A lot of people have asked me about my birth story and how our little angel came into this world. And I've been wanting to write it down somewhere so I can go back and read it from time to time and of course, so I don't forget anything! The more days go by, the harder it is to remember the little details of that day. So here it goes:
Pregnancy was nothing like I expected it to be. Complications that made it a rough road. I was SO SICK my whole first trimester and half of the second trimester. I hated it but knew it meant a healthy little peanut was growing. I survived off of gatorade, granola bars, and Unisom.
When third trimester came, the glucose test came with it... Yay. My numbers came back high, so I had to take the 3 hour test the week after. Numbers were still high, so I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. So from week 28 to the end, I had to count carbs and poke myself every. single. day... At first I was pretty upset and scared because I had no idea what to expect or what to do, but honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. YES, it was still very hard, but nothing I couldn't handle.
Around 32 weeks, I started to swell up and get fat legs and lose my ankles. Everyone's FAVORITE part of being pregnant right? Also, my blood pressure started to get high. So I was put on "modified bed rest" the week of Thanksgiving break. Just needed to take it easy and not go for long walks or anything. They warned me about Preeclampsia and what symptoms to look for. Some symptoms were severe headache, seeing spots, and blurred vision.
The night before December 7th, (I was about 37 weeks) I could not sleep. It was always a chore trying to get comfortable and get a good night's rest, but this night was the worst and I about had it. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. I woke up so annoyed and so sick of being pregnant. Anyone that knew me knew that I hated the final weeks of pregnancy. I just wanted to be done and I was SO ready to have her here. I had a headache all day that day. It wasn't bad, but I just couldn't get rid of it all day. I texted my cousin who was a nurse at an OBGYN clinic what was considered a "severe headache". She said it was being sensitive to light and more of a migraine type headache. I knew it wasn't a migraine so I didn't think too much of it. I had a weekly appointment the next day so I just figure I would mention it to the Dr. when I go in. I asked some friends about it and what they think I should do. Almost all of them told me to call the after-hours nurse just to be safe. I did just that... I called a nurse and just told her what was going on. She told me to go to a Pharmacy store and get my blood pressure checked, and if it was higher than 140/90 to go into Labor & Delivery to be evaluated. I didn't really want to go get it checked because I'm pretty sure going into the hospital and getting sent home would've been worse than not going in at all. We went to the Smith's just right down the street and sure enough... it was higher. Not by much, but enough to go in anyway. We didn't want to get our hopes up, so we just went from the store to the hospital because we didn't think it would be anything.
We get there at about 10:00 PM, told them what was going on, they admitted me to a room. She told me to get into a gown, gave me a bracelet with my information on it, and hooked a blood pressure cuff and monitors on my stomach to monitor her movements. We looked at each other surprised because we were not expecting to have it go this far. The machine would check my blood pressure about every 10 minutes. 95% of the time, it was higher than 140/90. The nurse said that I might be having a baby tonight because of high blood pressure and the fact that I was already having contractions on my own (that's what they felt like?!), but they were going to go check with the Dr. just to see what she says. After being checked for about an hour and a half, the nurse came in and said "Yep.... You're staying!" We were so shocked and a little nervous because we weren't expecting to have a baby right now! YIKES! So Jeff went home and got the hospital bag, and some things to entertain us throughout the night. Thank you, Home Improvement.
Last "bump" picture!
They gave me the pill to soften my cervix (don't remember what it's called...) and watched for about another hour to see how my body progressed. They got the IV in, but couldn't give me Pitocin until baby settled down. She was SO active and her heart rate was about 180 bpm just from moving so much. So the waiting game began... Waiting for her to settle down. I remember the nurse coming in and saying "Tell your baby to calm down!" ha. If only it were that easy. Finally she settled down, and about 1:00 AM they gave me Pitocin to start having stronger contractions. I asked Jeff to give me a blessing because there was a good chance that she wasn't fully ready to come yet. It was a special moment. I remember the IV killing me..... It was in a vein close to a bone on my arm so I could NOT move it at all or else it would pull and kill. That I will never forget. Ha!
That night I didn't get a single wink of sleep. With my headache, anxiousness, and nervousness, sleep was not an option. I watched Home Improvement the whole night and texted my mom - because does a mom ever sleep when her daughter is in labor? Jeff tried to sleep on the couch there, but it's nothing close to a bed. I finally was dilated to 3cm and contractions were starting to hurt. More in my back... It felt like a pinched nerve in my back or something.
At 5:30 AM, I said "mercy" and got the epidural. I felt like that was more painful than actual labor. The anesthesiologist was yanking me to the side and wasn't gentle at positioning me at all. Especially with that blasted IV... trying to keep that still and getting yanked was an adventure. Sidenote: I was happy I had my hair done and had some makeup on because then I'd look good for the photos after instead of looking like I just had a baby. Well makeup came off from getting the epidural because I cried hard. Not fun. Well dang it.... I'll try and look as good as I can now.
Once the epidural was working, I had to have a catheter put in. Glamorous, I know! But nobody told me that it'd make me shake to no end. I just thought it was me being cold and/or my nerves. But later I found out that the epidural makes you shake. Weird.
My body was progressing slowly and every time the nurses came in to check how dilated I was, it was only by a little bit. They told me I progressed about a centimeter ever hour and a half... Great, this was going to take all day... The contractions started to get more intense and I could feel pressure down there. I could tell one was coming when the catheter tube started to move. That got very painful, so they had to double the dosage of my epidural so I couldn't feel it. It never went completely away... I never wanted anything so bad than to get that dang tube taken out! It was the worst.
At about 1:00 PM, I was dilated to 5 cm... Come on body! Work with me here. I was getting so impatient and so anxious to meet this little lady. They decided to break my water and a little later, every contraction I got, her heart rate would go way down, then go back up once it stopped. Which wasn't a good thing. It meant that somewhere the umbilical cord was getting pinched and she wasn't getting oxygen during a contraction. So they needed to put more fluid back in me to give some room for the cord.
The nurses came back at about 3:00 to check me again and I was dilated to 9 cm! Whaaaaa?! And I come to find out that the reason I was feeling so much pressure was because her head was right there. But they said that pushing, especially with your first baby, usually takes about 2-4 hours. You've got to be kidding me.... I have been in labor for the past 15 hours and you're telling me that it's going to take another 2 at least!? I was not thrilled. But since I was so dilated, and she was so low, they decided to go get the stuff and get ready to have me push. When they left, Jeff and I decided to say a quick prayer together that she will come safely and healthily.
Everything was ready and I got ready to push. The nurses counted to 10 and did it in a set of three. I only pushed for about 10 minutes - three of those sets! YESSS! It didn't take 2 hours. I was more than happy about that!
Little Rylee May Clawson was born on December 8th, 2015 at 3:28 PM and was just perfect. She came out PURPLE which kind of scared me because being a mom for less than a minute, you don't really know anything yet. We see her for the first time and we both just cry. I looked at Jeff and he had the sweetest smile on his face that I will never forget. They put her on my chest and I couldn't believe I was a mom!! It was so surreal. She wasn't crying very much when she came out though... She would cry for a couple seconds then stop.... Then cough, then stop. So they took her over where they gave her oxygen and tried to expand her lungs more.
Scary sight to ANY brand new mom.
The nurses were so good to come over and explain what was going on. They said everything was just fine, and not to worry. After about 15 minutes, she was good to come back to me so I could hold her! She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and 19.5" long. My family all had a guessing game to see what she weighed and how long she was. My sister-in-law was the closest guessing 6 lbs 12 oz, and I got the closest for length with 20"!
Can you tell we are exhausted?
We get to go to our new room and Jeff went to give her first bath and I went and relaxed while I talked with my parents. Those troopers came in the early afternoon and have been waiting to see her! They got to see her have her first bath and Rylee was NOT happy. She was bright red and screaming. Ha! They brought her back in a Christmas stocking! It was the cutest thing. Grandma and Grandpa were so excited to hold her!
Pregnancy was hard... Labor was hard. But would I go through it again? In the blink of an eye. Everything I went through was so worth it and I forgot about it all when I saw her for the first time and I got to hold her for the first time. It was definitely a day that I will remember for the rest of my life.
I have loved everything about being a mom. Everything about her makes me so happy and I just love everything about this little squirt. Especially her sneezes - they are my absolute FAVORITE thing to watch! I need to get them on video sometime. Her hands come straight up to her face and she puts her whole body into it. :)
Thanks for reading, and congratulations on reading this whole thing! It was a long one, but I'm glad I did it because there were some small details I was already starting to forget.
Thanks, Debra for the photos!
We love you so much, Rylee May!
Right in the middle of a sneeze!
