Week 39

This was a busy and jam-packed week. It was my last 4 days of work before my maternity leave started and while feeling tired, I knew it was one of the last few weeks to do certain things. I met up with a former colleague for lunch, briefed my department on last minute things I manage, and wrapped up projects with other departments. I managed to get a few ‘long’ walks (while not normally long, they were long this week!) to get some nursing bras, to visit the White House to view their Christmas decorations and to a friends place for breakfast. This was about all I could manage as I was feeling pretty slow with all of that pressure on my pubic bone.

At our 39 week doctor’s appointment, my weight gain was very little (less than .2 lbs) and baby’s heart rate was 145. We met with Dr. Loveland for this last scheduled visit. She was pretty high energy, yet down to earth. I continued to dilate to almost 2 cm. We talked about scheduling an induction as is normal at this week’s appointment. After speaking with the DC office, the ‘best’ opening that they had for me was Dec. 30 (and that was being waitlisted #2!!!) with Dr. Engel. Given family was heading into town the next week; we were really hoping to not get pushed to this date.

Friday of this week was my first day off from work for maternity leave and it started off low key. I bundled up and walked a few blocks to my friend, Nichole’s, for breakfast and to visit with her little girl. Since we were gearing up for a big snow storm the coming weekend, I was going to stop by the grocery store on the way home to get some necessities. Unfortunately, I was too wiped out to stop and get the necessities, so I just headed home and rested. I made myself a quick lunch before trying to send some emails/watch TV. Given I couldn’t concentrate on this; I ended up taking a nap. Ivy, her aunt and Jack and Mellie, Cassidy and Tyler were due to visit in the afternoon, so I figured I needed some rest. I slept for about 1.5 hours before waking up to get ready for visitors. Noah got home later and we hung out with our friends until about 8p. Just before leaving, Ivy, Mellie, and I talked about their experiences with labor. Little did I know how quickly I would need to draw on their experiences. Once they left, Noah and I watched Frost/Nixon and decided to call it a night. Before I could get to bed though, my water broke and contractions started immediately. Forget all of contraction tracking we had learned about. These bad boys came immediately and quickly. After deciding it was in fact my water that broke and that I was having contractions, Noah called the doctors office (around 11p). While waiting on the doctor’s office to call back, Noah asked if he had time to take a shower/shave. Even though I wasn’t sure what was really happening or how fast it was really taking place, I didn’t think he had time for that. Just a few minutes later, we heard back from the on call doctor (Loveland, ironically) and she wanted to talk to me. At the time, I found it ridiculous as I was not in a position to chat. I was in the middle of a contraction. Once it ended, I spoke with Dr. Loveland and she said we should head to the hospital (Sibley). Luckily, I had finished packing the baby bag and was ready to go. Noah had still not packed and did not pack a bag. He grabbed the baby bag, computers/chargers and some winter gear (sweater/jacket/hat/gloves) and warmed the car. We were on our way within about 10 minutes of my call with the doctor. From the time my water broke and we left, I must have had 5 or 6 contractions. They were quickly increasing in frequency and intensity. Once in the car, I continued to have contractions. My eyes were closed most of the ride as I gripped the bar above the passenger seat with my right hand (to get through the contractions) and squeezed Noah’s hand with my left. Noah guesses there were about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground at this time. We had gotten a few miles from home when I determined I was going to need an epidural (right around the time we got to the WWII Memorial). The rest of the ride felt incredibly long, but we finally reached the hospital, which sits at the top of a hill- not ideal during a snowstorm. Given the hour, we had to pull into the ER entrance. The wheelchair arrived as I was having another contraction. Once I was through that one, I got into the wheelchair and was taken to the check-in desk. So much for being on top of things (I had sent my pre-registration form in back in November) as they did not have me pre-registered. So, as I sat in the wheelchair and breathed through contractions, I had the pleasure of again providing information. I had to laugh when I was asked for my ID and insurance card while deferring to Noah (who, of course, had to go and park the car!). When Noah got back in, my contractions were still continuing and we begged to go straight to labor & delivery. We left our bags and my ID/insurance card as Noah pushed me through the empty hospital to labor & delivery. Once there, Noah helped me change into the hospital gown and then make my way to the bed. I was eventually offered the rocker and to walk around and given what I had learned in pre-natal yoga, those alternatives (to the bed) did not seem tempting. I was ready for the bed. They inserted the IV into my left arm (only after collapsing my first vein) and then put the baby monitor in place and checked my dilation. I was again asked many questions that I have answered no fewer than 20 times throughout my pregnancy for the nurse. At this point, it was getting annoying to have to remember the first day of my last menstrual cycle- shouldn’t they have that recorded somewhere? The contractions continued to come and it was a struggle to concentrate on breathing. I fought to not push even though my body wanted to. Trying to remember what we had learned in our class and during yoga was such a struggle. I progressed quickly and despite my pleas for an epidural, the anesthesiologist was still in surgery and unavailable. After several pleas for this pain relief and being told ‘just 15 more minutes,’ I eventually came to the realization that I wasn’t going to get it. It was one of the toughest mental hurdles to overcome. I was disappointed that I had to come to that realization and the nurses wouldn’t just tell me it wasn’t going to happen and I wanted to cry at the moment I realized it wasn’t going to happen, but I couldn’t. I knew there was only one way to go and that I had to finish this. The doctor at the hospital was in surgery with the anesthesiologist and Dr. Loveland was on her way in. Before she got there, the doctor that was in surgery came to check on me and I was told to start pushing, which provided pain relief to the intense contractions. In 10 second intervals (3-4 at a time), I pushed. I’m not really sure how long I pushed for, but somewhere between 1 hour and 1.5 hours. About .5 hour before Kai was born, Dr. Loveland arrived. Just when I thought I couldn’t do this much longer and after Noah asked where we were in the process, Kai arrived at 2:11 am on Saturday, December 19 (2 days before my official due date). After having Kai lay skin to skin for a bit, they took him to another area of the room to weigh/measure him and clean him up. After hearing him cry and knowing all was well, I was anxious to know how big this baby that I was carrying was. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 3 oz. and was 21 in long- long and lean and the cutest baby ever. Kai was very alert after delivery and was super sweet. Noah and I couldn’t believe how lucky we were- to have a healthy, sweet and super cute baby boy. I reference his name above, but we didn’t actually settle on his name until Noon the next day. We actually determined his middle name first and then went back and forth on his first name. In the end, his chill demeanor led us to settle on Kai. We’ll see if he lives up to it!

We were discharged from Sibley on Monday, December 21. What a jam-packed stay we had. There was so much information to take in and so many decisions to make, but we made it through and were looking forward to getting out of our tiny room. For being there a relatively short amount of time with what we thought wasn’t much of our own stuff, it sure took a long time to get packed up and wait for all of the necessary doctors to sign off on us. Apparently, all of those others who delivered the same night as I did must have been leaving ahead of us. Thankfully, Tamlin, Jesse and Ben brought shovels when they visited on Sunday and helped to dig out our car, which was buried under several feet of snow. Tamlin/Amy and Jesse/Kari were awesome in visiting as soon as they could get to us and in bringing all of the little things that we either forgot or were craving (sushi for me!). Tamlin/Amy also came to our apartment to dig out a parking space and the walkway for us to actually make it back indoors and they stopped by the grocery store for those much needed necessities. Thank you. Thank you. It wouldn’t have been so easy without you all.

The journey continues. I hope to update everyone as frequently as possible on our progress. Some first pictures are below.

Charla & Kai just after delivery.

Hilarious fortune cookie message: About time I got out of that cookie!

View from our window- look at all of that snow piled on the table!

Another snow view from our window.

Kai's 1st Christmas