Jane's due date was Wednesday, September 11th. I went in for my 38 week appointment on August 27th. Dr. Orr wanted to check to see if I was dilated at all. I was at a 3! This was huge because with all my other babies, I wasn't at anything until I went into labor.
Dr. Orr asked if I wanted to be induced at 39 weeks. I told her I would have to think about and talk to Jeremy. I didn't want her to check me at all but she said she needed to see if I was effaced or dilated at all to see how much they would need to do to induce me. When I was at a 3, she was happy about that. I was too! It meant that all of those contractions I was having for a week now, they were working! There was one night I screen shot my baby center app and sent it to my sisters because I had been having regular contractions for an hour and then they stopped.
I called Jeremy when I got to the car after my appointment. He said lets do it! It would have been his dad's and grandpa's birthday, September 4th. I started crying on the phone. Jeremy could tell and asked if I was okay. I was worried what people would say about me being induced. But in my mind I was so done being pregnant. I felt like I had suffered long enough and here is my chance. I would have killed to be induced with Ryan. But with a previous c-section for Emma, being induced was not at the top of our list because all the risks go up with trying for a vbac.
After Jeremy and I decided to go ahead and be induced September 4th, then the stress hit me. I had set a date for baby to come. I now needed to finish up the last few things before she came. Emma was starting preschool, we had to get her backpack and first day of school clothes ready. Emma was also starting dance. I had to purchase tap shoes, ballet shoes, and a leotard for her. We had to find someone to be here that day when we did go to be induced. My mom was planning on coming the 10th and Jeremy's mom was coming the last week of his paternity leave, October 15. My mom couldn't change plans and come, so we asked Heidi if she could change her flight. In a few hours she called back and had everything squared away and she could be here September 3rd by 12:30 p.m.
Jeremy noticed a change in my attitude after that 38 week appointment. He kept saying how happy I was. I told him "The end is in sight! We are having this baby earlier than I thought and that makes me so happy."
Jeremy and I spent our last date on August 31st going to get our nails done. He has had four pedicures in his life. One before each birth of our babies. We also went out for a last meal as a family of five on Monday night, September 2nd. We went to Red Robin for my birthday burger and the kids ordered mac n cheese and ate a ton of french fries. Little did we know that would be our last meal together as a family of five. After dinner, we went to the playground and they rode their bikes around. Our neighbor, jokingly said, "Well you could have her tomorrow, it's my birthday!" I said, Yeah, right. I am getting induced on Wednesday."
My contractions had been super hard those last few nights. I would time them but after an hour they would stop. But on Monday night I woke up after an hour of sleep and kept saying 'ouch that hurt, ouch that hurt' because they killed! The contractions were starting to go to my back too, which means real labor for me.
I hopped in the shower finally at 2:00 after two hours of contractions that got down to four minutes apart and were lasting longer than a minute. I kept track on the baby center app, and it keeps track of how far apart and how long they last.
Jeremy heard the shower and came in "What's going on?" I said "I think it's baby time." He quickly called our sweet neighbor, Deb Hicks, to come down and be with our other kids. She got here in less than 10 minutes. Jeremy was still in the shower and I heard her come in the house. I didn't want to go talk to her because I was having contractions and I knew I was going to lose it. After Jeremy got out of the shower I grabbed my face wash, razors and scrubby from the shower and was all ready to go. We walked out to the living room and Deb was waiting. She asked, "Okay, what time do the girls need to be in school?" I lost it. I started bawling. I said "I walk Carly over at 8:35 the first bell rings at 8:40. And Emma." Jeremy had to finish because I couldn't talk I was just crying. He gave me a hug and told Deb this was Emma's first day of preschool and we really wanted to be there for her. She reassured me she would take tons of pictures and send them to us and everything would be okay. (Seriously, we have the BEST neighbors.)
We got in the car, still having hard contractions and still crying. I was going through my mind things I still had to do! She wasn't suppose to come on her own. We were being induced the next day on (Grandpa Jim's birthday.) I was going to have my hair and make up all ready because I wasn't going to be in labor going to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital I asked Jeremy to do the phone call when you get to the doors and they'll open it for you. He said, "We're here to have a baby!" They let us in and gave us room 6. I changed into my gown and they put monitors on my belly to track baby during contractions. They put an iv in my hand. Poking me twice. It killed.
My nurse who helped me first was Lisa. We had her after I had my c-section with Emma and she worked nights and was super super nice. She checked me and I was at a stretchy 4. She called Dr. Bourgeous, who was on call and would be there in 15 minutes. He didn't give any instructions so we waited.
Dr. Bourgeous got to the hospital and came in to talk to us. He was worried about baby's heart rate not fluctuating so they pumped me full of fluid through my iv and had me move from side to side a few times. Baby liked my right side. They wanted baby to react to the contractions. But her heart rate was staying pretty much the same. Jeremy told me I should have swigged some water before coming in because drinking water always made her move. But after starting labor and being in the hospital, they wouldn't let me have anything just in case of an emergency c-section.
I got my epidural at 4:20a.m. Dr. Teggatz was amazing. He and Jeremy were chatting about Colorado and how it is nice to visit and you can take the train out there. While getting my epidural I had to crouch over my belly with bad posture and rested my head on Jeremy's shoulder. It was actually really nice to have him right there because I have to be still while having contractions. I was just breathing and telling my nurse when I would have a contraction because the monitor wasn't picking them up for some reason. It took about twenty minutes for him to get everything inserted, tape on and me laying back down. Then another little bit for the epidural to start working. He came in with a latex glove full of ice to check the epidural. I couldn't feel it. I also got a catheter put in, so nice! I didn't have to get up and pee every five minutes.
A little bit of time went by and my right side was feeling contractions while my left side was completely numb. I let my nurse know and she called in the anesthesiologist who was actually on call, Dr. Moe. He was super nice, has four kids of his own and told me he wants me to be as comfortable as possible. Just what I wanted. He said I had two options, either redo the epidural, or put more drugs in hoping some of it will go to my right side. We chose more drugs and it worked. I hadn't felt that relaxed and good for nine months! He came in a few times to check on me and I would just give him a thumbs up I felt so good.
Another part of labor was baby. Her heart rate wasn't fluctuating how Dr. Bourgeous wanted it to be. She was staying pretty chill and they don't want her chill especially when contractions were consistent and hard. They ended up putting the monitor on her head which picked up her heart rate just fine. During a few chats with Dr. Bourgeous, he mentioned c-section a few times which I did not want. But my contractions weren't getting closer together and I wasn't progressing past a seven. I mentioned that to my nurse Casey and she said they just have to tell everything that is possible so I'm aware what is going on and if a c-section was a possibility the doctor should tell me.
Dr. Bourgeous broke my water at 4:45a.m. and nothing came out! They thought maybe I had two sacs but it was just her head blocking all the fluid because when she came out, so did all the fluid.
At 7:00a.m. the nurses switched shifts and so did the doctors. My new nurse Casey had me lay almost completely on my belly to help baby come down. My cervix was puffy so they gave me Benadryl to help. It did except for the top of the cervix at twelve o'clock. After an hour, Casey had the bed be dropped so I was a lot lower with my belly and legs. I fell asleep. Twenty minutes later she came in and checked me and said "oh I see baby!" Casey called Dr. Alons in quickly. Mind you, I am in and out of SLEEP this whole time. Yes, sleep. Jeremy was sending out Marco Polo videos to our families to keep them updated and I was asleep in most of them. So I'm being waken up and told that baby is coming and it's time to push. I was so out of it. Even in the picture with her on my chest I look out of it and in shock how fast and how painless everything was.
Dr. Alons came in at 10:05a.m. started coaching me what she wanted me to do. I told Casey I didn't know if I could push because of how numb I was. She put her hand on my belly to feel a contraction. Jeremy held one leg up and Casey had the other. I put my hands under my knees and Casey said, "Okay one is coming." I pushed three big pushes during that one contraction. They all were saying "Oh I see her, look how much hair!" Then another big contraction came and I pushed and she came out. I pushed for THREE MINUTES. She was born at 10:13a.m.
Seriously, it was so easy and painless I was in shock and couldn't believe it. They put her right on my chest and she was screaming and covered in blood and white coating. They wiped her off while I was holding her. She was trying to hold her head up already. I was trying to keep her head to one side and hold onto her. She kept slipping out of my hands. I did tear a little bit so Dr. Alons sewed me up. I didn't feel a thing.
They wrapped her in a new blanket and I nursed her pretty much right away. She latched awesome and everything. Jeremy snapped a picture as the nurse was wiping her off. I look at that picture and remember exactly what was going through my mind. "I can't believe she's here! That didn't hurt a bit! Epidurals are amazing."
One scary thing was that I did bleed more than the doctor and nurse wanted. When she would push on my stomach tons came out. They gave me pitocin to make sure my blood didn't clot and they also gave me a shot in the right leg to stop the bleeding. It worked. I think it worked so well I haven't bled nearly as much as I did with my last deliveries.
The next little bit is kind of a blur for me. I was in shock how fast all of pushing and having her went. My epidural was still very much active which was nice because as I nursed my uterus would cramp. At first I didn't feel it at all, slowly I began to feel it. The nurse would come in and push on my stomach and that hurt.
After I nursed her, my nurse Casey weighed and measured her. She weighed 6lbs 13oz and 19.25 inches long. By far my smallest baby. Carly 7lbs 4oz Emma 7lbs 9oz Ryan 8lbs 8oz.
We didn't decide on a name until the next day at 9:00 a.m. when Jeremy came with the kids and surprised me before Carly went to school. She wanted to come hold her. I told Jeremy I looked at the baby and said 'what is your name?' and Jane came to my mind. He said I like that. Jane Noel? I loved it right away. Jane is a family name on my side and Noel is Heidi (Jeremy's mom) and his sister Kellie's middle name! And it has a cute flow to it.
The kids were being taken care of by our sweet neighbor Deb. Heidi flew in at 12:30 in the afternoon. We had our friend, Sara Kilgore, pick up Heidi so Jeremy went home to take Emma to her first day of preschool at 12:30. Baby came in time for Jeremy to take Emma! That was a relief for me. I was sad to miss it. He took a video as if I was walking right with them. He showed me later when he came back to the hospital and I just bawled. I was sad I missed it but so grateful Jeremy did that so I felt like I was right with her.
After school Jeremy went and picked up the girls and Ryan and came with Heidi to the hospital. They all came in their Big Sister and Big Brother shirts. So adorable. They also got blue and pink crowns from the hospital that say Big Brother and Big Sister. They got to pick out a prize from the treasure box at the nurse's station.
Having older siblings meet the new baby is such a sweet moment. She was finally here and my four kids are finally meeting!
Jeremy left at 5:00 to go and get pizza. Two of my siblings were on their way from Ohio to Idaho and just so happen to be passing through on TUESDAY. It could not have been planned better. Dana jokingly said "Or you could be induced Tuesday so we can meet her." I said no, my doctor is on call Wednesday. But it all worked out. Ammon and Dana just came to the hospital. We ate pizza, chatted, laughed, and loved on baby Jane. Jeremy and Heidi took the kids home to get them to bed while Ammon and Dana stayed. Jeremy did come back and spent some time with us. It was so fun. I am so glad they could meet Jane.
My first meal after Jane was born was mashed potatoes and beef gravy, pot roast, chocolate milk shake, lemonade. Later I ended up eating a chef salad. So yummy. I love that I could order whenever and whatever I was hungry for.
I originally planned to stay two nights in the hospital. Jeremy was home with the kids at night with Heidi. They could get them up and off to school just fine. But after staying one night, not getting much sleep, and then being told what I could and could not do (nursing wise) I was ready to go home and be in my own bed. We had pictures taken at the hospital on Thursday. Jane was 24 hours old. Her face was super puffy from fluid in her body. And so was I! They pumped me full of three bags of water during labor. The pictures are of Jane, Jeremy, and I. The girls were in school and Ryan was home with Heidi taking a nap.
As for nursing, I always have to pump a few days to give myself a break because it kills, to give Jeremy or the older kids a chance to feed her. And most importantly, I have inverted nipples (tmi) and so it's hard for baby to suck when they aren't sticking out. After a few days of pumping, with my other THREE children, it fixed the problem. Well, my nurse at the time of me wanting to pump did not like that idea. She gave me a nipple shield. Worst idea ever. (At least for me, it did not help). It was suppose to help pop my nipple out and keep it from hurting so much when Jane would nurse. Well it did help with the pain. But it did not help with getting Jane anything. I felt like if she was awake she was screaming for the first 48 hours of her life. The rude nurse that I had on Thursday morning kept calling Jane names and saying how fussy she was and how she couldn't calm herself down. It was because of that silly nipple shield and Jane was starving. Also, after 24 hours, babies have tests done that take an hour. So I got Jane fed before my nurse said she would be there. She ended up being an hour later than she said so of course Jane was screaming when they brought her back to me. She was starving. And when she finally did come to get Jane for the hearing test, I was suppose to fill out paper work and she looked at it and said she can't take Jane until I have it done. That would have been nice to know!
Also, I asked the rude nurse if I could do my sign-out papers before my husband and other three kids came to take us home. She never brought them to me and had tons of questions she asked as it was crazy in the room. I was pretty much done and upset.
Coming home was so chaotic. Kids crying. I was so exhausted. Why do my babies have to keep me up all night to labor and then be born in the morning? I feel like I am already losing even before they are born. I am just completely exhausted. But through all the tears, from my kids and me, and exhaustion, we have a beautiful baby girl. I really can't imagine life before her. She fits perfectly into our little family and we love her so much. It is a constant battle between Jeremy and Carly as to who gets to hold her. While I am the constant cow just feeding her. Ryan has asked more and more to hold her. And Emma has held her quite a few times. But she has taken an even more important job seriously, by keeping Ryan occupied for me.
Also, having older kids comes lots of questions. How did the baby get inside of mommy? How did the baby get out of mommy? Where does the milk come from? Does mommy need to drink more milk to have more milk for Jane? Can I drink that milk too? I drank from mom when I was a baby too?
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