I called Sylvee one morning when she was about 38 weeks along. She answered the phone saying, "I was just going to call you!" and went on to tell me that she had been having contractions all night. They were about 5-7 minutes apart and about 90 seconds long. We walked around the mall, had some crepes, then went to Labor and Delivery. They sent her home.
This pattern continued for the next two weeks! The contractions never stopped, but she wasn't dilating. Her due date came, and it went, and still no baby! The night of August 10th, she went into Labor and Delivery once more. They gave her morphine and sent her home to sleep, but she didn't sleep. She was up all night laboring. I got a phone call at about 9 am from my mom saying, "We are going to the hospital!" I just had a feeling that this was it, my mom probably did too because she called me. I got up, took a shower, got dressed, kissed my hubby, and I was out the door. My mom texted me to tell me that Sylvee was about a 3 and 1/2, and 80% effaced.
I arrived at the hospital to find Sylvee in panic mode. She was "Oooing" through contractions, but it was really high pitched and her face was all wrinkled up. I knew that she was tensing up and that she would get relief if she just relaxed. I started doing her Hypnobabies cues, but she was still so tense. She started to cry, and say she couldn't do it. My mom looked her in the eye and very calmly told her that she could do this, she wanted to do this, and that she wasn't alone. The nurse offered her some Fentanyl to take the edge off. She checked her and this time she was at a 4 and 1/2 and 100% effaced! So she was officially in labor.
After that, Sylvee calmed down a lot and we were able to get through her contractions. I was usually by her head, giving her the "Release" cue and reading the scripts. Jack would hold her hand and just be a comforting presence. Mom was usually down rubbing her thighs and her feet. We would switch around occasionally, but that was what we did the majority of the time.
Dr. Juchau came in and broke her water. She labored so well through the rest of the day, but at about 6:00, she hadn't progressed past a 6 and her cervix was starting to swell. I think that that news discouraged her, because she kind of fell apart then. They put in a monitor that measured the intensity of the contractions, and they weren't strong enough to let her progress. They gave her some Pitocin. By that point, she was tired, we were tired, the Fentanyl wasn't working anymore, and she was looking at possibly having a C-section if she didn't start progressing. We talked it over, and she decided to get an epidural.
By that point, she had labored for about 20 hours after having regular contractions for about 2 weeks and she was just exhausted. She got the epidural, and she relaxed a lot. Jack took a nap, mom did some crocheting, Sylvee and I talked for a little while until she fell asleep, then I just stared at the monitors. I was getting a little anxious and cranky because all I had eaten all day was a scone and a turkey salad, so I went to the cafeteria and got some hot tea. When I came back upstairs, Dr. Juchau had just come in to check Sylvee and she just had a little lip. He let her labor for about a half an hour then checked her again. She was complete!
The nurse and the resident, Dr. Black, came in and started getting things ready for pushing. I held Sylvee's left leg, mom had her right, and Jack was by her head, holding her hand and supporting her. She pushed through two or three contractions and all of a sudden, she was crowning! I thought it would take a lot longer, and so did the nurse. She got Dr. Juchau, and he got everything set up. She pushed through a couple more contractions, then Dr. Black was "at bat". A couple more pushes, and the head just popped out! We could see a ton of black hair. Out popped an arm, out popped another arm, then WOOSH! Dr. Black pulled her out and held her up for Jack to see.
"It's a girl... I think..."
Yes, it was a beautiful baby girl! They plopped her right on mommy's chest. She didn't really cry, just kind of whined a little bit. They had to suction her out a because she was so gunky. She was 7 lbs 11 oz, 20 inches long. Sylvee and Jack had picked out names when she found out she was pregnant, for a girl they picked Ivory Marie.
I went to go look at her, and my first impression was that she looked just like Sylvee! She got Jack's long fingers and long feet and his lips and chin, but the rest of the face is all Sylvee!
Here is me holding her for the first time:
And here is Eric holding her the next day:
All in all, mom and baby are both healthy and happy. Daddy is happy, too. And, I am a very proud auntie of a very beautiful little girl!
Ivory will treasure this. Congratulations, Auntie!
ReplyDelete