Our baby girl, Kailyn Nicole, has finally made her appearance into the world! I had Brian take notes on her birth as we went along because I was afraid I would forget. Here's how the big day/days came along!
Monday night we went in to the hospital to get checked because I had been having contractions that were ranging from 5 to 7 minutes apart. I knew that they wouldn't admit me, but I wanted to be checked to see if I had made any progress from my zero cm and 0% effaced status that I had been at. She said she'd give me a finger tip, but I wasn't a full 1 cm yet and maybe 50% effaced. I was happy to be progressing towards SOMETHING!!
Monday night was hard for me to sleep. My contractions continued to be 5 to 10 minutes apart. I didn't get much sleep at all. The next morning I had a Non Stress Test the results came back normal. Baby was doing great. She didn't check me because I had just been checked the night before. That night (Tuesday) when Brian got home, we ate dinner and then I thought we should go back to the hospital because the contractions were more intense and were getting closer to 3 to 4 minutes apart. So he gathered up the bags while I jumped in the shower (hoping it was my last shower at home for a while!)
Got to the labor and delivery to be checked, and we had a nurse that wasn't the happiest to be there. She seemed annoyed that we were there and she said that I wouldn't be admitted unless I was 5 cm dilated or more because they were so busy!! I was thinking...well lady, I can't really check for myself if I'm 5 cm or not so that's why we're here!! My contractions were pretty consistent at 3 1/2 mins apart and I was 4 cm dilated and 60% effaced! I was so happy!!! Then the doc came in and told me that they would be admitting me because I was scheduled to come back that next morning for an induction.
At 11:25 PM that night I received my epidural. The anesthesiologist was coming in from Manhattan that night and if I wanted to have one, I needed to do so right then before he left. Otherwise I would have to wait until 7 or 8 that next morning when the military doc arrived to work. I opted for the epidural because I hadn't had any sleep in over 48 hours and the contractions were really intense so I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep that night either! An hour later I was checked and I was at 6 cm and 90% effaced. The doc decided to break my water.
An hour later I was checked and I was still at 6 cm so they started my pitocin. At 1:40 AM they upped my pitocin a little bit and I got to 7 cm and 100%. They backed off the pitocin at 3:05, I was 8-9 cm. At 4:50 AM I was 10 cm and ready to go! The epidural was wearing off, which was what I wanted. I was able to have full control of my lower body, I was even able to turn around on the bed and get on my hands and knees to try to get her out! I pushed until 7:00, making very little progress. The nurse also noticed at this time that Kailyn had a bowel movement and there was meconium surrounding her. I tried to rest for an hour, but the pain was unbearable. So at 8:00 AM, the new anesthesiologist came in and gave me some more medicine to help with the pain.
The doc thought that Kailyn was maybe facing the wrong direction so they had me lay in different positions to try to get her to turn around. At this point her head was really swollen so it was hard for them to tell which way she was facing. At 9:45 AM I tried pushing again, only to stop at 11:35 because again, she was not budging!! Then we waited for what felt like an eternity for the doctor to come in and evaluate me.
At 12:05 PM he showed up with another doc, 2 nurses and an intern. They were all surrounding me encouraging me to push a little more. The doc wanted to see if he could possibly assist in the delivery with a vacuum. But, I had nothing left in me and he couldn't pull her out himself. At 12:30 we decided that a c-section would be the best option. Her heart rate wasn't looking as good as it had been and she had been surrounded with the meconium for quite some time now. 45 minutes later, our gorgeous baby girl was delivered! She didn't cry for quite some time and they didn't show her to me right away either. They were working on getting all of the meconium out of her system. I finally heard her cry and I was able to see her. She was BEAUTIFUL!! Just perfect!
They took her away and Brian was able to follow her while they worked on stitching me back up. When I got back to the room she was in there and so was our family. I was finally able to hold my precious angel. She was SOOOOOOOOO worth everything that I had gone through!
Monday night we went in to the hospital to get checked because I had been having contractions that were ranging from 5 to 7 minutes apart. I knew that they wouldn't admit me, but I wanted to be checked to see if I had made any progress from my zero cm and 0% effaced status that I had been at. She said she'd give me a finger tip, but I wasn't a full 1 cm yet and maybe 50% effaced. I was happy to be progressing towards SOMETHING!!
Monday night was hard for me to sleep. My contractions continued to be 5 to 10 minutes apart. I didn't get much sleep at all. The next morning I had a Non Stress Test the results came back normal. Baby was doing great. She didn't check me because I had just been checked the night before. That night (Tuesday) when Brian got home, we ate dinner and then I thought we should go back to the hospital because the contractions were more intense and were getting closer to 3 to 4 minutes apart. So he gathered up the bags while I jumped in the shower (hoping it was my last shower at home for a while!)
Got to the labor and delivery to be checked, and we had a nurse that wasn't the happiest to be there. She seemed annoyed that we were there and she said that I wouldn't be admitted unless I was 5 cm dilated or more because they were so busy!! I was thinking...well lady, I can't really check for myself if I'm 5 cm or not so that's why we're here!! My contractions were pretty consistent at 3 1/2 mins apart and I was 4 cm dilated and 60% effaced! I was so happy!!! Then the doc came in and told me that they would be admitting me because I was scheduled to come back that next morning for an induction.
At 11:25 PM that night I received my epidural. The anesthesiologist was coming in from Manhattan that night and if I wanted to have one, I needed to do so right then before he left. Otherwise I would have to wait until 7 or 8 that next morning when the military doc arrived to work. I opted for the epidural because I hadn't had any sleep in over 48 hours and the contractions were really intense so I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep that night either! An hour later I was checked and I was at 6 cm and 90% effaced. The doc decided to break my water.
An hour later I was checked and I was still at 6 cm so they started my pitocin. At 1:40 AM they upped my pitocin a little bit and I got to 7 cm and 100%. They backed off the pitocin at 3:05, I was 8-9 cm. At 4:50 AM I was 10 cm and ready to go! The epidural was wearing off, which was what I wanted. I was able to have full control of my lower body, I was even able to turn around on the bed and get on my hands and knees to try to get her out! I pushed until 7:00, making very little progress. The nurse also noticed at this time that Kailyn had a bowel movement and there was meconium surrounding her. I tried to rest for an hour, but the pain was unbearable. So at 8:00 AM, the new anesthesiologist came in and gave me some more medicine to help with the pain.
The doc thought that Kailyn was maybe facing the wrong direction so they had me lay in different positions to try to get her to turn around. At this point her head was really swollen so it was hard for them to tell which way she was facing. At 9:45 AM I tried pushing again, only to stop at 11:35 because again, she was not budging!! Then we waited for what felt like an eternity for the doctor to come in and evaluate me.
At 12:05 PM he showed up with another doc, 2 nurses and an intern. They were all surrounding me encouraging me to push a little more. The doc wanted to see if he could possibly assist in the delivery with a vacuum. But, I had nothing left in me and he couldn't pull her out himself. At 12:30 we decided that a c-section would be the best option. Her heart rate wasn't looking as good as it had been and she had been surrounded with the meconium for quite some time now. 45 minutes later, our gorgeous baby girl was delivered! She didn't cry for quite some time and they didn't show her to me right away either. They were working on getting all of the meconium out of her system. I finally heard her cry and I was able to see her. She was BEAUTIFUL!! Just perfect!
They took her away and Brian was able to follow her while they worked on stitching me back up. When I got back to the room she was in there and so was our family. I was finally able to hold my precious angel. She was SOOOOOOOOO worth everything that I had gone through!
Kailyn Nicole Stoltenberg
Born: December 1st at 1:14 PM
Weighing 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long
Born: December 1st at 1:14 PM
Weighing 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long
Brian and I are so blessed! We can't stop staring at our healthy and beautiful baby girl!
