I can't believe a year ago today we had just gotten to the hospital after a day full of running last minute errands (buying a carseat), taking Ellie to get a skunk bath at the groomers, deep cleaning our apartment, visiting my mom at the hospital (she was rushed to the ER the day before due to an Ulcer, and had to stay in the ICU for a few days), and going to a bar-b-que with friends. I knew as soon as I woke up at 5:00 am Monday July 27th that something was up....and I was right. About an hour and a half later I started having my first early contractions and they kept coming and progressively getting stronger the entire day.
We ended up going to the hospital around 10:30pm that evening, my contractions had gotten to be about 3-5 minutes apart and boy was it the most surreal feeling when we walked into the hospital and pushed the intercom in order for them to let us in since it was after hours. A voice came on over the intercom and said "How can we help you?"....and I said, "Um...we are here to have a baby". Haha I couldn't believe those words were coming out of my mouth.
When we arrived I was only dilated to a 2...so they had us wait for an hour to see if I would progress in that time, and if not they were going to send us home. I was so nervous, I did not want to be sent home! Luckily, after the hour was up i had progressed to a 4...so we were there to stay! I ended up waiting to get the epidural until I was dilated to a 6, and after it kicked in we were able to get an hour or so of sleep. Thank goodness, since Kevin and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before due to Ellie getting sprayed by a Skunk up the canyon during my b-day celebration...causing us to stay up bathing her multiple times in my parents back yard until 3:00am. Looking back on it, I am pretty sure the stress of it all is what caused me to go into labor. Ha!
After I received the epidural things seemed to slow down a bit. Around 7:00 or 8:00 am Dr. Tanner came in and broke my water and I was dilated to about an 8. Right after that I all of a sudden began to feel my contractions in my stomach and back. The pain hit me like a train...the nurse said sometimes Epidurals can get "pockets" where they stop working. So for about the next 2 hours I was in total pain. I went from being happy and talkative to completely shutting down. I don't remember a ton during that stretch of time cause I had to just close my eyes and concentrate on breathing to get through it...I couldn't talk nor did I want to talk, it was the worst pain I have ever been in in my life.
Poor Kevin was so worried about me, he wanted to help but there was nothing he could do to help make it better. Him and Emily were so sweet to me...and I think I was pretty ornery with them. After words I felt really bad.
As it got closer to 11:00am I decided to try another dose of the Epidural...and lucky enough it started to kick in and cover the pocket, just in time for me to start pushing! When they told me it was time to start pushing that's when things really started to hit me...we were having a baby! I still was in shock that this was actually happening. I only ended up having to push for about 20 minutes and our little baby was here! What an incredible and surreal moment it was seeing and holding that little human that had been inside kicking me for the last 9 months. It is hard to put into words how incredibly special that moment is. You truly are so close to heaven during those first few moments of birth...that's the only way I can begin to describe it.
It took us a day to come up with a name...but as soon as we decided it felt 100% right.
Kate Lareine Young
8lbs. 12 oz. 21 inches
Born the day before her due date. And perfect in every way.
After the doctors and nurses had finished up and my dad, sister, and photographer all had left. We had a few minutes with just the 3 of us before they came in and had us move rooms. Those 10-20 minutes that Kevin and I had with our brand new baby were ones that I will never forget. The spirit was so strong in that hospital room with us. Holding our brand new tiny baby girl I gained an appreciation and love for Kevin that I had never had before. He surprised me with a little gift...Kate's first book, "An Awesome Book of Love" by Dallas Clayton. As we read it to Kate...we both just bawled our eyes out. In that moment I knew this little girl was going to change our life. I felt a love I never knew I could feel...I was a Mom.
Birth Story Photo's taken by the incredibly talented Mariko Kay Photography.
