Clara's Birth Story

Even though I had thought  (and hoped) I would go into labor on my own before 39 weeks, I did not, so we went forward with my induction.  I was up late the night before, cleaning house like a madwoman.  I fully scrubbed both bathrooms (including showers/tubs), swept/mopped, did loads of laundry, and made my house as beautiful as possible (figuring it'd be a long time before it looked that way again, but how nice it would be to come home to a clean home--for at least a little while).  : )

My mom stayed the night at our house Wednesday so she could take care of Eli during the day Thursday.  Thursday evening she took him back to our house for the night, then he spent Friday and Saturday night at her house.  It was very helpful to me and David to have Eli kept busy in good hands, and to have some quiet time at home after we arrived.

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am on Thursday, July 25th.  Thankfully I was allowed to eat a small breakfast before leaving my house (though of course it wasn't nearly enough and I felt so famished through the very long wait of a day).  I was having more painful contractions on our way there and while they were getting me set up (8 minutes apart).  It was so nice because I just walked into my room and people came to me to get me registered.  I had previously been told they wouldn't start the induction until 7:30, but the nurses said we could start right away.  After monitoring the baby for a little bit, they could see that she wasn't handling the contractions I was having on my own very well.  Her heart rate dropped so they wanted to wait until the Dr. arrived to see what she wanted to do.  In the meantime they gave me lots of fluids to give a cushioning for the baby, in the hopes that would help her with the contractions.  Oh, boy, more fluids in an already very fluid-filled pregnant lady?!  Bring on more swelling!

When my Dr. came (around 7:30), she did an internal exam (quite a painful one, and thankfully my only one til after my epidural).  I was still 3 cm and 80% effaced, like my 38 week appointment.  She said to start me on a small amount of Pitocin to see how things go.  The Dr. gave me a good little scare when she told me I might need to be on oxygen later on, and there may be a chance that we'd end up with a c-section!  Ugh, definitely not things you want to hear from the get-go.

We had a quiet and slow morning.  I read from my Healthy Sleep, Happy Child book, and we watched Gilmore Girls and Full House on tv.  : )  During that time I just had slow irregular contractions without pain (just uncomfortable).

My contractions picked up around 11:30, and I had 30 minutes or so of hard ones.  Even though I was hurting and wished I had a punching bag and felt like I was going to throw up, I was also happy to finally feel some and thought for sure this meant we were really progressing.  Around noon I asked for my epidural.  Soon after asking my mom, dad, and sister, Becky, arrived with Eli and my happiness at seeing him seemed to make my contractions settle down.  : )

I received my epidural around 12:30.  I felt lots of pressure and a bit of pain, but the nurses and anesthesiologist really did a good job at helping me work through it and made the process much better.  Right before I received my epidural I went to the bathroom, and I think it also helped me feel a lot better, and prevented me from any embarrassing moments on the delivery table.  : )

After me epidural I was checked by my Dr. and had my water broken.  At that point I was 4 cm and 90% effaced.  Only 4!!  5 hours so far and only one up in cm!  VERY disappointing.  It was so weird to know that I made a huge spill and couldn't feel a thing.  David said they stuck what looked like a big crochet hook up me.  Lovely. (My water broke at home with Eli.)

For the next couple hours we again just hung out.  David's parents arrived a little after noon.  Everyone visited in my room for awhile.  Eli enjoyed playing with a magnetic sand table out in the waiting room.  He also got to watch the diggers at work outside the hospital and made crafts with Grammie.  Even though he pretty much spent his day at the hospital, he was very good, happy, and pretty patient.  David served me ice chips and even snuck in some peppermint patties to hold me over.  : )  He was very helpful at giving me rubs and just being there for me.

I was checked again around 3 and what do you know...still ONLY 4 CM DILATED!!  GRRR!!  Talk about the LONGEST wait EVER!! So incredibly frustrating having no progression.  I thought for sure we'd at least have a baby by 4:00!  I felt terrible everyone was just waiting around with me, and missing out on enjoying such a beautiful weather day.  I was also starting to get worried that the baby wouldn't come until nighttime and Eli would have to come back to meet her the following day.  They upped my Pitocin (as I was given such a small amount in the early morning).

When I was checked at 5:00 I was 5 cm.  I convinced David to go grab a bite of dinner with the rest of the family, as I was clearly not going to be ready to push any time soon.  (When I was in labor with Eli David and everyone else left to go have dinner when I was a 5-6.  I called him, crying, to hurry up and get back because it was time to push!)

I started feeling the contractions again, and they were getting stronger and more painful for me.  I asked to have another dose of epidural.  The anesthesiologist gave me more that was supposed to hold me over through delivery.  At 5:30 I was 7 cm.  By then my doctor's shift was over, but she so kindly stayed to see me through til the end.  At 6:00 I was 9 cm!

While David was gone I texted him and said how much pain I was in and that I was getting some more epidural.  He got back in the knick of time!  Even though I'd had that extra epidural dose, as I continued to progress higher my pain really started to increase and I began to feel lots of pressure.  I really felt it was time to push.  When the nurses looked at me they said my epidural was completely run out!  They said I could get a "delivery dose" to help me through, or I could forego it and push out the baby right then.  I just started crying.  I was in so much pain and pressure and was absolutely terrified to deliver without the epidural (my epidural was running out when I delivered Eli and that was a horrific experience).  I was scared and didn't know what to do.  We didn't think I'd even make it through without the epidural, so we said to get that last dose.  While that was happening, my nurses were looking for my Dr. to tell her it was time to push.  It took a while to get the Dr. there, and when we finally started pushing my epidural had kicked in and got me through.

I only pushed for 15-20 minutes before Clara was born.  I didn't think the pushing was too difficult, just very exhausting.  Once Clara was born they placed her on my tummy.  I was a bit taken aback by how yucky she looked!  I prefer to just see them when they've been cleaned.  : )  (But of course along with thinking she looked yucky I was also filled with joy at her arrival.)  David cut the cord and they whisked her off for a little bit while I finished my delivery and got stitched up (I had a 2-3 degree tear.  Much better, especially with the good work of my Dr.).  The baby was born at 7:11 pm, making for about a 12-hour labor (barely shorter than Eli's).  She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long.  We named her Clara Rosalie.  'Clara' has been my favorite girls' name for many years, and 'Rosalie' is my grandma's name, my only living grandparent.

After the delivery David went to the waiting room to bring just Eli in first so we could have a special introduction to his sister.  As soon as Eli met Clara she was crying.  He said, "She's crying!  She needs her paci!"  : )  He sat with me on the bed while I held Clara and we shared a sweet moment, even though I was shaking horribly (finally calmed down later that night).

When we were ready for more visitors David and Eli went to get the rest of our family.  Eli very happily told them, "Come on!  Come meet my sister!"  : )  They each took turns holding Clara and taking pictures.  They didn't stay too long since it was getting late and I obviously needed rest.  During this time we also gave Eli his present from Clara.  It was a little toy train to add to the ones he has at home.  He loved it and right away said, "Thank you, Clara!"

Grammie Metheny

G & G Hayes

I really struggled that evening.  I remember crying and telling my nurse I felt like I was dying (yes, probably a bit dramatic but I really did feel terrible).  About 10:00 that night we moved from the labor and delivery room to the recovery room.  I cried in the wheelchair and thought, "I better forget all this horribleness or we're not having any more kids!"  I was pretty darn miserable with afterbirth pains and all that jazz.  I had a fever and felt like I had a bad flu.  Once I got over feeling really nauseous I ate some dinner and (tried) to sleep.  Clara stayed in the Nursery and was brought to me for feedings.  Right away she was great at eating, something which I was incredibly grateful for, after all the struggles with Eli.

David enjoyed snapping lots and lots of photos of Clara in the hospital.  Right away I could tell that she was a heart-melter with her Daddy, and I hope they'll have a close relationship.

Even though I was super exhausted, I felt better the next couple days and enjoyed having my mom, sister and brother-in-law, and Eli come to visit, as well as almost all of David's family.

Long-legged girl!  Daddy's so proud she has his narrow feet!  

The worst part of the hospital (besides feeling like poo), is the annoying nurses who never leave you alone.  The best part was the food!  I had a menu full of a variety of choices and got very filling meals (that I was even able to share with David, who was slowly withering away from being cooped up so much and without enough nutrition).  I even got to choose yummy desserts with my lunches and dinners!  How sad to have to come home and go back to preparing my own food.  : (  What was also nice was that there was a little kitchen with some snacks available 24/7 for David, so that kept him going.  : )

We headed home Saturday night.  It felt so strange coming home with a new baby and no Eli here.  We sure missed him while he was away!  David and I enjoyed our bonding time with Clara and figuring out again how to take care of a brand new little one.

We're so happy to have Clara officially part of our family, and love her so much already!  Next blog post I'll update on my recovery and life at home with BOTH kids.  : )