Saturday evening was spent at Tyson's parents house with the Cleveland side of the family. As soon as we arrived I noticed my stomach had dropped significantly. It was so much more comfortable. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time until Lucy made her appearance, if anything within the next week. I was so anxious to meet her, but decided to not stress anymore when she was going to come. After eating a delicious dinner it was time to go home. I was tired and couldn't wait to put my feet up.
Tyson had invited his friends over to watch a movie. We put Penelope down for bed and waited for his friend Mike and girlfriend to arrive. We decided that while we waited we would Google ways to induce labor. I had always heard that acupuncture and foot rubs could do just that. At 9:35pm we decided to give it a shot. If anything else, it would feel good to get my feet rubbed. Tyson found a YouTube video and began following the step by step instructions. After only a few minutes of Tyson pressing on the pressure points of my toes and ankles I felt a large trickle. I looked at him in the eyes and said, I either peed my pants or my water just broke. We both started laughing. Could it have really worked.
I jumped up from the couch, remembering the mess that was made the last time my water broke. I ran to the bathroom and sure enough more water came. I noticed a little blood this time, which did not happen the last time. I knew for sure it had to be my water, even though it wasn't a ton. I told Tyson to call Mike and let him know there has been a change of plans. While I was sitting on the toilet I could hear him talking to him and telling him he could quickly come by and say hi. I was on the phone with my mom letting her know what had just happened and had to stop talking with her to ask Tyson what he was thinking?! I told him I didn't think it was a good idea to be catching up with friends, because your wife's water just broke. I was laughing while I told him this of course. Men....
Tyson gave his parents the call to come to our house because P was sleeping. Luckily my hospital bag and diaper bag were packed. There were just a few last toiletry items to grab. It felt good to be so prepared this time. The house was clean and I had just finished all of the laundry. Tyson and I wanted to say goodbye quietly to P before we left. I couldn't let myself get emotional, when really all I wanted to do was pick her up out of her crib and hold her, while I let the tears roll. We told her we loved her and quickly left her room.
I asked Ty to give me a blessing before we left to the hospital. The blessing left me feeling peaceful and ready to take on whatever was to come our way. Shortly after the blessing my in-laws arrived. I am so grateful they live so close and are willing to help us at the drop of a hat. Ty asked his dad for a blessing before we left. I loved glancing over and seeing his dads hands on his head. I know that it left Tyson feeling ready to help assist me in the labor. We said our goodbyes and walked out to the car. It was surreal looking into the back seat of our car and seeing two car seats. It was crazy to think we would be coming home with another baby.
The drive to the hospital was quick. We live less than five minutes away, what a relief. The contractions had started and they were coming on strong. We parked in the ER parking lot and made our way into the hospital. I had luckily pre-registered for my delivery, which supposedly sped things along. We waited in the ER waiting room for transportation to triage, for what felt like ages. I decided to have a seat because my legs were tired and I knew it was going to be a long night. Apparently I sat in the wrong spot, this guy came up and sat next to me and started throwing a fit, because I had taken his seat. His wife apologized to me. I told him to relax, I was in labor and would be leaving shortly. Don't mess with a pregnant woman in labor....
Transportation arrived, thankfully they brought a wheel chair because the ride to triage was a long one. They got me into a bed and confirmed that sure enough my water had broke. The nurse checked me and let me know that I was dilated to a 3 and was 80% effaced. They got my IV set into place and hooked me up to the monitors. Hearing my baby's heart beat could never get old.
While we waited to be admitted to a room, I struggled going back and forth to the bathroom. I couldn't wait to get a catheter. The contractions were getting closer and closer together and had me wondering when they were going to give me the epidural. I asked the nurse and she said it would be another 20 minutes. In the mean time I was transferred to the delivery room. The sweetest nurse greeted us. I knew that I was in good hands. Shortly thereafter the anesthesiologist arrived. I was slightly nervous for the epideral, but knew I needed to rest from the pain. He waited for a break in my contractions and got ready to do his thing. At 1:27 am I leaned over and hung onto Tyson and instantly felt the shock go down my spine. It was immediate relief. I thanked the man deeply. This epidural worked. I now knew what a good epidural felt like. It completely took away the pain from my contractions and allowed Ty and I to get some rest. I never before understood how people slept through labor. It was heavenly.
At 3:45 am the nurse checked me again and I was at a 6/7, she wasn't sure. In my head I thought things were moving rather smoothly. I was going to have that quick easy labor that I had heard so much about. I started feeling nauseous and was sure it was going to be time to push. The nurse got me a popsicle and some crushed ice. Soon after, it all came up. Poor Tyson almost got hit with a gush. After everything was cleaned up the nurse checked me and I was at an 8. She also administered me some Zofran to take away the nausea. The nurse guessed sometime in the 4:00 hour we would have our baby. I couldn't wait to start pushing. She even notified the doctor that I was getting close.
That was when things started to slow down. I wasn't worried just yet, but started wondering why everything was slowing down. With P things only took off from that point. She said there was still a remainder of amniotic fluid in front of the baby's head and that was possibly keeping me from dilating to a 10. She said to give her a call once I felt the gush.
Around 7:00 am it was time for the nurses to rotate shifts. I was sad to see my sweet nurse go. My new nurse was quit a bit different. She checked me again and confirmed the remaining bit of amnio was still present. At 7:20 am I finally felt the remainder of my water break. It came a gushing. I was finally dilated to a 9. Tyson text our family and let them know that I was soon to start pushing. I was looking forward to this last step and getting to hold my baby in my arms.
Once the nurse found out that Ty was an almost 12 lb. baby and I was over 9lbs. she had a little worried look on her face. She said that my baby was definitely a big one and wanted to make me aware that she might not fit. She didn't come right out and say I was going to have to have a c-section, but I knew what she was hinting towards. She thought it would be a good idea to start pushing before I got to a 10 because it would help the baby move down some. She also started the stretching process. I seriously thought she was going to rip me in half. She was anything but gentle. As soon as I started pushing she let us know that the baby had hair. Tyson and I couldn't believe it. I loved hearing those words. Ty looked and said sure enough there was lots of hair. I seriously couldn't wait to see for myself.
My epidural was great in the sense that I had feeling in my legs. I still felt a lot of pressure and knew when to push. The nurse made me do a lot of the work, which slowly started to wear me down. I had to hold my own legs, which felt like a ton of bricks. With each push I began to get more and more worn out. The epidural also started wearing off. The nurse paged the anesthesiologist and let him know I needed some more drugs. Soon after he came in, I felt good and ready to push some more. The nurse even had me on my hands and knees pushing. I couldn't help but laugh while I was doing it. I felt like I could beat Miley Cyrus at a twerking contest, because my butt and legs were shaking so badly from pain and exhaustion. After pushing for over and hour, I finally asked the nurse how much longer she thought it was going to be. She told me it would at least be another hour or so. I wanted to break down at that point. I didn't know how I was supposed to find the strength to keep pushing. I tried to eat some shaved ice and chicken broth to give me some more energy, but it only lead me to throw up again.
I pushed with every fiber of my being for another hour. By this time I was royally spent. I was about done. The nurse said we were going to push for another 30 minutes and then she would call the doctor to assess me. I didn't know how I was going to make it through another minute of pushing. I asked Tyson to give me another blessing. I needed the strength to get through whatever else was ahead. He gave me the sweetest blessing, that gave me that extra boost I needed to give it my all. It led me to tears.
I pushed again for another thirty minutes. I couldn't even open my eyes at that point. I was exhausted. The nurse called in the doctor and without even a seconds pause he checked me and confirmed that this baby was not coming out of me. Apparently she was posterior (sunny side up). I never even knew that was a problem. He said the words that I never thought I would hear, c-section. Before I let any of my emotions get to me I told him okay. I was so tired from pushing, I was willing to do whatever it took.
The nurse and doctor walked out of the room, which thankfully gave Tyson and I some time to have a slight break down. It was then that all of our emotions caught up to us. We both burst into tears. Hearing Ty get so emotional added to my heart break. Tyson's words came quickly thereafter and were so comforting. He told me to never think I didn't do enough. He knew how hard I had tried. He told me I was amazing and gave me the sweetest kiss. I also knew within my heart I did everything I could. The nurse came back in and said you gave it your all and more than most people would have done. I signed the surgery release form, the nurse handed Tyson his surgical attire and had me take a picture. I could barely hold up the camera. He gave me another kiss told me he loved me and would be right there.
(I had luckily just witnessed my friends c-section a few weeks prior, which was a total blessing in disguise. I knew what room we would be going to and the step by step process, that was about to take place. This put me at a lot more at ease, as I usually freak out when it comes to surgery).
They wheeled me down the hallway into the operating room. I knew that the end was in sight. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would not have to be put under general anesthesia and that the spinal would work correctly. The room was so bright that it was causing me a migraine. I had them put a blanket over my face, to help ease the tension. As soon as they laid me on the surgical table, my body started to shake uncontrollably. My teeth were chattering and I seriously thought I was going to have a nervous break down. It didn't help that Tyson was not in the room yet. They put some warm blankets on me and that seemed to help a little bit. After about 20 minutes the doctors and nurses had prepped me for surgery. They let Tyson in the room and it was finally go time. He came and sat right by my head and told me he would not leave my side. I loved having him there. I don't really remember too much after that. I had to take my mind to another place to help me from shaking myself off the table.
The doctor let me know that he had poked me three times and wondered if I had felt anything. I didn't feel a thing. I was so thankful my spinal worked. Without even telling me they began the surgery. I smelled my flesh burning. I realized they had just made the incision. I luckily didn't feel a thing. The anesthesiologist let me know that I would feel some tight tugging and pulling. It didn't hurt at all. I anticipated it to be much worse. All of a sudden I could hear the doctors gasp. They said that in over 25 years they had never seen that before. I wasn't quit sure what they were talking about. They said the baby's two hands popped right out of my incision and there was her face. They said she came out with spirit fingers. They told Ty he could look over and watch them pull her the rest of the way out. It took only a few more seconds and she was out.
At 11:33 am I finally heard that cry I so longed to hear. I heard and saw the tears in Tyson's eyes. It was the same sweet reaction that he had with Penelope. The nurses all gasped at how cute she was. I couldn't wait to lay my eyes on her. The quickly held her over the curtain for me to see. She was just that, the cutest baby I had ever seen, cone head and all. I loved her immediately and was so thankful she arrived safely. My love for Tyson grew even deeper as I gazed into the eyes of our new creation. There was no longer a question if I could love another child as much as I love P. My heart just grew bigger.
I closed my eyes again while Tyson went to cut the cord and have her measured and weighed. She weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 20 inches long. She was pure perfection, in my eyes. They cleaned her up and brought her by my side. I wanted so badly to be able to hold her, but I hardly had the strength to lift my eye lids. I remember giving her sweet soft skin a kiss and telling her that I loved her so much. I smiled for one picture, but thought it was going to make me fall off the table. I was so queasy. Tyson got to hold Lucy while the doctors finished sewing me up. I began shaking again and threw up one last time. I have never been so exhausted in my life. I couldn't wait for it all to be over with. Everything was finally done. They put Lucy in between my legs and wheeled me off to recovery. I still had the blanket over my eyes and was ready to pass out from exhaustion.
I remember feeling terribly guilty because I couldn't soak up every minute of my baby's first day. I wanted so badly to snuggle her and hold her tight to my skin. Tyson let me know that our family was all in the waiting room. After a little skin to skin time it was time for our family to meet our new bundle of joy. I knew my mom was back there and so was my little P. I couldn't wait to see all their faces.
I had Ty go back and get my mom first. I had wanted her to be with me so badly through my labor, but there weren't any earlier flights available for her to catch. In the end she made it in perfect timing. She had tears in her eyes the moment she saw me. She thought something terrible had happened to me because apparently she didn't receive any of the labor updates. Once she landed she thought for sure there would be a picture of the baby, but there was nothing. She tried calling Tyson and his parents, but couldn't get ahold of anyone. She was extremely worried. She thankfully got ahold of my sister, who informed her that I went in for a c-section. Soon after Ty's parents picked her up from the airport and brought her to me. We both couldn't wait to see one another. She kissed and hugged me before even looking at the baby. She said she wanted to make sure her baby was okay first. It felt so good to have her there by my side.
Once I had spent a few moments with my mom it was time for the rest of the family to come back. I had to put on my happy face because I knew it was going to be a lot for P to take in, but I couldn't wait to see her face. Her face look concerned but I reassured her with my smile. I gave her a kiss and introduced her to her new baby sister, something I had waited so long for. It was the best feeling in the world to have my little family all together.
The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. Lucy was snuggled and loved by all of the visitors. It killed me to not hold her as much as I wanted, but was thankful she got plenty of love from others. It was physically and emotionally the hardest day of my life, but the reward was oh so sweet. There is nothing and I mean nothing like a newborn baby. I truly believe they are sent straight from heaven. I know that my Heavenly Father and dad were watching over me that day. I felt of their love and strength throughout the entire day. I had my amazing husband to lean on and many prayers going out in my behalf. Although nothing seemed to turn out how I anticipated, I still wouldn't change a thing. I am so grateful for technology, doctors and nurses who brought my baby into this world safely. If I had been born in an earlier time, the doctor said both me and the baby both would not have made it. The baby and I are healthy and oh so happy! I can honestly say I loved being pregnant with my Lucy girl and have really enjoyed the journey. We love our new addition so much and love the way she has added so much love and joy to our family.
I cant believe it, we are a family of FOUR!!!!
To read Penelope's birth story click HERE
Also, a huge thank you to Tyson for capturing this day perfectly!
Congratulations Nessa! What a beautiful family. I felt the same way about my csection. So grateful for technology, wished I could have snuggled my baby more, the nausea.. and the overwhelming joy. Such a rush of emotions. I'm so glad all went well in the end!
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