Wow. She is finally here!!! Peyton joined our family as quickly as she could once she was finally ready. Let's take a step back for a bit. My last couple of doctor appointments I kept getting told, "well, you're dilating, you're super soft and the baby is really low". Awesome! right? I'm close to being done, right? Not really. My last appointment the doctor said the same thing but then said, "just a couple good contractions and this baby will be here." I was shocked! I'm only at 38 weeks! I definitely wouldn't mind if she came early...that would actually be wonderful! Yes, I was only at 38 weeks, but I was getting more miserable each day. I was really starting to feel all the extra weight that I had been gaining, my feet hurt, my back was killing me, my belly felt like it was literally going to just burst because it was stretched as far as it could and
couldn't wouldn't be stretched any more. I knew having two children physically in my care would be challenging but I didn't care. It would be so much better to have her out. I could crawl around with Lincoln again, I could cuddle with Chris, I could get out of bed by myself...it would be wonderful!!!! So I tried everything to get those contractions really going. Nothing. They just wouldn't come. I really wanted to have this little girl on November 14 mostly because it would be a cool birthday...11/14/14 and it would be easy to remember. I woke up that morning hoping and praying with all my might that she would come. Chris was really hoping she would come too...he didn't really want to go to work that day! I woke up, made breakfast, had a contraction every once in while-nothing out of the ordinary. So Chris grudgingly left for work and told me to keep his updated. Well, I got breakfast cleaned up and then Lincoln and I headed downstairs to do one of my walking dvd's. I decided to try the more intense one this time so we started for 2 miles in 30 minutes. I had started walking more earlier that week since I was passed 37 weeks and given the ok if I did go in to labor. About 10 minutes in I started getting some contractions and they just kept coming!!! It was great. I just didn't know if they were the "real thing" or just the silly Braxton-Hicks contractions. My 2 miles was done so I took a shower and started getting ready for the day. The contractions never stopped coming though. I started keeping track and gauging if they were getting stronger, longer, and more intense...whatever that meant. I was a little nervous about what to expect since I didn't experience contractions with Lincoln. I kept texting Chris little updates and kept wondering if today was really the day. Apparently I was updating Chris so much that his boss asked him how far away we were from the hospital and then told him to just go home. Chris was so happy. He was convinced that should go to the hospital. By the time he got home I was having about 8-10 contractions an hour. After a few hours of that I called my Ob's office and asked what I should do because they just weren't going away but weren't really getting stronger or more intense. They suggested to go and get checked just to be on the safe side. I was hesitant because I didn't want to go and then get sent home. But Chris made up his mind and got the bags together, put towels in the car (just in case my water broke on the way), and got us all in the car.
We got to the hospital, got in to triage and waited. Apparently I wasn't as dilated or effaced as I thought and the nurse said the baby really wasn't very low...I begged to differ on that one though, after all I was the one pregnant! They got me hooked up to the monitors and we just had to wait and wait. After about an hour I hadn't progressed so the doctor told us to walk the halls to see if that would really get things going. After a painful hour of walking the halls with Chris and having constant contractions the nurse checked me again, but still no progress. After being at the hospital for a few more hours the doctor sent us home since I wasn't progressing. I was so disappointed! Karen had come down to help with Lincoln and took him to the park, so we called and told her to come back. But we decided since we were all together we would go out to lunch. On our way home I made Chris stop at Macey's to get a bunch of ice cream and a Redbox. We went home and I was still having contractions but nothing too intense. We were pretty full from eating 5 Guys so
we I just binged on ice cream for the rest of the night. Depressed...maybe a little. I just didn't know if I could trust myself with figuring out real and fake contractions. But oh well. I would "know" when the time came, or so everyone told me. I eventually fell asleep about 8:30 completely exhausted mentally and physically.
Well, I kinda woke up at about 2:00 to a few contractions but I just took a couple deep breaths and it was fine...so I figured it was just those darn fake ones again, But I never really fell back asleep. Things started changing a few minutes later. I decided to get my phone and start keeping track of the contractions. I was having pretty hard contractions 7 minutes apart but they were still very manageable. I just felt like I had to go to the bathroom about every 5 seconds, but that wasn't unsual lately. Then I had another contraction and was surprise that it was 5 minutes apart. And then another came at 5 mintues and the next one came at 3 minutes apart and I was really starting to believe that these were those "real contractions". I decide it was a good time to get Chris up. He was taking his time getting up until I asked him for a blessing. He jumped out of bed and knew something was up. I had him give me a blessing because I was hurting an a little scared/nervous and just needed some extra comfort and strength. It really helped me to calm down even though I was starting to feel some anxiety creep in. Chris got Lincoln in the car and we were out the door so fast. Chis was in turbo mode!! :) I always thought labor and delivery weren't really like the movies portrayed it....a crazy whirlwind of chaos and a rush to get everything together just in time to make it to the hospital. But oh boy did it feel that way this time! We finally got out of the driveway and were on our way but there was a little bit of traffic on the highway and we hit a red light. I told Chris to make sure and not speed because we can't afford to get a ticket. We finally got on the freeway and had about 20 minutes to go until we were at the hospital.
I kept tracking the contractions but after five or so mintues on the freeway my water broke. Such a weird sensation! Luckily those towels Chris put on the seat the day before were still there. Then things started getting really real. I don't know how close the contractions were but they were close and I wasn't breathing very well. Christ kept saying, "Shayla, you need to breath, take a a deep breath, you got this." It started to feel like my body was pushing but we were still at least 15 minutes from the hospital so i was trying to stop that but everything was just so intense. I'm pretty sure the "oh crap" bar in the car above the window is close to broke...i couldn't pull and squeeze Chris since he was driving so it was the next best thing. Every time a contraction came I pulled on that bar in hopes it would relieve some of the pressure. Then my hands started cramping and my body starrted to go tingly and started to feel numb. It was kinda scary. We finally got off the freeway and hit a red light. Seriously!?!?!? I told Chris to run it. I mean, its 3:00-ish in the morning and nobody is on the road. We hit the rest of the lights green...thank goodness...and made it to the hospital. Because I was feeling numb all over and each contraction was a little paralyzing, Chris ran into the hospital and got a wheelchair. The nice man at the front desk got the elevator ready for us and we were on our way to labor and delivery. We got to the doors, called in so they would unlock them and started checking in. A nurse walked by and said "get her in room one now and let her husband check in". It was about 3;20 by the time we got checked in. The nurses tried to get me on the bed as fast as they could but I couldn't move because of the contractions. The nurse said, "Shayla, we really need to get you on that bed and check you so as soon as you can stand we'll get you on that bed". The contraction was finally over so I stood and the nurses were able to get me on the bed and quickly check me. The nurse said "well we are having a baby today" to which I responded, "can I get an epidural?" She kinda laughed and said "sorry but you're a little too far past that point." I asked if there was anything I could have and the nurse said, "We are just going to start pushing and you are going to have a baby and you're going to do great." I think I was more scared of feeling the pain than really needing something. Luckily Dr. Haskett was already at the hospital and came in just a few minutes later at 3:23am and started putting on all his gear. I started thinking...I'm a lot closer to delivering this baby than I thought. I was just laying on the bed, pulling on the bed rail and covering my eyes in hopes that would help ease the pressure and pain. In between short breaths I told the nurses I felt I needed to push and they said go for it. Chris was trying to hold one leg but a nurse came and took over since He was holding Lincoln. The nurses were so great helping my try to focus on getting my breathing under control all while I was pushing as hard as I could. At one point I heard Lincoln in the background say, "Eww mom, yuck!" It did provide a little comic relief. Poor kid. I just hope he doesn't remember that whole experience. Two crazy, intense and fast pushes later she was born at 3:29am. After she was born and the umbilical cord was cut, they set her on my chest and started wiping her off. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and just cuddle her and kiss her but my body just wouldn't cooperate. My body was in shock I think and still a little numb but everything came back to normal. Just a few short minutes after that I delivered the placenta, which wasn't as bad as I heard it would be, got stitched up and was ready for recover. I don't think we were even in labor and delivery for more than 30 or 40 minutes and then we were down in our room to recover and relax.
I never imagined it happening quite like that. It was definitely an experience I will never forget. The sweet release of pressure as her head came out and even more pressure released and her body came out was amazing. Childbirth is an incredible experience. Its kinda cool to say I had a natural birth... Its like getting inducted into the real mom hall of fame :) just kidding...anyway you have a baby you get into that club!! Pregnancy, labor and deliver are no small feat!
But now I have the most precious beautiful baby girl that I just can't take my eyes off!!!! She is practically perfect in every way. I'm so grateful she is part of our lives!
I was hoping to get all the same kind of pictures at the hospital that we did when we had Lincoln but we really didn't have any time or extra hands...Chris was holding Lincoln the whole time we were in labor and delivery. But we got a few snapshots later which are just as good.
Name: Peyton Bogenschutz
Weight: 7 lbs. 10 oz.
Height: 19 in
Born: November 15, 2014 at 3:29 am