Adeline "Addie" Jean Layton
If you are not interested in the details of her birth story feel free to scroll on through.
When I was about 36 weeks, my doctor mentioned that planning an induction may be a good choice for me and Adeline. There were two main reasons that she suggested an induction. The first reason being the way that I labored with Cooper. I was very concerned that I would not make it to the hospital in time with Adeline. Considering I really did not have many signs I was in labor with Cooper, and that typically woman labor faster with the second, my doctor had similar concerns. I was having nightmares of Chris cutting the umbilical cord on the side of I-90. Not ideal. Second, I tested positive for Step B. This is a common virus that something like one in four pregnant woman carry. I actually had it with Cooper as well. It does not effect the mother at all, but can effect the baby if exposed during delivery. In order to protect Adeline I just needed to make sure that I received an IV of antibiotics four hours before delivery. Four hours is not a problem for most women, but there were no guarantees I would have a four hour warning.
Even with these concerns from my doctor combined with my own worries, I was very hesitant to schedule an induction. I had reservations about forcing something that is supposed to happen naturally- especially since my body seems to be pretty good at this labor and delivery business. I DON'T FEEL CONTRACTIONS. Yes that is true. So why should I force my labor to start? I didn't want this to adversely affect Adeline. I was back and forth, back and forth on what to do. Based on my progress and my doctor's advice I finally decided to schedule my induction. My doctor suggested July 8th (39 weeks pregnant). I was unsure even after I arrived at the hospital. Was I doing the right thing, for Adeline?
Thankfully the nurse I had was so so understanding of my concerns. She said she would postpone medical intervention as long as she could. My doctor was on board with this idea too. I wanted to be hooked up to monitors to see my progress and Adeline's vitals, and just see what my body did. When I arrived at the hospital, at 8:30, I was at about 3 or 4 cm dilated, 70% effaced and I was contracting about every 5 minutes. I was not feeling anything. Similar to what happened with Cooper's labor. So the nurse and my doctor decided to start the antibiotics (for the Strep B). That way we would be ready for her to arrive at anytime. Then we just waited to see what happened.
Here is my monitor that shows my contractions (bottom-green) and Adeline's heart rate (top-blue). I am standing up in this photo, and that is my thumb. As you can see, I am also in the middle of a contraction. Thank you Mom for the amazing gene you have passed on to me when it comes to labor!
I continued to contract regularly all morning. I never felt anything. My doctor came to check me at about 12:30 and I had progressed further all on my own. In fact, she said if I had walked into triage at that point they would have admitted me. I was contracting about every 2-3 minutes, 80% effaced, and 5 cm dilated. She said, "It is crazy that you are progressing right before our eyes, without any pitocin! Its like your body knows you are at the hospital."
Here I am "in labor" watching the World Cup (the game where Brazil was crushed by Germany) and enjoying the view from our room. July 8th was a beautiful, hot, sunny summer day.
Throughout the afternoon my contractions started to slow down (more like 4-5 mins apart, rather than 2-3) so my doctor suggested starting pitocin (hormone to get things moving). An hour or so later, my contractions were still about 2-3 mins apart, and my doctor was ready to break my water. Once she did that, I could feel my contractions, but nothing crazy. Rather than feeling nothing at all, I was like, "Oh, am I having a contraction now? I think I feel it?" I was dilated to 6. My contractions started to get closer together and I was nearing "transition" when things get really exciting. My nurse warned me that I was likely to go quickly once I started into transition. If I wanted an epidural before things got too intense, now was the time. So I got my epidural. The anethesiologist was really good. My epidural was quick, painless and I remained in control of both of my legs the entire time! I mean I could not walk around, but I could move them.
At 5:00 my doctor came in to check on me. I was at about an 8, almost 100% and Adeline was about as low as she could get before it was time to push. She was also sunny side up (face up), typically babies should be face down. My doctor tried to move her, but Adeline was not having it. She was doing fine in the position she was in and my doctor said as long as her vitals were good than we just let her do her thing. The nurse had me lay in a few different positions to try to get her to turn face down on her own. My doctor also let me know that she would be leaving soon, and would love to delivery Adeline but she may have to leave before then. I totally understood and was ready to have the on call doc deliver.
At about 7:00pm, the nurse checked me and I was pretty close to pushing time. She decided to see if my doctor was still in the hospital. She was and she came in to check on me. Adeline had moved again and was now sideways, but her vitals were still good. To make it easier on me, my doctor tried to get Adeline to move face down but she did not want to do it! My doctor had me push while she tried to turn her, but still nothing. Just before I started pushing for real, Adeline repositioned herself to face up again. That was just going to have to work. This girl was coming into the world the way she wanted to.
Now, it was go time! At about 8:00 I was ready to push. The nurse called to get an extra set of hands, but another woman was delivering at the exact same time. No extra hands would be coming. In fact, the on-call doctor would have been with the other lady rather than with me. So it was a darn good thing my doctor hung around for me! The irony of all of this, is that I was the only woman there all day, until about an hour before I delivered and then there were 3 of us! Two of us delivered within minutes of each other.
I pushed for only 20 minutes. Which was nothing compared to the 3 hours of pushing, complete with a puke session with Cooper- sorry for the graphic detail! On my last push my doctor told me, "Okay, one more and she is here!" And there she was, July 8, 2014 at 8:20pm, face up, looking right at me. Adeline was alert but calm. She cried only slightly. I kept asking if she was okay. All I had to compare this to was Cooper, and he came into this world screaming! Adeline seemed so peaceful. She still does.
Chris, Adeline and I had about an hour together before family came into the room. I had a chance to clean up a bit and try to nurse her. We called my mom so she could bring Cooper down to the hospital. My dad is currently working on a job over here (the night shift), so he was able to leave work and come meet her with everyone else. We did not need to call Chris's parents, seeing as they had been waiting, patiently, all day at the hospital to meet this little girl!
Once Cooper arrived, Chris went out to get everyone. Cooper and the grandparents met Adeline all together. Here he is in his jammies, meeting his little sister for the first time. He was very unsure about her, and me being in a hospital bed. He was much more interested in all the monitors and Dad's iPad.
All four grandparents were there to say hello to our little girl. Somehow, I only have a photo of my dad???
Later that night we were moved to postpartum. Adeline and I did not get much sleep. The doctors were happy with my recovery and hers, so they said we could leave at exactly 24 hours if we wanted to. Or we could stay if we wanted to. It is really hard to get rest in the hospital so we decided to get discharged as soon as we could. But before we left we had a few visitors. I also failed at getting photos of Adeline with Aunt Keri and Nana. Whoops.
This picture KILLS me. Our faces explain it all.
Adeline was born at 8:20 pm on a Tuesday and we left the hospital at 9:00 pm on Wednesday.
She left the hospital in her jammies.
Since it was so late at night, we did not expect to see any one out and about BUT look who was outside to greet us upon arrival!? Some of our neighbors and their kids were out enjoying the warm summer night. Most of them were in their PJ's, all of them were excited to see Adeline.
This picture is my favorite. Cooper and Molly, welcoming little sis to our home.
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