*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.*
On Monday, April 6th I went in for the routine, 37 weeks, doctor's appointment. The heartbeat sounded great and I was 2.5 cm dilated but the baby's head was still high up and not close to being engaged. When the doctor measured my fundal height, I was measuring a whopping 42 weeks. This made the doctor quite concerned and she ordered a Non-Stress Test and Ultrasound for the next day. The doctor was worried I had polyhydramnios (too much amniotic fluid). This could be dangerous for me and the baby because it increases the chance of a prolapsed cord should my water break on its own.
On Tuesday, April 7th I went in for my Non-Stress Test/Ultrasound in the morning at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Department. When they measured the fluid, it was at 19 cm. This was at the high end of normal, so they were not concerned about polyhydramnios anymore. The baby also wasn't looking alarmingly big so they weren't exactly sure what was going on. They wanted me to schedule another ultrasound the next week to keep an eye on it. On a different note, the Non-Stress Test was picking up contractions every 10 minutes. I was only feeling a slight tightening of my stomach and was hardly noticing them. I assumed I would be pregnant for at least another week so I brushed them off as braxton hick contractions and just planned on being back the next week.
After the tests, I went home and put Kennadi down for a nap. I was feeling a little sleepy as well so I went and laid down. I ended up falling sleep for about 3 hours (this NEVER happens). Around 5 pm, I was still snoozing when Kennadi woke up from her nap and came to find me (she usually wakes up from her naps around 3:30 so this was a welcomed change!). I went to lean down to pull her up on our bed when i felt a pop. I just sat there stunned waiting for a dramatic gush of fluid but nothing came. So I sat and snuggled Kennadi for a bit longer. When I got up out of bed, that is when the liquid started trickling out. I wasn't sure if it was my water or if I had just peed myself. My doctor warned me that if my water broke it would probably be pretty dramatic considering the amount of fluid so I was a bit confused. I called Austin who was on his way home from work to let him know I thought my water broke and kindly ask if he would stop by Cafe Rio and grab us some dinner before we headed to the hospital. I made the mistake during my labor with Kennadi of not eating beforehand. It was miserable and I wasn't about to do that again! At this point contractions were coming and my pants kept slowly getting soaked through so I was pretty positive it was my water. I called my mom too to see if she would come down and watch Kennadi that night and called Markel/Aunt Lorie to see if they would watch Kennadi until my mom got there.
When we were finally driving to the hospital (around 6ish) contractions were coming about 5 minutes apart. Kennadi kept telling me to say "ouch, ouch, ouch" with each contraction. Austin just wanted to emotionally eat so we made another stop at McDonalds so he could grab a drink and ice cream (I wasn't super pumped about this...). We finally got to the hospital and checked in around 7 pm. The nurse came in and checked me. She discovered it was indeed my water that broke and I was dilated to a 4. This meant that I was admitted and I wasn't leaving without a baby! After the gazillion questions the nurses ask you, I was starting to really have to work through each contraction. I kept wanting to get the epidural but was skeptical because I didn't want to need it for 8+ hours like my previous labor. So I thought I would hold off until I progressed more. Needless to say, after a few more contractions with no rest in between, I was asking the nurse for the epidural. This was around 8:30. Within a minute, literally, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the drugs. It was heaven. My doctor then came in to check in on me around 9:15. She checked my dilation and I was only to a 5. Talk about discouraging! I thought I had a long night ahead of me, as did Austin. Austin once again was feeling like he should emotionally eat so he went across the street to Maceys to grab some snacks. While he was gone the nurse came in once again to check me. I was shocked when she said I was dilated to a 9, fully effaced, and the baby was right there. She was going to go call my doctor and have her head back over to the hospital. I quickly called Austin and told him to come back because it was baby time! We were both shocked at how quick I progressed.
Around 11:15, my doctor walked in and I started pushing. I only pushed through 4-5 contractions before little Quincy was born. She was born at 11:32 pm. They immediately put her on my chest and I got to see her and snuggle with her for a minute. The nurses were having a hard time getting her to cry so they took her for a minute, stuck a tube down her throat to clear it, and got her to make some little sounds. She still didn't cry very loud but they weren't concerned as her coloring was great and her apgar scores were 8/9. They weighed and measured her and she was a solid 7 pounds 6 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Those are the exact same stats Kennadi was when she was born (easy for me to remember!). The doctor told me that she also had a true knot in her umbilical cord, luckily things didn't turn bad! I ended up only needing one small stitch and was able to spend the rest of the time in my labor and delivery room snuggling Quincy.
Eventually they had us move down to the Mother/Baby floor. I was able to take Quincy into the nursery to get her bath and then i was wheeled into my recovery room. Quincy is such a good baby that she slept for the majority of the time spent at the hospital. It was quite the task to try to wake her up to eat (which is probably why she lost so much weight. At discharge she was only 6 lbs 14 oz). Kennadi loved visiting with her new sister at the hospital, and we enjoyed having all the visitors come see our new babe.
We are so in love with Quincy and loving life as a new family of 4.
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