Our Angel is Here-Avenley's Birth Story

I have been wanting to write this for the last few days in hopes I don't foget the details of Avenleys birth.  It was such a different labor than with Molly so just incase I ever have another baby, hopefully I can remember her story.

First, from my previous posts, you can see that I had a lot of false labor.  I wasn't sure I would even know when it was the real thing because of all the times I thought it might be real, only for the surges to stop.

On July 20th I work up not feeling very well.  I was 2 days past my due date.  I didn't feel super sick, just a little nauseous.  I woke about 6 when Nick went to work and turned on my diffuser with Clery Sage oil for a while.  When Molly got up I didn't really feel well enough to eat, but I made myself eat some cereal.  We spent the whole morning in our pjs watching cartoons while I read a book.  Avey was super active all day.  I took an hour nap at 3:00-4:00 and made myself a peanut butter sandwich for dinner.  Around 6:30 I decided to start tracking the surges I had been having.  They seemed to be getting more consistent.  It was a little stormy too so I thought that with the low pressure system maybe the surges would come and then go like usual.  We put Molly to bed and the surges still kept coming.  They were about 10- 12 min. apart and lasted for almost a min.   I changed positions several times, but they still kept coming.  Nick and I watched Monk to pass the time.  Around 1am they started getting harder and closer together.  I took a bath arounf 3am and practiced my relaxation from hypnobirthing.  We called Sherstin when the surges were 6 min. apart and she started on her way up arriving around 4am.  After that point I tried to rest but I couldn't sleep through the surges.  I also felt really nausious.  Around 5:40 I threw-up.  I still felt sick but my surges were still about 6 min. apart.  I called the nurse in OB and she said I could take zophran to help with the nausia.  I was so thankful because after I took it I started feeling much better.  I had already been in labor 13 hours.  Molly woke up around 7:30 and I had about a half hour with my sweet Molly before heading to the hospital.  She was so excited when I told her the baby was coming.  We got our bags in the car and took Molly to my moms.  I was thinking at that point that the baby would come within a few hours, but I was sure wrong.

When we got to the hospital around 8am they checked me and said I was at a 3 and 75% effaced.  I was surprised I wasn't farther after being in labor for that long.  Around noon they checked me again and I was only a 4 and 80% effaced.  So in 4 hours I had only gone one centimeter.  The surges were getting harder.  When she checked me it stimulated things and I switched to active labor.  Things got much harder pretty quick.  I tried to use hypnobirthing techniques, but when the surges were really bad, I could only concentrate on my breathing and keeping my face relaxed.  I had now been in labor about 18 hours and I had been awake for 29 hours.  I was exhaused and the thought that I was only half way done overwhelmed me.  I decided to get an epidural.  It was a whole hour after I asked for one before they actually came, so at that point I was at a 6+ and 90% effaced.  I didn't remember the epidural hurting to go in last time, but this time was actually painful.  It could have been bacuse the surges were coming harder too, but either way it was hard for me to hold still.  Once it was in though I was so thankful.  It was a light epidural.  I had asked for the lightest does so I would still be able to feel for the last phase.  It was perfect.  Took the edge off, but I was still able to move my legs and feet.  I rested until 3:00 and decided to let the doctor break my water because I was unable to sleep anyway.  It was time to get her here!!  At 5:25 they checked me and I was at a 9 and 100% effaced.  After about 4 hours total with the epidural, I felt like I had a total out of body phase.  I felt SO tired and like I couldnt get enough oxygen.  I started putting cold washcloths on my head and neck and ate a bunch of ice.  I think that phase was transition and getting to a 10.  I was aware of the baby's decent.  That was actually really amazing.  I felt like I had so much more control than I did giving birth to Molly.  One other thing to remember about this LONG labor was that my contractions/surges never got closer together or consistent.  They could go anyware from 1.5 min apart to 10 min. apart the entire labor even in the last phase.

The final phase was amazing.  I had been SO BLESSED to have Nick and my sister Sherstin there coaching me along.  They were so great.  They had helped me relax, breath, massaged my feet and back, and kept me as calm as possible.  I also had the same nurse, Mary the whole time and even though her shift ended at 6pm, she stayed with me for the final phase.  In my birth plan I had requested a quiet delivery.  I didn't want pushing prompts or counting.  I just wanted to feel the surge and breath my baby down.  The doctor, nurse, Sherstin and Nick were great with that.  They were calm and encouraged me through about 4 pushes and then our Miss Avenley arrived at 6:36pm.  After about the second puch I began crying just thinking about how special this little girl was and how blessed we were to have her coming to us.  Everything continued going great from that point on.  They put her on my tummy and allowed me to hold her while her cord finished pulsing.  Then Nick cut the cord and I held her in my arms while getting cleaned up a bit.  After they had finished with me, they took her over to be weighed and measured and checked.  She was 7lbs. 4 oz. and 19 inches long.  She had beautiful dark hair.

Another request I had was to spend time bonding with her for a while before they took her to be cleaned and checked.  They allowed us to do that for a few hours.  It was so wonderful to nurse her and cuddle as a family.  We called Molly right away and my parents brought her to the hospital to have some time as a whole family.  She walked in with 3 cupcakes she had made with my mom for Avey's birthday.  She was all smiles and so cute with the baby.  She was kind of concerned about the IV in my hand.  She had to kiss it better.  What a sweetie.  When they left I rested while Nick went with Avenley to be washed.  Sherstin stayed with me.  We were all SUPER tired from being up for so long.  As soon as I could I was cleaned up myself, taken to another room, and went to sleep.

We ended up staying 2 nights at the hospital.  One scare came Sunday evening.  I was having a hard time nursing.  Avey just wouldn't wake up and it had been several hours since she had eatten.  The nurse came in the help and was kind of rough with the baby to wake her and get her to feed.  Within about 5 min. of feeding Avey got a goose egg on her head.  I was worried the nurse had hurt her.  We called the other nurse in and she had the nursuery nurse come look at it too.  They didnt seem to know what it was and that really worried me.  She called my doctor and he said it was probably a hemotoma and that he would look at it in the morning.  I started having a panic attack and crying.  We were in a hospital for heaven sake...could they not get a doctor to come look at my baby?!?   The nurse could tell I wasn't going to sleep a wink without some reasurance so the doctor called us and told us what it was and that we didnt cause it and the nurse had not either.  Aparently it happens often when the head is pushed trhough the birth canal and starts to come back to shape it collects blood between the skull and skin creating a bump.  It isn't too big, it should go away on its own, but it was so scary.

We came home Monday morning.  Keith and Ali came to see Avenley and then we rested most of the day.  The following days are kind of a blur.  Between diapers, feedings and sleep or lack there of, not too much else happened.  My sister Sherstin came back and helped at night for 4 nights.  Molly loved having sleepovers with her cousins at grandmas and I loved that too.  It made it easy for me to not feel like I was sending her away because she wanted to be there.

Molly has been a good big sister.  She talks to Avey and likes to check on her when she is in her crib.  She pulls up a stool everytime I change her diaper so she can talk to Avey while I change her.  She has been a good helper.

We have been WELL taken care of!  Mom and Dad have been great to help with Molly and meals and hosting everyone.  Both my sisters have come to help.  John and his family came to visit, Nicks family has come to visit and Joseph has called to check on us too.  The ward brought meals and gifts.  We are so blessed!!  Nick had all last week off and was a champion dad.  He helped with everything from cooking, cleaning, mowing the lawn, diapers, late nights, back massages, and doing anything I asked or needed.

I have the BEST family in the world.  Nick, Molly and Avenley bring me SO MUCH JOY.  Being a mother is the best blessing for me!  I wouldn't trade it for the world.