Grace Kyan

I know this is really late, but here it goes anyway...lol!

My due date was July 10th...came and went with no baby...

July 13th, around 8 pm I started having "bloody show." I was really crampy so I took some tylenol and went to bed. I woke up around 5 am on the 14th with hard contractions every 5-10 minutes. I waited until 9 am to call my midwife. I went in to the hospital and was still at 3 cm, which I had been at for about 2 weeks. Contractions were about 7 minutes apart. An hour later, I was still at 3 cm, so they had me walk for an hour. Still only 3 cm. They sent me home with an Ambien and told me to get some sleep and eat something. I was having intense back labor. They told me she was probably sunny side up so I should rock back and forth on my hands and knees or sleep as close to being on my stomach as I could to get her to turn. I tried to rest, but couldn't.

Around 8 pm, I couldn't take anymore. I went back to the hospital to get checked again. Still 3 cm. Contractions were 4 minutes apart, with an 8 minute gap every 5 contractions or so. An hour later, I was still at 3 cm. The nurse called the midwife on call to see what she wanted to do. The midwife said I could take another Ambien or she could give me a shot of sleeping meds. I told her I wanted the shot because the pill hadn't done anything. The nurse called the midwife back to tell her my decision but then the midwife said that she didnt want give me the shot because I lived half an hour away and should start progressing very soon. The nurse was sympathetic and decided to check me one last time before she sent me home again. She waited for a contraction and was able to stretch my cervix to 4-5 cm. YAY!!!! I was still having terrible back labor and every contraction caused me to tighten my muscles in my butt and hips, which made it a million times worse but I couldnt stop doing it. The nurse massaged my hips for about an hour and taught my fiance where to massage.

I was finally checked in around midnight on July 15th. They gave me a shot of Stadol for the pain because the anesthesiologist was in with a c-section and couldnt make it to me for awhile. She finally showed up around 2:30 am to give me my epidural. HEAVEN! lol! I was at 6 cm when they gave it to me. With my terrible back labor, they had to give me 2 shots plus the drip to take away the pain. My left leg was completely numb and I couldn't move it at all.They catheterized me soon after.

The nurse came to check me again around 5:30 and I was at 8 cm. She called the midwife who came in at 6 am and I was fully dialated and ready to push. My water still hadnt broken and I had been progressing just fine, so they never broke it. After a few pushed, the midwife tried to break my water with her fingers and finally it ended up breaking on its own. She had passed mecconium shortly after my water broke. She was covered in it when she finally came out. I watch the delivery in the mirror. It was amazing!

I pushed for half an hour. Grace Kyan was born at 6:56 am on July 15th. She was 6 lbs 5.6 oz and 19 1/4 in long. They placed her on my stomach and my fiance cut her cord. I couldn't believe I finally had my baby girl in my arms!

This was her very first picture. She was on my stomach, seconds after she was born.

And here she is last week. 6 weeks old! I can't believe how time flies and how fast they change!