Now here is her story!
My eyes
popped open at 12:30 am. I know because the clock was glaring at me. I had been
having contractions for over two weeks and had already had two false trips to
the hospital. This was different though. This one hurt just as much as the
others but for some reason it felt different. I stood up to walk around a bit
to see if it would go away. Bobby lay there in bed watching the clock and
asking repeatedly if I wanted to go to the hospital. However since I had
already had two false alarms I wasn’t going anywhere until I knew for sure.
(Me at 38 weeks, 2 days before Kyra was born!)
Two
hours later I decided it was time that we headed to the hospital.
My
contractions had been sporadic for weeks, anywhere from twenty minutes to two
minutes apart. On my false alarm days they had been less than a minute apart
for hours but no baby. That night was no different and once I got to the
hospital I was taken to the observation area to see how things progressed. I
was 38 weeks to the day and they told me they weren’t going to stop labor but
they would not help me along either. I was dilated to a four at the time and
had been for a week.
An hour
of sitting there in the observation room, they checked me again and I had
progressed to a five. So the nurse suggested I move around for a bit and see if
things kept going. So began the long walk through the maternity ward halls. It
hurt, oh my stars did it hurt, but Bobby was with me the whole time and each
contraction got worse and worse, finally to the point that I threw up. Luckily
I made it to a sink.
That was
when Bobby went to get the nurse, however my actual doctor was on call that
night and she came instead. She checked me and I was at a six, nearly a seven.
That check was the worst of all and my husband actually grabbed my hand so I
wouldn’t get a grip on my doctor. It hurt so badly I was in tears. My doctor
asked me if I wanted the epidural. I said “Yes please!” and my husband laughed
a bit. I had wanted to go without it but I was hurting so badly that I just
couldn’t see continuing on like that.
So they
moved me into the actual labor room, which was lovely and wonderful by the way,
and called for the anesthesiologist to come and administer the epidural. While
they were rigging me up with IVs and taking all my vitals my husband asked me
if I wanted him to go ahead and call the troops. We hadn’t called them since we
had already had false alarms but my doctor assured me, we were going to have a
baby today! So off Bobby went to make the calls.
Once he
had started the phone tree he was back to take care of me while the
anesthesiologist got my epidural going. This was the point that Bobby had to go
away and lay on the floor so he wouldn’t pass out. Seeing that huge needle go
into me got to him apparently! However I couldn’t see a thing and it wasn’t
painful, just mildly unpleasant. However once it got going the pain was gone,
and I do mean gone. I could still feel the pressure but there were no more
sharp waves of intense pain. Now that the epidural had been administered they
let my mom and dad into the room. She and my husband sat with me while the
contractions continued but I lay there just amazingly happy, I remember telling
them multiple times, “We are going to have a baby today! I’m going to be a
mom!”
Finally
my doctor came in at 8:30am and checked me. I was good to go and she broke my
water. I felt a rush of warm but that was all and the doctor and nurse asked
who was going to stay for the labor. My parents got up and kissed me before
leaving Bobby and I alone with the doctors.
The
baby’s heartbeat was not where it should have been so they nurse put an oxygen
mask on me. This was by far the most annoying thing I experienced during the
labor thanks to the epidural. The nurse then told me to go ahead and push. I
did two big pushes and the baby was crowning, however at that point they lost
the baby’s heartbeat.
The
doctor called in several other nurses and told me they were going to do a
vacuum assist since the baby didn’t like the birth canal. She told me I could
most likely get the baby out on my own but not as quickly as she would like. I
told her to do whatever she needed to do to get my baby out safely. I didn’t
care what it meant recovery wise for me; I just wanted my little girl out safe.
So with
another push and the vacuum assist at 8:46am my little angel was brought into
the world.
They
handed her to me and I remember thinking, “She is so tiny!” and “She has hair!”
My heart was instantly filled with a love that I had never ever known before. I
didn’t know that I could love so deeply or so intensely. There is no love like
this love. I was crying so happily and didn’t even notice as the doctor started
to get me all stitched and cleaned up. I had two second degree tears that she
had to get taken care of but at that moment I didn’t feel anything right then.
I would in the upcoming hours and days but at that moment all I cared about was
the warm little angel in my arms.
After a
few moments they took her away to be weighed and measured. They called my
husband over so he could take a few pictures. Baby girl weighed in at 6 pounds
even and 19.5 inches long. The doctor asked me what her name was and sobbing
still I told her,
“Kyra,
her name is Kyra Nicole Uilani.”
Once
they had her initially cleaned up, they brought her back to me so that I could
start nursing right away. Baby girl was a champion and latched right on! Bobby
left for a bit so he could tell everyone out in the waiting room that Kyra had
finally arrived. We had requested however that we be given time to spend with
our baby girl before everyone came in, but that hour went very quickly and I
knew that they were all just dying to see her! The nurse actually asked me if I
was ready because every time she went out there they all jumped up eagerly. I
told her to send them all in.
The
whole crew came in and everyone was just amazed by how tiny our little lady
was, and yet how wonderfully and amazingly perfect she was.
My mom
hugged me so tightly when she came back, and I felt a sudden bond with her that
hadn’t been there before. We had always been close but now I got it, I
understood just what she felt for me and how powerful her love was for me. I
was a mom now and I got it…and she knew it. There was so much love in the room
at those moments that I thought I might burst from it.
That feeling has yet to fade....every time I look at her face I feel it even more intensely than before!
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