Kayla's Birth Story
On Saturday, February 8, 1997, I was 5 days overdue. My mom decided we were going to walk until I went into labor, so we went out and walked for about 2 hours. We got home, and I fell asleep on the couch. Around 5:30 PM I woke up to contractions. They weren't too strong, and sporadic; I'd have one, then half an hour later, I'd have another, then nothing for an hour. I went ahead and ate dinner, and continued with my normal activities. I went to bed at about 11PM, but (again) I was living with my parents and sleeping on their hide-a-bed in their living room, so I stayed awake while my dad watched TV. Everyone else went to sleep. At about 11:40PM my contractions started to get more regular, and I started timing them. When my dad went to bed at about midnight, they were between 5 and 10 minutes apart, and getting stronger. My dad told me to wake him up if they got to every 5 minutes. As soon as he went to bed, they regulated to 5 minutes apart. I was afraid to wake anyone up yet, because I had been having labor pains for a few months due to a car accident I was in, and had already been in the emergency room several times and sent home because it was false labor.
At 2 AM, I had been having regular contractions for almost 2 hours, and they were 3 minutes apart. I hobbled to my parents room and woke them up. As soon as I said, "It's time, I'm in labor" they both got immediately out of bed and we left for the hospital within 10 minutes. When I got to the hospital, I changed into the gown and was set up with an IV. I was only about 4 cm dialated, and the nurse told me that we should have the baby by 7AM. That was the worst thing anyone could have said to me. I watched the clock like a hawk, just knowing that by 7AM I would be done. My dad went home, and my mom stayed with me. My dad said the if he didn't hear anything from us by 7AM, he would call the hospital.
I asked for something for the pain, and they gave me Stadol. It helped me rest between the contractions, but I started having horrible back labor, and my legs ached so bad I thought they were going to fall off. I was feeling my contractions in my legs instead of my abdomen. I asked for an epidural around 7:30 AM, and I was told I was too close to delivery. I kept asking my mom why I wasn't done yet, it was after 7AM. (The things you think when you are in labor!)
The doctor broke my water, and I got the urge to push around 8AM. They discovered she had a bowel movement in utero (which is called meconium) so they were worried about infection. I had to have a tube put in my uterus which was pumping sterile water into me, and at the same time, there was a fetal monitor on the baby's head, and an internal contraction monitor. It is very hard to get a baby OUT when there is so much stuff IN there!
I delivered Kayla Faye at 8:43 AM on Sunday, February 9, 1997. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 0 ounces, and was 22 1/2 inches long. My first girl! What a miracle! |
