If you missed part 1, you can check it out here.
Afternoon of January 7
After we got home from the internal fetal medicine appointment, I wanted to lay down and get some rest. My back was hurting and I assumed it was because Lyndi was no longer facing my spine which is how we got the first photo of her or I had tweaked it by stepping the wrong way while walking to the car.
Usually I can lay down and my back pain will go away but after about an hour of pain that did not feel like my normal back pain, I finally told Landon that I was not feeling well at 7 PM. The pain was excruciating and I thought that I may have tweaked my herniated disks and assumed that I could not be in labor because I was not even dilated. I was soon thrashing around and could not do anything or concentrate on anything else beside the pain. I will be the first one to admit that I do not have a high pain tolerance but this was bad.
Landon mentioned that maybe I was going into labor as well but from what our classes had told us - this was nothing like the gradual build up of labor that first started with cramps and built up to contractions with 5 or more minutes of rest in between each one. This pain would only subside for a minute or less at a time and return with a vengeance.
I convinced myself that this was not labor and I had done something terrible to my back and was now paying for it. While I was trying to communicate with Landon, I suddenly felt like I had peed on myself. The sudden realization was that this could be labor and my water just broke occurred and I got nervous but still convinced myself it wasn't. I just told myself I really had peed on myself :) Gross!
Landon left me to make some dinner and I decided that maybe a bath would help. It didn't. I tried to eat some burritos that Land made but couldn't eat very much. All I could focus on was the pain. Land called the doctor and we were told by the on-call nurse to head to the hospital if we thought my water had broken.
While I continued to thrash around in bed, Land started to get everything ready. We got into a little altercation when Landon didn't know where the last minute list of things to pack was. If you know me, I had everything ready to go and also a list for him to get together when the time came because I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it. It included my wallet, my cell phone, chargers, computer, glasses and others that could not be packed prior. I was a little irritated when I had to describe where it was when I already went over it with him prior and could barely put sentences together to tell him. Needless to say after that little bump in the road and my only cuss words of the entire process, Landon was amazing!!!!
We headed to Bay Area Hospital around 9:45 PM and arrived around 10:15 PM. The car ride was horrible and I hated every single Corpus Christi city council person that has allowed the roads to get so bumpy. All I could do during the 25 minutes to get there was ask Landon to "help me" which he couldn't and thrash around.
Once there, I was immediately taken back to the ER where I had to wait to get checked in and then wheeled up to Labor and Delivery. The nurse that was attending to me was so nice and helped me get hooked up to all the monitors. She told me that indeed I was having serious contractions but I was "barely" 1 cm dilated. I think she was being nice so I could feel like I was making a little progress. Since the test that checks to see if your water had broken came back negative, she would monitor me to see if I would make change in the next hour. If I didn't make any progress, she would have to send me home. I was not going to let this happen!
After an hour, she came back and said I had not made progress. I knew she was going to tell me to go home and I decided then that I was just going to sit in the car in the parking lot until it was time to come back. There was no way I was going back home. While we were talking, I felt the same "OMG I just peed on myself" again except it was more. Indeed my water had broken and thank you Jesus I was staying. I told her thank you after asking her if I was staying and asked for my epidural ASAP.
After signing all the paperwork, getting my blood drawn, throwing up the dinner Land made, and being monitored for a while, the anesthesiologist arrived at 1:15 AM and he was immediately my best friend. I loved him and he did such a great job. I was really worried about having this done because of the herniated disks in my lower back but he was quick and I felt immediate relief. To all the people who can manage without medication, all power to you but for me, I would not have survived!
The next several hours, Landon and I finalized a name for a boy and girl and looked at the monitor. I would be having a contraction and not even know. The only thing was that I was shaking uncontrollably and it was not because I was cold. It was night and day different and my back finally felt good again. The time did seem to go by faster than I expected.
At one point, I was told that I most likely would be holding a baby in my arms that early afternoon. I thought I can do this. Well that time came and went...
At 7 PM, 25 hours after starting to feel back pain and 2 epidural re-doses, I was done. I was exhausted and could feel the slow build up of pressure. I was told that I had stop progressing and still had a ways to go. They started me on Pitocin to speed things up a bit but it really didn't do much. I asked my OB to have a c-section because I didn't think it was going to end. I still wasn't completely dilated and thought I am never going to get through this. I had a huge break down which made Land get emotional as well and then I missed my daddy.
At that point my OB had a come to Jesus moment with me and told me that she was going to stay with me the entire time no matter what. She could have left at 5 PM and let the on-call doctor take over but she didn't. She is amazing and such a blessing because without her I don't think I could have gone any further and would most likely ended up with a cesarean. She told me that Lyndi was doing fabulous and handling everything well and we were going to give it until 10 PM. If at 10 PM, there was no baby, we were going to do a c-section. She told me the reason it was taking to so long was because my water broke without being dilated and my body had to play catch up. Also Lyndi was sitting very high still and was being a little stubborn about making her entrance into the world. I guess she really liked my tummy and especially my rib cage!
Thirty minutes later, they had me push to try to get her to come down some and then we let gravity take over for another 30 minutes. Starting at 8 PM, I started pushing again and Lyndon McKinley made her debut at 10:03 PM weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz and 20.5 inches long. During the last couple of hours, the verse "I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me" was all I could think about and focus on. Pushing was not so bad and gave me some relief from the pressure. I think it finally felt as I was doing something to make this end and I was happy about that.
I was not immediately allowed to hold her because she was taken to NICU nurse to check if she was okay. They were there because she was labeled high risk early in pregnancy and there was meconium in my water. I had to ask Landon several times if it was a boy or girl. No one told me right off the bat and truthfully I think his attention was now on her and not me.
Landon finally told me it was a girl and that she was healthy but it was my turn to be taken care of. Lyndi girl really did a number on me and my OB had to repair a 3rd degree tear. I asked her how many stitches and she said she lost count. She thought there were around 30. Ouch! Also my blood pressure was high so I was kept in labor and delivery for a while to be monitored.
Even though I didn't get to hold her in what seemed like an eternity, I was so thankful that she and I both made it through and were alive and well. They ended up keeping us an extra day in the hospital because of the amount of blood I lost and my high blood pressure which was so nice. At my 6 week appointment, I found out that I almost had to have a blood transfusion. We went home for the first time as a family of 4 (have to include Tank) late afternoon on January 10.
To Landon - You are the best husband a girl could ask for! Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement during those long 28 hours and for taking such great care of us when we got home. I know that I could not have done it without you! I love you so much!
* the camp mystic blanket was not planned - Landon picked it out from all the other blankets to sleep with while he stayed in the hospital when I packed the hospital bags several weeks prior. When I found out we had a little girl, I thought it was only fitting to take a picture with it. My future Mystic camper!
Afternoon of January 7
After we got home from the internal fetal medicine appointment, I wanted to lay down and get some rest. My back was hurting and I assumed it was because Lyndi was no longer facing my spine which is how we got the first photo of her or I had tweaked it by stepping the wrong way while walking to the car.
Usually I can lay down and my back pain will go away but after about an hour of pain that did not feel like my normal back pain, I finally told Landon that I was not feeling well at 7 PM. The pain was excruciating and I thought that I may have tweaked my herniated disks and assumed that I could not be in labor because I was not even dilated. I was soon thrashing around and could not do anything or concentrate on anything else beside the pain. I will be the first one to admit that I do not have a high pain tolerance but this was bad.
Landon mentioned that maybe I was going into labor as well but from what our classes had told us - this was nothing like the gradual build up of labor that first started with cramps and built up to contractions with 5 or more minutes of rest in between each one. This pain would only subside for a minute or less at a time and return with a vengeance.
I convinced myself that this was not labor and I had done something terrible to my back and was now paying for it. While I was trying to communicate with Landon, I suddenly felt like I had peed on myself. The sudden realization was that this could be labor and my water just broke occurred and I got nervous but still convinced myself it wasn't. I just told myself I really had peed on myself :) Gross!
Landon left me to make some dinner and I decided that maybe a bath would help. It didn't. I tried to eat some burritos that Land made but couldn't eat very much. All I could focus on was the pain. Land called the doctor and we were told by the on-call nurse to head to the hospital if we thought my water had broken.
While I continued to thrash around in bed, Land started to get everything ready. We got into a little altercation when Landon didn't know where the last minute list of things to pack was. If you know me, I had everything ready to go and also a list for him to get together when the time came because I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it. It included my wallet, my cell phone, chargers, computer, glasses and others that could not be packed prior. I was a little irritated when I had to describe where it was when I already went over it with him prior and could barely put sentences together to tell him. Needless to say after that little bump in the road and my only cuss words of the entire process, Landon was amazing!!!!
We headed to Bay Area Hospital around 9:45 PM and arrived around 10:15 PM. The car ride was horrible and I hated every single Corpus Christi city council person that has allowed the roads to get so bumpy. All I could do during the 25 minutes to get there was ask Landon to "help me" which he couldn't and thrash around.
Once there, I was immediately taken back to the ER where I had to wait to get checked in and then wheeled up to Labor and Delivery. The nurse that was attending to me was so nice and helped me get hooked up to all the monitors. She told me that indeed I was having serious contractions but I was "barely" 1 cm dilated. I think she was being nice so I could feel like I was making a little progress. Since the test that checks to see if your water had broken came back negative, she would monitor me to see if I would make change in the next hour. If I didn't make any progress, she would have to send me home. I was not going to let this happen!
After an hour, she came back and said I had not made progress. I knew she was going to tell me to go home and I decided then that I was just going to sit in the car in the parking lot until it was time to come back. There was no way I was going back home. While we were talking, I felt the same "OMG I just peed on myself" again except it was more. Indeed my water had broken and thank you Jesus I was staying. I told her thank you after asking her if I was staying and asked for my epidural ASAP.
After signing all the paperwork, getting my blood drawn, throwing up the dinner Land made, and being monitored for a while, the anesthesiologist arrived at 1:15 AM and he was immediately my best friend. I loved him and he did such a great job. I was really worried about having this done because of the herniated disks in my lower back but he was quick and I felt immediate relief. To all the people who can manage without medication, all power to you but for me, I would not have survived!
The next several hours, Landon and I finalized a name for a boy and girl and looked at the monitor. I would be having a contraction and not even know. The only thing was that I was shaking uncontrollably and it was not because I was cold. It was night and day different and my back finally felt good again. The time did seem to go by faster than I expected.
At one point, I was told that I most likely would be holding a baby in my arms that early afternoon. I thought I can do this. Well that time came and went...
At 7 PM, 25 hours after starting to feel back pain and 2 epidural re-doses, I was done. I was exhausted and could feel the slow build up of pressure. I was told that I had stop progressing and still had a ways to go. They started me on Pitocin to speed things up a bit but it really didn't do much. I asked my OB to have a c-section because I didn't think it was going to end. I still wasn't completely dilated and thought I am never going to get through this. I had a huge break down which made Land get emotional as well and then I missed my daddy.
At that point my OB had a come to Jesus moment with me and told me that she was going to stay with me the entire time no matter what. She could have left at 5 PM and let the on-call doctor take over but she didn't. She is amazing and such a blessing because without her I don't think I could have gone any further and would most likely ended up with a cesarean. She told me that Lyndi was doing fabulous and handling everything well and we were going to give it until 10 PM. If at 10 PM, there was no baby, we were going to do a c-section. She told me the reason it was taking to so long was because my water broke without being dilated and my body had to play catch up. Also Lyndi was sitting very high still and was being a little stubborn about making her entrance into the world. I guess she really liked my tummy and especially my rib cage!
Thirty minutes later, they had me push to try to get her to come down some and then we let gravity take over for another 30 minutes. Starting at 8 PM, I started pushing again and Lyndon McKinley made her debut at 10:03 PM weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz and 20.5 inches long. During the last couple of hours, the verse "I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me" was all I could think about and focus on. Pushing was not so bad and gave me some relief from the pressure. I think it finally felt as I was doing something to make this end and I was happy about that.
I was not immediately allowed to hold her because she was taken to NICU nurse to check if she was okay. They were there because she was labeled high risk early in pregnancy and there was meconium in my water. I had to ask Landon several times if it was a boy or girl. No one told me right off the bat and truthfully I think his attention was now on her and not me.
Landon finally told me it was a girl and that she was healthy but it was my turn to be taken care of. Lyndi girl really did a number on me and my OB had to repair a 3rd degree tear. I asked her how many stitches and she said she lost count. She thought there were around 30. Ouch! Also my blood pressure was high so I was kept in labor and delivery for a while to be monitored.
Even though I didn't get to hold her in what seemed like an eternity, I was so thankful that she and I both made it through and were alive and well. They ended up keeping us an extra day in the hospital because of the amount of blood I lost and my high blood pressure which was so nice. At my 6 week appointment, I found out that I almost had to have a blood transfusion. We went home for the first time as a family of 4 (have to include Tank) late afternoon on January 10.
To Landon - You are the best husband a girl could ask for! Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement during those long 28 hours and for taking such great care of us when we got home. I know that I could not have done it without you! I love you so much!
Lyndon McKinley Ludwick
January 8, 2014 - 10:03 PM
8 lbs 3 oz - 20.5 inches
.JPG) |
| My first picture with my little girl! |
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