Kayla's Birth Story- Before the Blog...

I didn't start our blog until Kayla was about 5 months old.  Hence why her birth story has never been shared here.  Until today.  She will be 7 in just a month and each year on the kids' birthdays, I make an effort to share about the day they were born.  This year, I'm doing it in a bigger way, by finally documenting it here.   

Being our first child, her labor is the most "textbook" that I've experienced since as you may recall, the other girls' labors were quite fast.  The beginning of it was exactly what they told me it would be (more on that in a second), but it was the end that wasn't quite so typical for a first birth (more on that eventually too....). 

The story, though retold here 7 years later, is accurate, because this is me.  I write things down.  So this particular blog version is a re-telling from Kayla's baby book with a few of the hidden memories and thoughts from that day that I'll probably never forget weaved in.  

just a few days old...

Let's get the background.  7 years ago, I was about to pop with our very first baby and though we didn't find out gender, the entire world (as in everyone but two people--Chris' sister and Chris' best friend) thought we were having a boy.  Several of my sibs had babies around that same time and they had all been girls.  Chris comes from a family with 1 girl and 9 boys.  All the older ladies gave me those "knowing" looks and proclaimed I was having a boy, and we just felt like we were having a boy.  We easily decided on a name for a boy (in fact, as I recall we had discussed a boy's name that we liked when we were engaged), but had a much harder time coming up with girl names that we loved and agreed on.  

At one point (also during our engagement I believe) we had discussed Cecilia.  It seemed the obvious choice because I love her and chose her as my confirmation Saint years before.  Both Chris and I are musical and loved that she was a Saint whose patronage incorporated that love and the bond that music has been for us in our love and friendship.  But as we discussed names during pregnancy, neither of us was really wanting Cecilia to be the first name.  We preferred it as a middle.  So then we had the task of coming up with a name that we loved to be the first name that would also go well with Cecilia as a middle.  It took forever, and we only really decided that we agreed on Kayla Cecilia shortly before she was born.  But then, we were both convinced we were having a boy, so we didn't actually think we'd be using the name yet anyway....

Now we move on to the birth-day.  My due date was June 30.  I had hoped (like many moms) for a baby who was just a little early, but the due date arrived and I was still not in labor.  I had taken everyone's advice though and was trying to enjoy the time to myself.  I had finished teaching my 2nd year at a Catholic school in VA two weeks prior and was just spending most days reading by the pool in our apartment complex or taking walks around our neighborhood.  I attended those OB appointments and was questioned, "Have you felt any contractions?" to which I answered honestly, "I don't know.  I don't know what a contraction feels like.  Maybe.??"  I had felt pressure and I was certainly uncomfortable (as every whale mother at that point in pregnancy does), but I just didn't really know how to answer that question.  

So we're at the due date. I sent Chris off to work that morning and went to Mass nearby.  A nice lady asked when I was due.  "Today," I smiled, hoping that perhaps today would be the day.  Around noon, I felt it.  A contraction.  A real one.  And after having experienced it, I decided that just as I'd assumed, I hadn't felt any contractions previously.  Tightenings, but not contractions.  This was different.  It moved all the way around my abdomen and it was different.  BUT, I was a first time mom and I am the type of person who does not want to be sent home because of "false labor" or  because I arrived at the hospital at only a cm, so I assumed it was probably just finally one of these Braxton Hicks things I'd been told about and figured it probably wouldn't end up being the actual thing.  I headed to the gym to do some exercising.  I'm a huge believer in being as active as I can during pregnancy including up until the very end.  I did the eliptical there for awhile and then went for a long walk.  On the walk, I kept having contractions (steady but still about 20 minutes apart) and I met a rather eccentric man who advised me to take a bath when I got home so baby and I could relax while I was in labor.  The contractions weren't painful to me at that point, so I really don't know how he even assumed I was in labor, but like I said, he was a little eccentric, so... 

 I arrived back home after my walk, and the contractions were still coming though I didn't find them to be very painful.  15 minutes apart now.  I was sure they were probably going to just stop, but had heard that exercising and movement is a good way to see if it's real.  So I kept moving.  I went back to the gym and they were still coming.  Chris called.  He had come home for lunch (he did that most days during those two weeks I was done teaching and home waiting for baby).  I headed back to the apartment and we had lunch.  I didn't even tell him I was having contractions because I was literally sure that since they weren't really hurting, it probably wasn't real.  Later, after I told my mom about the labor and delivery, she said, "You know, you have a really high pain tolerance right? You always have.  You cracked your collar bone when you were little and we didn't know for days.  I only figured it out because I noticed that you weren't really using one of your arms."    So he headed back to work to finish the day, and I went back to the gym and then walked up and down the stairs of our apartment complex.  The contractions were still coming and getting closer together. 

 At 4pm, I called my doctor's office because contractions had been coming 5 minutes apart for a little over an hour and that was the "textbook" indicator for when to come in.  I still didn't have a problem breathing through them, so I was still pretty sure it might not actually end up being the real deal, but they said come in, so I called Chris to come home and get me.  

The hospital was about half an hour away, so by the time we arrived it was about 5pm.  They put us in a room, hooked me up to the monitors, and checked to see what kind of progression there was.  Much to the surprise (we found out later) of the nurses at the check-in desk, I was at 5 cm.  Apparently I was so calm and smiled at them, so they had all made bets that I'd be headed back home after the initial check.  The contractions were firm, strong, and close together, but I still didn't have trouble breathing through them at that point.  And then they got more painful and I suddenly started getting double contractions (one immediately after another had finished). 

 At that point, there was a change of the nurses, and I started having back contractions which was terrible.  I had been feeling confident and breathing and then with the double contractions and then back contractions and the pain suddenly becoming really intense, I told Chris I wanted the epidural.  It took awhile for the nurse to come (because of the shift change), but she checked my progress and I was already 8 cm. While checking, the nurse accidentally broke my water.  She said there was a lot of pressure and it was really full and then suddenly it gushed.   I had read enough to know that first labors especially are often fairly long and I had read too that those last few cm and the pushing can also take ages or stall, so that was my mindset.  

The anesthesiologist came to administer the epidural (somewhere between 8-9cm) and apparently did it wrong, so he did it twice.  And then we got a half hour of bliss. I was in labor, but the horrible, relentless contractions were only pangs and I could breathe again.  So we hung out watching Food Network for a restful lovely half hour.  Around 10 pm, I was already at 10 cm and ready to push.  I pushed for a bit, but was having a really hard time pushing the way the doctor was directing me to, because I couldn't really feel much.  So they lowered my epidural dose, and then I could feel the contractions a bit better and was able to push more correctly.  

Our Kayla Cecilia was born at 10:59pm.  We were floored.  A girl.  And a hungry one.  When they put her in Chris' arms, she started sucking at his shirt.  We laughed, and the journey of parenting this side of the womb began.  

brand new

She was a healthy 8 lbs, 6 oz.   And she was perfect. 

This is, and will always be, one of my favorite pictures from the first week at home.  

Kayla's Stats:

Born June 30, 2009 at 10:59pm

Weight: 8 lbs. 6 oz. 

Born on her due date

Length: 21 inches

Total labor: about 11 hours

Happy BIRTH day (7 years late), Kayla!  

We love you, sweetie pie and you changed our lives forever.