The Last Piece of Our Heaven

Baby Quatro is here!

Its been about 30 hours and I'm still in a state of surreality. I am sitting in a hospital bed, looking at a beautiful baby that should have been in my tummy for one more week.  The labor and delivery were nothing like we anticipated.

I had an appointment on Thursday and I was dilated to 4 cm and 90% effaced.  Dr. Williams told me he could take me right back, break my water, and I could be holding my baby within a few hours. The problem was, the Holly Fair was the following two days and I had been preparing for it for months and didn't want to miss it.  He told me he would release me in the morning and I could make it.  So tempting!!!  I called Tyson to tell him what was going on and we talked about what timeline we might want to be on. We decided we would stick with the original plan of being induced  the next Friday, November 14th if nothing happened on its own before then. Dr. Williams told me I wouldn't last that long. I asked if he wanted to bet on it and he offered his shake without hesitation.

It was a significantly uncomfortable night and I was so anxious about the Holly Fair that I just really didn't sleep well. When it was time to wake and get going Friday morning, I wasn't feeling the best.  My body was achy and I was having a hard time getting around.  I had a really strong feeling that if I didn't take it easy, I would have a baby.  I sat at my booth all day with my legs crossed to make sure I wouldn't lose anything important :)

Every person I know who saw me that day wondered when the baby would come.  I kept saying I just wanted to make it through that day but that I hoped it would come the following day, November 8th.  You see, the boys in our family all have "3" birthdays: Tyson's is the 3rd, Teryn's is the 13th, and Ryder's is the 23rd.  Then my birthday is the 18th and Adria's is the 28th, so we needed an 8th to complete the "8" birthdays! I'd actually been saying for months that if this baby was a girl, she would think the "8" thing is cool and she would come on her own on November 8th :)

So I made it through the day, despite my discomfort and infrequent contractions, but thought it would be worth a shot to try some things and see if I could get this baby here after midnight. I borrowed some essential oils from a friend and planned to rest for a few hours when I got home so I could wake at 11:00, apply the oils, and take a walk around the block. I ate dinner, set an alarm for

11:00 and Tyson and I went to bed at 9:00.

Around 10:40, a strong contraction woke me from my sleep.  I laid there, groggy, and decided to pull up an online contraction timer.  The contractions were strong, but they were 6-7 minutes apart, so I wasn't sure how serious to take them. That was my first time experiencing contractions at home so I really didn't know what to think.  I did feel like walking the streets at midnight probably wasn't the best idea and thought it might be better to get to the hospital and walk the halls there instead--but I was afraid that Labor and Delivery wouldn't admit me because my contractions weren't close enough.  In the meantime, Betty texted me to see how I was feeling so I chatted with her for a bit.  I decided to text my good friend Lindsey for her opinion and she pretty much told me to get to the hospital because I was probably progressing more than I realized.  I had a feeling she was right, although I still wondered if I was just psyching myself out.  I asked Betty to come stay with the kids and finally woke Tyson to tell him what was going on.  I grabbed our toothbrushes, some face wash, the camera, and a notebook (Tyson and I laughed about the difference between the bulging hospital bag of our first birth and this last-minute, needless bag), and we were on our way as soon as Betty showed up.

As per our tradition, Tyson kept notes throughout the labor and delivery.  I'll add my thoughts in parenthesis.

11:50 pm: Show up to hospital

12:06 am: Nurse checked Dani. Dilated to 8. (!!!!! I hadn't just been psyching myself out!) Watching ESPN. Ordered an epidural.  In pain.  (The contractions still weren't very close, but they were pretty intense.  Tyson was great and let me squeeze his fingers off while I breathed through them, ha!)

1:18 am: Spinal block**.  2.5 milligrams.  Super happy.  (I was too far along to get an epidural so they gave me a spinal block and it was awesome.  When Tyson says "super happy" he isn't joking.  It took everything I had not to giggle everyone out of the room, it felt so good.  It was wonderful to be able to just sit back and soak it all in.)

1:25 am: 2 min contraction spacing.  (And I didn't feel a thing! Hallelujah, ha! I was just so happy to have relief--Adria's birth is still all too fresh on my mind.)

1:30 am: Dilated to 9 cm.  Nurse called Dr. Williams.

1:40 am: Dr. Williams showed up.  Broke Dani's water. (He wasn't the doc on call, but he had already talked to the nurses and told them he wanted to know if I came in.  He wasn't at all surprised to see me.  He won the bet :) )

1:48 am: Baby is here.  Girl.  Itchy from Spinal.  (The anesthesiologist warned me that the spinal block would make me itchy.  He was right!)

And that was it! Weighing in at 7 lbs 8 oz, 18 inches long.  Tevya Brooke Todd was born.  When I say it felt like a dream, that isn't an exaggeration.  The way everything progressed and came about was perfect.  It was neat to experience contractions at home and the natural progression of labor.  I experienced it with Teryn, but in the opposite order since my water broke first and there was no question what was happening from that moment on.  It was so different trying to tune into my body to figure out what was going on this time around.  It was special.

And I didn't have to do anything to make it happen.  She came on her own on the 8th because she thinks the "8" birthday thing is cool ;)

 

 

Although, she came out screaming like we forced her to come.  She screamed and screamed, unlike our other 3 who came out and cuddled right up to my chest without a peep.  After 20 minutes of screaming I finally decided she must be hungry and sure enough, when I pulled her to my breast, she took to me like a magnet to metal.  She is a little eater!

Tyson and I wanted our close family and friends to see our "surprise baby" in person before announcing the gender publically.  We posted this picture on Facebook just to drive everyone crazy ;)

I texted Greg a little after 6:00 a.m. and let him know the baby was here.  Right in that moment he was getting in his truck to go to our house and watch kids so Betty could go home and be ready to leave for the city at 8:00, so he was at our door within 5 minutes of my text.  Then Betty came to see us just before she left town and my parents showed up soon after her.  It was so fun to see everyone's reactions to a baby girl! 

When I called grandma and grandpa Todd to let them know, grandma asked "do you have a name?" and I told her we didn't yet.  She replied, "I was hoping you would tell me a name so I would know what it was!"  She giggled.  I laughed back and replied, "You're sneaky!"  I totally would have told her and ruined everything!  Luckily, Tyson really hadn't decided on a name yet!  When grandma and grandpa showed up, grandpa couldn't get enough of her.  It was very sweet to see. 

Several other friends and family showed up over the course of the day.  Michelle brought the kids to meet her after their naps that afternoon.  Teryn was very excited to see his baby sister!  Ryder was happy, but a little unsure of what was going on.  Adria was the most excited and wanted to be right with her.  She got Tevya's first smile.  She reached out to hug her and Tev distinctly reached back and smiled.  Look at this.

No one skipped a beat!  No questions, no jealousy, no discomfort.  It's like Tev has been with us all along.  Actually, I told Tyson, I feel like Tevya is the baby I've dreamt about.  Not in a "dreamy" sort of way, but that I've actually dreamt about her.  I knew she was coming.  And now she is here, our family is complete.  She is the last piece of our heaven.

Nazy, me and Elle at our booth at the Holly Fair.  My last pregnancy picture! 38 weeks and 5 days.

My last belly-shelf moment.

After my spinal block.  Feeling euphoric!

She's here!  Look at those lips!

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

**Many people have asked what the difference between an epidural and a spinal block is.  There are three major differences.  1) An epidural is meant for longer-term pain management.  It has a self-help readministration button for a patient's use when previous administrations wear off.  A spinal block is a one-time shot.  It's pain management abilities last only as long as the initial, only administration.  2)  Epidurals take a little more time to take affect.  A spinal block is immediate (hence the reason I received a spinal block rather than an epidural- -things were going to happen much too quickly for an epidural to help.)  3) Epidurals pass through the placenta and can affect the baby.  Spinal blocks do not. 

Just some interesting information for anyone planning their labor and delivery :)  Having had 2 epidural-medicated deliveries, one natural, and one spinal block-medicated, I would choose the spinal block overall.  It was awesome.