Soon enough I will be talking about the birth of a new baby. Since I didn't have the blog when Sevea was born I thought it would be great to take a trip down memory lane of Sevea's birth experience and put it all down in writing. I've talked so much already about how the pregnancies are different that I am certain the birth stories will be as well. Isn't every birth unique!?!
Let's take a trip back to 2008 shall we. My due date was September 9th with Sevea. Or that is the due date I chose. My first doctor in Alexandria had chosen the due date of September 10th but I stuck with the 9th when we moved since I had calculated that online when I sent out the announcements. And really what is one day :) Okay so back to September 9th. I had my 40 week appointment that morning. I had started feeling some contractions. Troy and I of course were anxious and being first timers had no clue what to expect. So we almost thought we should head to the hospital because they were coming close enough together. Since I had an appointment I just said we should wait and see what the doctor said then. By the time we got to the doctor the contractions had stopped. Unfortunately I don't remember all the details but I was only dilated to 1.5cm and I was effaced but I don't remember how much. It was I think around 80%. The doctor ended up breaking my membranes. This was not fun and did not feel good. She warned me that I could experience some contractions afterward. And boy did I ever. The car ride home was not pleasant. The doctor still thought it would be a few days or so. When we got home Troy headed off to work and since I was on bed rest I was able to relax at home. I took a nap and that really helped with the contractions.
After supper I started to feel more contractions again. But knowing they could stop or just be from the appointment procedure we stuck it out until around 10:00 at night. We got packed up and made our way to the hospital. The hospital was a little drive so we arrived close to 11:00 at night. I was monitored to see if I was making any progress and how things were going before being admitted. Since I was not progressing they decided it was best to send me home. I was dilated to 2cm at this time. I was curious how I was to sleep with having the contractions. The nurse gave me some medicine that would help me fall asleep. So we made our way home at 1:00 in the morning.
It was close to 2:00 in the morning by the time we got home and settled into bed. I had taken the medicine and hoped to get some sleep. However that was not in the cards for me. I laid in bed until 3:30 when I decided to get up and try taking a bath. It felt soooo good. I was in love with the bath even though being 40 weeks pregnant in a normal size tub isn't all that comfy, it sure took the edge off enough for me to relax a little. I sat in the tub for quite some time. Finally I decided to get ready before waking up Troy. I knew it would be best for him to get some sleep if this was going to be the big day. Troy got ready and not wanting to head to the hospital again to only be sent home we waited a while to see how things would go. Finally around 9:00 we decided it was time to go to the hospital. With the contractions I was having I didn't see how they would send me home.
We arrived at the hospital around 10:00. After some monitoring it was decided I would stay. I was now dilated to 3cm. I was given a room and we knew that today was the day we would meet our baby. Things went slowly at first. I progressed to 4cm and then 5cm at 2:00. My nurse suggested we break my water at that time. The doctor agreed and my water was broke around 2:30. Things almost immediately changed at that point. The contractions definitely picked up in their timing and their strength. Everyone thought that I would deliver later that night around 9:00 or so. Knowing this I just didn't see how I could handle 7 hours of that intensity. I had asked for medicine thinking I would get the IV stuff the nurse mentioned but instead an epidural was ordered. Which at that point was fine by me! Troy just so happened to be taking time for a bite to eat and says that my moment of weakness was because of that (not that you are weak if you get one, my birth plan just didn't necessarily include it although I wasn't opposed to it either). The anesthesiologist was quite busy that day so he finally arrived to my room around 3:30. The nurse had me sit up to work through the contractions and try to be still at the same time. This is when I KNEW something was different. The moment I sat up I think she dropped and was ready to come. I felt intense pressure and knew that things had changed. However I had never had a kid and just kept saying something is different, I can't sit still. I can't do it. The nurse never thought that I would have progressed so quickly so she said she would check me after it was done and encouraged me to try hard to sit still. This part of labor was the WORST part for me. It was extremely difficult to sit upright and be still while having a baby want to come into the world. And the worst thing was that the nurse checked me after and I was ready to push. So I never even received the medicine besides the test dose they give to make sure you react fine. All that for nothing! (By the way, I don't blame the nurse....she was great and with things happening so quickly I can only imagine her shock of the situation as well).
The nurse then allowed me to try pushing. After one push I was told that I needed to stop and wait for the doctor. It was 4:00 and it felt like forever to wait. The doctor walked into the room around 4:15. There was a resident doctor helping to deliver the baby so I kept asking if I could push since I figured she could deliver the baby. I was told I had to wait. Finally I was able to push. I pushed 3 times and our darling little girl Sevea Paige Appeldorn was born at 4:24pm on September 10th, 2008. It is something I will never forget and feel truly blessed to have been given the chance to experience it all.
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