Monday morning I was scheduled to be induced at 8:30 am. Labor and Delivery wanted me to call an hour before then to check and see if there was availability for us. I called at 7:30 and the nurse asked if I could wait and come in at 10:00. We took our time during the extra hour or so doing some last minute things. We packed up the car and before we left I had Zach give me a priesthood blessing. I have received a million blessings over my lifetime and never had I felt this calm afterwards. It was like everything changed right then and there. All my anxiety, all my doubts about this scheduled induction, and everything else that was whirling around in my over-stimulated brain went away.
Zach took these last few photos – my 39 week picture – before we hopped in the car.
On our way to the hospital I made Zach stop and get himself breakfast. I wanted him to have something to eat beforehand so he wouldn’t be starving by the time we were officially admitted. So McDonald’s it was, for a bacon egg and cheese biscuit.
When we arrived at Labor and Delivery they were all ready for us. We went straight to our room and unloaded our stuff. We met our nurse, Colleen [who we later learned lives near Zach’s sister Lori and knows their family really well] who was an absolute dream. She turned the AC way up in our room because I was sweating to death almost immediately. I had a very sweaty pregnancy, to be honest, so a sweaty labor was imminent. After I got all hooked up to the monitors they started up my IV. This was one of the worst parts of my whole birth experience, to be honest. It took four times to get a good vein [apparently I have crazy veins that move all over the place] which meant I had bruises all over my arms and hands before I even had anything to show for it. Once we did get it all squared away though, I could relax. I had Zach run and get me a Diet Coke from a nearby vending machine and they gave me a pill to place under my tongue to start the whole process.
As soon as it dissolved I felt the contractions starting to get more intense. They kept checking me but I wasn’t progressing any further. I stayed at a 1 and was effaced 70 percent for the first four hours of the process. I kept texting my family members telling them I was having no progress and told them to stay home until I got a little closer. Around the fifth hour my contractions got really intense. I am always a chatty Kathy but when one of the contractions would start rolling up I would go completely silent until it subsided. It surprised Zach to see me so motionless and quiet for such a long period of time. It was then that I decided to get an epidural. The contractions were coming and they were coming on stronger and stronger. Our nurse paged anesthesia but they were administering to another patient. It took 45 minutes for them to make it over to us, which is when I started progressing rapidly. A resident administered my epidural and wasn’t successful the first time, so the big daddy anesthesiologist had to re-do it a second time. During my epidural my doctor came in to check on me. She told me that because I was progressing so slowly that she would just come check on me in the morning. I said goodbye to her and we finished the whole epidural business. Zach had a hard time watching that giant needle two times in a row and had to grab a seat in front of me as he started to get woozy. He admits this was the only time during the whole delivery that he felt this way. As soon as the epidural kicked in, with that popping sensation, I felt my water break. My nurse turned me back over on my back and checked me to see how I had progressed. I was at a 4! The nurse left the room and Zach and I were left alone. I texted my parents telling them they could head on over to the hospital. Then, about twenty minutes later I felt a ton of pressure. I called the nurse to come and check me and we were all shocked I was at an 8! In less than 45 minutes I had gone from a 4 to an 8 and 100 percent effaced. Zach updated my parents, who were stopping at McDonald’s as well to get some dinner on their way up to the hospital. Then it hit me. This enormous amount of pressure – even more intense than before. I kept telling the nurse I had the use the restroom immediately and couldn’t stop shaking in fear that I would not make it to the bathroom in time. She checked me and told me that it wasn’t the restroom I needed, it was to push! Apparently the doctor on call had called my doctor to let her know I was ready to go. My doctor was only 10 minutes away, but they knew she wouldn’t make it. Nobody tells you that when it’s time “to push” they mean “everything is going to get super chaotic”. Instantly there were 12 people in the room gloving up and pushing carts around. Zach and I looked at each other and both of us had “is this normal?” looks on our faces. The on-call doctor showed up and quickly introduced himself. They got me into position and I started to push. As soon as I got a break from my first couple of pushes the baby’s heart rate started to drop. I did a couple more pushes and it dropped again. The doctor told me that the baby needed to come out immediately. He said it was either a c-section or I would have to have an assisted birth with a significant tear. I decided to go for the latter. The next two pushes were it and baby girl was out! It was the most incredible feeling. Like a burning and bursting feeling all at once. Because her heart rate had been so low they didn’t instantly put her on my chest, like I had requested. The umbilical cord had been wrapped around her shoulder, causing the drop in her heart rate. Zach cut the cord and she was rushed away to be checked out. I heard her cry for the first time and I couldn’t help but sob.
Zach was close by, watching them monitor her and clean her off. Sloan Henderson was 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Perfectly healthy and happy. She only cried the one time, immediately after she came out. Zach observed her getting measured and checked out and she was as peaceful as could be.
A few moments later my baby girl, along with Zach, were back with me. They put her on my chest, skin to skin. Everything you hear about giving birth before you experience it for yourself seems so heightened and dramatized. That moment was everything. That moment when I saw my baby girl for the first time was the most spiritual and sacred experience I have ever had. She looked up at me with her giant eyes and reached her tiny hand right up on my face. I remember the first thing I said to her was, “I missed you!” Because that’s what it felt like. Seeing someone after being apart from them for so long. I already knew her.
There were other things that happened after that, but it all seems so trivial now. I delivered the afterbirth, they stitched me up, and then they were gone. Zach and I had a few moments alone with her before we let my family come in and see her.
My parents and brother came in the room and got to meet her and moments later Zach’s parents arrived. Having our families there right after was so special. My mom and I cried together while my dad and brother passed her around and took 600 pictures. I remember the first thing Jeanene said when she came into our room, “My baby had a baby.” We were all crying. It was one of the happiest moments for us – our families both with us when we became our own little family. Not long after they took us to the recovery room and our crew followed. They stayed for a while, passing the baby around and visiting, and then they left.
Zach and I looked at each other, both feeling completely exhausted but overcome with happiness.
This little girl has been in a hurry to get here since day one. From conception to delivery – she has been in fast forward. Even though hospitals totally creep me out, I never want to forget that feeling I had in our delivery room. Even with all the people, beeping monitors, and scary metal instruments – I have never felt closer to heaven in my life.