OCTOBER 11th: I had my 38 week Dr's appointment. I was dilated to a 2 and my Dr also stripped my membranes. I did tell him he could accidentally break my water and I wouldn't tell anyone, and that I would even clean it up myself :) I was so ready for this baby to be out! I headed back to work after my appointment. Work had been pretty slow with one of the Dr's being gone, so when I got there they told me I could just go home if I wanted and that they really wouldn't need me the next few days unless I wanted the hours. I was so grateful! It had been so hard working on my feet all day and by the end of the 12 hour days my legs looked like tree trunks and my ankles were no where to be found! So I headed home, picked up Braelin from daycare, and was able to spend the next few days just being with Braelin and putting all my focus on her since her world was about to be turned upside down. :)
OCTOBER 17th: The hospital was suppose to call in the afternoon to let me know what time they would be ready for me the next morning. I waited and waited ALL day long. At about 4:15 I sent Hunter a text and said that it was probably just my luck and that they probably wouldn't even call me that day and that I would just have to wait until next week. I was mostly joking, but really felt like they should have called by now and thought they forgot about me! Hunter, being the best husband he is, called the hospital and asked. They said they had already finished making the calls and that my name wasn't on the list. They said we would have to call my Dr's office and have them send all my information over. At this point it was almost 4:30 and we couldn't talk over the phone and they were only open for 30 more minutes. So Hunter drove over to the office and told them what the hospital told us. They said they would look into it and give us a call back, even if it was after they were closed. Not too long after I received a phone call from the office saying that someone had forgotten to send my information over to the hospital but that it was sent over now and I should hear from the hospital soon. I was so upset. I had been told for weeks that this was set up and that the 18th would be the day. Plus you add pregnancy hormones and that doesn't help anyone. :) A few minutes later the hopsital called and said they wouldn't have a room for me and so I would be "On call" so when they have a room open up sometimes in the afternoon or at night that they would call me 30 minutes before I needed to be there.
OCTOBER 18th: I was able to get some sleep, but was so anxious and worried about missing the phone call from the hospital. I got up and started getting Braelin ready for the day and trying to keep her busy so she wouldn't make a huge mess in our deeply cleaned apartment. I stayed home most of the day and just waiting and waited. Then finally around 10 I needed to get out, so I ran an errand and went and put gas in the car. When I got home I started loading our bags in the car, that way when we got the call we would be ready to go. On my way walking to the car my phone started going off, I looked down and it was the hospital! I was so relieved that they actually called today! They told me to come in at 1 and they would be ready for me. It suddenly was very real. We were going to have this baby tonight or the next morning! We finished putting everything in the car and took Braelin to the babysitters and headed to the hospital. We got there right at one and checked in. They took me to my room and had my change and started getting everything ready.
So I got hooked up to all the monitors and we got to listen to the baby's heart beat. My nurse, Karen (who was amazing! I was bummed that she wasn't my nurse the whole time) , Came in and we started going over all the questions. Then she asked if I was alright because my heart rate was up in the 150's. I told her I was really nervous for the IV but that was really the only part I was worried about. During all the questions they got me hooked up to the IV and it wasn't as bad as when I had Braelin, but man those things are seriously the worst! About ten minutes later I got really nauseous and starting throwing up a ton. Then I got really dizzy and when my ears started ringing I knew I was going to pass out. I told Hunter and said I don't feel good, i'm going to pass out, I am going to pass out. And that was the last thing I remember.
When I woke up a few minutes later, I still was pretty dizzy and nauseous. My contractions had already been about every 10 minutes for days but they were starting to pick up pretty quickly and coming every 4-5 minutes. I just stayed laying down and Hunter put on a baseball game.
Around 4 I had to go to the bathroom really bad, so Hunter helped me get up and get to the bathroom. Just as we were coming out of the bathroom, my Dr. was there to break my water! I got back in the bed and was a little nervous, but it wasn't bad at all. Just a small pinch and a little gush. He also had checked and I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced and baby was already down a lot more. At this point my nurse said she would give me about 5 minutes and then come in and change sheets on the bed, but she wanted the rest of the fluid to come out first. I sat up and me and Hunter were just talking when I just started gushing everywhere. It got up half the bed, was leaking of the sides of the bed. It was all over my hospital gown and on every single pillow. I was literally sitting in a tub of amniotic fluid. I just told Hunter it was fine and that we could wait until the nurse came back in, but quickly decided to call her when I was literally sitting in a couple inches of fluid. The nurse came in and couldn't believe how much fluids had come out. She had to change every single sheet and strip the bed down to nothing and also had to get me a new gown. Since I had to get up so she could change the whole bed, I decided to walk around for awhile to help with contractions, they were starting to get more painful and walking helped me not notice them as much.
Around 5:30 a few people from our families came and just hung out and talked for a little while. This is where the contractions were every 2 minutes and very painful. I just tried my best to breath through them, but these were SO painful. Much worse than what I remembered when I was in labor with Braelin. At about 5:45 I decided it was time for the epidural. They told me not to wait too long just in case the anesthesiologist wasn't able to get there for awhile, so I decided now was the best time and if I had to wait 30-40 minutes that I would be okay. This is when my Dr. came back in to check and see how I was doing. He also came to tell me he would be tied up at a basketball game in Draper from 6:30 until 8. I was so bummed, I told him I was going to keep this baby in until he got back. Which at this point I was still only dilated to a 3 so I figured we wouldn't be having this baby until after midnight anyways.
After my Dr. left, the anesthesiologist came in and went over paperwork and had me sit on the edge of the bed and did the epidural. Epidurals are the best, and it doesn't even hurt at all compared to the IV. I was starting to have a contraction in the middle of the epidural and was trying my best not to move, I also was gushing fluids again that were puddled around my feet. After the epidural, they had to change all the sheets again and my gown again. Then I was able to lay down and rest. My nurse was about to be off shift since it was after 6, but she was going to wait until she placed the catheter around 6:15. So at 6:15 she came back in and placed the catheter and checked me, I was only at a 3.5, so I figured I still had a ways to go. She also introduced me to my new nurse Annette (she was amazing also!).
Around 7:15 I started feeling a ton of pressure, but I didn't want to say anything because I really wanted my Dr. to get back before I delivered the baby. I knew I was probably at a 10 or getting close. The nurses had been struggling to get my blood pressure under control. It was very low and they had to keep giving me doses of medication to bring it back up. Every time the alarms would go off and I would look over at the machines, it said 80/50 and normal blood pressure is 120/80. Every time it would drop I would instantly get sick and start throwing up or getting really dizzy. After a call to the Dr. and the anesthesiologist, four doses of medication and more IV fluids they were able to get it up a little bit. I finally decided to ask Annette if she would check me again and told her I was feeling a ton of pressure.
So it was 7:45 and my nurse Annette checked me. We both were hoping and saying "small numbers, small numbers". Because she knew I really wanted my Dr. to deliver and he wouldn't be back for a little while still. So she checked and said, "Do you want the truth?". And I said yes, and she told me I was at an 8. Just a few minutes after that I had SO much pressure. I knew I was at a 10 now. Then the Dr. that was on call covering for my Dr. came in and introduced himself. They knew I wanted to try and wait, so they said they'd wait until 8:10 and check me again. But the baby's heart rate was starting to drop and they said she was ready to come out. They went and called my Dr. who was still going to be about 45 minutes until he would be back.
At 8:10 they came in and checked me and sure enough, I was at a 10. The Dr. talked to us for a little bit and said he wasn't concerned, but baby girls heart rate was dropping and she was not going to wait to come out! So I needed to start pushing. He left the room and Hunter and I had just a few minutes to ourselves. We couldn't believe how fast this had happened. I went from a 3.5 to a 10 in barely an hour. After a few minutes the nurses and Dr. came back in and were getting everything ready.
I started pushing around 8:20. I had had a really bad cough for weeks now and it was really hard to push and to have to stop and start coughing. I was really struggling with pushing, which was surprising because I only pushed a few times with Braelin. I finally was able to get it down and The Dr. Said baby was coming face up which was why I was having a hard time because its more difficult to push them out this way. So I just had to push a lot harder and longer. He told me she had a lot of hair but that he wouldn't tell me the color to give me some motivation to push to get her here. We pushed for 10 seconds with each contraction and while we were waiting for a contraction, her head just literally popped out on its own, it was the craziest feeling. Especially hearing the Dr. say she wasn't going to wait anymore! So after only 6 hours of labor and 19 minutes of pushing, she was here!
Kenlie Ann Chamberlain
Born 10.18.2016 at 8:39 pm
7 pounds 3 ounces and 19.5 inches long
When I was doing skin to skin with Kenlie, my blood pressure dropped again, this time it was even lower. I instantly started throwing up a lot and had to ask the nurse to hurry and take Kenlie because I couldn't stop throwing up. I got really dizzy, my ears started ringing, I started shaking uncontrollably and then everything went black. I woke up a few minutes later and they had oxygen on me and gave me more medication to bring my blood pressure up along with some zofran. I started feeling a lot better, so they brought Kenlie back over to me where I got to hold her again.
We got to stay in the room for about 1.5-2 hours before they took us downstairs. They took us to our room and let me rest for a little while and then feed Kenlie before they took her for her bath around 11:45. Hunter went with her and I got to sleep for about an hour before they brought her back in.
Braelin didn't get to see her baby sister until the next afternoon. Hunter went and picked her up and she was so naughty. I think it was scary for her to see me in a hospital bed and wasn't sure what was going on. She kept saying, "Mommy owie." and didn't want to see me. She was pretty excited to see the baby, but only held her for maybe once second and then said she was all done. There was no getting a picture of all four of us, she definitely wasn't having it And I wasn't going to force her. So on October 20th we came home and my parents brought braelin around 8 pm. Once she got home she was an angel. She kept giving her sister kisses and asking to hold her and was just snuggling me and the baby. Babies are a little piece of heaven, and we are loving having her in our home!
