Winnie's Birth Story

Here we are again!  Almost two years ago I wrote Klaus' birth story and now I get to write his sister's.  Joy.  That's what I'm feeling.  Pure joy.
The short story of her birth is that it was fabulous.  Just like Winnie.  But here's the long, detailed version in case you're interested.

Thursday, February 25th around 2 AM, I woke up to some contractions.  They weren't intense by any means and I was able to go back to sleep an hour later.  When I woke up that morning, Sean and I went on a 2 mile walk and by the time we got back home my contractions were completely gone.

It's funny.  Earlier in the week I was really anxious about waiting to give birth.  I wanted to meet this babe!  Klaus was born in my 37th week of pregnancy so at 38 weeks, I was more pregnant than ever.  Tuesday was a really rough day for me and then I made a mental switch.  If I had to be pregnant, I was going to be happy about it.  I wasn't in pain.  I wasn't huge and swollen.  I didn't have any complications. I had so much to be grateful for.  So I decided to be happy.  WHAT A DIFFERENCE it made.  

Okay back to the story!

Thursday was a great day.  Klaus and I hung out with my mom.  I napped.  When Sean got home from work we went to the Sacramento Temple.  It was relaxing and Sean and I had an amazing time together.
That night, I was a bit crampy and spent a lot of the evening on my ball, swaying with a heating pad on my back.  The hospital I planned on delivering at doesn't allow things to be plugged in during labor and delivery so my mom whipped up some super cute rice bag that night when I realized I enjoyed the heat on my back.  She's a pro, that mom of mine. ;)
Contractions started coming more frequently that evening but nothing consistent.  I walked around, chatted with my mom, and swayed on the ball.  When they became more uncomfortable I started laboring on the toilet.  I went back and forth between the ball and the toilet from then on.
At 11 PM I started tracking the contractions to see if there was any consistency.  A little while later, Klaus woke up really distraught and couldn't go back to sleep.  At midnight, I realized my contractions had been about 3 minutes apart for about an hour so I woke my mom up to come sit with Klaus and Sean & I left for the hospital to get checked out.  Leaving Klaus that night was very emotional for me.  My heart was overflowing with love for him and didn't want to leave him but the desire to not have a baby at home was more overwhelming.

Sean and I got to the hospital at 12:21 AM and were admitted from triage at 1:10 AM.  I was dilated to 5/6 cm and my cervix was paper thin.  I had to concentrate through each contraction but kept control.
We got to our labor and delivery room and my nurse, Joan got me hooked up to fluids and penicillin (GBS positive).  After getting hooked up, I decided that I wanted an epidural but I had to have half a bag of fluids and blood work done before the order could be put in with the nurse anesthetist.  At 2:30 AM the nurse anesthetist, Arnie, came in to administer the epidural.  My contractions took a lot of concentration and coping but I was still working through them really well, thanks to Sean and my rice bag!  It was a world of a difference compared to Klaus' birth.  I didn't even try to cope with the pain from his labor.  I felt pretty zen this time around.

Yes... I did my makeup at 3 in the morning.  I wanted to feel awake!

I was dilated to 8 cm by the time Arnie had finished administering the epidural.  Sarah arrived around 3 AM.  She was our birth photographer and record keeper of the events of the labor and delivery.
The epidural made me shiver like crazy and by 3:20 AM I was almost complete at 9 3/4 cm dilated.
At 3:30 AM I started feeling pain in my under belly which was odd considering the epidural was supposed to be numbing that area. I called my nurse and while waiting for her to arrive, we made predictions on baby's weight and height.  Sean= 7-2, 20 in; Hil=7-9, 19 1/2 in; Sarah 7-11, 20 1/2 in.
The nurse came in and I told her my concern.  She told me to call her if it got worse.

By 3:45 AM I had to start coping with the pain through low moans.  At 4:05 AM the nurse came in and confirmed that the epidural machine wasn't working.  Instead of letting me get a dose every 12 minutes, it was stuck at 9 hours.  Yeah, no thank you!

Concentrating through contractions while the epidural was wearing off.

4:13 AM Arnie, the nurse anesthetist came in and gave me meds through my back tube and sat and chatted with us for a while.  Ten minutes later my legs were COMPLETELY numb.  You could have stabbed me and I wouldn't have flinched.
My water broke after that with a POP.  It was awesome!  Joan came in and checked me-- My cervix still had a bit of an anterior lip to it.
At 5 AM I was complete and we did a practice push that went really well despite the fact I couldn't feel a thing! Joan called in the team and set up the room for delivery.
There was a moment when Sean, Sarah and I were the only ones in the room so I asked Sean if he would say a prayer before our baby was born.  The spirit was very strong going into the time of pushing.

At 5:10 AM our baby was born!  After one set of pushes!

Sean and I decided not to find out the gender throughout the pregnancy.  The baby was born and Sean exclaimed, "It's a girl!" and I just cried.  She was amazing!
They placed her on my stomach and then took her to get checked out.  Meanwhile, the OBGYN, Dr. Overbey delivered the placenta and stitched up the tiny tear I received.  They gave me pitocin to help my uterus contract and shrink.

They had our baby girl behind a curtain for a while and I started wondering what was happening.  I asked Sean and he beamed, mouthing "She's good."  The OB didn't see Sean tell me and exclaimed, "Someone tell her how her baby's doing!!"

We announced her name to the room and she was back on my chest in no time.  It was an absolutely beautiful experience.  We are SO in love with our little Winnie Jean and we're so grateful for her health and strength.

Grandma Winnie Stevenson's class ring