Wednesday, August 05, 2009

36 wk check-up!

All looks good...according to my doctor, Lillie Anna has "dropped" and her head is apparently so low that all he could feel was her neck when he did my belly exam of her positioning. To be honest, I don't know how he can tell what he's feeling and for all I know, he's totally making it all up!, but he is somehow able to put his hand on my abdomen, apply some pressure and say "yep...here's her butt, here's her back, here's her feet, ect". Impressive!

He confirmed yesterday though that if I were to go in to labor at any point from here on out, they won't stop it! Wow - that's an incredible sigh of relief...to know I've carried long enough to where she's safe and ready! Now we just wait - it could be another 4 weeks, but the end is in sight now!

So, I've been strolling down blogger lane and found some old labor/delivery stories of my first two kiddo's...it was fun to read, so I figured I'd go ahead and post them. :)


Shepherd Lee
Four years ago....at this very moment, I was laying in bed next to Chad while he was on the phone with John Hicks talkin' about HU football....when all of a sudden, I began to feel contractions. Chad was on the phone for an hour and I just sat there timing my contractions till he hung up. When he got off the phone, I stood up said..."alrighty...time to go to the hospital!". Sure enough, I was 4 centimeters dilated and was having regular contractions....they offered me an epidural to which I said..."no thanks - and please don't offer that again!". 18.5 hours in to my labor....I was dilated to 7 centimeters and hadn't eaten in about 21 hours....I was physically and emotionally exhausted and in so much pain that I wanted to die! I had done sooooo good up till that point...but out of no where, I hit a huge wall and emotionally could go no further! I vaguely remember begging the doctor to give me an epidural and 2 minutes later, the anestesiologist was in the room....what they didn't tell me was that the epidural would wear off and that I couldn't get another one!!! About 22 hours in to the labor, I could feel my epidural wearing off and I remember this wave of panic coming over me as I realized what was happening.....I closed my eyes and began attempting to mentally prepare myself for what the actual delivery might be like. Well ladies, for those of you who have delivered naturally, you know that there is absolutely no way that you can mentally prepare yourself for delivery! I was in labor with Shepherd for 25.5 hours....the last 30 minutes I thought my eyes were going to actually pop out of my eye sockets due to the pressure!!! lol!!! But then he was there....and Chad was telling me that he had blue eyes....and my mom was laughing because she said ALL babies have blue eyes. He had a little crooked nose and the sweetest furry skin.....my heart was captured by my little boy in a matter of seconds! I could just cry thinking of that moment! My sis-in-law went to Wendy's and got me a burger and a milkshake from Wendy's at midnight and after I ate that meal, I think I slept off and on for 24 hours!!!....they woke me up to nurse Shep but that was about it. (Little did I know that I should have really treasured that sleep in the hospital because I don't think in 4 years that I've slept as good as I did before that night!)

Rauly-girl

Three years ago today, Chad and I were driving to Memorial Hospital in Savannah,GA for a scheduled induction. We were so excited!! My mom, Chad's mom, and Dennis and Jenny had both come to be with us - both to help us with the kids, but also, to be there when Rauly entered the world.

Based on the size of my belly, the doctor was very concerned that Rauly was going to be TINY - she was measuring at about 4 pounds the week I was suppossed to deliver. Shep was 8.13, and had measured pretty close to that while in the womb....so this was a little odd to us. We were told that there would be a team ready to take her after I delivered her to make sure that she was ok - this was a little disconserting, but to be honest, we were confident she was fine! I personally believed I had not gained as much weight with this pregnancy, therefore my stomach was smaller...and I also thought she was laying in my belly in such a way that made me measure smaller as well....I carried her very low!

Completely unexpected and very coincendantally, on the way to the hospital, my water broke!! It wasn't like a huge gush, but something definitely happened...neither of us panicked, we just got even more excited that this was really happening. When we got to the hospital, we were told that there were no rooms available...there were women laboring in the hallway because there were NO rooms. I hadn't had a single contraction and knew that Shepherd's labor lasted 25 hours...I was in no way concerned. Chad and I very calmly told the nurse that my water had broken, but that I was feeling fine,...she didn't even check me, just sent me downstairs to the waiting room to wait and said it could be several hours. We wound up waiting for about 3 hours...not a single contraction....big surprise - my body progresses sooooo slowly!

When they finally admitted me and checked me, I was dilated to 4 cm and yes, there was amniotic fluid leaking so without even checking me, they confirmed my water had broken. 16 hours later...I've got my epidural, I'm on pitocin and feeling great - only dilated to a 7. The doctor came in at this point and said she had an emergency c-section for twins in a different hospital and that based on the fact that I was moving so slowly, she was going to check me one more time and than go deliver those babies. Chad and I non-chalontly shrugged our shoulders and said "okeedokie!".

But when the doctor checked me, she realized my water hadn't actually broken (grrrr....could they have figured this out a LIL' SOONER YA' THINK?!?!?!). It had merely torn...so she broke it all the way. Within about 5 minutes, I was feeling my contractions and was enjoying feeling them...the nurse walked in and said "honey - are you crazy?!...there's no reason to feel any pain - knock yourself out with that stuff!". To which I smiled and said "ok". :) But than, out of nowhere, I told Chad - "uh...I think I need to push...like NOW!". My mom was there and knew what that meant, but Chad, remembering my last labor with Shep, didn't think there was any way I could possibly have dilated all the way. He got the nurses anyways and they grabbed the doctor right before she left to go to the other hospital - sure enough, Rauly's head was already crowning! Just 10 minutes after my water breaking, and Rauly was ready to enter the world! I pushed twice, and the most perfect little thing was laid in my arms....what an amazing experience (and SO much better than my experience with Shepherd I might add.).

3 comments:

Morgan Holt said...

Lindsey, yes, it was indeed Emmersen that had Strep B when she was born. I had tested negative but ended up being positive and she contracted it and stayed in the NICU for 10 days. Thank goodness that the doctor's caught it or she might not be with us today. With Clara, I was so terrified, that they administered 2 rounds of antibiotics before my C-section. The nurse told me that they NEVER give antibiotics before a c-section but since I had a rare situation, they were going to take every precaution. I'm so excited for you to experience two little girls. Get ready for lots of tea parties and many dress up days! :)

Lane said...

Wow! I love reading labor stories! Thanks for sharing! This gives me hope because I had a horrible labor with Sterling and have been dreading this one! But maybe the second time around is going to be better like yours...it gives me hope anyway! :)

Michael and Hannah said...

Loved reading your delivery stories... what is it about women and delivery stories?? We love 'em!! I can't believe they didn't check you after you said your water had broken. My doctor wouldn't let me out of bed to go to the bathroom after my water broke because he said it was dangerous! I'm praying you have a wonderful delivery experience with Lillie Anna!