Deja Renee

If you're into the birth stories here we go!! it's pretty detailed, mostly so I can have it for my own memory ;)

Pre-story:  My doctor decided it might be a good idea to induce me on Monday night the 9th so we could plan accordingly around my platelet level, however, our little girl decided to take matters into her own hands for her birthday...

9/8/13 (Sunday):

7:30 a.m.- I Woke up and went to the bathroom, and felt more “wet" than normal.  I changed and put on a liner to see if I was still leaking or what not.

10:30-I didn't sleep much after that, I just laid in bed waiting for John to wake up so I could tell him of my suspicions.  It was pretty funny because the first thing he said was, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I explained that nothing was going on down there (with liquid or contractions), so I was in denial as to wether my water had broken or not!!  We finally decided to call the on-call nurse at my Dr.'s office and get her opinion.  I was surprised because when she answered she didn’t really ask any questions about my situation, she just encouraged me to come in and be tested.  So John and I started getting as ready as possible.  He started cleaning and doing dishes while I finished some last minute packing.  And by last minute packing really I just walked from room to room feeling lost and not knowing what to do with myself.  I just kept thinking, "This is all supposed to happen tomorrow!  I'm not ready to go in today!"  After I was done "packing" I ate a PB and J just in case.  Pretty awesome final meal, right?

12:00-Went to Alta View Hospital and told them our situation.  They assigned us to a room and the nurse performed a "fast test" on me which came out negative.  After that, I was convinced this was all a waste of time and money :(  But the nurse took a swab of my insides for the next test and said it would take about an hour to get the results.

12:30-1:00-So half an hour later, a new nurse comes in wanting to start an IV and draw my blood.  However, by the way she was talking I thought she definitely had the wrong room and we told her we were waiting on our test results.  She then explained that they already got the test back and it was positive so I would be staying!!  I was in shock and just started crying, haha.  Prego Hormones much?  I was just so convinced we were going home and couldn't believe I was in labor.  They handed over all the paper work, started my Pitocin, Penicillin, and drew blood to see how my platelets were.  They were nice enough to say that the whole staff was praying that I could get an epidural!!

4:00-The nurse came back with good news!  My platelets were at 117 which was the highest they’ve been!  Good to go on the Epidural, Yahoo!!  The nurse told me to hold off as long as possible on getting it because it was most effective for the first 6-8 hours.  I still wasn't feeling contractions, but wasn't worried about it.  They also gave me the famous ice chips with snow cone flavoring, but I didn’t eat too many because going to the bathroom was a pain with all my IV’s.

7:00-Posted this on my facebook family site: “Well, I've been on Pitocin since 1:00, but I'm still only dilated to a 1 and still can’t feel any contractions.  They said if I go much longer without dilating they'll start it over again and hope for the morning.... so that's kind of rough. Mostly I'm worried about starving. Luckily I did eat a sandwich before I left the house. John and his dad will be giving me a blessing here soon. Oh also, I guess there are 2 other girls here who are in the exact same situation as I am (first babies and all), haha. We're thinking it's because of this morning's rain storm.”

8:30-Kara and Wayne came to visit and bring John dinner.  After chatting for a little while,  John and Wayne gave me a blessing and said I would feel lots of prayers from family and friends throughout the labor.  It was nice to talk to other people after a monotonous afternoon.   I also talked to my family and friends about how 9/9 was going to be a better date for a birthday anyway.

9:30-The nurse took me as far on Pitocin as she felt comfortable, I could tell my uterus was working hard, but still couldn’t feel contractions.  After calling and talking to the Dr, she shut off the Pitocin, gave me some dinner (Food had never tasted so good), and unhooked me so I could get up and walk around for real. 

10:30-Round 2 of Pitocin.  I was really hoping it would work this time... John and I watched the Incredibles and Toy Story 3.

1:25-Finally felt my first contraction and was dilated to a 3!!! (nurses didn’t want to check me too much  so I would have a lower the risk of infection)  A little while later I finally decided I needed something for the pain and got some Fentanyl, as soon as I got it I wished I had gotten it hours before!!  I felt like I was in heaven :)  

2:30-Decided to try another round of Fentanyl hoping it would work its magic again, but it wasn’t as effective so we decided to give the epidural a go!

3:00-Anisthesiologist came up and explained what I needed to do in curling my back.  Right before he stuck the needle in, the nurse must have put in my next dose of Penicillin because I think I was having more pain in my wrist than my back.  John said I got really white and was afraid I might pass out.  I could hear a “Popping” when the needle went into my back and was concerned because I could mostly only feel it on my right side rather than my left.  As soon as everything settled down I slept as much as I could!!  The epidural felt awesome.

John probably slept for 2 hours, I probably slept for 3.

9/9/13 (Monday-Birthday):

7:30-Been in “labor” for at least 24 hours.  Contractions were about 3 min apart, waiting for my Dr. to come in at 8 for them to “check” me again.

8:00-Dialated to a 10!!!  Ready to start pushing.  Dr. warned us she was going to have to leave and go to the dentist with her son around 9:30, so we had 1½ hours to see what I could do....Ok what?  At the time, John and I were fine with that, but looking back on it now, why didn't they check me at like 6 a.m. rather than 8?!? I was probably dilated to a 10 for a while before they checked me, oh well... Anyway... Trying to figure out pushing… haha that was....  fun?

9:30-The nurses decided to have me stop since the Dr had to leave for the dentist and nothing was really happening.  They also explained that during the mean time my body would "rest and descend" (the contractions would help bring the baby down naturally without me pushing.)  They also assured me that people do this all the time....  Again looking back, what?  If people did this all the time, why was it the first time I had ever heard of it?  Can't we just keep going and have another Dr. step in if the baby comes?

11:00-12:00-My lower back was absolutely KILLING ME with constant pain, and it felt like the Epidural wasn't even working anymore.  Had another emotional break down and just WANTED TO BE DONE!!!  The nurses tried to make me as comfortable as possible, but couldn't really do anything to help me out.  It's a good thing John was there or I would have never made it through the whole process :(

12:00-Dr. still wasn’t back, but the nurses finally got the ok to start pushing again.  As soon as I started they said they could see her dark brown hair!!!

1:00-ish John asked if he was seeing the baby’s forehead, but the nurses assured us it must be a bald spot, because the baby was face down. (Found out later they were wrong)

2:00 Still pushing, felt like it would never end.  Started getting a fever so they gave me more medicine.  Dr. came in to help get the baby out.

2:53 DEJA RENEE SOUTHWICK OFFICIALLY BORN!!! 8 pounds, 21.5 inches, major cone head, face up, purple, lots of dark hair.  I'll always remember how happy I was when I saw her little face for the first time.  It was really so exciting and such a relief that she was finally out!!  John cut the cord and then looked like he didn’t know what to do, so I told him to take some pictures!  (He told me later he just kept thinking, "I don't want to take pictures while she looks like an alien!!")  We did skin to skin then they took the baby away for more testing because of the fever.  They got me cleaned up and the Nurse instructed me on how to switch beds to be taken to the other room, (I probably could have walked because I definitely had full feeling of my legs).  

Crystal Skull Alien Head!!!
(As my dear friend Melanie calls it)

After we were settled, John really wanted Café Rio (we had planned on going there before I got induced), so his family brought some for us when they came to see the baby.  My sisters Jeannie and Debbie also came in that afternoon and brought us shakes. It was awesome.  We loved our hospital stay and milked it for all it was worth :)  I also loved having John with me so much.  He was honestly my personal CNA and did way more for me than the hospital staff.  I'm so lucky to have him.  It was also nice living so close to the Hospital so I could just send him home to sleep at night.  

 

Other memorable parts about the hospital included skyping with my parents, having our "fancy dinner," spending time with family and friends, learning how to breastfeed, and just getting to know our little girl!! 

Cousin Love!!

Half way through our meal, I remembered that I really wanted to take a picture!!
John didn't want to, but finally agreed :)

Cousin Love!!!  This is Deja's cousin that she's closest in age with!
He's about 4 months older than her :)

Deja had an IV in her wrist so they could give her antibiotics throughout our stay, however the very last day it ruptured, so they had to put it in her head instead!!  Poor baby :(

Getting ready to go home!!

Don't worry, she wasn't screaming.  This was just a yawn.

Once we got home we had a lot of our close friends and family come visit.  

I tried to take a pictures of everyone when I remembered!

Cousin Love!!

My sister and niece came up from Arizona to come help us out!

Cousin Love!

and more Cousin Love!!  :)

All in all it really was an amazing experience bringing this little girl into the world and becoming a mother.  I'm so blessed to have a perfect, healthy child and a husband and father who loves and takes care of us.  Having a baby really opened my eyes even further on the plan of salvation and importance of families.  We are so excited to start this next part of our journey together and are so thankful for all of the people who are a constant support to us!