Thursday, March 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Laney Tomlyn Anderson!

Laney was born March 13th, 2012 at 11:17am. She weighed 7lbs and 4 oz and was 20 inches long.

On the evening of March 9th I started have contractions. They lasted several hours but weren't getting closer together or increasing intensity so I went to bed assuming they were just Braxton Hicks contractions. The next morning they gained intensity and by 3:00 they were between 5 and 7 minutes apart. I was in Athens that day so I called my OB and the nurse told me to go on to the hospital. I really thought it was time. My sister, Dana, drove me back to Knoxville and sat with me in triage while nurses checked my cervix and hooked me up to a monitor. Two hours later I was sent home, still having contractions. Saturday and Sunday were the same; I kept having painful contractions but they just weren't making me progress the way they needed to. It was a very long weekend.

On Monday I went to my weekly appointment and saw one of the nurse practitioners. I told her what was going on and she checked me saying I was 5 to 6 cm dilated and if I was still contracting she was sending me to the hospital. She put me on a monitor and sure enough my contractions were steady and about 7 minutes apart. She sent me directly over to labor and delivery. I was so excited and called Jon to let him know he needed to go home and get our bags. Then I proceeded to text family and friends to tell them we were having a baby. Once I got to the hospital I was once again put into triage and hooked up to a monitor. The nurse said I was actually only about 4 cm dilated and that I still wasn't progressing enough to keep me there... I lost it at that point. I had been in pain since Thursday evening and had been sent to labor and delivery twice just to be sent home. The nurse called my doctor and said she would schedule an induction for the next morning. I still wasn't happy but at least I knew that it would be over soon. So we went home and got ready for the induction.

Neither one of us slept very good that night. Not only were we excited but I was also in a lot of pain. I couldn't sit or lay down and even standing and rocking wasn't helping. I had sharp, persistent, pains in my stomach and right side. We called the nurseline and she seemed to think it was a nerve shooting off. This, mixed with my contractions, made for a very long night. If all of this is anything like going into labor naturally, it isn't for me. It was terrible.

Finally I fell asleep for about two hours before our alarm clock went off and we got up to leave for the hospital. Jareth stayed home with Jeremy, Jon's brother, who had come in the night before. He was very helpful and also took care of our dog, Jack. We asked everyone who wanted to come to wait until about 8:30 before coming to the hospital. Jareth had been induced and we knew nothing really happened until about 9:00.

Once at the hospital I was hooked up to an IV and put on a monitor. (Side note: I loathe IVs.) Dr. Walker came in a little after 8:00 to break my water and at about 8:30 the nurse started my pitocin. I had been hurting for about five days at this point so I decided to get my epidural right away. I was at 4 cm dilated already so I didn't worry too much about it delaying my progression. The epidural hurt pretty bad going in and my contractions at that point were very intense. My nurse, Deb, coached me through it. She was incredible the entire time we were there. It was she who determined how this delivery process was going to go, much to my dismay.


At close to 11:00, Nurse Deb came in to check my progression. Everyone except my sister was ushered out of the room. Jon was downstairs getting coffee so Dana stayed in the room with me. Deb checked to see how far dilated I was and made a very important discovery. I was 7cm and she noticed my water was dark. She said that Laney had, had a bowel movement. Then she checked me again and very calmly said "I think I feel a bottom and not a top." Breech, my baby was breech. I looked at Dana and I immediately knew I was going to have a c-section and quickly. Deb ordered an ultrasound "stat" and all of the sudden nurses and doctors were flying around my room preparing to move me to the OR. I started crying and asking if I could deliver her breech which of course my answer was "no." I did NOT want a c-section. I wanted the experience I had with Jareth. I didn't want to be layed on a table and have my baby cut out of me and not get to hold her for god knows how long. I was afraid I wouldn't get any time with her before being put into recovery and I would lose thos precious first few moments.

The next thing I know I'm being shown an ultrasound that Laney's head is in my ribs and am being told the importance of getting her out now. Jon is back and has been thrown scrubs to put on and Dr. Walker is running in. (Dana said she was running down the hall to my room as she left) She comes to my side since I'm still crying like crazy and talks me through the process. She was very firm with me but answered all of my questions and put me at ease. It was exactly what I needed. I look up for Jon and he is rubbing my head and telling me that everything will be fine. Then we are in motion.

In the OR I am moved from my bed to the operating table where they strapped down my arms and put a big, blue sheet in front of my face. A man asks me if I can feel "this" and "that" and I tell him no. Jon is brought in and sits beside me and I hear Dr. Walker get started. She talks me through most of the procedure assuring me that everything is fine. She even tells me not to expect the baby to cry since she'd had a bowel movement and may have swallowed some of the fluid. I felt a lot of tugging and some pressure but of course no pain. Then I hear Dr. Walker say "baby's out" and following that I heard the sweetest cry. Laney was letting me know she was okay. She was brought around to me to see and her little legs were stuck up by her ears where she had been in breech positon for a while. It was comical to see them slowly come down. They took her to a little bed  right next to me and began cleaning her off and doing tests.

She was beautiful. A head full of strawberry hair, big eyes, and the prettiest little lips you've ever seen on a baby. Long fingers and toes. Perfect doesn't begin to describe her. Jon went to take photos of her and kept telling me how good I was doing and how perfect our daughter was. I had forgotten that I was on the table for a few minutes until I heard Dr. Walker say "bladder is back in, bowels are back in." I tried to ignore that statement but I got nauseas and my head started throbbing. Then a nice man named Chris who I think was an assistant to the anesthesiologist put me out for about five minutes. I woke up not having a clue what had happened. Jon just said I took a short nap. It must have been very short because Laney was still being poked and proded not two feet away from me. Her APGARs were 8 and 9 and outside of a scrape on her butt from the incision, everything was perfect.

When they were done sewing me up and done with all of Laney's stuff they put me back in my bed and asked if I wanted to hold my daughter. Absolutely! I thought I would have to be seperated from her and was so suprised that she never left my side even for a moment. They placed Laney on me skin to skin and Deb put warm blankets over the both of us. I was in heaven at that moment. The surgery was over and I had my little girl in my arms. I even got to breastfeed when we got back to the room.

We spent the next three days in the hospital. Jareth was fantastic with his baby sister and of course everyone was smitten with our little angel. We had a lot of visitors. I admit I was pretty loopy the first day. I was in a lot of pain and my emotions were running high so they gave me some good medicine! I just remember being so sleepy and calm. Although recovery has been difficult, I have to say I got better faster than I thought I would. The first 5 days or so were terrible. I couldn't do anything on my own. I have to brag on my husband. Jon was absolutely amazing. I can't say enough how lucky I am to have such a supportive husband. He did everything for us for close to two weeks. On about the 7th day I noticed a big change in myself. I could move around easier and the pain was much less.

A little over two weeks later, I am now doing much, much better. My incision is still sore and I have some ligament pain but overall I'm doing great. Laney and Jareth are keeping me busy and Laney is still doing wonderful. Jareth is an awesome big brother. He is doing so well. I'm very proud of him. Our family of four is just perfect. Jon and I are happier than ever.

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