I feel lucky that Danny and I made it through the last 2 weeks in one piece, once my cold settled in Kennedy got more and more comfortable as I got less and less comfortable. I was working 10-11 hour days trying to prepare, as I am a little controlling the idea of leaving "my" market in the hands of others was terrifying and I had to try to put it into concise, organized files/notes to make this happen. Coming home at night all I did was sit around wondering "WHEN IS THIS BABY COMING" I had definitely hit that point, I was DONE!
On Halloween, dressed as a "cop", I went to what ended up being my last pre-baby doctor's appointment. I still wasn't showing much progress and the stress test came out normal. My blood pressure was still a little high but nothing to be too worried about. I told the Dr. I needed this baby out of me, I was going crazy. Both of the nurses (both awesome) were moving on from his practice and I was hating being put with the new girl every week, she always had freezing cold hands and was so unsure of herself (I am sure she was just nervous) that she made me EXTREMELY on edge. He scheduled me for Monday to check everything and said at that point they would call the hospital and "get me setup for Monday night or Tuesday." All I could think was INDUCTION HERE I COME :)
I made it through one of the busiest weeks of the year for me at work and while putting final touches on "maternity" plans I received a call from the Dr's office saying "we don't have to see you Monday, the hospital has an opening", HALLELUJAH!! We were scheduled to be induced Monday morning November 5 at 8AM, I was a happy camper. Over that weekend we had a couple blood pressure scares, Sunday night after our last pre-baby meal out (Indian food) my BP was 155/104. We checked multiple times and then drove to another store just to make sure it was right. We tried using Danny's BP as an indicator that the machine wasn't "off", but apparently having an extremely pregnant and miserable wife makes him have unnaturally high blood pressure, we will have to keep an eye on that as I don't know that adding a sweet baby girl will do anything positive for daddy's nerves :) We went home and I called the hospital, of course the nurse told me to come check in (they ALWAYS say that), in stead we drove to the hospital and had them check my vitals. My BP had gone down (the nurse said I had relaxed) so we decided to spend the evening at home in our bed now the hospital. Home we went for one last night in our house as a family of 4, all snuggled in our big bed waiting for Miss Kennedy to arrive. We woke up early on Monday to make sure everything was ready, we kissed the puppies goodbye and were on our way to have our baby girl!
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| 39 weeks, 4 days-READY TO HAVE THIS BABY |
We checked in right after 8am on that Monday morning, the nurses had my change into what became my staple outfit for the next 2 days...NAKED with a side of cloth that left little to the imagination. I went into that room being a modest person, not wanting to show my boobs or body to family and friends let alone strangers. But now that is all gone...giving birth gives you a whole new perspective, frankly who gives a shit what people see, they have most likely seen it before and probably worse :) Once they got me situated they had to hook up my IV. That was probably one of the worst things I had to go through the ENTIRE time at the hospital. OUCH. The nurse was digging around in my hand saying "wow you have tough skin". I was texting my mom and Aunt, they obviously thought I was the biggest baby ever, while I was having second thoughts on delivering if the IV hurt that bad!
To induce me the Dr. had them place this tiny little pill on my cervix that would make me 100% effaced and help with dilating. As you can all use your imaginations to place a tiny pill in the PERFECT spot on someones cervix is not only difficult but also not the most comfortable thing. Once the pill was in place the next thing was W A I T I N G. Danny went and rented us movies, got himself some snacks and the nurse a diet pepsi :) The morning dragged on, the IV was making me crazy (it was all I could think about) and every time she came in to check me I had made little progress and wasn't feeling contractions. Around noon I finally started feeling contraction (apparently that's what they were) with low back pain and the feeling that I had to use the bathroom. The nurse kept asking if I wanted drip pain medicine but I figured it would only get worse so I should wait a bit longer. At about 2:30 I finally said yes to the pain medicine, I was so squirmy trying to get comfortable through the contractions and was tired of the damn heart rate belt.monitor thing having to be adjusted! That started kicking in and oh boy I was high as a kite. I can't figure out why people like taking that stuff for fun, I couldn't make a decision or concentrate for the life of me and ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TAKE A NAP! The nurse was checking to see if we were making any progress and while doing so MY WATER BROKE, 2:45 and we were getting started. As I mentioned I was high as a kite so when Danny started asking me all these questions about calling family and when they should come I thought my head was literally wobbling on my neck. My water breaking sent everything into action, the anesthesiologist came in right about 3 to give me my epidural. It really wasn't so bad, just scary having to sit so carefully. My nurse who was AMAZING had me hug her while the lady put the needle in, then they did a test...well she missed and had to start over, how did I get so lucky? The second try was successful so I was now not feeling my contractions and was a happy camper! A fun fact for those who have never had an epidural, they are actually given as a drip just like an IV. I always though they were that big needle and that it was one dose and would wear off...oh no, it just keeps on dripping until they turn it off, simply AMAZING!
After I got re situated in my bed the nurse went to check me and OUCH, apparently the epidural didn't numb EVERYTHING so for the duration of my labor I could feel everything on the outside of my body down there...ouch.
We had our one and only scare around 3:30 PM. My blood pressure crashed as a result of the epidural, 104/68 and they lost the babies heart beat. The room filled with nurses, they put an oxygen mask on my and had Danny step aside. I had no idea what was going on but they kept telling me "you are doing great, it's goings to be OK" that of course led me to tears because I had NO idea what was happening, but they all dispersed after a few minutes and everything was fine...thank goodness!
A little after 4 my contractions really started picking up so we started doing practice pushes, the doctor was supposed to arrive a little before 5 and we would get started. Then 5 o clock rolls around (practice pushes), then 5:15 (more practice pushes and the nurses asking them to call my doctor for the 4th time), then 5:30, my Dr was stuck on the Cable bridge because the Blue Bridge was shut down an extra day for construction (sounds like a TV show right!) The nurses assured me that everything would be fine, they have delivered the babies before and really all the Dr does is come in to catch her...ARE YOU SERIOUS! I paid how much money for this guy and he is just going to walk in and catch her...HELL NO. He finally got there right after 5:30 and said "wow she really is close" I couldn't believe it! He went out into the hall to wait while the nurses (Irena and Nicole) were amazing. Nicole held a leg, Danny held a leg and Irena prepped me for Kennedy's arrival. Thanks to her tricks of the trade (she used baby shampoo to help get her out) and all their support my labor was one for hte books. I pushed for less than an hour and a half and the Dr. came in with about 15 pushes left. Considering I wasn't completely numb I felt more than I wanted to but already (5 weeks later) I don't remember the pain. With my finally push she came shooting out (almost literally) and contrary to our MANY discussions on birth plans they tossed her right on me.
I had always been the woman that wanted the baby cleaned up before given to me, Danny to see NOTHNG and touch nothing (including the umbilical cord) oh how that didn't happen. Everything was a blur, I had this baby on my that was mine, had been with me for 9 months and wasn't crying, the first thing I said was "why isn't she crying, whats wrong" nothing was wrong, they just had to clean out the goop (gross) then the wailing began. I looked over and the Dr was handing Danny scissors saying "here you go, make the cut dad" and Kennedy was a gooey mess. Although it wasn't how I planned it, it was perfect :) Once I got a really good look at her the first thing I said was, "Oh my god she looks black" not that that would be a problem, except that Danny and I are both pale with freckles and this gorgeous baby had olive skin and a full head of dark hair (explains all the tums I had been toting around for months).
At that moment, 6:35 PM on November 5, 2012 Danny and I welcomed our baby girl, Kennedy Anne Wynne to the world at 7 lbs 11 oz, measuring 21 inches long.
What a day that was, I was officially STARVING so the first order of business was getting Nikki to order me Hawaiian pizza and a pepsi. After all being said and done I am still in shock at how nice I was throughout my pregnancy and delivery. I had my moments but even during L&D I wasn't mad or bitchy, it was euphoric, I was so happy and thankful to have Danny by my side and my amazing nurses. They kept saying "get mad, get mad, push" and I told them I wasn't mad at all! I joked with the nurse and told her she was being mean when she was prepping me because it hurt but other than that I don't think I said 1 mean thing, Danny was hoping that would stick but I think it was all a fluke, the normal Cassi is back :)
Once the initial shock wore off it was a whirlwind our fabulous nurses (I love them) had to leave because their shift was over and we got this nurse that about sent me over the edge. She was SOO pushy and I swear every time my family would get into the room she would decide I had to nurse or that she needed to push blood out of me (gross I know). Kennedy was so blessed to have her Aunt and Uncle as well as her Grammy and Grampy there to welcome her into the world. My mom counted her fingers and toes before doing anything else :)
My family left later that evening and we got settled into our new room. It was really quite nice, the bed for poor Danny was awful but we weren't doing a lot of sleeping anyway :) He went home Tuesday morning to get a little bit of sleep (my mom and dad took the puppies home with them for a couple nights) and Kennedy and I hung out at the hospital. I had my first shower, AMAZING and we filled out paperwork to start the going home process. She passed all tests with flying colors and we finally got sent home at 8:35 PM Tuesday night. After one last feeding, going to the pharmacy, grabbing dinner, we finally made it home at 10 PM. Mom decided she would come the next night so the 3 of us had our first night at home together :) We are so blessed!
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| Heading home from the hospital! She was annoyed with all the bright flashes :) She will fit right in with this family! |
