Birth Story

Addison's birth story:
If you read the last post, you know that the doctor was planning on inducing me on January 18th. I went in for my scheduled doctors appointment on the 17th and that was when I was going to get all the details about what to do and when to go in for the 18th, but I got VERY different news. The doctor informed me that due to insurance companies policies, they wouldn't cover me having the baby if I was induced before 39 weeks. On January 18th I would be ONE DAY SHY of 39 weeks. So my doctor said if my blood pressure had increased or if she could see any medical reason she would need to induce me - then she would do it and they would cover it. Unfortunately (and fortunately that I am in good health and so was Addison) she couldn't find anything wrong so she told me I would have to wait until she got back in town on January 24th if I didn't go into labor before then. When she checked me I was dilated 3-4cm and over 50% effaced so she kept asking me if I was feeling any contractions and if they were regular at all. I told her no and she said if I felt ANYTHING that I could time and was consistent to go straight into labor and delivery. I left that appointment so disappointed. I know its selfish and a lot of people would just say to wait until she came on her own but I really wanted to have her on the 18th for these reasons:
-Dan's first day back to school was technically the 19th but then he didn't have classes again until the 23rd so we figured it would be perfect if he only had to miss the one day and he could be with Jax while I was in the hospital and then we could spend the entire weekend together before he went back to school.
-I REALLY wanted my doctor to deliver me and I KNEW I wasn't going to last until my due date so I was worried I would have the baby while she was out of town and while I'm sure the on call doctor would have been just fine - I just felt very comfortable with this doctor who I switched to at 34 weeks and wanted her to do it.
I cried and cried when I left my appointment and prayed that she would just come on her own on the 18th anyway. I went to a Relief society activity that night and told all my friends who were expecting me to have the baby the next day the really sad news. When I got home I got out the treadmill and walked a mile, did some squats, showered and got my hospital bag ready hoping I would go into labor that night. I woke up the 18th feeling GREAT. My body felt better than it had in the past couple of months and I felt so discouraged by that because I figured there was no way I was going into labor. My friend Audrey called me and told me to bring Jaxon to her house (she was going to watch him while I had the baby) anyway and for Dan and I to go to a nice lunch (eating something spicy) and go on a long walk and see if that didn't put me into labor. If it did - great, but if not at least we would get a date before the baby came. I thought it was so sweet of her so Dan and I decided to take her up on that. We took the hospital bag with us just in case and went to Fuzzy's (a Mexican restaurant) for lunch. Afterwards we went to a park that is across the street from the hospital I was going to deliver at and I jogged around, went down the slide, swung on the swings, jumped up and down on this bouncy thing, and Dan and I laughed our heads off and got some pretty funny looks while doing all of this. When I got in the car I told Dan to just take me to the hospital. I was feeling some pressure that was coming every 10ish minutes - I didn't think they were contractions but since my doctor said ANYTHING that was consistent to go in - I had felt three haha so we parked the car, I walked up 4 flights of stairs to labor and delivery and when I got to the front desk I said, "I think I'm in labor" that was at 1:30pm - they took me to Labor and Delivery room number one, had me change into a gown and a nurse came in to check me. She said I was dilated to a 5 so to plan on having the baby! When she left the room Dan and I were so excited - I honestly didn't think they would keep me. I thought they would tell me I wasn't having contractions - it was false labor and send me home. We called Audrey and told her to plan on keeping Jaxon for a while longer - called our parents and got ready for miss Addison to arrive. They got me all hooked up to the heart monitor for the baby and the contraction monitor (and I was actually having contractions - they were just SUPER mellow compared to the ones I had with Jax so I had no idea I was having them). I was feeling so great though I just wanted to walk around to keep the labor progressing quickly. We waited in the room for over an hour before the nurse came back in (they were really busy that day - only one open room) and I told her I wanted to walk around because my contractions were still not consistent and had actually slowed down a little bit. She told me my doctor was on her way over to do a C-section so she would break my water and that would speed things up. My doctor got there at 3:00pmish and broke my water. They told me they needed to give me the epidural then (even though up to this point I was not in pain at all - just feeling some pressure from mild contractions) because there were several scheduled C-sections and they didn't want him to not be available when I needed it so I agreed and got the epidural. It was so easy, he did SUCH a great job and I asked him to give me a very low dosage so I could still have feeling. He agreed and the perfect amount was administered. All that was done and over with about 4:00pm - the nurse checked me and said I was a 6 and she would check on me again in about 40 mins to an hour, when she came back in an hour later at 5:00pm I was only a 7 so I was a bit discouraged but I could feel the contractions getting stronger and more intense. I was on my side at this point with pillows all around - very comfortable, trying to get some sleep. It wasn't even 10 mins after the nurse left that I started feeling A LOT of pressure and like I needed to push - but she had just checked me and told me I was only a 7 so I figured I would wait for a little bit and see if that feeling went away before calling anyone in. 10 more mins and I told Dan to get the nurse in there - I really felt like I needed to push - it was 5:20ish at this point. She came in, checked me and said I was at at 10. I was still on my side so she had me lift my leg and give a mild push for 10 seconds - I did, she told me to stop and she ran to get the doctor. Everything went REALLY fast from there. The doctor and a team of nurses came running in got everything ready and told me to push when I felt the urge to do so. I pushed two times really hard for 10 seconds each and Dan said, "wow look at all that dark hair" - the doctor told me to give a little push and I felt her head come out, then they said to give one more small push and she was out. They put her immediately up on my chest for skin to skin contact and it was the most amazing feeling to hold my little girl for the first time.

WARNING - this next part is kinda gross so don't read if you don't want to.
The plan was to have everyone leave the room after so we could have our family time for the hour we would be staying in the labor and delivery room, but I started bleeding really bad and they were not able to get it under control so they took Addison away from me over to weigh and measure her, and more nurses came in to help. This part was no fun. I had a nurse who was "kneading" my stomach with her fist so hard that even though I had an epidural, it still hurt so much worse than any of the labor pains and she kept apologizing telling me that I would be in so much pain after it totally wore off and she was very sorry. I could see them picking up several cloth things just soaked with blood over and over again, the doctor was getting covered in blood and I so I decided I better just not look so I wouldn't go into shock. My body was just shaking and I started getting a little worried but I felt very at peace so I knew everything was going to be fine. The doctor yelled something to one of the nurses who ran out and came back in with a big needle which she shot into my thigh. After that things seemed to get better. They doctor and nurses were able to finish everything up and give us the family time we wanted. We ended up staying in the labor and deliver room FOREVER because I think they wanted to make sure I didn't start bleeding again before they moved me to recovery. Dan was able to give Addison her first bath while we were in there and he did such a good job! They finally moved us to recovery and it was after 9 at this point. My sweet friend Audrey told us Jaxon could just spend the night so Dan would be able to stay with me. After a while we decided it would be better if Dan went home and got a good nights rest so he left around midnight and I tried to get some sleep. Around 4 in the morning I felt the worst feeling in the world - I felt blood just gushing out of me so I called the nurse and sure enough it was happening again. This happened with Jaxon so I guess I should have prepared for it but I thought since this labor was so short and went so well that I wouldn't have to deal with this part again. They had me walk to the bathroom and their was a trail of blood - I started feeling light headed and knew it was going to be a long night. The blood kept coming so they gave me another one of those shots in my thigh. This continued on and off until about 1:00pm on the 19th and every time it would happen they would "knead" my stomach which was so painful. After 2 shots and 4 pills of who knows what it finally stopped for good. But they wouldn't let me do very much walking or anything in case it started again.

On the 19th around 11:00am ish Dan and Jaxon came to visit and Jaxon met Addison for the first time. When he got in the room he didn't really know what to think and he kept asking me if I was hurt. Then we showed him Addison and he asked if he could hold her - he was SOOOOO excited and it was the sweetest thing I have ever seen! They didn't stay long because I started bleeding again, but they came back that night and we had a celebratory dinner provided by the hospital to celebrate our new arrival. After they left I was finally able to get unhooked from everything and walk around the hospital a little bit. The 20th was wonderful - I felt so much better and I knew I would get to go home and be with my family. They kept me at the hospital longer than I wanted so they could make sure I was ok - so around 5:00pm I finally got to go home!  Everything was great with Addison - she had passed all her tests, and was a healthy happy baby. All the nurses would comment on how good and mellow she was.

Since we have been home we have learned that she likes to sleep on her side more than her back. She pees and poops like a champ, and Jaxon just loves her. He is always asking where the baby is if Dan or I aren't holding her.

We are so happy Addison is part of our family and I couldn't feel more blessed and lucky to be the mom of such adorable children.