Chloe turns four in a little over a month. I think I have taken far too long to write this. :D
My due date was August 11, 2010. Thursday, August 12, 2010 around 10 PM I noticed that my "Braxton Hicks" were becoming regular at about 10 minutes apart. I was so excited that this could be it that I ended up staying up all night timing them. I was anxious to have Chloe in my arms. I was excited that it was finally time. Through the night they got closer and closer together, eventually getting to 7 minutes apart. I had an OB appointment on the 13th for a NST since I was past my due date. They just wanted to monitor her and make sure that she was OK in there. They hooked me up immediately after a contraction and because Chloe moved great, unhooked me right before another one hit, so they never saw anything. I told them that I was having contractions every 7 minutes, but they weren't really painful yet.. just annoying. I was really tired because I had been up all night like a moron timing these dumb contractions just praying that it would be go time. Scott and I went home. He went to work, and I started cleaning up the house. I knew that I was in early labor at least, so company would be coming soon. I vacuumed the house and straightened everything up. I have no idea what I really straightened up because I didn't have any kids.. what mess was there?!
By the time evening rolled around, the contractions were really getting uncomfortable, but still staying at 7 minutes apart. I was disappointed. Scott and I were married on Friday the 13th. Here it was Friday the 13th again, and I was REALLY hoping that she would come on that day. I'm weird like that. I don't really remember what all went on this day, other than cleaning and having contractions constantly. Scott went to bed and I laid down to try and rest. The contractions were uncomfortable enough to make it impossible for me to sleep. I tried to read some, prayed a lot... timed contractions. Around 4 AM they became 5 minutes apart, and were painful. This is when they tell you to head to the hospital. Looking back, they weren't really THAT painful, but because I had been in labor for a day and a half already, they felt miserable. Sometime after 5, I woke Scott up and told him how close together they were, and that maybe we should head to the hospital. They checked me and told me that I was only dialated to "fingertip". Kill me now! They watched for an hour or two. They said I was definitely in labor, but that it wasn't progressing. I was told to come back when the contractions were 3 minutes apart, and that they thought I'd be back by the afternoon. Scott and I went home. I cried the whole way. I was already so exhausted and the hard part hadn't even started. I got in the shower when we got home and let the hot water run down my back. I laid on the couch and cried. I walked around the house and cried. Basically, I cried a lot. Around 10, the contractions were 3 minutes apart and really hurting me.
We headed to the hospital again. They checked me and I was at a 1. A ONE! That was it? The doctor decided to have me admitted because I had progressed SOME. They wanted to give me Pitocin to try and get things to actually MOVE along. I was so exhausted that I asked if there was something they could give me that would allow me to get some sleep. I hadn't slept at all in a couple of days. They gave me a mild pain killer right away. They told me that they had to give it slowly through the IV or it would knock me out. I thought "yeah, whatever.." and then my head started spinning. They weren't kidding!! I called my mom to tell her that I was admitted to the hospital and it was time. I was really drugged up though, so I remember her laughing hysterically at me as I said "I feel goooooooooooooooooooooooood". The look on the nurse's face probably should have given away that I sounded like a nut job, but I really was clueless until later. Labor kept going slowly. Very, very slowly. I was able to get a little bit of sleep, but not much. I wanted an epidural. I was in so much pain and so exhausted that I just wanted relief. My doctor is awesome, and she told me that she would really rather wait until I was at a 5 to give it to me, that way it wouldn't slow things down and she could break my water. My parents showed up sometime in the evening. They kept me company while Scott took a nap. It was pretty late in the evening when I FINALLY was dialted to a 5.
The anesthesiologist came in and I feel like labor started to really pick up as they were telling me that I needed to hold very still. Holding still while in intense pain is difficult, but I didn't like the idea of paralysis. Scott held me so that my back was curved perfectly for them. They told me that it should take less than a minute for the numbness to set in. My left leg started to go REALLY numb, but nothing else. My leg was so heavy that I couldn't lift it or move it at all. So, they had to re-do the epidural. I do not like needles one bit. I believe that they missed and had to do it a third time. This time it was like magic. I couldn't feel anything. I was finally able to relax, and my body was able to do what it needed to do. The doctor broke my water, and things really sped up. My entire body was shaking, which is a fairly common reaction to the epidural. My dad kept asking if I needed a blanket because he thought I was cold. My mom kept giggling because I was shaking like a maniac for no reason. I was getting annoyed because I couldn't stop the shaking. My heart rate started to get so high that the monitors kept beeping and going off. It was not a concern, so the nurse turned the alarms off so that we didn't have to keep listening to it.
At one point the doctor and a nurse were in the room and looked at the monitors. They exchanged glances and the doctor said "I know, I will be nearby". My dad thought this meant I was headed directly for a C-section. Turns out, all it meant was that it was almost time to push. I started to feel a lot of pressure. It was around 2:30 AM. My parents left and headed to the waiting room. The nurse came in and had me start pushing. I was still REALLY numb, as they wanted to ensure that the last epidural really worked. My left leg was still completely numb, and I had to ask someone to hand it to me so that I could hold it. I started pushing. I pushed for a while. The nurse decided to play a game of tug-of-war with me to help me push better. She wrapped a blanket up and had me hold onto one part of it while she held the other. I pulled on the blanket and pushed with all of my might. The doctor came in and decided that she needed to do an episiotomy to make more room. That is the worst SOUND in the world. It was horrible. I couldn't feel a thing. Every time I pushed she would cut some more. I was horrified. Finally after an hour of pushing and a massive cut, Chloe made her entrance into the world at 3:56 AM on August 15, 2010. She was 9 pounds 2 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and the nurses couldn't get over how loud she was. She was beautiful though. The nurses laid her on my chest and I cried a like an exhausted baby. They took her to get cleaned up while the doctor "repaired" me. Not only had I been cut almost the entire way, I ended up tearing the rest of the way. I immediately tried my hand at nursing. I was so lost and confused, but she did eat a little bit. They said that once I could move my leg, I could take a shower. It was probably a good hour before I was able to lift my leg half an inch. Apparently that was good enough because they got me up. A nurse and Scott helped me to the shower. Scott stayed in there with me to make sure I didn't fall or get hurt. That man is a saint for all that he witnessed and how supportive he was.
I finally get into a recovery room and get to take a very short nap. They brought Chloe back in to me. She was clean and smelled so good. Because of how large she was, they had to check her blood sugar levels every so many hours to make sure that she was getting enough to eat. I was so relieved that she was finally in my arms and not kicking my ribs anymore. She was perfect. She ate every hour to every two hours. Scott changed all of the diapers because I was in so much pain that I couldn't get off the bed without being picked up. Turns out, with pushing a 9 pound baby out of my body, I broke my tail bone. With all that I went through to get her into this world, I would do it all over again. My recovery was long and hard. I didn't go back to church until she was 8 weeks old because I couldn't sit without intense pain. Church pews and a broken tail bone just were not going to mix at all!
We had a lot of breast feeding problems in the beginning. After two months of mastitis off and on we finally realized that she was tongue tied. Once her tongue was clipped, she started nursing like a champ. If you really want to breast feed, don't give up. Keep pushing through! It's totally worth it.
Our little Chloe is spunky. She is strong-willed and stubborn. She is also full of life and energy. She is a sweetheart when she wants to be, and downright rotten at other times. She is a funny little girl who is so bright and brings a lot of laughter into our home.
