Oaklee's Birth Story (Part 1)

I finally have a minute to sit down and get this all out! I can't believe I am a mommy! It's been crazy so far but I wouldn't trade it for the world! This post is going to be long so I am just going to jump right into it! (Please note this post has graphic pictures at the end, if you have a weak stomach I suggest you don’t look at them.)

Since my cervix was not doing anything (literally it did nothing) my doctor decided he would go ahead and get me scheduled for an induction. I was scheduled to go in March 29th and if anything happened sooner than we would go from there. As you can all guess nothing happened so at 41 weeks and two days we went in to start the induction process.

They started out by getting me set up on all the monitors and giving me an IV. At about 9:00 pm they started Cervidil. Nothing was happening so at about 1:00 am they did another round of Cervidil and that is when things started going. I started to get contractions in my back (we found out Oaklee was Posterior so I was lucky enough to experience back labor). It started out feeling like pressure in my lower back and it wasn't bad at all. At about 3:00 am is when it started getting pretty painful, at that time they gave me some form of magical medicine that literally made me feel higher than a kite and was amazing, the down side was that it wore off really fast so I got maybe an hour of relief and then the pain was back. When the pain came back it came back full force, the Cervidil was making it so I had no time in between contractions. It was literally one after another. I thought that things were moving along because of how strong the contractions were getting and how I was getting no time in between but when they checked me again I was still nothing. The nurse made me feel better and said I was half a centimeter. Haha. 

I stuck it out until 7:00 am when it was shift change and the next nurse came in. (By the way my nurses were AMAZING! I could not have done it without them!) When she checked me I was about 3 centimeters. At that time my doctor came in and broke my water. He told me that it had a little meconium in it, but that it was nothing to worry about. (In my head I remember hearing that it causes infections, but if my doctor said it was okay then I would go with that.)

It wasn't painful but oh my, it was weird! You literally feel like you pee yourself and after he broke it I actually had to go pee so the nurse and Zack helped me get up to the bathroom (Zack had to hold a towel under my butt so it wouldn't get all over the floor, which it did anyway. I felt really embarrassed haha.) 

After my doctor broke my water I decided to get my epidural. This was the part of labor I was terrified for. I HATE needles and knowing that a huge one was about to go in my back I was having a panic attack. I was squeezing Zack's hand so hard and he kept telling me how huge my eyes were! The anesthesiologist was the most kind hearted person and made me feel so comfortable. (He made the biggest impact on my labor but I'll get into that later on.) The epidural was not bad at all! The only part was when it felt like an electric shock go down my legs, it didn't hurt but scared me for a second. The epidural was amazing and made my bottom half feel like it weighed 1,000 lbs. I had to have help whenever I wanted to move from side to side. 

After the epidural I slept for a few hours until my Mom and sister arrived. We talked for a while and I just kept drifting in and out of sleep for the next several hours. I am so glad my hospital let me have Jell-O, drinks and slushes. It made such a difference in how I felt. 

The next time they checked me I was only at a four. In my head I already knew I would need a C-section based on my family's history and how my body is. In my family we have BIG babies. My mom’s first was 9lbs, both my sisters had 8-9lb babies so I knew that she would be on the bigger side. At each doctor’s appointment my doctor would just laugh every time he measured me because of how big I was but he still wanted me to try for a vaginal delivery. 

At around 5:00 pm I started to feel a lot of pressure. It felt like I needed to poop really bad so I told the nurse and she got excited and checked me again to only find out I was still at a four. I felt this feeling for the rest of my labor, I knew I actually had to poop but no one believed me and kept saying, “Oh it’s just pressure from the baby.”

And I was like, “No, you don’t understand I have to poop!” haha

To get through the pain I used this method off a show we watched a few nights before. (I feel like I was meant to watch it because we never watch that show and it made a huge difference). In the show the guy was kidnapped and was being tortured for information. He used this method where he would take his mind to another place and not be mentally present in the room. He would take his mind to some of his favorite places and visualized about his wife and family. I for some reason during labor thought I would try it and when I would have a contraction I would imagine being at our cabin, going camping, holding our baby girl and it helped me get through each contraction.

My Mom and sister were also so amazing through the entire thing. I think Zack was really nervous and didn’t really know what or how to help me so he was happy when they showed up. My mom and sister brushed my hair (literally felt so amazing and made me relax) and would do anything I asked of them.

At about 8:00 pm I was so exhausted and only dilated to a 5 and wanted it to be over. I told the nurse that my body was telling me that it was done. She went and talked to my doctor and he wanted to wait one more hour and see if anything changed. I had been in labor for 23 hours and only dilated to a 5.

At 9:00 pm my doctor came in and checked me one last time and nothing had changed. I was also getting a fever and baby wasn’t responding the best to it. He decided it was time for a C-section. We signed the paper work, Zack got changed and the room filled with new nurses and people to take me to the operating room. I was so ready to finally meet our baby girl!

They took me down to the operating room and Zack was able to be by my side the entire time, which I was so grateful for. The got everything set up and started pinching my stomach and asking if I felt anything. I was scared to say no because then I knew they would start cutting me open and I was afraid that magically I’d be able to feel again right when they started cutting. Haha.

They opened me up and started going. A little bit through I got really nauseas and the anesthesiologist gave the little bag to Zack. I laughed inside a little because Zack was not the person to hold that thing! He HATES throw up. When I had morning sickness he would go to the other side of the house when I was throwing up just so he didn’t have to hear me! Haha.

Immediately after I started feeling sick I said, “I am gonna throw up, I am gonna throw up!”  

I turned towards Zack because I knew he had the bag but he was a little too slow getting it to me and I pucked all over his hand! He instantly got up and ran to the hall because he was going to throw up too! He came back in after calming down.

 Within what felt like three minutes of opening me up we heard our baby girl cry! I will never forget that sound! I looked over at Zack and we both had tears in our eyes.

Our baby girl was finally here!

Oaklee Kaydence Collard                                                  
Born March 30, 2016 at 10:59pm
 9lbs 12oz 21in.

One of the nurses was so kind to take Zack’s phone and take pictures of the process. At the time I had no idea about it and only just a few weeks ago did I finally see the pictures. It’s kind of amazing. I apologize if you have a weak stomach. 

Stay tuned for Part 2. It will explain what a lot of people want to know. 
Why our baby girl came home with oxygen.