We are one of those rare couples that doesn't find out the sex of the baby...I know crazy right!?! I only have a handful of friends that also waited to be surprised. I am not saying this is the best way, but for us, it's worth the wait. Brett says, "There are precious few surprises in life, and this is one of them." I couldn't agree more.
I write the birth story down as soon as I can, because again my memory is terrible. So this is coming straight from Tay Tay's baby book.
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38 weeks |
Tuesday, April 5th 2011 contractions started at 8 pm during our breastfeeding class. They were coming five minutes apart and started to hurt. Brett said my face turned red during each one. I called my mom as we drove home, and she got in her car with Amy and picked up Beka on the way.
By 11 pm my contractions started coming closer together, they were 3-4 minutes apart. Brett was using contraction master to time them. An hour later, the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. I tried to get some sleep, but I couldn't fall asleep with the pain. So mom and I stayed awake and I had her push on my lower back during the hard contractions. By 4:30 am we tried to rest again. We were having a hard time deciding if we should go to the hospital. I napped for about a half hour and Brett woke up at 5 am to check on me. My contractions had slowed down, only 5-8 minutes apart and weren't quite as painful. I went back to sleep around 7:30 and slept until 9:30 am.
We decided to call the hospital and get checked out. I wanted to see if I had progressed any farther. We got to the hospital around 11:30 and they took us into a triage room to see if I was actually in labor. I got hooked up to a non-stress test and they took my blood pressure. My contractions had slowed down and were coming every 5-8 minutes. My blood pressure was really high every time they took it. Dr. Wing (now Dr. Lipinski) came in after the nurse Barb had checked my cervix (which was around 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced). She was concerned with the blood pressure being so high, so she admitted me into the hospital.
At 1 pm they brought us into room 391. My labor nurse, Lisa, came in soon after. They didn't really want me to walk around since my blood pressure was so high. Barb gave me an IV and asked Dr. Wing if I could start walking the hallway to get things going. Dr. Wing approved and I started pushing my bag of fluid down the hall in my lovely hospital gown and slippers. I could only walk for 30 minutes at a time and then Lisa would check my blood pressure to make sure it wasn't too high.
Dr. Wing came in and broke my water to speed up the process. Brett teared up once she broke my water. He knew there was no going back and soon we would get to see our baby. I was able to walk more and the contractions came even harder. We walked back to the room and I used the birthing ball while mom and took turns pushing on my back during the contractions.
Barb came in to check on me and asked when I'd be getting the epidural. I said I didn't want to get it too soon. She then asked if I was going to deliver naturally and I said no. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Barb was persistent. I really liked her. She explained it takes about an hour from the time you request to get an epidural for the anesthesiologist to come and administer the drug. Then it takes a few minutes for the epidural to kick in. I said to go ahead and order me an epidural :) The anesthesiologist came in around 7. He was super busy since a lot of women were in labor. Brett and I were both nervous about the epidural, but it went well. I leaned on Lisa while it was administered and I really didn't feel anything. The IV was much worse, and that's what the anesthesiologist had said. I was 6 1/2 cm dilated when I got the epidural. It kicked in about 15 minutes later. I felt very relaxed. My blood pressure was a lot lower and I was even able to watch the show Hoarders while I was having contractions. I soon noticed a hot spot though on my right lower back. I had mom push really hard on that spot when I had a contraction, the counter pressure helped. Brett held my hand and did the deep breathing with me. Around 10:30 pm Lisa checked me and I was 8 cm. I had started shaking, mom thought I had to be in transition. I didn't want her to say that though and then not be that far along. I was so excited!
My back continued to hurt even after I had pushed the button for more epidural medicine to start flowing. We know now that was a bad idea, since my other side was numb for a long time. Mom was pushing so hard on my back that she was shaking and I was doing my breathing while squeezing Brett's hand off. At 12:12 Lisa checked me and I was 9 1/2 cm dilated. Dr. Wing then came in and checked me soon after that and said I had a little part of my cervix (a lip) on one side. She pushed it away while she had me push at the same time. She then said I was a 10 and I started bawling. I said, "I don't know why I'm crying." It hit me in that moment that very soon I'd meet our sweet baby.
Lisa got my bed set up for pushing. We had them lower the stirrups. There was an assistant nurse for Dr. Wing and 2 other nurses for the baby plus Dr. Wing and Lisa. What a party! Brett held my left hand and mom held my right. They shoved me up when I had a contraction and I took a deep cleansing breath and then another breath to push. Dr. Wing had me push 3 times for each contraction. My contractions slowed down to only 5 minutes apart. Everyone kept telling me that they saw the head and the baby's black hair. They were coaching me through the pushing. Mom and Brett were pushing with me :)
Finally after one hour the head crowned. Right before they asked if I wanted to feel the baby's head. I was hesitant at first, but got so excited after I felt the head. Once the head had crowned I pushed the baby out with the contraction. Dr. Wing guided the baby out and Brett announced...IT'S A GIRL!!! He got to cut the cord. She was very white, but bright eyed. She didn't cry, she just looked all around. Her head was a little cone shaped too, but that soon went away. She was placed on my bare chest, just staring at me. Brett and I were crying tears of joy. I'm pretty sure most of the people in the room were crying with us. It was such a precious moment...made waiting 9 months worth it."
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Taylor Rae Randall born on Thursday, April 7th 2011 at 1:27 am. She weighed 5 lbs 13 oz, 18 1/2 inches. |
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Holding Daddy's finger |
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She's so little that Brett started calling her "Bitty" and the name stuck. |
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One of her favorite spots |
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Blessed to have had all my sisters and mom there. |
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Grandma Taylor |
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Aunt Hannah |
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Aunt Beka |
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Aunt Amy |
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Grandpa and Grandma Taylor |
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Grandma Randall |
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Aunt Holly |
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Grandpa Randall |
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Uncle Bryce |
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Going home |
Our sweet little angel baby