Someone told me not too long ago that giving birth was one of the most amazing experiences of their life. I hadn't really thought much about it until she said that, but I realized right away that I felt the same way about Jonah's birth and now I can say that I feel that way about Rebecca's birth too.
We decided to induce a week earlier than planned because my measurements had stopped increasing for several weeks and since I was 'softening' and beginning to dilate a little bit, we (Dwight, my doctor and I) felt it was a good idea to get her out of there "just in case". That turned out to be a very good call since there was very little fluid left when they tried to break my water. But we'll get to that part later...
We got to the hospital just a little after 7:30 on November 11th, checked in and did all the fun prep stuff like blood work and iv's (woo...). The nurse mid-wife came in around 8:30 to check me - I was still only at 1 cm! But the baby was very low and I was pretty much effaced all the way. They use a pill that causes contractions to induce instead of pitocin which they only use if needed later in the delivery.
My contractions started right away! It was excited for a little while and then when I got that first painful one, I thought "what did I just do to myself!" But it was too late now!
At one point I actually considered not going with an epidural but that thought left me quickly after Dr.Tiaval came in to check me and break my water, which like I said was kind of hard because her head was so low and there wasn't much fluid left anyway. I was still only at 2-3 cm's which we were all very surprised about. Dr Taival had to do some crazy stuff to get my water broken which really started the contractions going and from that second on I was praying the anesthesiologist would get there before it was too late to get the meds. He showed up around 2-ish with his needle and he couldn't have gotten there any sooner. My contractions were 2 minutes apart and boy did they not feel good. You think you're good at handling pain, but then you get to a certain point and thank heavens for modern medicine!
Unfortunatly, the epidural didn't work all the way. They said sometimes the needle will shift just barely one way or another and create a "window" where you still feel the pain. My window was on my right pelvis and the contraction pains went from being a general pressure to a very sharp prick in that one area. I would have rather not had the epidural than deal with feeling like someone was stabbing a knife in me every few minutes. But they had me lay on my side and let gravity do its work moving the medicine into the window and eventually it all went away. Then it was time to get a little rest.
Dr Taival came in again around 4:30 to check me again. My contractions were huge at this point! I could tell by the pressure that I still felt even through the epi. This is when things got a little interesting.
My doctor is awesome. She doesn't say things to scare you or worry you which is why I'm guessing she didn't say anything before now about why I wasn't progressing much. Apparently a band of scar tissue had developed and was preventing me from dilating. I was still only a 4 at this point and that wasn't expected. We have no idea where this band of scar tissue came from because I had never had any procedures that would usually cause this sort of thing. The only thing we could think of was when I delivered Jonah something happened that either the doctor didn't know about or didn't say anything to us about. Didn't matter at this point anyway. The band was there and it was starting to cause problems. Dr. Taival tried breaking it manually but that wasn't working. She decided to start pitocin to see if that would help. She didn't come out and say it, but all knew what was coming. My water had been broken for several hours and there was very little fluid in there to begin with and it had been that way for who knows how long. I wasn't dilating and there was an obstruction keeping me from being able to. Dr. Taival didn't say the word "c-section" but she did say we'd have a baby before midnight and we knew what that meant.
Lots of people have to get c-sections. I know this and I knew that everything would be ok. But I was not prepared and the reality of it scared me to death, especially because her head was already so far down.
The only thing I could think to do was get a blessing and leave it in God's hands. I called my good friend Julianna who was getting ready to move but who's husband had not yet been released from being the Elder's Quarm President. He and another member of our ward showed up just after 6:00 and gave me an amazing and powerful blessing. I was expecting to be blessed with peace no matter the outcome, but instead I was blessed specifically that my baby was going to born naturally and without any complications. I guess you can look at what happened next in any way that you want to - but when Dr. Taival came in just a few minutes later to check me and the band had softened and I was at 6 cm, I knew that it was a direct result of Heavenly Father blessing me through their Priesthood. What a cool testament of the power He has entrusted to us and of His love.
Very soon after that I began feeling different pressures and I told the nurse. She said it was a good thing happening but it was shift changing time so she didn't check me or anything. Just after 7 I got to meet my new nurse who talked with us for a while and then left to check on the other girl who had just had her baby. She told us that she'd come back and check in a few minutes and probably need to go find the doctor. But right after she left, the doctor came in to check me because my contractions were doing some interesting things. We kind of joked about how one time, Dr Taival checked someone and the baby was right there already coming out on its own.
Well, she checked me and guess what - this baby was already coming out on her own! It was fun to see Dr Taival go from laid back and relaxed to "all business" as she called everyone in and got to work. She told me not to move and since I was so excited the nurse had to try and keep me from laughing because apparently nothing was stopping this baby from delivering herself. It was probably 3 minutes and two tiny pushes from the time Dr. Taival checked me to the time I got to meet my sweet little Rebecca Dawn. She was 7lbs 4 1/2 ozs, 19 inches long and just gorgeous!
This past week has been a beautiful one as I've fallen in love with this special little spirit. It's been an amazing experience, from the time we found out that Rebecca was on her way to the time that she was born. No matter the pain or discomfort, she has been worth it and to be able to be an instrument in God's hands in creating life is an incredible blessing.
Dwight and I have been given two very special children to take care of. I am so glad that Rebecca has made it here safely and I can't wait to see all that life has in store for her and Jonah.
I'll add more pictures on a later blog, but if you want to see some right now, you can go here. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2098778&id=1155601621&l=6e8b97657b
