she's posting Lyla's Birth Story

Seeing as i've taken a years hiatus from blogging (don't judge) and my baby is a month old TOMORROW I figured it was about time to post Lyla's birth story as I've gotten some questions about it. There are tons of birthing options out there though, and before I tell our story I'd like to preface it by saying that what worked for us may not be what others choose to do but in the end, the choices we made brought us a healthy baby and that was all that mattered to us. Also, if words like dilated or uterus make you uneasy, feel free to stop reading now. 

It all started Tuesday morning at 2:30am. That is when I started having contractions. I knew these were different because they really REALLY hurt. They were about an hour apart at this point. I was able to fall asleep between them but each one would wake me up. Zac got up to go to school that morning and when he returned we decided we should go to the hospital. At the doctors appointments leading up to this point I had already progressed to 3 cm and was about 90% effaced. By the time we decided to go to the hospital the contractions were 30 minutes apart but since I was progressing about a cm a week we figured we'd at least be at 4 cm and that may have been far enough to just admit us. We went to the hospital at around 11:30am. When we got there they took us to a room  and hooked me up to monitors and got all of our information. Within the 30 minutes we were there I didn’t have any of the contractions I’d had before. They ended up checking me and I was in fact at a 4. The nurse went to call the doctor to see what he wanted to do and she came back and said that Dr. Broberg was going to be leaving and Dr. Thorpe was coming and along with the contractions not being close enough they decided to send us home. We’d had a hair appointment and had decided to cancel it since we were at the hospital. After the bad news, we called up and rescheduled our appointment. (crazy I know!!) We met up with my brother Ronnie and went to lunch. I felt miserable for two reasons: I was still having contractions and I was super discouraged because we’d been sent home. 

After lunch we went home and toughed out a couple more contractions and went to get my haircut. During the haircut the contractions weren’t terribly evident. After that we went to Sears because my Mom had a gift card she had to redeem. Mom wanted to keep me busy and walking around as to keep me progressing.It worked!! While at Sears I had a couple of terrible contractions so we quickly made our purchase and went home. The second we got home the contractions began to get really bad. They were more like 15 minutes apart now and Zac called the hospital since we didn't want to go all the way there and get turned away again. The nurse still said, wait until they are 5 minutes apart even though they were lasting 5 MINUTES which she didn't believe because they should have only been about a minute long. Mom was making dinner and Zac and I were in the room waiting it out until they were between 3-7 minutes apart. I was on the bed since I couldn't move around or even talk through the contractions. As soon as we had three in the time range Zac decided we needed to go to the hospital. I didn't even think I'd make it to the car but I did and off we went. I was in the backseat and Zac got us there fast! I was facing backward rocking back and forth as this was all I felt I could do to ease the pain. Zac went through two red lights and went 95 miles an hour on the freeway to get there. He secretly, or not so secretly had hoped he'd get to do this as he had seen it done in the movies. 

Once at the hospital, as we got through the doors, the nurse didn’t question us. They checked me and I was now at an 8!!!! Yes! I did it by myself from a 4 to an 8. They asked me if I needed an epidural. I answered in the affirmative and within minutes he was there to give me one. He gave me the epidural and went from intense pain to numbness in seconds. The numbness went from my toes to mid chest. The doctor came to check me and I’d gone from an 8 to a 9 and ¾ and that’s when the doctor broke my water and said, "you might feel a lot of pressure" and I thought, "nope not feeling anything." You women who don't have an epidural, I don't know how you do it! While the doctor was still in the room I got to a 10. He gave the nurse the okay to start pushing and then left to deliver another baby. We started pushing with Zac on one side and Mom on the other. Since being hooked up to the monitors, Zac picked up on looking at it and could predict when we were peaking at the contractions. Lyla was not in distress, yet, the contractions were still too far apart and lasting too long. We couldn’t push anymore than 3 times per contraction as to make sure she was getting enough oxygen so we couldn't get as many pushes in even though we had been at it a while. By this point my body was exhausted since I had technically been in labor since 2:30 that morning and it was now about 11pm. The contractions didn't get any closer even though they ended up giving me some pitocin to speed them up. They were so far apart in fact that I began to fall asleep between them and would get woken up when I needed to push again. Meanwhile during the breaks, Zac and mom were trying to keep the family abreast of the situation while they were all in the waiting room. Around the time Dr. Thorpe came in and broke my water he figured out our little girl was posterior which he remedied by turning her. He explained that this was the reason my contractions were so irregular and in trying to fix her position he turned her the right way. In the process of pushing however, she turned herself back. We were faced with a couple of decisions 2 HOURS into pushing. We hadn’t made enough progress so he worried that if we turned her again she might turn herself back once more so that decision was out. Also, we might need to use forceps because the pitocin should have sped up the contractions and they continued at their previous rate. Our doctor was WONDERFUL and acted quickly when needed but slowed down just enough to explain our options and all of the side effects or consequences we might face. Once we decided that turning her again wouldn't be an option, our next two choices were forceps and then a C-section or straight to C -section. Since we didn't ever think we'd have to have a C-section and I didn't want to have a serious surgery if we didn't need to, we chose to try the forceps. With two tries of the forceps and no success we turned to our final option. Looking back on it all now, I'm surprised at how calm Zac and I were through this whole thing. The confidence Dr. Thorpe had in the decisions being made and surely all of the prayers being said on our behalf surely made all the difference in the world. At this point everything happened SOO quickly! As soon as we decided we were doing the C-section we went from a room with just us to a room full of people. They gave me more medicine before we left the room and were wheeling me out in what felt like seconds. They cleaned up, got Zac suited up and off I went to the OR.  

The room was really bright and the lights were all I could see as I was wheeled in. They put a screen in front of me, strapped my arms down, and put an oxygen mask on me. Zac was there soon and he sat by me, while the doctors were talking to me asking me questions----I guess I was losing a lot of blood and they were making sure I was conscious.  It was faster than I expected it to be. Thorpe said, "you’re gonna feel some pressure" and I did and he brought the baby out and she started to cry. When I heard her cry all I could feel was relief that the whole thing was over and gratitude that it seemed she was ok. Zac was watching and took pictures while they weighed and measured her. They called out 8 pounds 11 ounces. The doctor then said, "No wonder she wouldn’t come out!" All I could do was repeat, 8.11. I seriously couldn't believe she was that big! They gave her to Zac and he brought her to me, I was still strapped down and had to crane my neck to see her. I kissed her face and then they took her to the nursery so they could stitch me up. Dr. Reese came in to assist Dr. Thorpe and so when he came to say congratulations I said, "You were right, she didn’t make it to her due date!" The previous week at our last appointment he was the one we had seen and he made the prediction. Sure enough she was two days early being born at 1:13am on Wednesday June 19th. After stitching me up Doctor Thorpe congratulated me and told me I had done as much as I could have done by myself and that my body did everything right. That made me feel better and less worried about what might happen the next time around. After all of that I was taken to our original delivery room where my mom was waiting.

It was great to see her and i'm SOOO glad she was there to help us through everything. Soon after I greeted my mom, Zac came in with our beautiful daughter. He handed her to me and I got to finally hold her for the first time. It was AMAZING to hold that 8 pound 11 oz, 20 inch long baby and know that she was MINE and she was healthy and perfect! Zac was showing me how Lyla ws sucking on his finger. Right after that the family started coming in, Kyle, Lisa, Madi, Zane, Dad, Melinda, and Ronnie were all there. We took some pictures then everyone left and I bottle fed her because of a shot they gave me during the C-Section to aid my exhausted uterus. She was taken to the nursery to get bathed while Zac went with her and I was taught to pump. Not long after we got moved up to pediatrics because the maternity ward was full. It was 5:00am by the time we got to our room. Lyla stayed with us while Zac slept on the recliner. Before we knew it, it was 7 a.m. and our first night as a family was officially over. 

Here are a few pictures of our experience and looking at these, it's hard to believe it was already a month ago!! I love my little angel even and especially after all of the craziness she put us through on her birth day. As I sit here now reflecting on that day, and looking at my beautiful sleeping babe I realize I am a mother. I was entrusted to take care of this tiny person yet I feel so inadequate as I recognize the incredibly special spirit she possesses. I am the luckiest to be able to call her my daughter and I can't wait to see what she teaches me and her Daddy. Seeing Lyla and Zac together this past month has made me happier than i've ever been and I love my forever family. Mommy loves you Lyla!

Special thanks to Timpanogos Regional Hospital and Valley OBGYN for making our experience so special!

***pictures pre delivery were taken after the epidural....clearly.