Labor and Delivery

This post is really long and mainly for myself, because I don't want to forget all of the details! Feel free to skip down to the pictures.

I was starting to have some lower back pains and some contractions on Wednesday night, but nothing intense. On Thursday I decided to walk to QFC to try out the old home remedy of walking induces. I walked all the way there and back. By the time I got home, my lower right back hurt. I had read that many women experience labor pain in their back and thought this might be the case for me.

The pain kept getting worse. Devin came home and we tried to go walking again but I wasn't able to get very far. The pain started to spread from my lower right back to the side as well. It hurt so bad I times Devin had to support me. It hurt to lay down so I spent the night sitting up in the couch and not getting very much sleep. I was trying to pay attention and track contractions, but I wasn't really having any.

By Friday morning I couldn't take the pain anymore and I called my Doctor's office as soon as they opened.  I explained my situation and the nurse told me I must just be experience labor in my back and to take some Tylenol for the pain. Devin worked from home so that he could be close by just in case. We didn't have any Tylenol so I drove to QFC to buy some. I waddled back to the pharmacy only to find out that Tylenol had been recalled and so they did not have any. I burst into tears. Made it back to my car and bawled. Just then Henry pulled up and parked right next to me. Our babies were do the same day and they had just had theirs yesterday. Embarressed and slightly jealous I congratulated him and was just glad he was too exhusted (or polite) to ask why I was bawling and sitting in the QFC parking lot.

I tried calling the doctor's office again to see if there was a generic I could take, but they were taking forever to respond. The pain kept getting worse and I knew something was wrong so Devin and I headed over to the hospital. The nurse didn't listen to me and treated me like I was being a big baby. She hooked me up to a stress test, even though I told her I knew I wasn't having any. Sure enough, there wasn't any consistent contractions and the baby was doing fine. She sent us home. We stopped by the pharmacy at the hospital and luckily they had some Tylenol.

Unfortunately, right after I ate and took the Tylenol, I threw it all back up. I wasn't able to keep any food down the rest of the day. This was the first time I had thrown up all pregnancy. It was also the first time I had been in so much pain that it made me nauseous. They pain had now spread to my entire right side. By Friday night I couldn't take it anymore and asked Devin for a blessing. Marcus came over and helped. I am so grateful for a husband that holds the priesthood and that they were able to give me a blessing.

I started researching my symptoms and it seemed that it could be kidney stone or appendicitis. Shortly after I decided to call the hospital again. This time the on call doctor called me back and not a nurse. I tried to be calm and explain all of my symptoms to her. She agreed that it wasn't normal and that I should come in. Devin was on the phone and I signaled to him that we were going.

When we got to the hospital the lady at the front desk kept asking, are you in labor. Even though I was hunched over and in pain, I kept telling her no. She was confused. They hooked my up to another stress test to monitor the baby. They also gave me some medicine to take for the pain, but I threw it up. So the hooked an IV up to give me some morphine.

The doctor ordered an ultrasound because the doctor thought that it was probably kidney stones. The ultrasound showed that my kidney was inflamed and that there was a lot of liquid surrounding it. They could not find a kidney stone but the doctor said this could be because I as pregnant and everything was hard to see. He recommended that we stay over night so that they could monitor me.

They set us up in a labor and delivery room. The medicines they were giving me weren't really working and it was another long night. When the next shift came in, the nurse and doctor decided that they didn't think it was kidney stones but that it could be my appendicitis and they ordered an MRI.

They explained to us what would happen if it did end up being my appendicitis. I was really hoping it wasn't that because there were too many complications and risks involved. The MRI was the longest hour of my life. It was so painful laying flat on my back and they make you hold your breath for long periods of time.

Luckily, it was not my appendicitis. What they did find was the baby had pushed all of my intestines to the right side causing a kink in my urinary tract. Which is why it took a long time to urinate and also why the kidney was inflamed. They were also afraid that the build up could cause a kidney infection. The only way to get rid of the pain was to get the baby out. We had to wait for another nurse to come on before they were able to induce me. At this point I was starting to loose feeling in my right leg.

While I waited I took a bath in their super nice jacuzzi tub and was finally able to get a little bit of food down. The bath helped me feel better and relax but the pain was still there and I was starting to loose movement in my right leg. Lucky for me (not the other lady) one of the patients had a false alarm and I got her nurse. They induced at 2:30 and and also broke my water right away. Normally they wait awhile before they do that but they wanted to get the labor moving. They also gave me an epidural right away , even though I was only dilated a 3, to help with the kidney pain. It took a while to kick in and they had to increase my dose a little bit in order for it to help the kidney. I am so glad that I had an epidural. It was the best I had felt in 3 days. I was able to be excited for the baby and to communicate with the hospital staff and Devin.

Devin and I watched Hunger Games and I tried to rest while we waited. They had me hooked up to a monitor for the baby the entire time, to watch contractions, and to monitor my heart beat. Turns out I hold my breath a lot. The machine would beep every time I stopped breathing. This happened a lot. I also started to develop a fever which made them worried about infection and the baby.

By 7:30, 8:00 ish (we don't really remember) the doctor said I was ready to push. Pushing was hard at first because I wasn't have frequent, consistent contractions. At one point the baby's heart beat dropped down to 52. They called in the entire pediatric team to be there for the baby. This was the motivation I needed though and I was finally able to push hard. His heart rate went back up so they didn't have to suction him out.

Doran was born at 9:42pm. The doctor was wearing glasses and I could see his head through the reflection. Just as Devin asked how long does it take for the rest of him to come out, out baby came. They rushed him away to check him out.

This is one of my favorite parts of the delivery. I sat there on the bed bleeding  (according to the doctor I bled more than most people) and getting stitched up (I tore in two places) and I watched Devin watching our baby. It was amazing. I loved watching Devin become a Dad. The nurses kept apologizing that I didn't have the baby yet, but I was okay with it because I loved watching Devin.

Baby weighed 7 lbs 10 ounces and was 22 inches long.

The doctor handing Doran to me.

The proud daddy and Doran

Our first family picture

My Mom rushed from my brother's graduation in Moscow, ID to be there in time for Doran to be born. 

My family meeting Doran

Nathan also got to be there right after. He's Doran's closest relative!