Tessa's Birth Story

Sheeeee's heeerrrrreeeee!  Tessa Joann was born on Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 11:10 AM.

Tessa's birth story begins really on Thursday, August 2nd.  I had an O/B appointment that afternoon and I was really praying for progress.  I had been at 2cm/70% effaced since 35 weeks.  When I met with my OB on that Thursday afternoon, despite all the walking and random contractions that I had been having, I had made no progress.  I was really disappointed because I knew that he would not let me go past my due date of Sunday, August 5th.  Because of my last baby weighing 10lbs and fast labors, my doctors were not comfortable letting me go past my due date.  We had agreed earlier in the pregnancy on an induction if necessary.  

So the doctor gave me the choice of Friday morning or Monday morning.  I chose Friday simply because I didn't want to get dressed in my work clothes another day.  Ha!  

So Brandon and I left, went home to have dinner with our boys and get ready for a looooonnnnggg  day ahead on Friday.  The boys spent the night with their grandparents and Brandon and I tossed and turned all night.

At 4:15AM I finally got up and got a shower.  I fixed my hair and finished packing our bags.  We left our house at 5:30 to be at the hospital by 6.  We got to the hospital right on time and went through the routine - I changed into a gown and signed our lives away.  The doctor came in and talked to us.  He advised us not to be planning on a quick delivery despite my two previous fast labors because every labor was different and the baby's head was still very high (-3 Station).

I started getting fluids and the doctor agreed to let me have an epidural before he started the pitocin because of my history in labors (I could tell he was very skeptical and thought I would be in labor for the longer part of the day though).

By 8:30, the epidural was in, but the goal was to only "make my legs tingly."  Because I was not having any painful contractions, they didn't administer the "bolis"  (I was told this is a big dose of pain meds that comes with an epidural).  The pitocin was started on level 2 and the waiting game began.  

About 9:30 my doctor came in to check on me and found me at 5 cm dilated.  He broke my water at that point and told me "he would be around."  I joked with him that both of my boys were born between 11AM and Noon and he told me that I would win the gold medal if I could progress that quickly.  I was still -2 station.  

Brandon, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law were all in the labor room with me.  We were watching the Olympics and making small talk.  I had the shakes pretty badly - not from the meds, but from my nerves.  I had been shaking since I checked in that morning.  My mom got there around 10AM and we continued chatting about nothing in particular.  

I could feel every contraction, not in a painful oh-my-I'm-dying kind of way, but in a punched in the gut, take my breath kind of way.  I knew that my contractions were getting stronger and closer together, but the monitor was behind me (I was sitting indian-style in the bed!) and I couldn't see how strong or specifically how far apart they were.  

By 10:45 I was really hurting in my left hip and back every 30 seconds.  It was definitely a can't-talk-through-this kind of pain, so I pressed the call button for my nurse and she came in.  She said "well maybe it's time for that bolis.  That should really help with your pain."  We agreed and she turned up the epi.  

At 11AM, the pains were coming much faster and much stronger, despite having turned up the pain meds.  I called my nurse again and she agreed to check me.  She sat down on the bed beside me and checked my cervix.  She made a funny expression and asked me to try and push.  Surprised, I gave a half hearted push.  She immediately told me to stop.  Her eyes were wide and she reached across my chest and pushed the nurses call button.  I ask what was wrong and she said, "I'm holding her head in.  She's crowning."  It all happened very quickly after that....

The nurses all came in, Brandon, my sister-in-law and my mom came in.  The nurses advised that my OB was assisting a hysterectomy and they had called him to leave.  He was on his way.  The other nurses prepped the room, my bed was taken apart, things moved and got shifted around.  

At 11:05 my doctor came in and made a joke about needing to catch up on the Olympics, which was playing on the flat screen above his head.  He turned to face me and said "Wow - she's got a ton of hair."  That was it.  The nurse who had been holding her head asked me to push and with one 8 second push, Tessa literally came flying into this world at 11:10AM.  My doctor literally caught her with a cradled two-handed catch and she immediately peed on him.  My nurse cut the cord because Brandon said he couldn't (too squeamish I think) and they placed my sweet baby girl on my chest.  

She was a screamer.  She screamed and screamed and screamed.  After about 20 mins on my chest, they took Tessa right beside the bed and weighed her.  Our guesses were right on - she weighed 9lbs, 1.7oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.  Still screaming, the nurses did her Apgar tests, which she scored 9s on, and then they gave her a little bath.  She screamed the whole time.  

My doctor gave me the gold medal for fastest delivery (they officially called it "precipitous", which means a little too fast I guess) and gave his congrats before he left us to recovery.  

Although I was very nervous going into this delivery because of my lack of progress, I really couldn't have asked for a better labor.  Tessa is such a miracle - a true blessing sent to our family and we couldn't be happier :)