Where do I even begin?! This week has been the most life changing week of my entire life. I have never felt so many waves of emotion and love at the same time. This post probably has WAY too many pictures and a little too much info, but since I consider this my journal, I want to remember every detail... so this is your warning to stop reading now ;)
Monday, January 26, I woke up really crampy... more crampy than usual. I went on with my day and tried to ignore it. As the day went on, I started getting a really bad back ache that was almost unbearable. I stayed in bed most of the afternoon, hoping that laying down would help. Around 5 pm, I was seriously miserable. I started to notice a pattern in my cramps, they would come and go. I started timing them and they were coming 5 minutes apart. I told myself they couldn't be contractions, because I always heard contractions were super painful, and these just felt like period cramps. I kept timing them and around 9 pm I decided I should call the on-call nurse at my doctors office to see what I should do, since they had been coming every 5 minutes for the last 4 hours. She said if they are still coming every 5 minutes for the next hour, I need to go to labor and delivery. As soon as I told Chad, he jumped up and grabbed my hospital bag and was ready to leave. I was more hesitant because I wasn't in THAT much pain and I didn't want to go to the hospital and then get turned away and have to come back home. Around 11 pm, the cramps were getting a lot stronger and I decided we should probably head to the hospital to get checked out.
We checked into Utah Valley Regional Hospital around 11:15 pm. We were put in a room and I was hooked up to monitors so they could track my contractions. At this point, I was 3 cm dilated and having contractions every 3-4 minutes. I'm glad we got to the hospital when we did because my contractions were pretty painful and very uncomfortable.
The nurse said they would check me in an hour to see if I've dilated anymore, if not, they would send me home. An hour passed and I was 4 cm dilated. My contractions were now coming every 2 minutes, and they decided to keep me because the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. I wanted the epidural as soon as I could. I didn't want to feel the contractions anymore; they were absolutely miserable! The anesthesiologist came in a few minutes later and gave it to me. Seriously, the best decision ever! Kudos to people who choose to go natural, but personally, I didn't want to feel the pain if I didn't have to. It was crazy to watch the monitor and see that I was having a strong contraction and not being able to feel a thing. It was amazing!
By this time, it was around 2 am and the nurse told us to sleep, and she would check up on me every hour to check dilation. I don't know about you, but trying to sleep while knowing you're going to have a baby, is absolutely impossible. I was so anxious and full of excitement that there was no way I was going to sleep.... and I didn't. Throughout the night, I probably got maybe 1 hour of sleep. Chad, on the other hand, was zonked out the whole night on the couch next to me. He didn't even wake up when they would come in to check me.
At 8:22 am, on January 27, I was finally 10 cm dilated and the pushing process began. I would push three times each contraction for 10 seconds each. For the next hour things were progressing well and baby was starting to move lower and lower. About 2 hours into pushing, I wasn't making anymore progress. The baby was in the birth canal, and when I would push, you could see his head start to poke out, and see all of his hair (!!!) but that's about as far as he would get.
Since the baby wasn't in any danger, his heart rate was still completely normal, and I still had some energy, Dr. Rees decided it would be best to just keep pushing until I physically couldn't anymore. This went on for 2 more hours! So after 4 hours of hard pushing, which the nurse said she has never seen anyone push that long, and the baby still in the same position, Dr. Rees said it would be best to do an episiotomy and use the vacuum to get him out. As the baby was coming out, Dr. Rees started doing his hair... making sure he looked good for his big arrival. Suddenly, Dr. Rees started yelling "one, two, three, four!" I was really confused and asked what he was counting for. He said the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's head 4 times!!! I instantly became nervous because I knew that can be bad on the baby's health (my sister had to immediately be placed on oxygen because her umbilical cord was wrapped once around her neck). Turns out, the umbilical cord was insanely long. Normal cords are between 50-60 cm long, and mine measured more than 4 feet long! Dr. Rees said he had never seen a cord that long, or one wrapped around a head that many times! Turns out, the long cord is what was preventing the baby from coming out or making any progress on his own.
Miraculously, baby was perfectly healthy and was immediately placed on my body. As I held him on my body, I can't even begin to describe the feelings I had. It was absolutely incredible. I want to go through labor again just to experience that first moment of being able to hold him in my arms. It was the coolest feeling in the entire world. It was as though nothing else in the world mattered.
Chad enjoyed watching the whole process of birth, which was surprising to both of us. Since he has a weak stomach when it comes to stuff like that, we thought he wouldn't be able to handle the whole thing, but he actually thought it was really cool and was able to take pictures during the whole process, which I am so grateful for. So.. prepare yourself for the picture overload.
Duke Daniel DeVore
8 lbs 6 oz
21 inches long
Born at 12:32 pm
My pregnancy definitely wasn't easy, and was probably one of most stressful and emotional times of my life, but being able to hold our little miracle in my arms made 4 months of bed rest completely worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I know it may sound crazy, but I actually loved giving birth and am excited to do it again someday! We love you to pieces Duke and can't imagine life without you!!!
Since the baby wasn't in any danger, his heart rate was still completely normal, and I still had some energy, Dr. Rees decided it would be best to just keep pushing until I physically couldn't anymore. This went on for 2 more hours! So after 4 hours of hard pushing, which the nurse said she has never seen anyone push that long, and the baby still in the same position, Dr. Rees said it would be best to do an episiotomy and use the vacuum to get him out. As the baby was coming out, Dr. Rees started doing his hair... making sure he looked good for his big arrival. Suddenly, Dr. Rees started yelling "one, two, three, four!" I was really confused and asked what he was counting for. He said the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's head 4 times!!! I instantly became nervous because I knew that can be bad on the baby's health (my sister had to immediately be placed on oxygen because her umbilical cord was wrapped once around her neck). Turns out, the umbilical cord was insanely long. Normal cords are between 50-60 cm long, and mine measured more than 4 feet long! Dr. Rees said he had never seen a cord that long, or one wrapped around a head that many times! Turns out, the long cord is what was preventing the baby from coming out or making any progress on his own.
Miraculously, baby was perfectly healthy and was immediately placed on my body. As I held him on my body, I can't even begin to describe the feelings I had. It was absolutely incredible. I want to go through labor again just to experience that first moment of being able to hold him in my arms. It was the coolest feeling in the entire world. It was as though nothing else in the world mattered.
Chad enjoyed watching the whole process of birth, which was surprising to both of us. Since he has a weak stomach when it comes to stuff like that, we thought he wouldn't be able to handle the whole thing, but he actually thought it was really cool and was able to take pictures during the whole process, which I am so grateful for. So.. prepare yourself for the picture overload.
Duke Daniel DeVore
8 lbs 6 oz
21 inches long
Born at 12:32 pm
Note: The vacuum extraction causes an extreme cone head. I definitely wasn't expecting it to be that bad. The swelling went down after one day and is now completely normal ;)
The umbilical cord is still attached to the placenta and is still inside my stomach. Crazy long!!
Chad was able to cut the umbilical cord.
I really loved the whole hospital experience. I would've stayed a whole week if I could've. The food, staff, and overall experience was top notch. I would definitely recommend delivering at Utah Valley. Such a good experience!
Duke's take home outfit.
First family picture
