Birth Story part 4

After she was born the attending physician ( who was the on call doc not my OB.. but I loved her she was great) told me that her family was actually waiting out in the car, and that her husband said he didn't want to wait everytime they do this she is in the hospital for a good 1.5 hours, however she kept telling him.. no this girl is a runner, she seems like she has endurance.. we won't be long.. well from the time she walked in the door I pushed 4 times.. and she finished up it was 11 minutes!!!!!!! WOW. She also told me that about every 1 in every 5,000 women have a thinner utuerine muscle and it doesn't show up on the monitor.. and it wont show up next time. She said I should let them know that so I don't have to go back and forth from the hospital 100 times. Too bad she couldn't have figured that was the problem from the beginning.. just to be on the safe side.. maybe I should have gotten that written on a script pad

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for these two... they are my world

Birth Story Part 3

after I was feeling good with the drugs running :-) My mother and my best friend Amanda went out to get something for bfast. Neither one of them knew the area well so I gave the the options of the closest bfast joints... they picked Panera. While they were gone I searched and searched for a mirror so I could put on my make-up.. too bad the only one was in the bathroom and I already had a catheter in place so I had no excuse for why I needed to go to the bathroom.. which by the way... the whole catheter thing.. is.. well... a bit weird. I feel bad for all of my past patients who asked haw bad it is and I would tell them "you don't even know it's there".

I was lying there when I realized the feeling of contractions was returning. I thought to myself "noway I have an epidural I can't feel those".. sure enough I could. I told the nurse and she told me to use my epi pump and get a little bit more, well that did nothing. She came in the room again and I told her that I was really feeling them to the point I had to focus and breath all over agian.. I thought this was why I got the epidural so I didn't have to do all of this. she told me it was just that I was lying on ym side and to switch sides and the meds would go to that side.. Umm yea she lied. It was now 11:45am, the doctor told me at the last time she checked me (6cm) that I would deliver somewhere around 3-5pm. There was no way I could go that long feeling these suckers as bad as they were.

I tried to block it out but then I started to notice alot of pressure below the belt. So I told the nurse.. she said O that is normal.. and I thought to myself.. I worked Labor and delivery that might be normal but usually happens shortly before delivery. so I asked her if she would check me. She gave me the whole ... O your water has been broken we try not to check you too many times to prevent infection... Ummmm thats not what I wanted to hear. The pressure got worse almost like I really needed to go to the bathroom. So I asked again, she looked at me like "your a first time mom and don't know what your talking about". So she said she would check me, as soon as she went to do so... she said "O-Boy.. your fully dialted.. and I see the head".

Uhhh- ya think.. I been telling her that something was going on for a while now. She said I'm going to get the doctor and will be RIGHT BACK... again.. another lie. She didn't return for about 10 min. I looked at my husband and said "you better grab a pair of gloves cuz I'm gonna start pushing OK"... He got a bit white, then I told him.... "Seriously... I said that so you would hit the hurse button". The nurse came in and I told her you better not leave this time, and where is the Doctor. At that point I realized not only was the doctor missing but so was My mom, Amanda, and the photographer (don't worry she wasn't taking anything up close and personal).

My husband called my mom, who was lost trying to find her way back to the hospital, and then called the photographer. The nurse told me the doctor ran home for a bit and was on her way back.

Great!!!!!!!!!!

The nurse started breaking down the bed, and I told her I needed to push... just then in came my mom, amanda, photographer.. still no doctor.

I grabbed my knees (by that I mean someone handed them to me since I coudln't move the cement blocks.. or so they felt from the epi) put my chin to my chest.. just then the doctor walked in the door.

It was GO TIME. I took the deepest breath I could and then pushed like it was my job. as soon as I finished that one the doctor said agian... so I did. It's funny they alsways love to count to ten like this 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,9,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,10. So really they should just count to 20. I pushed 3 more times when I head the doctor say Stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't push... all of the sudden I heard it .. The cry, the one that makes your heart melt.. she was here. they placed her on my chest, her scrunched up body and head full of dark hair.. was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. At that point who cared that i had been in labor for almost 40 hours, and that I looked a mess, and everybody in the room was getting a full view of way more of me they have ever seen.. I was a mama now,,,,, and she was the best thing that was ever mine.

2 nights in a row

That's right.. my sweet baby girl has slept in her own room in her own crib for two nights in a row. I think its harder on me then on her. She seems to do fine however I miss her being with me. She looks so tiny in her bog girl bed, compared to when she was in the tiny bassinet. Hopefully she will do just as well tonight, and maybe even sleep for a good 4-5 hour stretch!

Can you believe it????

My baby girl is 3 weeks old today.... only a few more days and we will be counting her age in months not weeks anymore, how is this going by soooo fast?

Stay tiny baby girl, for your mamma please? Stay small enough that I can always rock you to sleep, and small enough that you can always fall asleep on your daddy's chest. As excited as I am to see you grow, I want you to always be my little girl.

Birth Story Part 2

I called and sure enough she told me to come on in to L & D. So we got in the car, grabbed the hospital bag and headed to L & D. On the ride there the contractions were getting closer and I was getting worried. It was dark out and my husband was (not out of the ordinary) speeding, and before you know it there was red & blue lights flashing behind us. All the years my husband has been a cop and this is the first time he has gotten pulled over. I was having strong contractions, he was carrying.. and I though to myself "seriously"!!!!!!!!?????

He told me don't worry I'm sure I know him and we will be on our way in a minute..... the officer started to approach the car and noticed it was my husband driving. He started to strike up a convo when my husband interrupted him and said "dude... she in labor", he then said O then you better go, and quickly... I will radio to let the other Officers know not to stop you.... (thank you for the brotherhood of blue bloods).

We got to the hospital and between parking and walking in I had to stop every few steps for a contraction. we checked in they hooked me to a monitor.. and there was NOTHING!!!!!!!!! Although everyone around me could tell I WAS IN LABOR FOR REAL!!!!!!!

I started to cry in between hard breathing and said " I know your just going to send me home again but if you do I'm sure I will be having this baby at home". They checked me and sure enough, these contraction were the kind to dilate me since I was now at a 4. The nurse called the Doctor and came back in and said those magical words..... "We are going to admit you, congratulations... your going to have a baby".

They put me in a room as it was time for shift change, the new nurse came on and of course looked at the monitor and said " Hmmmm why aren't you having contractions?" she then looked at me and said " Machine must be broken, cuz you sure are having them". Finally somebody was thinking logically. They were asking me how I wasnted to handle pain management... I replied " O I think I can do this naturally" ( spoken like a real first timer huh?).

The doctor came in and broke my water.. which is by far one of the strangest feelings I have ever had. As soon as she did that, the contractions doubled in pain.. those suckers HURT. The Nurse came in with a form and said since you are declining the Epidural I need you to sign this form which stated that if we have to do an emergency C-section you will have to be put under.

"WHAT" there is no way ... so I decided to do the epi. I sure wish I knew the amount of time between ordering an epidural and actually getting one or I would have asked for that upon check in. By the time the Anistethiologist (sp) came in I was super uncomfortable... so I really don't remember anything he said except for the part about " Don't move for the next 60 seconds or you could be paralyzed".

After that was in place and the meds were pumping, I was happy. I really should have slept since I have now been up for over 40 hours straight, but instead I decided to engage in convo with everyone who was coming to see me.. bad decision.

Birth Story Part 1

*Please be aware ths is the raw story National Geographic Style!!!!!!!!! I will write it in a few parts since I'm doing it all one handed :-)





Friday September 3rd I woke to contractions, not BH but a stronger kind enough to wake me from my sleep. I of course being less then a week from my due date got very excited that today would be the day. I got up and got in the shower, because of course if it is the day I need to look good for all the pictures. as soon as I got out of that hot shower they stopped. I started bouncing on my birthing ball, and walking , they never really returned until 10:30pm and boy did they hurt.





The contractions were now 9-11 minutes apart, and about 40 seconds long... so I started writting them down they stayed consistent all night, which in turn meant I got no sleep. I called my Dr. around 3 am and explained the situation. The Doctor told me that while it sounded like I was in labor, it was not full active labor and to call her back when the contractions were less the 5 minutes apart and lasting more then 60 seconds, for more then 1 hour.





so we decided to go to the mall and walk, and we walked, and walked, and then walked a little more. so much so that the people at the kiosk's didnt even offer their product to us anymore. the contractions startedto pick up, every 6 minutes.. I would stop grab onto the wall and breath it out. We grabed a bite to eat but I couldnt really eat much since I was so excited that I could be holding my baby in a few hours... Boy do I wish I would have eaten more.





After the mall my husband parked outside of Bestbuy I stayed in the car and he ran in. At this point they were coming sooner together, and I decided to call the on call doctor back again. She said I sounded much more like true labor now and to go to L & D. (Having been a L & D nurse.. I thought I would be totally cool with this) NOT.. I started getting very nervous. I showed up they put me in a triage room and hooked me to the monitors. The Nurse came in to explain that I was not having any contractions, she was saying this while I was breathing through another one. I looked at her and said "Are you crazy, or wait am I crazy?".



The Nurse proceeded to tell me that nothing was showing up onthe monitors. I told her stay in the room for 4 more minutes and she will see me have another one. She waited and put her hands on my abdomen and said she could feel it but without it showing up on the monitor that meant they were not strong enough to dialate me. So they suggested that I walked the halls of the unit for 1 hour and then get back on the monitor.

So we walked, and sure enough they kept coming every 6 minutes. When the hour was over I went back on the monitor and it was the same story again, nothing was showing up on the monitor. I started to think I was losing my mind, there was no way I was making this up. The pain was strong, and I was getting exhausted. at this point I had been awake having contractions for almost 24 hours. The Doctor came and checked me again (8:00pm), and said at this point she would have to send me home. She said if only things would show up on the monitor then they would admit me. She did say I was showing progress, and that she would expect to see me back around 2 am with either much stronger contractions or my water will have broken from the irregular contraction pattern.

I was crushed, I was in pain, and I was tired. we got back in the car and started to drive home all the while I was still have contractions about 5 minutes apart. we grabbed dinner and went home. My mom came over to stay the night so my husband could get some sleep. All night long th e came 4-5 minutes apart and very painful, I sat on the couch and worked my way through them. Then sometime around 3a they got as close as 3 minutes apart and I got worried that I would have that baby on the couch, so again I called the doctor.. worried that she would say I still wasnt ready to be admitted.....

The Birth Story?

It's coming but to hold you over I give you theese

Newborn Shots taken by Tracy Marshall Photography.. you may remember her from Newlywed Stillettos Blog

I'm back... and I got me a Baby!

Thats right... I know it has been too long since I last blogged, but I have a really good excuse... Let me introduce to you

Emmaline Grace Funk born-Sunday September 5th @ 12:34 after 38 hours of labor.