coming out both ends and he was complaining of severe pain around his belly button. After a call to the doctor, they wanted him to go to the ER to get fluids and make sure he didn't have appendicitis. Thankfully, it was just a virus so they gave him fluids and they sent him home with a prescription for Zofran. He still felt sick for a few days and would still throw up without the medicine, but he did get better by the next week. I was again disappointed and relieved that she wasn’t born that week either.
The second week of July Jared was better, I was better, and I was more than ready to have the baby. On Monday, July 8th I woke up in the middle of the night with severe pain in my kidney area. I didn't know what was going on, but I managed to change positions and go back to sleep, hoping it would be gone when I woke up in the morning, but it wasn't. I called the midwife and she said it was likely muscular and not kidneys since changing positions helped the pain. Nate came home from work again and said he wasn’t going to go back for 2 weeks. I already had a chiropractor appointment scheduled for that afternoon since I had been going weekly since 32 weeks for sciatica. The chiropractor said my spine was twisting and where the ribs connected to my spine weren't aligned correctly. What the heck?? I was so done being pregnant. I had a midwife appointment the next day (Tuesday) and I told her that I was ready to be induced ASAP. The next day (Wednesday) was already full at the hospital, but they got me in for Thursday, July 11. Catie was the midwife on call that day, and while I liked all the midwives at the clinic, I was hoping she would be the one to deliver my baby so waiting an extra day was fine. At my appointment I was dilated 3 cm (almost 4 cm) and she tried stripping my membranes because I really wanted to go into labor on my own and not be induced, but I had reached my limit and just needed the baby out.
On Thursday, July 11, we didn’t sleep well because of the anticipation of having a baby, and around 5:30 am Nicole woke up with the runs. I was concerned about her being sick, but I was having the baby that day even if she was sick. I was done. Around 6:00 I threw up (morning sickness), and then Nicole threw up at 6:55 so we spent our remaining time getting sick kid stuff ready for Aunt Sue who was arriving at 7:00. We got to labor and delivery at 7:30 and got called back shortly afterwards. After a gazillion questions and another cervical check (I was 5 cm at this point and baby K was at a -1 station, and my mucus plug was falling out), Catie decided to break my water and see what would happen. Vanessa, a student midwife, was helping her. It was 9:00 at this point. I asked for a breast pump to see if I could get some contractions going without Pitocin, because I really wanted an unmedicated birth. I wanted my body to do its thing without interventions, but my biggest priority of course was a healthy baby and to not be pregnant anymore.
I pumped for 15 minutes and then took a break. I was disappointed because nothing happened. The nurses came back and were getting stuff ready and asking more questions so I wasn’t able to pump again for about 25 minutes. Within a couple minutes of pumping the second time I had to stop because contractions started and I needed to move to get comfortable. I think it was about 10:30 at this point. I labored with a birthing ball for a little bit and then the nurse suggested that I get in the tub so we got that ready and I got in. I was in the tub a while and things started getting intense and slowly people started coming into the bathroom. At one point, Catie asked me if I was feeling the need to push, and I said yes. In between contractions I got out of the tub and made my way to the bed. They had thrown a towel over me since I wasn’t wearing any clothes.
I crawled on the bed and leaned over an exercise ball and then started pushing, on my hands and knees, no clothes on. I have no idea what time it was by this point or how long I pushed, but all I know is I could tell that this baby was big! At first, I was pushing gently, trying to ease her out, but once they said they could see the head I bore down and had her out within a few more pushes, and it hurt like crazy! I was screaming at the top of my lungs! She was born at 12:30 pm. When she was out, everyone was commenting on how big she was, saying she looked 9 pounds. I took a moment and suddenly realized that I had just had a completely natural birth, with only intermittent fetal heart rate monitoring and no IV. I had no cords/tubes/monitors/etc. attached to me at all during labor. I was in shock that I actually did that. I rolled to my back and they put her on my stomach while they were waiting for the placenta to be delivered. I tore pretty good, so after the placenta came out, they began the uncomfortable process of stitching me up. They tried to numb the area, but it didn’t work very well, and with no epidural, I felt everything.
Meanwhile, Kathryn peed on me and I was concerned I was going to jostle her off of me and onto the floor since I was jumping with every needle stab so I asked Nate if he wanted to hold her. He took her and they did the evaluations they needed and weighed her. They said the weight in grams (4148) and the student midwife exclaimed, “41!” I didn’t know what that meant, but they then said that was 9 pounds, 2 ounces and the 91st percentile! Since she was over the 90th percentile, she was considered large for gestational age and had to have her blood sugar monitored for the first 12 hours. She was borderline low when she was born, but thankfully she never had any additional issues with it. Once I was stitched up and got her back, she immediately started nursing and needed no help getting latched. She knew exactly what to do. I ordered lunch and was hoping that food would taste good again, but it didn’t. Nine months of morning sickness and food still made me gag even after delivery.
Once I moved to the recovery room, I was still in shock for a while. Everything seemed surreal. Finally, by about 5:00 that afternoon, I was starting to come back to reality and was overjoyed to have my baby Kathryn Ruth in my arms and not in my belly anymore! Nate went home and got the older kids. Thankfully Nicole only threw up once and was fine after that so she was able to meet her new baby sister that night. While the kids were at the hospital, Kathryn got her first bath and the kids got to watch. I wanted to go home the next day, so the next morning was busy with all the stuff that needed to happen before we could be discharged, and we left the hospital around 2pm.
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