A New Year, A New Addition!

They discharged Kendall and I last night!

It feels sensational to be home, especially since they officially admitted me on Wednesday. I felt as if I was there forever.

I was admitted Wednesday due to oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid levels), therefore I had to be induced to deliver. Once I got to the hospital and was all settled in they monitored Kendall for a little bit. Her heart rate was great with some minor dips in levels. Since she had some minor dips in levels and due to it being so late in the evening my doctor gave me a low dose of meds to trigger my labor instead of a constant IV of fluids. So it began! I started laboring in the hospital at about 9:30 PM New Years Eve. It was completely tolerable and comfortable. Gabe and I watched a movie, celebrated the New Year and then about 1:00 AM the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. Huh? An epidural so early? Since my labor kicked in I felt contractions and had minor cervical changes but wasn't in any sheer pain being that I wasn't put on Pitocin (IV meds to induce labor.) So I was quite surprised that the nurse offered this to me in such early labor terms. She explained that it would help me sleep through most of the early and middle stages of labor, so at about 1:45 AM I gave in and said, "Bring it on." From what I remembered with Lauren's labor and delivery the epidural wasn't much help, but other women rave over the assistance. So why not at least try again to see. My epidural man was a bit wacky. As he was sticking the needle in my back he told us that he ran home at New Year's, kissed his wife, and drank a glass of wine. That sounded greatly assuring as he was piercing my spine with a large needle. My epidural man took SO long! I was administered an epidural quite differently compared to how I received it when I delivered Lauren. Come to find out later that on my medical records it doesn't even state that I had one with her. The feeling was so incredibly different between the epidural I had now compared to the past. How could this be? I asked the nurse and apparently when I had Lauren I had the epidural so late in the game that they administer a different amount. After the epidural man left I couldn't feel my legs! And soon my contractions just weren't so annoying anymore. I was able to sleep through the night and some of the next day. During night they monitored the babies heart rate and noticed some highs and lows. The doctor didn't want to give me anything to speed up my labor because they were slightly concerned about what could be causing those dips in heart rate? So my body slowly progressed. The next day they noticed that as I was reaching the middle stage of labor (comfortably I might add because of the epidural man) the baby wasn't descending down with any of the contractions. They came to a conclusion that the cord is most likely wrapped around her neck causing the dips in heart rate and not allowing her to decent any further. In my mind I was crushed because I had such difficulty with Lauren's labor because of the cord being wrapped. They discussed the possibility of a c-section, as a very last resort. After an exam they also told me that Kendall is in a posterior position (facing sunny side up.) Normal presentation is anterior, which is face-down. So that meant that her delivery could be a bit longer because that is a broader part of her head coming out. I still continued to labor on! Finally when I reached active labor my doctor kicked it up a notch and gave me pitocin because she was thankfully descending down. The nurse asked if I wanted my epidural kicked up, but I declined because I wanted some feeling back in my legs. Of course I didn't want the pain but I knew that the pain would help me get her out faster. And it DID! My doctor was absolutely wonderful. He sat on the bed with me and coached me until he got ready to catch. 20 minutes or less and she was out and in my arms. Thankfully she twirled to the anterior position and she did not have the cord wrapped around her neck. Kendall ended up having a short cord. Her short cord kept her breech for so long and kept her bungee jumping a little higher in my tummy until I reached active labor. Whoo Hoo.....I did it. So I had a prolonged labor but a speedy delivery!

Having baby Kendall join our family = Priceless!

Baby Kendall weighing in, covered in vernix ~ cheesy baby!

Lauren meeting Kendall.