Ms. Peyton's Birth Story

Well I know its been a while since I've updated this but its been a little busy getting the last minute things ready and preparing for our sweet baby girl to arrive and now that she has we've been getting into the swing of things with a newborn. We have been very blessed with lots of help and encouragement throughout the entire journey and I can't thank our families enough for everything they've done for us.  But since it has been so long and I have a little down time this morning I thought I would update the blog and tell you all about Ms. Peyton's arrival into the world.

It was Thursday Sept 6 (my official due date) and we got up and around to go to my final doctor's appointment. We had everything packed and ready to go with us since we knew there was a pretty good chance we would be inducing that same day. So we loaded up the car took our "we're off to have a baby picture" in front of the house and off we went to the doctor. After getting all checked out, discovering I had made some progress but not much we began discussing the induction. I had researched a couple different methods that did not involve pitocin because I really wanted to try to do things naturally, however as my luck would have it I was just not a good candidate for those alternatives so pitocin it would be. This was a very emotional decision for me because I so badly wanted to meet my princess but I also knew all the risks that go along with being induced. And while we considered waiting a while longer they were still concerned she was going to be rather large and I just didn't want to risk anything happening to her all because I didn't want to use pitocin. So the doctor told us to get a light bite to eat and head to the hospital and we could get things started. I cried on and off through breakfast just thinking about everything... I was a bit overwhelmed to say the very least but I was so excited that it was finally happening.
We arrived at the hospital and got everything started at around 1130 that morning. I was pleasantly surprised that even after starting the pitocin I felt very little pain (for now). So I labored and visited with both Blaine and I's moms and Blaine for the next five hours. At 430 my doctor arrived and said it was time to go ahead and break my water to get things moving along because the pitocin alone was not progressing me very well. Now this is where the "fun" begins. So she broke my water and almost immediately the contractions became a lot less "fun". They were right on top of eachother with very little break between any of them. So after a little over an hour and lots of talk about how long my labor would probably be I decided to go ahead and get an epidural. Blaine was very supportive and tried to tell me that I could do it without but I just knew that I couldn't continue for an unkown amount of time in that much pain so epi it was and man oh man that was a great choice! Once that epi was in and working I was a whole new person and back to chatting and just enjoying the day... as much as one can stuck in a hospital bed getting ready to push out a baby LOL!!

After the epi I continued to labor for 12 hours! Lets just say I'm very glad I chose to get the epi! I progressed pretty slowly but finally at 2am it was time to start pushing... whew that is a lot of work! I pushed for 2 hours before she finally decided to arrive. She weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 21 inches long. I had a great nursing staff and doctor and wonderful husband who supported me through all the pushing and did a wonderful job encouraging me  while pushing. I don't know that I could have done it without them.
Now while most people would say all of that was the difficult part but in fact it was not. When she was finally born it was apparent that there was something wrong... she aspirated on meconium and the cord was around her neck and that was just the beginning. So they quickly put her on my chest let Blaine cut the cord very quickly and moved her over to the panda bed so they could get to work on her. They had to deep suction out her lungs (keep in mind that in all this time she still has not cried). She was very pale and while she was wide eyed she was not very responsive. Her Apgar score was very low and her respiration rate and heart rate were both very high. They worked for approx. 30 minutes (seemed like an eternity) to get her stablized all while trying to decide if she was going to have to go children's hospital downtown. This entire time I was still waiting to get cleaned up and everything. Once we finally got me all cleaned up ( and the color came back to my body... I lost a lot of blood) they had her stabalized enough that we were able to hold her for just a few moments and we were able to let our mom's (who had been waiting in the hall terrified) in to see her... only Blaine and I were allowed to hold her at this point because her head was so malformed from the birthing process they were concerned about neurological issues and she was very sore from it all. She also had one arm that she didn't want to move which added to their concerns. So after much debate they decided that she needed to go to the nursery to be monitored more closely but that at this point they didn't think she needed to go to children's hospital. I was relieved but still very scared for what could be wrong with my baby girl.

She spent the next 8 hours in the nursery being monitored, having labs done and receiving fluids . At around 1130 I was finally able to go to the nursery and see her, they had me meet with a lactation consultant and had me pump so i was able to go and give her what I had pumped. And I was able to be there for her first bath and finally get to hold her again. I can honestly say that was the longest 8 hours of my life not being able to be near her and hold her and know exactly what was going on but she was already improving and I knew that it was what was best for my little girl. After just a couple more hours they decided that her stats had improved enough that she could come back in room with Blaine and I and we couldn't have been happier! She has continued to improve and is just the most perfect little girl!

It was a very long day and a very emotional roller coaster but we are so very blessed to have our little girl home and healthy! I can honestly say that how this little girl was born was not anything like I had wanted or expected but I know that it all happens for a reason and I have been blessed beyond words just to have my little girl and that is all that matters. I mean just look how beautiful she is!