My favorite blogs to write are the birth stories of our kids. I look forward to them having the opportunity to read about the day they came into this world someday when they are older, and it's going to be fun to reminisce about 3 of the best days of my life when I look back at this blog. 5 1/2 weeks after Mary was born I am finally getting a chance to sit down and write about her birthday.
The week leading up to Mary making her appearance was a little bit stressful since we knew we were moving to Oklahoma and doing everything that needed to be done to prepare for that. We had decided that I would stay back in California with the kids while Jonathan moved to Tulsa since I could not find an OB that was willing to deliver a VBAC patient who was so late in their pregnancy. I also had Intrahepatic Cholestasis and needed to go in twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) for non-stress tests and fluid level checks. On Tuesday September 2nd (37 weeks pregnant) I went in for my usual tests, and my fluid levels were just above the point where they would begin to get concerned. I then went to my non-stress test where they picked up on one definitive deceleration and two possible decelerations. Due to the decelerations I was sent to a perinatologist for a full biophysical profile. She scored an 8 out of 8, which was great, but I was still obviously a little bit scared from the two previous tests. My OB wanted to wait to induce until 39 weeks, but everything I have ever read about Cholestasis says to induce between 37 and 38 weeks. While at the biophysical profile, I asked the nurse doing the test to ask the perinatologist what his opinion was. He agreed that 37 to 38 weeks was ideal and said he would contact my OB to pass on his opinion since I had already reached that point in my pregnancy. Immediately following these tests I went to see my OB for my usual 37 week appointment. We agreed to schedule the induction, and we were scheduled for September 5th at 7 a.m.
That same night after all of these appointments I had some substantial bleeding. Jonathan had already moved to Oklahoma ahead of us, and my mother-in-law had not arrived yet, so I was all alone with the boys. I am so grateful to my friend Erin who lived in our neighborhood for coming over right at the kids' bedtime, putting them to bed for me, and sitting at our house to babysit!! My other friend Heather met me at Labor and Delivery to be with me in case Mary had to be delivered. After being checked out and monitored, they sent me back home. The day before the induction they gave me a foley catheter to try to dilate me to 4cm before actually giving me pitocin. It's a gentler way to induce you since I was doing another VBAC, and inductions are not preferable with VBACs even if you've already had one successfully. That night I was back in labor an delivery with contractions, bleeding, and the catheter had fallen out, but I was still only 2 cm just like at my appointment a few days earlier. A little after getting back from the hospital Jonathan arrived back in town to be there for the induction the next day.
Here's one last picture the night before the induction at 37 weeks, 2 days:
We arrived at the hospital on Friday September 5th at 7 a.m., and the nurses brought us back to our room to get the IV started and meet with my doctor. My doctor was upset the catheter had fallen out prematurely since it was going to make labor longer, and she felt the doctor who did it had done it incorrectly. By 8 a.m. they began small amounts of pitocin, and I began having actual contractions around 9 a.m. I tried to last as long as I possibly could without the epidural since I wanted to be able to drink fluids and walk around for as long as possible. Eventually in the early afternoon I reached the point where I wanted the epidural. Pitocen-induced contractions are just way too painful when you're not even that far along. After the epidural it was pretty much just us hanging out, watching tv, and relaxing. They had this on the board waiting for her arrival:
Around 7 pm I had reached 8 cm, but I wanted Jonathan to go out and get me food for after she was born before all of the restaurants closed. He asked the nurses if they thought he would get back in time, and they gave him the go ahead. Shortly after he left the epidural started to lose it's effectiveness, and the nurses recommended not having the anesthesiologist come back since it would be better for pushing to feel the 'pressure.' I was not totally on board with it, but I went with it :). Jonathan made it back as I was telling them that I really felt like I needed to push. They had me do a trial push before they called the doctor, and just as with Owen, they rushed the doctor in pretty quickly. Both Owen and Mary have been "brachial," which is really high up, until around 8 cm. However, around 9 cm they basically just dropped really quickly and are easy to push out quickly. Once the doctor came in and they were all set up, it took a big push, two small ones for the shoulders, and one more big push and she was out. I think I only pushed for maybe 5 minutes with Mary. Mary Kate Nichols was born on September 5th, 2014 at 8:34pm. She was 6 lbs., 15 oz. and 19.5 inches.
She wasn't born very early, but I was still a little bit anxious that she would have breathing or feeding problems after she was born. She didn't have any problems at all and scored a 9 on both Apgar tests that they completed after the birth. She had no issues with nursing and didn't need any additional monitoring.
I have to say that my 2 days in the hospital were magical! Jonathan slept at home and was home most of the day with the boys. My MIL gave me the advice to put Mary in the nursery at night and just have them bring her back for feedings. She said I have 2 other kids at home and can't come home completely sleep deprived. This honestly was some of the best advice. With both Jack and Owen I totally had the 'mommy-guilt' that it was selfish to put them in the nursery, but it was so great knowing that someone was watching her in the nursery while I got quality sleep between feedings every 3 hours. They would just gently wake me up, let me feed her, and bring her back to the nursery. I was a little bit bored during the day, but it was a wonderful, quiet type of boredom that home with two young boys does not offer :). I missed my boys, but it was so wonderful having the chance to just hold Mary, stare at her peacefully, and enjoy the short amount of time we had for it to be just us.
Mary has been such a blessing in this chaotic time of moving, because she is about as easy as a newborn could be. She doesn't cry often, and when she does it is easy to tell what she needs. She initially slept about 22-23 hours a day, and she occasionally would go a 4 hour stretch at night in the first 2-3 weeks. She is seriously the loudest baby ever when she sleeps! She is always moaning and kind of growling in her sleep which makes it hard to have her next to our bed sometimes. She has crazy loud gas like an adult, but I'm glad she gets it out instead of it all building up inside of her :). We are so in love with our little girl!
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