Emmalyn Olivia Reynolds
A Birth Story
On Sunday, September 29th, my water broke when I woke up at around 8:00 am! I knew it had to be my water, so I called Grant and let him know, so he could come home from work! The doctor on call called me back and asked that I come in so they could test the fluid to make sure it was my water, but I knew it was! :) Grant got back at around 8:30, we made sure we had everything packed, and we left the house to head for the hospital! All four grandparents were at the house with us, and they made their way to the hospital a little later.
After we got to the hospital, they got me into my pretty hospital attire and hooked me up to some monitors to see if labor would start on its own.
They gave me until noon to see if it would start naturally, and (sadly) nothing happened! So at noon, I got an IV and Pitocin drip. We spent the next 11 hours walking around the hospital, bouncing on a birthing ball, taking baths in the jetted tub, and did I mention walking? I think Grant and I walked several MILES around the hospital, and he was SO supportive and sweet through it all. I can imagine it was incredibly boring not only for him, but for the grandparents who spent the entire day waiting for our little one's arrival!
At 11:00 pm, I was only at 7 cm...and in a LOT of pain! After thinking long and hard, and admitting that if I had several more hours of labor I might go crazy, I decided to get an epidural. Thank God I did, because I still had 5 hours left! They started me on antibiotics as well, as it had been so long since my water broke, and they wanted to prevent infections for both me and baby Emmalyn. The epidural was quick, as the anesthesiologist was next door giving an epidural to another brave momma. I joked around with him, told him I loved him, and really didn't flinch at all as he performed the mini procedure. It was AMAZING. I could finally relax, which is (I think) why I finally started to progress past the 7 cm mark to prepare my body for pushing. I could still feel pressure when I had a contraction, but it wasn't painful like it had been before the epidural. I could still feel my legs and move my feet around, but I couldn't lift my legs or move around too much, which was weird. But it was so worth it to be able to relax and get a little bit of rest before pushing. I also had to get a catheter, since I couldn't feel whether or not I had to go to the bathroom! My mom and Grant stayed in the room with me, and we turned off the lights and tried to sleep. Dad, Judy and AP went to the family waiting area.
Finally, at around 3:30 AM, Dr. Braack, who was the on-call doctor for Dr. Knudsen (our OBGYN), came in and said I was ready to push! I couldn't believe I was finally READY! Thankfully, I had no idea that most first-time moms push for around 2-3 HOURS, especially after having an epidural. If I had known, I may have just told the doctor to cut her out of me! :) Amazingly, I managed to push our baby girl out in only 30 minutes! I was SO determined at that point, as I had been at the hospital for 18 hours! My mom got some AMAZING videos of the birth, and I couldn't be happier that we have these memories to look back on now.
Listening in...any time now!!!!
After baby Emmalyn was born at 4:04 AM, weighing 8 lbs 14 oz and 21.5 inches long, the other three grandparents got to come in to see the beautiful baby girl. Emmalyn was the largest baby to be born at Community Medial Center in almost a month! I must say I am pretty proud of how well I did throughout the delivery process. I couldn't have done it, however, without the support of my amazing husband and wonderful mom!
Mom's collection of pretty bracelets...
