I'm finally getting to post Cooper's birth story. Most of it was recorded by Matt,because I was busy actually experiencing it,but I've added some side notes that he left out or I remembered differently.
4:50am: Kayle wakes up to water breaking. She dreamt of "pushing" and woke up to the liquid spilling out. I ran to the bathroom and called out to Matt ,"I either peed my pants of my water just broke!" We called the doctor and they told us to go to the hospital within 2 hours. We got ready, had breakfast of egg, sausage, and bagels with cream cheese. I felt pretty calm no contractions just excited!
6:30am: Arrived and checked into hospital. Blood pressure was normal but they were a bit concerned about her pulse. They were afraid they wouldn't be able to distinguish cooper and kayles heartbeat. My water indeed did break so I was allowed to stay.Started my iv for group B. I wasn't really having contractions maybe one or 2 an hour so the doctor asked me if I wanted to wait for them to start naturally or if I wanted to start pitocin so I could have a baby that day. I really didn't want to do pitocin,but I also really wanted Cooper,so I waited an hour trying to start the contractions naturally but then I decided to go ahead with the pitocin,because I didn't really have a reason not to and I had already waited long enough.
9:25am: Kayle is given pitocin to help speed up the contractions. They start at 2ml/hr, then to 4, and finally to 6. After only about 30 min contractions started.
11am: Contractions were coming about 45 seconds apart and lasting about 1:30. They were incredibly painful. Kayle stood, sat, walked around, sat on the ball, and leaned on the rocking chair for relief. Matt and Mom were trying different massages to support her. Basically the 2 hours of pitocin were the worst of my life. I couldn't get a break so there was no relief,but I did a good job breathing through them and I am proud of myself for waiting for the epidural. ( I had been listening to a hypno birthing cd for about 3 weeks before delivery and it helped me a lot) I cried because it was so painful,but picturing Cooper helped me work through it.
About 12pm: Kayle gets the epidural. She has to curl up into a tight ball so that the anesthesiologist can insert the needle. She gets immediate relief. I was dilated to about a 5/6 at this point. I came in at a 1 and half so things progressed pretty quickly. The epidural was SUPER powerful I couldn't feel any of the contractions and I got really sleepy.
12:40pm: Kayle drinks too much apple juice and vomits. She falls asleep.
1:40pm: The nurse moves kayle into an upright seating position and drains her bladder with a catheter. She eats a strawberry jello.
2pm: Kayle vomits the jello and juice she has tried to eat.
2:30pm: Kayle has shifted positions a number of times. Our nurse moves her specifically from her right side because "cooper does not like that side" which seems to have something to do with the contractions when she is on a specific side. She vomits again after shifting from the right side (even though she really didn't have anything to eat or drink) I am basically asleep this whole time other than when I have to change positions. It was super hard to move because of the epidural. My legs were dead weight so I couldn't move easily.
3:05pm: A nurse midwife (filling in for the doctor who was in surgery) came in and examined Kayles cervix. She told us that Kayle was about 8cm dilated and that it wouldn't be much longer before pushing.
3:20pm: Kayle vomits after eating ice.
5:55pm: Another vomit (Note to self I can not have anything to eat or drink while laboring even water)
6:30pm: We were told that kayle would eventually feel the extreme urge to poop. This would be the sign to start pushing. She never felt that urge, which was a bit disheartening. The delivery doctor (dr. Sprong) came in and checked Kayle again. After checking he said "it's time to start pushing" without any further explanation. (He also had to wake me up and asked me if I wanted to have this baby, I replied sure) We lift up Kayle's legs and she has to push hard at each new contraction. ( I didn't know you only pushed with the contraction so I would do 3-4 pushes during a contraction then have to wait a few seconds for another contraction then do it again)
4:50am: Kayle wakes up to water breaking. She dreamt of "pushing" and woke up to the liquid spilling out. I ran to the bathroom and called out to Matt ,"I either peed my pants of my water just broke!" We called the doctor and they told us to go to the hospital within 2 hours. We got ready, had breakfast of egg, sausage, and bagels with cream cheese. I felt pretty calm no contractions just excited!
6:30am: Arrived and checked into hospital. Blood pressure was normal but they were a bit concerned about her pulse. They were afraid they wouldn't be able to distinguish cooper and kayles heartbeat. My water indeed did break so I was allowed to stay.Started my iv for group B. I wasn't really having contractions maybe one or 2 an hour so the doctor asked me if I wanted to wait for them to start naturally or if I wanted to start pitocin so I could have a baby that day. I really didn't want to do pitocin,but I also really wanted Cooper,so I waited an hour trying to start the contractions naturally but then I decided to go ahead with the pitocin,because I didn't really have a reason not to and I had already waited long enough.
9:25am: Kayle is given pitocin to help speed up the contractions. They start at 2ml/hr, then to 4, and finally to 6. After only about 30 min contractions started.
11am: Contractions were coming about 45 seconds apart and lasting about 1:30. They were incredibly painful. Kayle stood, sat, walked around, sat on the ball, and leaned on the rocking chair for relief. Matt and Mom were trying different massages to support her. Basically the 2 hours of pitocin were the worst of my life. I couldn't get a break so there was no relief,but I did a good job breathing through them and I am proud of myself for waiting for the epidural. ( I had been listening to a hypno birthing cd for about 3 weeks before delivery and it helped me a lot) I cried because it was so painful,but picturing Cooper helped me work through it.
About 12pm: Kayle gets the epidural. She has to curl up into a tight ball so that the anesthesiologist can insert the needle. She gets immediate relief. I was dilated to about a 5/6 at this point. I came in at a 1 and half so things progressed pretty quickly. The epidural was SUPER powerful I couldn't feel any of the contractions and I got really sleepy.
12:40pm: Kayle drinks too much apple juice and vomits. She falls asleep.
1:40pm: The nurse moves kayle into an upright seating position and drains her bladder with a catheter. She eats a strawberry jello.
2pm: Kayle vomits the jello and juice she has tried to eat.
2:30pm: Kayle has shifted positions a number of times. Our nurse moves her specifically from her right side because "cooper does not like that side" which seems to have something to do with the contractions when she is on a specific side. She vomits again after shifting from the right side (even though she really didn't have anything to eat or drink) I am basically asleep this whole time other than when I have to change positions. It was super hard to move because of the epidural. My legs were dead weight so I couldn't move easily.
3:05pm: A nurse midwife (filling in for the doctor who was in surgery) came in and examined Kayles cervix. She told us that Kayle was about 8cm dilated and that it wouldn't be much longer before pushing.
3:20pm: Kayle vomits after eating ice.
5:55pm: Another vomit (Note to self I can not have anything to eat or drink while laboring even water)
6:30pm: We were told that kayle would eventually feel the extreme urge to poop. This would be the sign to start pushing. She never felt that urge, which was a bit disheartening. The delivery doctor (dr. Sprong) came in and checked Kayle again. After checking he said "it's time to start pushing" without any further explanation. (He also had to wake me up and asked me if I wanted to have this baby, I replied sure) We lift up Kayle's legs and she has to push hard at each new contraction. ( I didn't know you only pushed with the contraction so I would do 3-4 pushes during a contraction then have to wait a few seconds for another contraction then do it again)
Each time she pushed her vagina seemed to open up more. After what seemed like few minutes, we started to see the top of his head showing.( I had a mirror so I was able to see when I did a good push and I could see his head so exciting!) We thought when we saw his head that we were seeing his whole head but it was really only a fourth of it- he had a huge head!
6:52pm: The room is full of nurses and doctors. The main doctor( Dr. Brushwood) has Cooper's head in her hand as kayle is pushing and the rest of his body comes out. ( Moved the mirror so I didn't get to actually see this part) Matt cuts the umbilical cord and Kayle gets to immediately snuggle with Cooper skin to skin. Kayle's placenta is removed and she is sutured up. I bleed a lot since he was such a big baby and it was a quick delivery so I hemorrhage a little. I only pushed for about 20 minutes and total labor was 14 hours! Grandpa Miller arrives just after he is born.
8:00pm: Cooper is weighed and measured. He weighs 9 pounds and 5.5 ounces and is 22 inches long. He is given the vitamin k and hep B shots which he did not like at all.
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