The Hospital, and first few days home

So we got to the hospital, Matt had called and said to meet him at a side door that is locked during the night, and he would open it from the inside and take us up to triage.  His clinical lead supervisor for the night came with us and took us up to triage.  He had told everyone in the ICU pods that I was in labor, and of course arranged for someone else to come in to cover his shift.  His clinical lead was excited and she used to work in L&D, so she called ahead to them and told them we were coming and took us up.  We got to triage around 11pm and everyone there was SO great to us.  They were all wonderful.  I was at a 4, leaking lots of fluid and having steady, strong contractions.  After the initial assessment, I knew that they would keep me and not send me home, so I called my mom and said, get in the car this is it! 

The resident came by and did a quick ultrasound to make sure that everything looked good and that the baby was in good position, everything was great and they started my IV.  The stinky thing was that I didn't know the results of my Group B step test.  I had the test at my Dr's appointment that week, but as it was the middle of the night on a Sunday, we couldn't exactly call and get the results.  So they hung some antibiotics to be safe.  At this point I was still tolerating the pain really well and I was unsure whether or not I would want an epidural (I had one with Lily and didn't have one with Isabel).  They let me know that if I DID end up wanting an epidural I would need to get through the 2 bags of antibiotics and a bag of fluid before I could have one, which takes a while, so we got that process started.  My nurse and the resident assigned to me were AWESOME.  They were with me pretty much from the moment they decided to admit me until the baby was delivered, and they were really cool and fun.  Plus they were nice.  They kept complimenting me and made me feel like a rock star (a TOTALLY different experience from my last birth). 

After we got settled into the room my contractions got out of control.  I went into my "zone" which is just a very quiet, focused place.  I felt like I was going to die.  I didn't say anything, because I was just trying to focus and relax (which is impossible), until the RN asked me about the contractions.  She said that they were too intense.  They were not stopping.  One contraction was 'piggybacking' off the previous one and they were continuous.  Normally your body has a contraction that lasts a minute or 2 and then dies off and your body gets a minute break before you get another contraction, but my contractions weren't dying off.  There would be a slight dip in the intensity for about 10 seconds, then it would be back to "off the charts", so I was essentially having 10-15 minute contractions and the baby (and I) wasn't handling it well.  They gave me oxygen and had me roll from side to side and gave me an injection of Terbutaline to try and stop my contractions.  At this point I asked for the epidural.  The resident put a scalp monitor into the baby's head and they kept me on O2 and on my side, after a bit the contractions settled into a more "normal" active labor pattern and the Nurse Anesthetist came in and gave me my epidural.  Matt and I got to pick his brain and ask him about his schooling experience, since that is what Matt is applying for schools to do.

I know that it is not the cool or trendy thing to do, but I was SOOOOOOOOOOO glad that I got the epidural.  I don't regret it AT ALL.  It made my experience so much more enjoyable and I have seen no difference in my recovery or in the baby.  I was undecided after NOT having one last time, what I would do this time, but I am no longer undecided.  I want one EVERY time I have a baby from now on.  It was night and day.

The nurse checked me just after 1, before I got the epi, when my contractions were going crazy and I was at a 5.  Just before 2am, she checked me again to see how I was doing after the epidural and I was an 8, I called my mom to see if she would make it and she was in east mesa, so I thought she would make it.  However about 20 minutes later, I felt THE pressure.  The resident came in checked me and said "Ummm, well you have absolutely no cervix left, so that is probably why you feel the need to push!"  She asked me if I remembered how to push and I said, "Yeah.  You push.  Really hard."  She asked how long it took me to push last time and I told her the Dr didn't make it, so she decided to get everything ready, but to have me try not to push until the Dr came it.  Luckily he was just finishing up a C section down the hall, so he popped right over, shook my hand and had me push.  After the head was out I said, "Wow, that was quick, somebody should have timed that!"  One of the RN's said, well, I can look back on the monitor and tell you how long you were pushing, she checked and said, "It was...60 seconds" and we all laughed. 

The Nurse put her on my stomach and I exclaimed, "WOAH!  She is blond!"  I was so surprised! 

Sadly my mom walked in about 5 minutes after she was born, she just missed it (again! she also just missed Isabel's birth by minutes)

The nurse and resident and Dr, were all SO complimentary and made me feel great.  At the risk of making you roll your eyes at my bragging I will tell you a few of the things they said (not all of them, because then the bragging really would be disgustingly excessive).  After my epidural, when I was 8 the resident told me, "Wow, I just can't get over how relaxed you have been!  You are handling this better than anyone I've ever seen".  After the delivery the Dr told me that he wanted me to teach classes to all his patients, and that he would LOVE his job if all his deliveries were like mine, that he probably wouldn't have any gray hairs.  The nurse was full of all of the traditional, 'great job' and 'you are doing amazing', and 'I'm impressed', etc.  The whole atmosphere of the experience was just so positive and great.

When they measured her, they told me her head was 33cm (13 inches), which was a couple of inches smaller than my other girls (who had abnormally HUGE heads) and I said, "well THAT's why she was so easy to push out!"

I already gave you her stats in the previous post so I will skip those.  It took us about a day to decide on a name, we were REALLY unsure, but we finally settled on Kathryn LouAnne and NOW I am totally sure of our choice, but it took about a week of me being unsure!

I was nervous because she was almost considered 'premature', she was born at 2:33am and if she had been before midnight she would have been considered preemie, but she was perfectly healthy and strong!  She had a little bit of trouble regulating her body temp the first couple of hours of her life and had to spend some time under the warmer, but within a few hours she was fine.

We stayed in the hospital for 1 day.  The hospital pediatrician tried to make us stay an extra day because they didn't have the Group B results, which really upset me.  My knight in shining armour and wonderful husband was irritated and he called and got things faxed over and insisted that our nurse get the results (which were negative, like my other 2) to the Dr and ask that she change her mind so that we could be released.  Due to his persistent efforts we were able to be released and come home to see the girls, which was great.  I really missed them.  And they were SO excited to meet Kate.  They were and still are absolutely obsessed with her.  To tell the truth I think that we are all completely smitten.

She is SUCH a good baby.  She hardly ever cries, she mostly just grunts.  I call her my little cave woman, she is a major grunter.  She is a great eater and is growing like a weed, at her 2 week appointment she was 7lbs 2oz and 20.5 inches.  My only complaint is that she has her days and nights confused, she is up usually between midnight and 4am or so, this is her most awake and also most fussy time.  It is hard with the other 2 girls being awake and needing attention during the day.  I have had GREAT support to make it as easy on me as possible.  Matt got 2 weeks off of work, my mom was here for the first couple of days and then left (I missed her TERRIBLY) it was so nice to have her here!  Then she came back for 2 days after Matt went back to work, to help me with that transition, and she ended up taking the girls back home with her for the weekend, so they are there with her (having a blast) right now.  I miss them all, especially as Matt is working the entire time they are gone, it's so strange to be alone!  It sure is nice to get some sleep though!

After KatieLou's first bath, the ever helpful big sisters

And Izzie giving her baby a bath

This is what a little girl's hair looks like when mommy stays in bed for a few days...

Grandma Anne with her namesake

I feel like I have the BEST family in the world.  Kate is SUCH a great addition.  I was nervous as to how her presence would affect our dynamic, but that seems so silly now.  It is easy to see that our family NEVER could have been complete without her.  (don't read into the 'complete' part, we still aren't done)

She is such a sweet, snugly, wonderful little girl, I am SO smitten with her.  She smiles more than any baby I have ever met.  All the time, whether she is awake or asleep she is constantly smiling and even chuckling in her sleep. 

 I don't know if it is because I have a better understanding of how quickly this time goes, or if my feelings are just more tender because I have spent more time as a mother, but I am loving and appreciating this little baby phase more than ever before.  It is so magical, especially this time of year.  Our biggest blessing of 2010 and best Christmas present was definitely our sweet Kathryn.  It has been wonderful to see Matt with her (he is also especially smitten) and it warms my heart more than anything to see how much the girls love her and how dedicated they both are to being great big sisters.

I am so grateful for all of our blessings this year, none more so than our wonderful family.

We had a great Christmas, I will cover that with the next post!