Saturday's Story: The Birth of Hallie

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Since we are celebrating the birth of our country, of course it is fitting to post a birth story here as well!  Keri and Dave are our good friends from college.  Dave was Lucas' roommate for 2 years.  We are going to get to see them this summer for the first time in a long time--I think Hallie was maybe 6 months when we last saw them--it's been too long, that's for sure!

Here is Keri's story:

Hallie was born on Wednesday, 7/12/06 at 2:57pm, after lots o’ labor…

On Monday, I decided to go on a 3-mile walk and do squats. I had already had my membranes swept (not a very fun experience), and I was ready for the baby to be born! Not surprisingly, I woke up that night (around 1am) having contractions. They were between 5-7 minutes apart, and weren’t too strong. I timed them until about 3am and then woke up Dave. We called the hospital and they told us to come in. We got to the hospital, excited, nervous, ready for a baby…and we were back home by 6:30am (I was only dilated a 2).

My mom arrived from Moberly around 10:30am and I spent the entire day have contractions. Between contractions, I SCRUBBED the floor, took a walk and got things ready for the baby. I was in serious nesting mode. Around 7pm, I decided I couldn't stand the pain anymore and we went back to the hospital. They checked me and I was....STILL only 2cm dilated. I was really bummed and extremely grouchy at the nurse, who told me she didn't think I was in "real" labor. If looks could kill...that woman would have been in a pile on the floor. They had me walk. And walk. And walk.

They checked me again and decided I HAD progressed a little (like, to 2 and a HALF), so they called the doctor and he told them to go ahead and admit me. A few botched IV's later and I was hooked up and ready to have a baby. The IV was the worst part of it. I had my comfy robe and was adamant NOT to have an IV. I insisted, but they insisted more. Next time…I will 100% refuse the IV. And the blood pressure thing. That was just annoying. Dave slept in a chair next to my bed and spent a lot of time watching ESPN. My mom also slept in the hospital with us and did Dave's job by rubbing my feet during contractions. The contractions continued through the night, and I finally allowed them to give me something to "take the edge" off. It worked, and I got a few hours of sleep. The doctor came in around 6:30am (this is Wednesday now) and started Pitosin because I had maybe progressed to a three. The Epidural Man was right behind him and got my drip started right away. Funny story – so they didn’t get the catheter in fast enough after my epidural took effect. ‘Nuff said. The epidural made me feel kind of sick, so I tried to rest for a lot of the day. My dad showed up around 11am and I had people in and out of my room the rest of the day. I loved it! There’s nothing like wanting to vomit while your grandmother-in-law is hanging out in the chair next to you. Lovely. I actually didn’t mind it at all. I liked having the family involved.

I started getting super tired (for almost 36 hours!), so we booted everyone out. The nurses checked me around 1pm and told me I was about 8cm. They called the doctor and when he came in a few minutes later to check me himself, I was a complete 10 cm and ready to push!! I remember thinking – wow, really?! Seriousy?! After all of this, I finally get to have a baby?! There was a lot of bustling around as they started getting everything ready. I got to just lay calmly and chitchat with my doctor (who is so pretty and smells awesome). My epidural had worn off just enough so I could feel the pressure and feel the need to push, but didn’t feel any pain. My awesome nurses instructed Dave to hold my leg (ha!) and the pushing began! I was really nervous that I would poop during labor and that Dave would make fun of me. And at one point – I said, “oh shoot – I think I just pooped – sorry about that!” And the nurse said, “honey, that was the head!” We all laughed hysterically at that point. I did one more push and Hallie Elizabeth entered the world at 7 pounds 2.5 ounces, 19.5 inches long, perfect. They placed her immediately on my chest while Dave cut the cord. Or did Dave cut the cord and then they put her on my chest? No matter. I had a small tear and an abrasion on my labia (sorry for the TMI – but OUCH!). And I was exhausted. I breastfed Hallie for about a half hour and then allowed my family to come in and see her for the first time. I literally could not keep my eyes open, so we made them leave and we just rested as a family. It was awesome.