The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday. I
love getting together with friends and family and enjoying the summer and having a bbq,
watching fireworks, and the parades. This year the “Fourth” was 2 days past my
due date. We had gone into the doctor on July 2nd and found out that I was
still dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. (I had been stuck at this point for
nearly 3 weeks.) The doctor ordered an ultrasound to make sure the baby wasn’t
in distress and everything was still progressing. It was such a fun ultrasound
to see this full grown baby just waiting to enter the world. He was breathing
well and they measured his femur estimating his weight at 6lbs 13 oz. When we
talked to the doctor he set an induction date with us for the upcoming Sunday.
Now, we figured, we just wait until then and I would be induced.
July 3rd was a really strange night, I couldn’t sleep and neither could Brady. I ended up starting a movie, falling asleep in it, and then a couple hours later waking up and starting the movie over because I couldn’t fall back asleep. Through all of this baby was having a crazy dance party in my stomach; kicking, stretching, and laying on my right rib making it very uncomfortable. I woke up the next morning on the couch, really groggy and tired but excited for the plans Brady and I had made for the day. We got ready and headed to the parade, followed by hamburgers on the grill and then both fell asleep for an afternoon nap. Later that afternoon we ran a few errands and Brady made a peach and blueberry pie. Around 5:30 we were sitting on the couch wondering when we should start the oven and cook the pie and when we needed to leave for the fireworks. As we were sitting there I got a super sharp cramp in my side and it took my breath away. Brady guessed it was a contraction but I had lost hope on that when I had gone past my due day. As the pain intensified I stood up to walk it off. Before I had taken 5 steps I felt something strange and all of the sudden, “gush.” I flipped around and just stared at Brady. It was kind of like time stopped for a minute as it sunk in what had just happened. Brady’s eyes got huge and he asked if my water had just broken, I started gathering my thoughts and jumped into the bathtub as Brady dialed the hospital. Standing there in the tub, a total mess, I explained to the nurse that “I think my water just broke….No it’s not a small amount…It just keeps coming and I am standing in the tub, because it won’t stop.” Now that I think about it, I think she was kind of laughing and told me to take a quick shower, gather my things and we could come down to the hospital. As I showered, Brady vacuumed, swept, and picked up the house. It was an awesome thing he did, because he knew I wanted our apartment to be put together for when we brought the baby home. After jumping out of the shower, I put my things together and Brady gave me a sweet blessing of peace and comfort and we were ready to go! He carried our bags down and I started to feel a little more pressure and pain at this point. Driving to the hospital was such a crazy feeling as we knew that the next time we drove our car it would be with a baby in the backseat.
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| July 4, 2014 40.2 weeks |
July 3rd was a really strange night, I couldn’t sleep and neither could Brady. I ended up starting a movie, falling asleep in it, and then a couple hours later waking up and starting the movie over because I couldn’t fall back asleep. Through all of this baby was having a crazy dance party in my stomach; kicking, stretching, and laying on my right rib making it very uncomfortable. I woke up the next morning on the couch, really groggy and tired but excited for the plans Brady and I had made for the day. We got ready and headed to the parade, followed by hamburgers on the grill and then both fell asleep for an afternoon nap. Later that afternoon we ran a few errands and Brady made a peach and blueberry pie. Around 5:30 we were sitting on the couch wondering when we should start the oven and cook the pie and when we needed to leave for the fireworks. As we were sitting there I got a super sharp cramp in my side and it took my breath away. Brady guessed it was a contraction but I had lost hope on that when I had gone past my due day. As the pain intensified I stood up to walk it off. Before I had taken 5 steps I felt something strange and all of the sudden, “gush.” I flipped around and just stared at Brady. It was kind of like time stopped for a minute as it sunk in what had just happened. Brady’s eyes got huge and he asked if my water had just broken, I started gathering my thoughts and jumped into the bathtub as Brady dialed the hospital. Standing there in the tub, a total mess, I explained to the nurse that “I think my water just broke….No it’s not a small amount…It just keeps coming and I am standing in the tub, because it won’t stop.” Now that I think about it, I think she was kind of laughing and told me to take a quick shower, gather my things and we could come down to the hospital. As I showered, Brady vacuumed, swept, and picked up the house. It was an awesome thing he did, because he knew I wanted our apartment to be put together for when we brought the baby home. After jumping out of the shower, I put my things together and Brady gave me a sweet blessing of peace and comfort and we were ready to go! He carried our bags down and I started to feel a little more pressure and pain at this point. Driving to the hospital was such a crazy feeling as we knew that the next time we drove our car it would be with a baby in the backseat.
When we arrived at Labor and Delivery they checked me in and
had the room already to go. I remember my heart swelling as I stared at the
room, the bed where our baby would be delivered and the baby bed where our son
would soon be, it was a lot to take in. After changing into a gown I climbed
into the bed and the nurse confirmed that my water had most definitely broken. She
was also a little concerned that their might be some meconium in with the baby
and explained to us the process of this. She said if the baby had swallowed the
meconium that they would immediately take him and the respiratory therapist
would take care of him, but if he came out screaming then he would more than
likely be OK and they would hand him straight to me. She then immediately
started me on an IV and told me I was super dehydrated, probably from the
parade and the hot day. Since it was a holiday, Admitting was off for the day
and the nurses helped us fill out the paperwork to stay. After all this was
taken care of the nurse told me I was still dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced.
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She
said they were going to call my doctor and I would probably be put on Pitocin
to help things move along. At this point they also switched nurses and I met
Noelle. After having a baby, I can’t emphasize the fact enough that awesome
nurses can make or break the experience and she made my experience wonderful.
She was extremely attentive and made me feel completely at ease.She asked me
what my pain plan was and I told her I did not want any narcotics or anything
else besides the epidural and as soon as they would give it to me I would take
it. She laughed and told me I had a smart plan which made me feel like I was
somewhat prepared. She called down to the anesthesiologist and found out he was in
surgery for the next 2 hours but as soon as he was done he would be up to give
me my epidural. For the next 2 hours Brady and I watched a little TV, talked, and took some pictures. We contacted our families and then I really started to
feel the contractions. As the time passed they went from being able to talk
through them to Brady telling me to breathe through them. When the anesthesiologist came in I was more than ready for the pain
to subside. As he talked to me about what he was about to do, I got really
scared and made sure Brady came around to talk me through it and let me squeeze
his hand. As I sat on the side of the bed Brady started asking me all these
questions about a foot surgery I had a couple years ago, it was totally random
but took my mind off the epidural for a minute and the next thing I knew he was
giving me a shot to make sure the epidural was going to work. A warm
tingling went through my back and the nurse helped me lie on my side. My legs
started to feel heavy and warm and I realized how tired I was. After they left, Brady and I sat in awe that this was really happening. It was around 11pm and
Noelle told me I was dilated to barely a 4 and 85% effaced. I kept thinking to
myself, “we are going to be one of those deliveries that takes 24 hours at this
pace.” She contacted my doctor who surprisingly asked to speak to me. He told
me how he had just finished watching the fireworks and asked how my holiday had
been. He then told me that he wasn’t going to start me on Pitocin (which I was
totally relieved from because I had been dreading it) he said I had a long
night ahead of me and with the epidural I should try to get as much sleep as
possible to save my energy for the pushing ahead. I didn’t quite realize how
smart this was until morning…
As Brady and I tried getting some sleep we turned on the TV
and started watching Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives (a food network show); which was kind of funny as we watched a
marathon of the show when we were on our honeymoon and now here we were at
another big moment in our lives doing the same thing. As we tried to sleep
Noelle came in and told me that she was ending her shift at midnight and my new
nurse Natalie would be taking care of me until morning. Before going she told
me I was a full 4 and 90% effaced. Natalie came in and introduced herself. She
was a complete sweetheart and took really good care of me. The next couple of
hours I kept praying and praying that our baby would be kept safe, that we
could raise him right and strong in the church, that we could be strong for him
and help him through this life. I don’t think I have ever prayed so long in my
life. My heart was bursting just thinking about this new little life and I
could barely stand it. I prayed for hours and listened to John Mayer Pandora Radio
to let the time pass. As I drifted in and out, Natalie came back in at 3 and
told me I was now dilated a full 5 and 90% effaced. Finally, I thought, I am
half way there. As I fell back asleep I figured tomorrow would be a long day of
waiting and waiting and let myself fall into a deep sleep for what was ahead of
us.
At 5:30 I woke up feeling really uncomfortable and to lots
of pressure and pain. I called over to Brady that I was hurting a lot and not
long after, my epidural started beeping. I called Natalie and she came in to see
what was going on. She called down to anesthesia to come and change it and they
instructed her to do it. Being her first time, it took her a good 30 minutes
and I had Brady come over so I could squeeze his hand through the contractions
that were becoming more intense. I couldn’t help but cry a little at this point
over the pain. It was excruciating. When Natalie had reset my epidural I
started to relax a bit and she checked me, she looked surprised and said, “You
are complete, you are a full 10, 100% effaced and you can start pushing as soon
as we switch nurses!” Brady and I both gave each other shocked looks as we
weren’t expecting everything to happen so fast. Natalie came back in with my
new nurse and introduced Esther to us, she would be coaching me through labor.
Esther was a total saint to us through the whole process. She was so sweet and
encouraging and honestly made both Brady and I feel like pros. If I could
recommend the best nurse to someone, I would recommend Esther! We got to know
each other a little and then she started prepping me for pushing, she talked a
lot to Brady and what his role would be. I started pushing at 6:20 am and Esther told me first time moms
sometimes push for an hour to an hour and a half. I would soon surpass this as I
pushed for the next hour and the next. 2 hours into pushing I just kept praying
the whole time that our baby would be born safe. Time sort of stopped and I was
really in the moment, it was the biggest adrenaline rush as with each contraction
(they were a minute and a half apart consistently) I would listen to Brady
count and close my eyes giving it all I had until he was done counting. He kept
feeding me ice chips and telling me what a good job I was doing. Esther kept
telling me how great I was at this and it made me feel strong. My doctor had
also arrived at 6 and kept coming in to check and see how I was doing. He kept
telling me that the baby was close but was having a hard time making it past my
pelvic bone, he explained that he thought the umbilical cord must be wrapped
around his neck and as I pushed he was getting tethered back in as in my last
couple of pushes his heart rate would drop just slightly. I was going to have
to give everything I had to get him out. The doctor was surprised that without pitocin I had set a regular contraction pattern at a minute and a half apart and had stayed consistent for the full 2.5 hours I pushed. After another 15 minutes or so of
pushing the doctor prepared for delivery. The respiratory therapist came in if
the meconium was an issue and the baby nurse to assist and we were already to go. The
nurse pulled out a vacuum just in case and the doctor explained to me that he
doubted he would have to use it but he was going to have it on hand just in
case. As I pushed for the last few times, I felt strong and knew that I could do it,
I dug deep to find every ounce of energy I had left. My chest was burning so
much I felt like I had run a marathon, my throat felt like sandpaper, my arms
were throbbing but I kept going. I have never pushed myself so hard, Brady gave
me the power to keep going as I listened to his voice and I knew I would not
quit. The doctor announced that this was finally my last push, I didn’t even
see him grab the vacuum but he reached for it and with my last push he lightly
guided the baby out. He eventually told us that he grabbed the vacuum because
baby’s heart rate dropped significantly. Luckily, the the umbilical cord was not wrapped around him but he had a very short umbilical cord that was making it hard for him to descend. Thankfully as he pulled him out we
heard our baby cry out and my heart burst.
Tavin Jay Anderson was born at 8:52am, as
healthy as could be. I will never be able to put the right words together to
describe the feeling of seeing my baby for the first time as they laid him on
my chest. On the inside I was thanking my Heavenly Father for letting me have
him and promising that I would be a good mother. I just kept thinking, “thank
you, thank you, thank you.” They carried him over to get cleaned up and I cried.
I cried hard. He was perfect, he was beautiful. How could I ever ask for more?
He had stolen my heart. They cleaned him up and checked his meconium levels and
soon gave him back to me. As he laid on my chest he became completely calm, his
great big eyes staring up at me and with Brady holding my hand I felt so
complete. I love my family. They are everything to me. I will never be able to
re-live that moment but I will never forget it. My heart is so full for the
blessing they are and I would give everything for them.
Tavin is the sweetest little spirit and brings us so much
happiness. I wish I could describe how he makes me feel whole, I feel so much
purpose and understand a little better the love our Father in Heaven has for
his children. During pregnancy I found this beautiful quote that describes how
I have been feeling, “Making the decision
to have a child-it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go
walking outside your body.”
