Introducing Paisley Gwen. She was born on Dec 15th (last Thursday). I had guessed that she would be 7 lbs. I was wrong, but not by much! 6 lbs 15.4oz. She was also 19" long.
Alright, so here is the story. I know I've posted about the kidney issues I've been having. Because of the uncomfort of it all, Dr Barney was cool with me getting induced a couple weeks early. We got to the hospital around 6:30 AM, got signed in and set up. They started pitocin and the antibiotic for streb b around 7AM. Kristy came at 7:30 (always a happy thing!). My contractions were starting out plenty strong. Normally I have to build way up to them. I asked Vanessa to come around 11:30, since normally they break my water at lunchtime and we have a baby an hour later. Things did NOT go according to plan this time. So, my contractions were hurting plenty bad by 10:00. Kristy got the birthing ball out for me, but when I stood up to sit on it, they noticed that I was dropping MONDO blood clots. Like, scary huge. Bigger than a baseball. It worried us, so Kristy called a nurse in (both of mine were helping others, so she had to get the head nurse to come). The clots were big enough that they decided to have Dr. Barney come in and see what was going on. He said that as long as I wasn't bleeding too badly between clots that it was ok. Roger says he broke my water then. This was probably... 11:00? Maybe just before? Anyway.... since the Dr. missed Vaughn's birth due to a nurse not calling him in time, he gave his cell phone number to the Head Nurse and told her to call when it looked like we were getting closer. He left and around 5 minutes later, Roger and Kristy were standing at the foot of my bed and Roger went a little pale. He said, "That's a lot of blood" and Kristy agreed with him. At that point, I was in LOADS of pain! Kristy reminded me to do what felt natural, so I told her I felt like pushing. They called Dr. Barney and he headed over. Vanessa came about then as well. I remember saying hi to her, but that's about it. I hurt so badly that I could barely stand it. Dr. Barney told me that I was only dilated to a 9, but I could go ahead and push to dilate. About that time, he realized that Paisley was posterier (face up, instead of face down). So during the next contraction, he turned her around. It only took one or two more pushes for her to come out. That cry is the best sound EVER! I just wish that was the last of the really painful part, lol. As the Dr. got things finished, he noticed that there was still some placenta stuck in me, so he had to get it out. Yick, I know! In all seriousness, that hurt like crap. During the whole thing there was a lot of screaming, I'm sure plenty of yelling. All of it on my part. I said to Dr. Barney after, "Sorry for screaming at you." His response? "I'd have screamed at me, too."
Let me tell you, though. Dr. Barney knew just what we needed. He didn't panic when he saw the blood. He was chatting with Vanessa and Roger said he was making jokes. I don't remember most of that, but it helped calm Roger's nerves big time. And I don't know what I would have done without Kristy there. She kept us calm before the Dr got there, made sure a nurse came right when we needed her, and kept me focused, even when it hurt so bad that I couldn't even open my eyes. She kept reminding me that I was doing a good job (ha! I don't know about that!) and didn't make me feel stupid for all my screaming. Then, once Paisley was born, she stayed around until she knew I had eaten and that I was having a little bit of color return. She waited till my parents came and visited the next day to make sure all was right. I love this lady like she's family.
All in all- despite all the crappy CRAPPY stuff that happened during birth, the experience itself was still a good one. My older kids are so happy to have Paisley as part of our family. I'm sure there will be plenty more pics to come, soon!
