Labor and Delivery

Kayla Rae Crandall

January 19, 2013

9 lbs 1.2 oz   20.5 inches long

So, I had a baby! Obviously, that's been established, but sometimes I sit back and think, "I can't believe I did it!" And yes, I know that women all over the world from the beginning of time have been doing it but its such an awesome, crazy experience!

Saturday morning, January 19 at 6:45, I woke up to my water breaking. I made it to the bathroom and called Brett in. When I told him my water had broken, he started jumping up and down. It was so cute! Strangely enough, I felt completely calm. I told him to call my mom. She told us to call the hospital. I was a bit confused about what to do because I wasn't having any contractions. My doctor had told me to come to the hospital when the contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour. Uh.....we didn't ask about this scenario! The hospital said to come in but no rush. I called my labor and delivery nurse friend and she told me to go in.

I took a shower and got ready - still feeling great!  (although, I didn't know how much amniotic fluid was in there! I soaked lots of pads before we got to the hospital - TMI? :)) I had Brett give me a blessing before we left the house. I'm so grateful for the Priesthood and for a worthy husband that can exercise that Priesthood. Also, I knew they wouldn't let me eat after we checked in and even though I wasn't hungry, we stopped to get yummy breakfast tacos on our way. It was delicious! Now, I wish I'd eaten a bit more cause that was a long 16 hours!!

Arriving at the hospital

Ready to head to the LDR room

At 8:20, we got to the hospital, got all checked in, and I found out my doctor was on call that weekend,  hooray! I have really appreciated my doctor. He's been great and non aggressive as far as inducing and interventions go, which is unusual down here, so I was relieved he would be delivering Kayla. Since my water had indeed broken but I wasn't progressing, they started me on Pitocin at about 9:00. Then the contractions started in. I wanted to wait to get the epidural so I could experience contractions and know what to expect next time if my water didn't break. I really hadn't had many Braxton Hicks contractions throughout my pregnancy. Well, now I know - contractions are awful! All the women who go natural have my respect!

About noon, I decided I'd 'experienced' enough and wanted the epidural. The hour between asking and the anesthesiologist actually coming in seemed to last forever! I wasn't nervous about getting it and have no fear of needles, but it was pretty hard to hold still when the contractioer on my chest ns were so strong! It set in quickly and I was grateful I could still move my legs the entire time. Then came the waiting.

I was able to take a few naps, but poor Brett was so anxious and just had to sit there waiting. I felt a lot of peace during this time. Every once in awhile, I'd have some breakthrough pain but for several hours, I felt great. At about 6:00, the nurse checked and told us I was dilated to a 8 or 9! I was so excited! Dr. Tey came in to check thirty minutes later and said she had been wrong - I was only a 6. Can you say disappointment!? At 7:30, the new nurse (shift change) checked and I was complete! Hooray!

Dr. Tey is a big fan of laboring down, so we had to wait some more. She took about 3 more hours to move to the plus 2 position where I could push. I'm now grateful for that because I ended up only having to push for 20 minutes or so. Towards the end, my epidural was either running low or something, but I was feeling lots of contractions. I was trying not to cry, but it was awful! I was afraid I'd have to push while feeling all the pain, but they added more medicine before I pushed.

We did a few practice pushes and I felt strange not knowing what the "pushing" should feel like. She told me to stop while she got the doctor and then the urge to push was suddenly overwhelming! I was thinking - you'd better get someone down there, I can't not push!!

Dr. Tey walked in, geared up, and two pushes later, she was out! The physical relief was pretty powerful!  The doctor made a comment that he couldn't hold her much longer cause she was so heavy! I was a bit worried - just how big was my  baby? They took her to clean her off and suddenly Brett remembered to get the camera out! :) We were both a bit distracted. They declared her 9 lbs 1.2 ounces! All the nurses were impressed and said I made it look easy.....uh, yeah, I wouldn't call that easy, haha!

They told us that extra ounce showed up
 after they added her bracelets

Looking up at mommy!

Mommy and Kayla - instant love

When they finally placed her on my chest, I couldn't believe she was mine. Even though her face was a little swollen, I had never seen anyone so beautiful in my whole life! She opened her deep blue eyes and looked up and I was in love! We nursed for a bit and she latched pretty easily. She was completely and totally perfect!

We had about an hour before they took her for her checkups and moved us to the post-partum room. I was relieved at how quickly the feeling came back into my legs before they moved us.

They took Kayla for her checkups and about 1:00 AM, they brought her back to us. I didn't sleep more than twenty minutes that night. I was so pumped up on adrenaline and awe looking at my sweet angel. The miracle of birth is just that. My little Kayla is a miracle and I'm blessed to be chosen as her mother.