Taylee's Birth Story

My Doctors and Midwives (since I was now working with both instead of just midwives) felt it was best if I induced Taylee at 39 weeks. They did not want me going to 40, or even longer, due to the ever increasing risk of blood clots and the problems I had been having. Jared and I were hesitant to "evict" her early, and a lot of that had to do with Paige going into the NICU. But we eventually decided we trusted the doctors opinion and knowledge, so we scheduled it for Monday April 16 (39 weeks and 1 day). It also proved extremely calming for me because we had a schedule and a plan for what we would do with Paige, essentially it took away all the "what ifs".

My Mom flew in Sunday night and Paige was overjoyed! She loved having Mimi to play with! That night we went to bed extremely late. First, I had to pack the hospital bag I was putting off. Second, we were too anxious/nervous/excited/apprehensive/etc to sleep. I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 7:00am, meaning we had to leave by 6:30 so we wouldn't be late (if we were late it would be canceled). I woke up at 5:30 so I could shower and make sure everything was in order, but that left me with less than 4 hours of sleep.

We got to the hospital at 7 and they started the induction process. I had to change into the hospital gown, get and IV put in, and answer a bajillion and a half questions regarding my medical history and this pregnancy. After all the initial work was done they started me on Pitocin at 7:50am. I was 1cm dialated and 50-60% effaced. Then the waiting began. Just that beginning was so different than Paige's birth. It was quite a weird feeling to walk into the hospital not feeling any pain or discomfort, just joking and laughing with Jared. I did decide I wasnt going to have this baby once I saw all the things they had to stick in me, but by that time its about 9 months too late. haha

The nurse came in every 30 mins to up my pitocin dosage. At 9:35am (80% 2cm) I was not feeling anything but having regular contractions 2-3 mins apart. They decided to break my water then. I was allowed to get an epidural as soon as I could feel anything, but I wanted to wait until the pain was unbearable. I was going off the notion the doctor I had with Paige gave me. With her he said don't come to the hospital until you can not walk and talk thru your contractions, and I decided thats when I was going to get the epidural with Taylee. The main reason for that was that I am scared to death of the epidural, The needles, the pain, everything. I figured if I waited until I was in so much pain with contractions I would not register the pain from the epidural.

Around 12:30 was when I got my epidural, and boy was I wrong. This anesthesiologist (or nurse anesthetist)  timed it so they did the epidural between contractions, and it hurt SO BAD!!! I was 3cm and 90% with baby very low. A couple minutes after they finished the epidural I felt much better and could finally relax, but I was STARVING! This was the longest I have gone without eating for 9 months, and my body was letting me know it. But I was not allowed to eat anything, in case they had to do emergency surgery (apparently hospital policy for all deliveries). So I was stuck with my popsicles and the nurses gave Jared a big sandwich. That was his favorite time in this whole process. I'm sitting on the bed, feeling fine, and he is sitting next to me eating a sandwich. It was like his dream labor. haha

At 1:30 they check me again and I am 100% and 4cm. I am not progressing especially fast but my midwife wanted them to alert her when I was 5cm. She thought I would go pretty quickly after that. The nurses called and let her know I was at a 4. It was around this time that Taylees heart rate started to seriously drop with every contraction. They had me move into all different positions (I could move with both kids epidurals, I just feel a little heavier when I move) to try and see if they could find a spot Taylee liked. But nothing really worked and they put me on oxygen.

At 2:00pm they come and check me again. I am now at 5.5cm. They call my midwife and let her know and she starts coming to the hospital. (She was delivering another baby in a hospital in Provo) The nurses say they will come back in an hour and check me. Jared and I call my Mom and she comes around this time. She was watching Paige before, but then Kalyn took over so she could be at the birth.

At 2:30-2:40 ish I start feeling a whole LOT of pressure and discomfort, and I nkow this baby is ready to come out. I have my Mom go get the nurse to check me. When the nurse comes she is pretty shocked. Apparently Taylees head was right there. She called the midwife to see when she would get here. Turns out the midwife was stuck in some of the good old UT traffic, but was pretty close. The nurse literally had me cross my legs and we all had strict orders to not make me laugh, sneeze, cough, or talk loud because this baby would come.

The midwife finally got there, I pushed for maybe 5 mins and Taylee was born! She was 6 lbs 12 oz and 19 in long. She was healthy and screaming which was great! After doing a few stats and things on her I got to nurse her and cuddle! It was great! And I got to order food! I can not even express how hungry I was!

The food got there about 45mins after I had Taylee and I chowed. But when I was eating my leg fell off the bed and I could not lift it up and put it back on. This was new for me because thru the whole labor I could always move my body. And now I had absolutely no feeling or mobility in them. It didn't quite register then what was happening, I just figured my epidural was all pooling in one spot before it came out. But when my legs kept getting heavier and heavier, and the nurse came in wanting me to get up and walk around (like they normally do after the epidural wears off) the nurses discovered they forgot to turn off my epidural. So I was having a high, labor sized dose of epidural with no labor which accounted for my decreased feeling and mobility. The epidural was going for a little over an hour after I had given birth, which means I had a long while before I would be able to move on my own. But they needed to transfer me to the maternity floor (from the labor and delivery where I was), so a coule nurses actually had to lift me from one bed to another and wheel me in the bed down to my maternity room.

During this whole epidural epiphany the nurses kept taking Taylees vitals, and her temperature was not going up to where they wanted it. So they took her and put her under a warmer and gave her a bath and such. Jared went with her and my Mom stayed with me. Taylee was brought to me in my maternity room about 45 mins after I was wheeled in.

When I was wheeled into my room (about 5:45) it was pretty relaxed from there. There was a constant flow of food from the cafeteria (I had this insatiable hunger, so I kept eating), and lots of cuddles with Taylee. It was not until 10:00pm (ish) that I could get out of my bed and walk. My Mom stayed the night with me in the hospital while Jared went home to be with Paige and get a good nights rest. Taylee was not sleeping well. She wanted to eat every 45 mins, and would eat for 20 mins. Finally at 1:45am I asked the nurse to bring me a bottle for her, figuring she was not getting enough from me. I was so right. She chugged the bottle and fell asleep at 2:10am, and slept about 3 hours.

Jared brought Paige to meet Taylee the next day and she just LOVED her! PAige could not get enough of her new baby! But that is a post for another day. =>