Well, Annie is 2 weeks old today, so I figure I need to get going on documenting! Below is her birth story. It is long and probably monotonous to most, so feel free to just skip on down to the pictures! I just want to write everything out while it is somewhat fresh on my mind!
At my 39 week appointment on 5/15, I was measuring right and
the baby’s heartbeat sounded good. Dr. Light said I was about 3 cm, 50%
effaced, and -3 station. He seemed to think I was very ready and that I would
not last until the following week’s appointment. I was surprised that he asked
if I wanted to be induced on Monday (5/19) if I did not go into on my own
before. He then told me that he would not be in town the end of the week or
over the weekend, so I think that is why he was offering that. I did not want
to be induced, especially prior to my actual due date, so I declined even
though I was sad at the thought of him not being the actual one to deliver. It
wasn’t worth induction over. I would wait it out.
Well, him saying he thought I would go into labor within the
week was kind of a reality check! My to do list was looming, and I began to get
antsy over all the things we were not prepared for if baby girl decided to come
within the week. I continued to teach every day like normal, and we did what we
could at home to knock out our list. I honestly felt very good the whole end of
this pregnancy. Besides minor complaints like heartburn and slight swelling and
just generally feeling big, I remained active and felt good until the end.
I made it to my 40 week
appointment (5/22) which I NEVER thought would happen! Since I was a couple
days early with Henry, I thought I’d at least be that with this pregnancy. Baby
girl just proved us all wrong! My appointment was with Dr. Takacs whom I had
seen once before, and it went well yet again. She said I was a good 3-4 cm
dilated and 70% effaced. She said I was the perfect candidate for induction and
that it wouldn’t take much Pitocin at all to get me going. Her exact words
were, “You’re so !” She didn’t push for me to schedule an induction, but made
it very clear that she thought it would go very smoothly for me if I did. She
said, “Your baby is RIGHT there!”…I again asked to wait to think about
induction until the following week when I would be actually past due. We
scheduled a 41 week appointment for the following Thursday, and she said at
that point Dr. Light would probably schedule an induction for the following
week (ie-the week of Memorial Day) if I had not gone on my own prior to this.
I had been getting inquiries from
family and friends for a while about my progress, but I just didn’t have
anything to report!! I just kept responding, “No action yet!”, and I wasn’t
lying! I did not have a contraction until I actually went into labor. Friday
5/23 was my last day at school, and it did really feel good to be able to wrap
the year up with my class and not have to hand it off to someone else. On
Saturday, my due date, we went to the Ardmore flea market in the morning (HOT
day!!) and used Henry’s baby pool that afternoon. We enjoyed being outside and
being together. Sunday we worked in the morning to clean out some cabinets (another
task on my to do list!) and then went to the late service at church. We had
naps, and Steven worked in the yard while we played. After dinner Steven
finished yard work, and Henry and I went on a big walk around the neighborhood.
I was hoping it would get something started, and it turns out that it did!
We went to bed at about 10:00. At
about 10:45 I thought I might have felt a contraction. About 5 minutes later I
had another one. This continued for a few contractions before I woke Steven up.
I just told him I thought I might be having contractions and wanted to know
what we should do as far as calling someone to be with Henry. I knew that there
was no way I could “rest” during this stage of labor without a plan in place
for him. The contractions were pretty strong at this point and consistently
anywhere from 4-7 mins apart. We decided we’d go ahead and call Steven’s mom, Diana,
and have her come stay the night. We warned her that we might end up being at
home all day the following day (this is what happened with Henry, so I was
assuming some similar timeline would be the case this time). This was about
11:30 pm and she lives 2 hrs away. I continued to lay in bed and time
contractions while Steven got up and packed his bag along with any last minute
items and loaded the car just in case. He folded some laundry and got the guest
bed ready for his mom.
My contractions continued to be
pretty strong, and I began to have a little bit of an upset stomach, too. The
contractions were in both my lower back and abdomen. They were stronger than
regular menstrual cramps right off the bat. There was not nearly the buildup to
this that I had with my first labor. I knew I wanted to try to shower to see if
that would help me relax and get through the contractions more easily, and also
to get clean at my house before heading to the hospital if that were to happen.
At about 1:30 am I decided to get up for the first time. As soon as I stood up,
my contractions intensified and became closer together. While I showered I
timed them at about 2 minutes apart. I was having to lean on the shower wall
and breathe through them as best I could. While in there I started to realize
that this was serious labor. It was just so different with Henry that I didn’t
think it would be THIS fast. I was taken aback. I got out and asked Steven for
his mom’s status. I told him I thought we needed to go as soon as she got
there. I had to lean on our bed to get through the contractions while getting
ready!
Diana pulled in just a few
minutes before 2 am. I was wanting to get to the car asap to see if sitting
would help, so I basically stepped into Henry’s room for just a second and said
my little goodbye, then passed Diana on the stairs. She was coming up and I was
going down! I tried to get comfortable in the car, but it just wasn’t
happening. I had contractions all the way to the hospital. Steven and I tried
to talk, but I was having trouble even communicating. I had wanted to have a
natural delivery with this baby like I did with Henry, but this was the first
time that it crossed my mind that I might not have it in me like I did before.
At this point with Henry, I was still 6 hours away from having him! Six more
hours of this kind of contraction pain was not sounding the least bit
appealing.
We pulled into Huntsville
Hospital Women and Children’s at exactly 2:30 am. We parked and I walked to the
doors with Steven, having to stop periodically to get through a contraction and
also to use the restroom before getting on the elevator! We had pre-registered
but still had to fill out some stuff and wait a few minutes. Steven did all he
could for me, because I was just focused on getting through the contractions which
were still strong and frequent.
Finally a nurse came and got us.
Her name was Quita. She got us into a room and began asking that ridiculous
battery of questions. I was able to manage talking and contracting simultaneously
at this point, but I could not get comfortable on the bed and had to stop
frequently to breathe and then answer. I got hooked up on the monitor and
everything looked good. A nurse came in to give me a saline lock (so I could
walk around without being hooked up to anything). She tried a vein on my right
arm even though I showed her the spot on my left where nurses have success.
Sigh. Oh well. She had to move over to the left arm to get my vein after trying
once on my right. My feet were cold and of course I forgot to pack socks of my
own, so Steven dug through his stuff and put a pair of thread bare white Gold
Toe ones of his on me!:) There was also a clipboard of paperwork for me to fill
out and initial which was ridiculous. I basically could not do it, because I
was so uncomfortable. Steven took it from me and filled everything out and then
just handed it to me to sign. I wanted to throw it back in their faces.
Quita finally checked me at I was
at 6.5 cm. I was honestly thinking I would be more that this point, but was
just glad to know I was in true labor, and they would not be sending me home or
anything! I continued to “flail” on the bed (for lack of a better explanation).
I could not get in a good position to get through a contraction and get ready
for another one. I felt like they were just one right on top of the other with
no rest in between. I didn’t have this with Henry until the very end. Steven
wanted to help, but it was just so different than before that I didn’t know
what to tell him! At this point I was feeling desperate and kind of out of
control. I was sweating and tearing up with each contraction. I asked Quita
when I needed to decide about an epidural, because I didn’t think I could get
through this if it was going to continue with this intensity for a long time.
She said there was no cut off point on when I could get an epidural, but she
suggested she check me again, because I might be in transition which would
explain the intensity of what was going on. I appreciated her clarity of mind
at this point! She said she didn’t want me to abandon my plans if I was
transitioning to the second stage of labor. She checked and I was between a 7
and 8, so yes, I was at the beginning of transition. Ok, I thought. I will do
my best to hang on. I wanted to get up out of that stupid bed, so Steven asked
for a birthing ball for me. I thought I wanted to try to walk and use it, too,
because I had done that with Henry to get comfortable. I also wanted to go to
the restroom first.
I went by myself and used the
restroom. Steven was right outside the door and my contractions continued to be
very strong while sitting there, and I felt like I needed to go again (sorry
for the details). I pushed and my water broke! It really did feel like a
balloon popped and a gush of water came out. It scared me! Not only because I
knew it meant that the baby would be here soon but also because I knew in order
for that to happen there would be more pain first! I said, “My water broke!”
and Steven told the nurse. I heard her say, “Okay, she needs to get back to the
bed! We don’t want to have a baby in the toilet!” He rushed in and got me up
and walked me to the bed.
I felt the immediate need to
push. It was an intense feeling, and I had never felt it before. I had no
feeling like that with Henry. The nurses had called Dr. Acuff, who was on call
for my doctor, but at soon as they heard me say I wanted to push they messaged
her to high tail it in there. They also told me not to push yet, just try to
breathe through the contractions, etc. I said there was no way and that I had
to push. I certainly didn’t care if she was there or not! I knew someone would
catch the baby! She ran into the room and started looking for the right size
gloves and finally got over to me. I pushed immediately, and then breathed. At
this point I tried to tell the doctor that I had torn badly with my first
delivery, and I really wanted to avoid that if I could (talking to her as best
I could with shaky voice, etc). She did her best to help with that during the
second push, and with that push the baby’s head was out. They had me stop and
suctioned her out, then I pushed again and she was out. Annie Katherine Hough
was born at 4:00 am on May 26, 2014!!
Immediately after her being born, I was so relieved! The intensity of the end of labor made Annie actually being here such a relief! I remember even saying it aloud and the nurses and doctor laughing. "I'm so glad that's over! It's such a relief! I feel so much better!" The nurse, Steven, and I talked about how fast it all happened and she noted that the had my paperwork done at 3:11 am and she was born at 4:00. We had pulled into the parking lot just an hour and a half before Annie was born! I think if I were to have a third baby, I would run to the hospital after my first contraction! My tearing was internal with
Henry and external with Annie. This has proven to be a HUGE difference! While I
still tore this time, my recovery has been so much easier. I have been very
active right away and my pain has been minimal and easily managed with Ibuprophen.
I have certainly learned that not all tearing is created equal, folks! Anyway,
while Dr. Acuff was stitching me up, Steven and I got to check our Annie all
out. She looked so different from Henry to me. Her nose especially at first-I
kept wondering where that nose came from! Her hair was plentiful and dark like
Henry’s, but she has some blonde undertones that he did not. We were also
surprised by her size! I kind of assumed our girl would be smaller than Henry
was at 7 pounds 12 ounces, so Annie’s 8 pounds 7 ounces was kind of a shocker!
We got a kick out of her “chunky” appearance. She definitely had a layer on her
that Henry did not. She also immediately had the need to suck. She had her
fingers in her mouth and was sucking right away, and while Steven held her she
was craning her neck all around with open mouth looking to nurse! She has
proven to be a great eater with a serious latch. The girl likes to eat and she
is not kidding around! After a few hours, and especially after a few days, we
started seeing much more similarities between brother and sister, though. I think
they will certainly look related anyway. I got to hold her and feed her, too.
While I was holding her she was looking forward, but when I started talking to
her she turned right to me, made eye contact, and just looked and looked. So
sweet! Then we watched her get a bath in
the L&D room. She was quiet and calm for this. We had to wait there for an
hour, so Steven called all the family and gave the news of our sweet Annie’s
arrival.
There’s one more interesting bit
of info related to Annie’s birth. Dr. Acuff was also expecting, and after my
delivery I talked to her all about it. We have a mutual friend who had filled
me in on Dr. Acuff’s situation of having to deliver early because the baby wasn’t
growing on his own. She told us she was hoping to get to mid-week before
delivering. The next morning the birth certificate lady came in and was asking
me questions. When she saw that Dr. Acuff had delivered Annie, she was
surprised and said that Acuff had also delivered yesterday! Evidently she had
delivered a baby in the middle of the night prior to Annie, then Annie at 4:00
am, then had an appointment herself mid-morning where they discovered she had preeclampsia,
and decided to induce that very day! Not many can say that they share a
delivery date with their obstetrician!
 |
