Birth Story

Feel free to bypass this post - this is more for us to remember details in the future.

Birth Story...
On Friday, March 23rd I had more energy than normal and had been busy all day getting baby clothing washed, packing up excess things for the move and cleaning for Saturday showings. Tren was to arrive home later that night from Denver where he has been working Monday through Friday. (side note: I had been checked earlier that week by my doctor and I hadn't progressed from a fingertip in 3 weeks. She informed me that I would probably go post date and to be prepared for this. We talked about the possibility of inducing me mid 40 weeks)

I picked Tren up that night around 7:45 PM at the airport. We went to dinner at Wingers and headed home. We were both exhausted and planned to hit the sack early. Around 9:45 PM Tren was all settled into bed and I had just layed down when I had a small gush. I wasn't sure what was going on until I stood up and the gush was constant and it was no longer small. It took me a minute or two to get my thoughts together and control my shock/excitement before I yelled out to Tren from the bathroom to let him know my water just broke. He thought I was joking and had to come into the bathroom to see before he believed me and began to get a little panicked. Luckily I had packed my hospital bag earlier that day and all Tren needed to do was get dressed. I of course insisted that I straighten my hair, clean up the bathroom and gather a few more last minute things before we leave for the hospital. (what a blessing it was that Tren was home when this happened. We both were VERY worried that I would go into labor while he was in Colorado and I know I didn't want to go through any of this labor without him.)

Tren and I strolled into the hospital around 11 PM that night where all the fun begins. I was feeling a little crampy but nothing too uncomfortable. I get my IV and hooked up to the machines and my fabulous nurse checks me to find that I was still just a fingertip. Pitocin was started and gradually increased. About 4 AM I was feeling the intense contractions about every 2 minutes and dilated to only a 1. I couldn't sleep and knew I would need some rest before our little bundle of joy arrives. Sheepishly, I ask for my epidural. The nurse assured me that the pictocin was making my contractions intense and even though I was only dilated to a 1, an epidural was probably a good idea. My amazing nurse anesthetist, Ron, was THE BEST!! He placed a fantatic block and his bedside manner was great. He came in periodically to check on me throughout my 21 plus hour labor. He even came in after the delivery and BS'd with us for about 30 minutes. ANYWAYS - back to the story...

I was finally able to get some rest once my epidural was placed. It then became a waiting game. Around 8 AM I had dilated to 'barely a 2' so my doctor came in and placed an internal device to better monitor my contraction strengths so that they could go up on the pitocin even higher. About 18 hours AFTER my water broke, I had only dilated to a 4 and had started a fever. I was started on antibiotics and beginning to worry that I would end up with a c-section. Piper's heart rate kept getting higher and higher and when it was around 200-210 bpm I became emotional. (Unfortunately, nurses make the WORST patients. My poor nurse had to keep reminding me to be a patient and stop being a nurse and that she and the MD were closely monitoring my baby. She was sweet but we both knew that it wasn't going to happen and I would continue vocalizing my concerns.) Shortly after my emotional breakdown my contractions became intense and EXTREMELY painful. I truly thought I was going to die. (mind you, I think I am a pretty tough cookie and I can tolerate pain pretty darn well, however these contractions were kicking my butt!) I called Ron into my room STAT. He and the nurse hustled in to find that I had gone from a 4 to complete in less than 1 hour. No wonder the epidural wasn't cutting it. It took about 20 minutes and SEVERAL doses of medication to get me comfortable before the pushing began. About an hour or so of pushing and voila, miss Piper Darz was born Saturday, March 24th and 8:12 PM. NICU was there for the delivery due to me being ruptured for so long and my fever. Piper had a fever and didn't look good upon arrival. She was pretty limp and had no interest in crying. Thankfully the NICU nurses worked their magic and Piper was good to go after about 20 0r so minutes.

I had my sister there to photograph most everything so Tren and I could enjoy the moment. Best decision ever. It was perfect. Tren did an outstanding job through the whole labor, especially when the pain was so intense, to keep me calm and breathing. He asked a lot of questions and was very present through the whole labor and birth. He cut the cord and couldn't take his eyes off Piper once she was born. It was the most amazing thing to not only meet my sweet angel for the first time but to watch Tren just fall head over heals for his sweet little girl. I couldn't believe how much love I had for this sweet angel and how my love for my husband grew instantly watching him with Piper.

We were fortunate to have fabulous labor nurses, NICU nurses and nurse anesthetist. They made Tren and I feel comfortable and took great care of us. I am so happy that our experience was as wonderful as it was. Unfortunately, my amazing OB missed the delivery due to prior plans with her family. We had a not so great OB step in for the delivery - but I can't complain because everyone else was great.