My last doctor's appointment of this pregnancy was at 38 weeks 6 days for my 38 week check up. It happened to be the day before I was scheduled to be induced.
I wasn't planning on having my cervix checked that day since I would be in the hospital only 16 or so hours later, but my midwife wanted to know what our starting point was going to be. I was happy to find out that I was already 3 centimeters dilated. Just like with Avery the cervix check left me with contractions the rest of the evening. I could only hope my body was making some progress to make the uncomfortableness worth it.
We headed to the hospital early the next morning with a check in time of 6 AM. We were greeted with the now normal covid protocol of a temperature check and the standard questions, filled out the paperwork, and were escorted to the labor and delivery wing of the hospital.
I felt more nervous this time than I remember being with Ella or Avery, but maybe I just blocked that part out of my memory. I feel like this time was so nerve wracking because I truly knew all that was going to happen/needed to happen to get this baby here safely, but I also knew all that could go wrong. A few days before getting induced a friend reminded me to trust my body because it knew what to do and had done this before which was the best thing she could have said to me, but that was easier said than done.
After changing into the gown and getting my IV in (which thankfully went super well this time), it was time for another cervix check before we could start pitocin. I was grateful to learn all of the contractions the evening before did something because I was now at 4 centimeters. The plan was for the pitocin to be upped every 30 minutes until my water was broken, and my water would be broken whenever my midwife got there. I settled in while Taylor ordered himself some breakfast and nurse Kim finished filling out my chart and doing other prep work.
Kim came in to up my pitocin again a little before 9 and asked me when I wanted the epidural. My midwife, Natalie, was supposed to be coming in at 10 to break my water, and at this point my contractions were two and a half minutes apart lasting for 50 seconds. I wasn't really in a hurry, but I figured it was as good a time as any to get it.
Overall, my epidural went well. Like with Avery, I informed the anesthesiologist I had previously gotten a spinal headache after an epidural which helped him take extra precautions to hopefully make it so I wouldn't get one again. He informed me that my spinal cavity is smaller than most which is probably a factor in me getting a spinal headache before. He also told me something about the different angle he put the needle in because of my history which was kind of interesting. After the epidural was placed I experienced a drop in blood pressure and was hit with some nausea. The anesthesiologist quickly worked like a bartender mixing up a few different cocktails and administering them into one of my lines until I leveled back out.
After getting the epidural it became a waiting game for my midwife to get there to break my water. My nurse was still coming in every 30 minutes or so to up my pitocin. At 10:30 I was given more blood pressure medicine as mine had gotten low again. I had some minor itchiness I assumed was a side effect of the epidural. We seemed to have the go around with beeping machines as we waited and waited for my midwife. One of the IV pumps had a low battery, then the baby's heart rate was high for a few minutes causing constant beeping until it lowered again, and then we had some inactivity warning on the same pump. My body being relaxed and my legs feeling heavy from the epidural made me sleepy, so in between all of this beeping, the blood pressure cuff going off every 3 minutes, and my nurse coming in every 30 minutes I napped as well as I could.
My midwife finally arrived at 12:15. I was at a 6 and 60% effaced. This felt a little defeating because I hadn't been checked in 5 hours, so I was really hoping to be told I was way farther along than only making 2 centimeters of progress after being on pitocin for hours. We at least got the good news that the amniotic fluid was nice and clear, and like with Avery, there was a lot of it.
An hour later at 1:20 they came back in to check me, and I was still at a 6.. My midwife said I was thinner and the baby was lower, but still being at a 6 was really tough to hear. At that point I was afraid my body wasn't going to progress anymore, and I hated that it was all taking way longer to have this baby than I/we expected it to. The nurse left to find a peanut ball, and the plan now was to do half an hour on each side to see if that would help me progress. I definitely shed some tears after they left because of all the feelings. She came back around 2 to rotate me, asked if I felt any pressure (I said I didn't think so), and then she left again to let my body do its thing.
There were a few times while they were gone that I definitely felt something down there, but I assumed it was just some intense contractions. I didn't want to say I felt pressure even though I had felt something, but then be wrong, potentially not be dilated farther, and end up looking like a fool.
Natalie and Kim came in at 2:20ish ready to do another cervix check and rotate me if needed. I immediately teared up and started crying because I didn't want to be told I hadn't dilated farther. I think part of it was knowing that the longer this baby took to come out, the longer it would be until I could go home to be with the other kids again. Much to everyone's surprise, Natalie said the baby was right there and everyone was sent into a bit of a frenzy. That meant I went from a 6 to a 10 in an hour. I had never been so grateful for the epidural. I felt a bit foolish for crying only a minute or two earlier and then being told it's time to start pushing so fast. They called in another nurse for the baby, quickly changed up the bed, and just like that we were ready to go.
I couldn't feel the contractions and the monitor wasn't picking them up like it should have been, so I relied on my midwife to tell me when a contraction was starting so I could push. 2 contractions and 4 pushes later out the baby came at 2:33 PM. Natalie told us she was a girl, and my first thought was "poor Hudson." Sweet little Oaklee Jean. She was absolutely perfect. Her coloring was so good, and her head was as round as they come because of how fast it all happened.
I was excited to hear how much she weighed because having gestational diabetes made me so nervous about her birth weight. She ended up being our smallest baby at 6 pounds 7 ounces. She was 20 inches long. I was relieved to hear she was a great size, and all of the food limitations and finger pricks worked.
Nurse Kim
First bottle/feeding
Unfortunately, the kids (or anyone else for that matter) couldn't come to the hospital because of Covid. Once things calmed down for a minute we facetimed Bekah/the kids to let them know they had a new baby sister. Hudson did not take the news very well.. He was super excited about the baby until he found out she was a girl and then he wouldn't really talk to us the rest of the call.
A short while later I received this picture from my sister. Hudson really wasn't coping well with the news. He's mostly come around since then, but it definitely broke my mama heart to see him so upset and not be there to help him. Taylor did call and promise to do "man stuff" with him (a bike ride at snake river landing, getting ice cream, and Hudson tried to add shooting guns to the list) once we were out of the hospital, and that helped him a lot.
Oaklee Jean Lloyd
Jean is after my Great Grandma Wilma (Billie) Jean Jensen
After the epidural wore off, I quickly bathed and then we were transferred to our recovery room for the rest of our stay. Because of my gestational diabetes Oaklee had to have her blood sugar checked before she ate until she passed three in a row. She would pass one really well and then fail the next by 1 point or be borderline. She was tested for at least the first 24 hours and then we finally got the clear to feed her without having the nurses check her blood first. So many heel pricks for that little baby.
Being that she struggled a smidge with her blood sugars the pediatrician on call along with the nicu nurse (she wasn't ever actually in the nicu, but the nicu nurse was consulted with) requested that we stayed a second night to be sure that Oaklee was doing well and was in the clear before taking her home. I shed quite a few tears over having to be away from the other kids for another night. The new nurse for our second night there definitely thought I was losing it as I was so emotional about staying a second night, and Taylor was home helping with bedtime when she came in for evening rounds so she didn't want to just leave me there crying. She sat down and talked with me for a few minutes in the most motherly way and said exactly what I needed to hear. She also really tried to let me sleep that second night by coming in as little as possible, and that for sure helped my emotional state as well.
She passed her hearing test with flying colors.
I came around to our extra time there with a few extra desserts.
If you're ever in Mountain View Hospital, you won't regret getting the grasshopper ice cream.
We busted out of the hospital as soon as we could the next morning.
It felt so good to walk out of the hospital into the fresh air and start our new normal.
In some ways it doesn't feel real that we will never have a hospital birth experience again.
Each and every one has been such a special experience.
I have nothing but good things to say about Mountain View Hospital and the nurses there.
I owe so much to Natalie Taylor for delivering all four of my babies and taking great care of us every time.
My heart both hurts and is so full at Oaklee being our last child and finally having her here.
Hudson's birth story is
here
Ella's birth story is
here
Avery's birth story is
here
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