Birth Story Part Two: Shelby is Here!

After our failed induction Nick decided to put himself back on the schedule at work for the following Tuesday and the weekend that followed.  He did mention however that he hoped she would come before the weekend so he could watch General Conference and Sienna had mentioned that she thought the baby would come on October 1st.  I thought that all of these ideas would be fantastic!  Well, on Wednesday, October 1st at around 7am my water broke!  It was very similar to when my water broke with Sienna, just kind of a slow leak.  We called my midwife who told me to come in so she could confirm that it actually happened and then she would send us to walk around until contractions started.  Sure enough she confirmed that my water had indeed broken and sent us on our way to try and get active labor started.  Our first stop was to get a donut and set Sienna up with Andi since I was hoping that contractions would start soon due to my experience with Sienna's delivery.

Nick and I walked around until we couldn't any more.  We headed home, ate lunch, Nick finished his redbox movie and still nothing.

I called my midwife and told her that we were coming in in hopes that they would be able to do something to get the party started.  She agreed and so we checked into Labor and Delivery around 3pm.  We decided to try a different labor inducing medication this time that could be administered every four hours in hopes that it would work better than pitocin had.  Well, after 8 hours, nothing was happening and I was literally about to lose my mind, Nick was definitely not far behind in this feeling either.  My midwife suggested we try pitocin again and I told her that I would try until 7am the next morning but after that it would have been 24 hour after my water broke and I wanted a c-section.  I was beyond finished at this point.  She agreed to this plan, but we decided to try and be as optimistic as possible that it would work this time.

Nothing was happening until 6:30 when the nurse came in to up my dose one last time and my contractions all of a sudden became very intense.  I told her that I needed Tamra, my midwife, to come and check me so that I could decide on stopping pitocin (no progress) or get the epidural.  She left to find Tamra.  Little did I know at the time Tamra was stalling because she knew that if I wanted pain medication it was working but she wanted me to make the decision.  I got to the point I couldn't wait anymore, sneaky midwife, and asked for the epidural.  After that was done she checked me and I was at 5cm and she discovered that I still had a forebag of water that had not broken.  She told me to try and get some rest and that if it didn't rupture on its own she would break it around 11:30.  Everyone seemed to be in agreement that Shelby would be here by 2pm...except me.  I was pretty sure she was never coming.  

I was able to take a nap for a few hours and when I woke up the nurse told me she had a feeling we were nearing "go time".  I was skeptical but was feeling a little pressure so she decided to check me and then she would let Tamra know what progress was made.  I was at 9cm AND she accidentally broke the forebag of water when she checked me!  The look on her face when it happened may have been the second best thing that happened that day.  As soon as Tamra got there we decided to start pushing and about an hour and half later Shelby was finally here!

Shelby Mae Hudson
October 2, 2014 at 11:38am
7lbs .8 oz and 19.5 inches

I was so relieved that she finally decided to grace us with her presence!  She had a pretty pathetic cry at first so they did some suction and even let RT daddy help, other than that she was perfect!  Miss Sienna was able to come and visit around dinner time with Janie who had picked her up from Andi that morning.  When Janie asked her if she was ready to meet her new baby sister Sienna responded with "I have been ready my whole life to meet her!"  Luckily, her excitement hasn't changed too much since we have been home.  We feel so blessed to finally have this sweet girl in our home and are loving seeing the bond between her and Sienna grow.

Birth Story Part One: The Epic Fail

For the last few weeks of my pregnancy I had been having issues with my blood pressure.  Luckily, I didn't show any other serious symptoms that sometimes accompany hypertension.  However, my midwife and the other doctors decided that it would be better safe than sorry and schedule an induction on Friday (38 weeks and 3 days).  We all felt good about the decision due to Sienna's early arrivial, I was dilated to almost 4cm and 70% effaced.  It couldn't have been better timing. Nick was already scheduled to take the following two weeks off and we would be able to call Nick's mom and let her know exactly when this baby was coming!  

Friday morning came and we went in to the office had a quick appointment and then headed over to Labor and Delivery.  We started pitocin at about 10am and then began the waiting game.  I started having contractions every two to three minutes consistently but they were very weak and half the time I didn't even realize they were happening.  I did a lot of walking, bouncing on the birthing ball and waiting...we did a lot of waiting. However, every time they checked my progress, there was none being made.

After being on Pitocin ALL day we made the decision to give my body a break, get some rest, let the medicine wear off and then start again at 5 am the next morning.  I may or may not have cried about it due to hormones and frustration.  We started again the next morning with the only success being that I felt more of the contractions this time, but they still weren't strong enough to move things along.  Unfortunately, breaking my water wasn't a great option at the time because baby girl was still too high and the last thing we wanted was for something to come before her head, like the cord, and then have to have a c-section.  The decision was made to stop the pitocin and head home on Saturday afternoon.  I would have to be monitered with biweekly appointments but the hope would be that she would come on her own and if not they would schedule another induction on my actual due date in hopes that she would have moved down into a better position.

We were so frustrated, mad, sad, and tired.  I couldn't believe that after two days of being in the hospital we wouldn't be leaving with a baby in our arms.  I knew that it could be much worse though, so I put on the best face I could at the time and accepted that while it wasn't ideal it was the best decision in the circumstance.  The worst part was that Nick's mom had come up with her boyfriend Gary and had to leave after a few days.  It was so upsetting to me that she had come all this way and now would probably not get a chance to meet the baby before she had to leave.

This was my "I was induced for two days and still came home like this" picture...

We tried to make the best out of the situation though and spent as much quality time together as we could.  We shopped, and baked and played.  Nick's mom thoroughly spoiled not only the girls but us as well.  I truly believe that I have never had so much food in my house at one time!  We loved our time with Grandma and Gary and even though Shelby didn't make her arrival until after they left I was so happy that they came and Sienna got some serious love in before she became a big sister.  

Grandma Hudson and Gary

 Fun shopping at Target

 Making cookies with Grandma and Mom

 We love Mama Hudson!

We can't wait for spring to come when both girls will get to spend time with both sets of grandparents! 

Stay tuned for Shelby's actual arrival!