Kennadi's Birth Story.

*Warning: this post is a bit long and full of detail. Sorry! I am writing this down more for my sake then to share my story.  My blog is being used as both my journal and a way for family/friends to stay updated on the Richards household.

I went to my 39 week doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, September 4th. I was dilated to 3 cm and was 80% effaced. I was feeling super discouraged since I hadn’t made much progress since my appointment the week before. The doctor decided to strip my membranes to maybe help things along. I wasn’t feeling too optimistic since she told me that there is only a 20% chance of it actually putting me into labor plus there was only a 48 hour window. After walking for miles plus hours of canning fruit with my mom and grandma nothing was happening. I was getting even more discouraged. And then it finally happened….

Wednesday night I dragged Austin on another one of our long, nightly walks. While we were walking I was starting to feel a lot of stomach tightening and cramping. I just kinda assumed it was from being so pregnant and so out of shape. As soon as we got home, around 9 pm, the contractions started. They were around 8 minutes apart and not painful so I decided I would try to sleep. That didn’t work out. I couldn’t sleep a wink as the contractions were getting closer together and more painful. Finally around 4 am I was in pain! The contractions were coming about every 5 minutes. I wasn’t sure if it was actually contractions though. My doctor told me I would know if I was in labor because I wouldn’t be able to walk or talk through my contractions. Well, in my case the only way I could get through a contraction was to walk through them. I didn’t want to go clear to the hospital and be sent home.  I was so sleep deprived and in so much pain though I decided to wake Austin up so we could head to the hospital anyway. I figured if it wasn’t real labor they probably had some strong pain meds or sleeping pills they could give me.

We arrived at the hospital about a quarter to six. I slipped into the fashionable hospital gown and my doctor came in to check me. I was dilated to 5 cm and having very strong and regular contractions so I was admitted! The first thing I asked for was an epidural. Once the epidural was in place I was in heaven and the whole labor thing was easy (except for the no eating anything but flavored ice chips. I was starving!).

At first I was progressing outrageously fast. The doctor came and broke my water which was supposed to make it go even faster. Unfortunately once I hit 8 cm I stalled. It took me forever to get past 8 cm and even longer to get past 9 cm. I thought I was never going to be dilated enough to push a baby out of me!  It didn’t help that the epidural was starting to wear off and causing excruciating pain too.  I finally got fully dilated and was ready to push. After a LONG hour of pushing Kennadi Lauren Richards finally entered the world. She was born at 5:37 pm on Thursday, September 6^th.

After she was born it was all a blur. Kennadi was placed on my belly as she let out her first cry. I watched as Austin cut her cord. I gazed on as the nurse weighed and measured her. I might have panicked when they called a respiratory therapist in to check her breathing patterns. As all of this was going on I didn’t even notice the doctor giving me 15 pretty intense stitches. After Kennadi was all washed off and taken care of, I got to do some skin-to-skin with her. It seemed far too short though as Kennadi had to eventually make her way to the nursery.

Kennadi was whisked away to the nursery around 6:30 pm. I didn’t see her again until around 10. That could have possibly been one of the longest couple of hours of my life. Kennadi had to receive some doses of antibiotics (through an IV in her head, poor baby!) as a precaution because I had a fever during labor. It was so hard not knowing what was going on with my new baby and not being able to snuggle with her. It was also pretty disappointing that so much family came down to see Kennadi but didn’t have the opportunity to really see her or hold her. After finally being able to snuggle with Kennadi, attempting to feed her, and adjusting to life as a new mom I was starting to feel the impact of a very physically demanding and emotionally draining day. Around midnight I sent Kennadi to the nursery so I could sleep (after all I hadn’t slept for 40+ hours). As I drifted off to sleep I soon realized that my life would never be the same, I probably would never catch up on that missed sleep, and for once in my lifetime I was ok with that.