What once was four...

Wow! This has been an interesting pregnancy. Jason and I both had the impression that there was "something different" about this baby. Early on I was considering a Midwife or birthing center. But as I discussed it with Jason and some friends I remembered how my baby's heart-rates drop in the birth canal. I realized that in the event that my baby ever got stuck, a midwife would not be as well equipped as a doctor to get her out. This could be the difference between life and death. We also worried about making it to the hospital in time and so made a point to go a little earlier than my usual 20 minute window. In fact, Jason was the one who made the call as to when to go this time...

Nikell had a bad dream this morning around 3:30 and upon her entering my room, I found myself stuck in bed with a contraction. I put her back to bed and then slept on and off for another hour or so. By 4:30 or 5:00 I figured I wasn't going to be able to sleep anymore and so ventured out of bed. My contractions were very low and very much in my back...which worried me that this baby was going to be face up. But there was little I could do about it. I took a bath, hung swimming suits up to dry, and around 7:00 went in to wake up Jason. He ran the Provo Marathon yesterday (sort of) and came home to help my brother dig out a clump of 5 or 6 trees and then was the designated swimmer with the kids at our local pool. So I asked him if he got a good nights sleep because it was now officially over...it was baby time!

Jason's brother Travis blessed his baby today at 9:30 am. Grandma Nancy had planned a sleep over with our 4 girls so we called her and asked her to come get them a little earlier (before the blessing).

My contractions were anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes apart, but intensely in my back and lower abdomen. We hung out until around 10:15. It was at about this point that I started really reaching for Jason as the contractions hit. He said, "We usually have about 45 minutes from when you start calling my name. Let's go." We made it to the hospital 15 minutes later and met with very nice nurses. They readily accepted my denial of an IV and even a hep-block. They allowed Jason to gently hold the heart monitor on my belly. They were very nice. I was dilated to a 7 and my doctor was unavailable. Horsley was on call. The next half-hour found no comfort during contractions, but in between was fine. When she started descending into my hips, I suddenly recalled that this was my least favorite part of the whole ordeal. I silently prayed for help and mentally urged that baby to get out. Horsley reached in to check me and was surprised to be met with a face. She was not only sunny-side-up, but her head was tilted back so that she was literally trying to descend face-first. The problem with this is that pushing tilts the head back and the baby gets stuck. The problem with not pushing was that her heart-rate dropped down to the 50's for over 8 minutes. He ordered a C-Section, but the Surgeon was not at the hospital. Time was running out. It was about at this point that he declared that I was going to hate him forever. All I could think about was the pain. Everyone was yelling for me to PUSH. So I pushed...hard. But she wouldn't come. Then that good 'ole doctor got out the forceps and went in and pulled her out.

I remember Jason hugging me as I cried and pushed and cried. It was strangely comforting amongst the chaos and pain and yelling. I remember the doctor talking about how it's not often that his heart rate goes up like it did. He talked about having to do stuff that he'd only read about in text-books 10 years ago, whatever that was.

Our baby girl was officially yanked into this world at 11:41 am weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and being 19.5 inches long. She is fairly bruised and wasn't able to open her eyes until 7:oo pm due to the swelling, but is doing well. My biggest complaint is the condition of my tailbone...but I am doing well too!

Now on to a new adventure with Five Princesses...