Well, I went in for my amniocentecis. It wasn't nearly as scary as I imagined it was going to be. It didn't hurt, but it felt really weird when the needle went through my uterus...during the ultrasound that they gave me before the amnio they said she was weighing about 8 & 1/2 lbs & my afi was 24.
After, I went to my nst. She was so active that they had to wait for her to calm down a bit before they stopped it. I then had to take the nst results back to the office where I had my amnio done (thankfully, just a few doors down the hall in the hospital) to let the doctor assess it & get the results of my amnio.
Well, when they called me back to tell me that her lungs were developed enough for her to be born, they said that they were going to induce me now. I was in such shock...my hospital bag was still sitting at home not completely finished, I hadn't made my labor cds yet, & a ton more things weren't ready at home. So, I called my mother to make arrangements for picking up the kids from my house & my friend who took me to the appointment took them home.
They started me on the pitocin at 11.25am. Dan arrived shortly after & left to go get my sister when the nurse said I had hours before anything would really start happening. At about noon they broke my water & I called Dan to let him know he needed to get back here. I talked on the phone with my sister to help keep me distracted, but I had to let her go shortly after because things started getting intense. I had tried going natural but when I got to the point that I was in tears & alone, I couldn't do it anymore and asked for an epidural. Plus, I had only dilated a centimeter in that time pitting me at 4 cm. Dan & my sister walked in when they were halfway done with the epidural. I was so happy that they were finally there. Twenty minutes later, they checked me again & this time I'd progressed to almost 8 cm dilated. Apparently, getting an epidural can quicken labor in the beginning. As the epidural was kicking in I started feeling a lot more pressure & the nurse had me practice push. She told me to stop because she was right there & they called the doctor up. Unfortunately, she was about 30 minutes away, she thought she had time. Ha-ha. The epidural had fully kicked in by this point & I began itching & shivering uncontrollably. The doctor comes in (who's also pregnant) to let me know she's here & to go change. When she came back, they readied the bed for delivery, & 3 pushes (tops) Kyrielle Aleise was born at 3:32 pm July 15th, after just 4 hours of labor.
We did delayed cord clamping & once that was done, we did kangaroo care (aka the breast crawl). Kyri found the nipple but because my nipple was too flat, she had difficulty latching. I tried getting it to firm up, but it wouldn't, so I had to sit up and put her to my breast. She still wouldn't latch on though & in fact, just pressed her lips closed. She apparent was more interested in looking around & checking everything out. I was amazed at how alert she was. Neither of my other two were nearly as alert. Kyri was weighed and measured: 7 lbs 1 oz & 18 1/4 inches long. *NOT* a big baby...And I realized that they waited to put eye drops in her eyes - nice!
They took me up to my room which was a gorgeous room I'm the corner. They had a little care pouch full of toiletries & even a deck of cards & a note pad for me. They had everything covered. And most of the nurses at Fairview Hospital were great, the lactation consultant kinda sucked though. On the second day she weighed 6 lbs 14 oz & by the time we left was weighing 6 lbs 9 oz. She's soo tiny and cute! She's the smallest baby Ive ever met. We barely have any clothes that actually fit her because we thought she was going to be bigger.
Kyrielle still had some difficulty latching on, its getting a bit better. I think a lot of it has to do with her being born at 37 weeks 6 days. She's also very jumpy, "shivers" when she gets uncomfortable, & loves to be held. This may be a problem unless I can get a moby wrap really soon. She's a pretty good breastfeeeder & so far hasn't wanted to eat continuously. Which is really nice. With my son, he was almost continuously attached to me - I was lucky to get 15 minutes to myself.
Nothing went the way I had hoped. I got induced, I was confined to a bed, I didn't want an epidural, I didn't want to deliver on my back, half the people I wanted to be there weren't, hell my husband would've missed it if I didn't call when I did...but I don't care. It was still an amazing birth experience... And I look at her and I am in complete awe. Sometimes, I can't believe it. It took over two years to conceive her. And two heartbreaking losses...and while I frequently still mourn those losses, I am thankful at the same time...I look at it as they gave their lives so that Kyri can have hers. And I finally had a "normal" pregnancy for the most part. No bleeding, no daily needles...and now she's here & she's gorgeous & utterly perfect. <3
*i will upload more photos later, I think my phone only allows one photo per post...*
