Because I basically use this blog to record birth stories. Here are the rest of them:
Baby Jane-
Your pregnancy was a rough one, my sweet heart. It started off normal. I got an ultrasound done to confirm pregnancy and they found a subchorionic hematoma. Due to the location and size, they wanted to keep an eye on it. This meant I got to get ultrasounds more often and watch you grow. But it was also scary. Since the hematoma was growing, the doctor put me on a modified bed rest for the first few months. Not only was I on bedrest, but I also was so sick. It was hard to keep anything down. It was hard to get out of bed and take care of your three big siblings. We watched a lot of tv during that time and had lots of quick meals. I got off of bedrest at the beginning of the second trimester. This was great- but also a little sad because it meant I didn’t get any more ultrasounds. Those ultrasounds brought me such comfort to see you grow and hear your heartbeat often. But life went on. I still felt so sick. It eased up a little through the second trimester, but I was pretty miserable. Zofran was my friend through your whole pregnancy.
Before your 20 week ultrasound, I had an idea that was fun for me. I say fun for me because most everyone else did not think it was as fun, but I didn’t care. We decided to have Dad and me find out your gender, but not tell anyone else until after you were born. It became our little secret and was so much fun. It was a challenge to make sure we didn’t slip (even though I know I did at least once or twice). It was just nice to have a special little connection with you and Dad and me.
Come my 37 week appointment, Dr. Harrison checked me and I was a “generous 2 cm” and 70% effaced. That was pretty normal for me for your siblings. They all were born closer to their due dates and I expected you to be the same. Saturday we got things done to get ready for your eventual arrival. We spent time as a family and didn’t think much of it. Sunday I taught my last Relief Society lesson before your due date. Sunday night we went to bed like normal.
That night I felt particularly miserable. I was up every hour just not feeling super great. I thought my pants were too tight. I changed into different pants and went back to bed. Around 5 am I woke up with a contraction. It took me by surprise. Was it a contraction? Was it really a contraction or just braxton hicks? I started timing them out at that point and was feeling contractions about every 12ish minutes. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I had similar things happen with your sister and they always fizzled out.
Monday I was pretty miserable all day. I just felt off. Again- I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I decided to get ready though…just in case. I was telling Granny how I was feeling and discussing the possibility of getting a plane ticket. I was getting stuff ready for your siblings for picture day (the next day) and their boxes of food and clothes for each of them to hand off to a friend when we went to the hospital before Granny was here. I was packing my hospital bag. I did a last minute Costco trip. All day I was feeling contractions. They weren’t getting closer together, they weren’t getting harder. I was expecting them to fizzle out.
By 4 in the afternoon I started to feel them getting stronger. I made dinner, and the contractions started getting closer together. Around 5 minutes apart, but not super hard yet. When Dad came up for dinner, I wasn’t hungry. I told him that he needed to get his hospital bag together just in case. I decided that I wanted to go take a shower to try and relax and see if the contractions fizzled out. They didn’t. I relaxed on the couch and timed contractions most of the rest of the night. By 6, I knew that we were going to go to the hospital that night. I just didn’t know when. We really wanted to get your siblings to bed so that our friend could just come spend the night on the couch instead of worrying about getting the kids to bed at their house. Dad scrambled to get everyone ready for bed and all the stuff ready for the hospital. He is amazing. We got the kids to bed and officially called our friends Brittany and Sean to let them know that we were going to need to go to the hospital that night.
I continued to labor at home. I would have done more at home, but the hospital was 30 minutes and I didn’t want to have a baby in the car. We left around 8:30, got to the hospital at 9. Since I was only 37 weeks, they didn’t really believe that I was in true labor. They had us go to a triage room and wait an hour to see if I progressed. The nurse was really nice. I was a 3.5 when I got check the first time. I prayed and prayed that I would progress enough. I did not want to have to go home. Dad and I discussed places we could go walk around or wait if they didn’t admit us. It wouldn’t be worth it for the 30 minute drive home and then a 30 minute drive back. The contractions were hard and real. I knew we were going to have a baby in the next 36 hours. The nurse came back after an hour to check, she could see how intense my contractions were and I had progressed to 5 cm at that point. We were going to get to stay.
The next two hours after that were kind of crazy. We got admitted to a room (which happened to be the same room that we delivered Nate in). The nurse (Ashley) asked if we wanted Dr. Harrison to come break my water. I didn’t know. On one hand, I knew it would mean meeting you that much sooner. But it also meant intense pain that much sooner. I decided I wanted to get this thing going- so I asked for her to come break my water. Heather came about half an hour later. I was at 6 cm at that point. It was about 11:30. She told us that if we had a baby in the next 30 minutes- it would be on her birthday. That didn’t happen…but I will take the day after.
Contractions started getting closer together and stronger. I was progressing quickly. Around 12:30- I was about 8 cm. I was right in the ring of fire. I knew that pushing was getting close. I wanted an epidural so badly, but I also knew it was too late. At that point- the doctor and nurse knew that we were going to be pushing soon. They both stuck around in the room and helped me through those last contractions- breathing, focusing, and believing in myself.
Gariet remembered that I wanted to have a mirror for this delivery and made sure that happened. We were getting ready to push about 1 am. I got to watch your head come out, which was such a cool experience. At that point- your shoulder got stuck and I just leaned back, closed my eyes and helped my body do it’s thing to get the rest of you out safely. It was such a surreal experience. I won’t lie when I say that it hurt. But you were here. You were perfect.
You are my smallest baby- at 7lbs 1oz and 18.5 inches long.
We had been asking the nurses at the hospital all night what baby girl names they liked because we still hadn’t decided on a name. We had a couple ideas, but nothing that really stood out. As Heather was checking on you, we asked her for some baby names. I know that she gave two different names..but I can’t remember the other one. One of the names that she said was Jane. When I heard her say Jane- I knew that was going to be your name. I had to convince myself for the next 7 hours, but finally we decided around 10 am that your name was Jane Clarice Odell.
When Granny came with your siblings that night to visit, she also shared with us that Jane is a family name- but that is a story for a different day.
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