Mom To The Fifth Power: The most important day in 2010

Much has happened since my last post. Let's face it, when you are a mom to this many (lost count)....unnecessary things go unattended. The last several months have been filled with holidays, MANY doctor's appointments and most importantly........the birth of my sweet baby girl! I am now a Mom To The Fifth Power!!!

Here is a birth story that I wrote the night Clara was born. I posted it on my mommy message board.....so spelling and grammar went out the window.

The Birth of Clara Joy Thomas

Tuesday was suppose to be a relaxing day for me. David had told the kids the night before that they would get the house completely put together and I would clean. An induction date was set for Wednesday 12/29 at 6am...so my job on Tuesday was to rest. Well, things didn't really go as planned. I woke David up in the morning so that he could make the kids breakfast. I didn't feel well. I was still struggling from the nasty sinus/cold and had a terrible cough. Also, I felt a little sick to my stomach. I wanted to lay back down, but Brady said his eyes were hurting, so I spent some time taking care of him. He hasn't been wearing his glasses like he should since he stretched them out. While I was in Brady's room with him, I thought David was cleaning up the house. Only, Nicholas came to let me know David was asleep and he needed something. That started a day long argument. David just didn't get that I was going to have a baby the next day! Around 4:45 I told him he had to stop what he was doing and clean the van out so I could install the carseat before dark. Well, he kind of cleaned it. I gave up on arguing with him and knew sometime before the night was over, I would have to do a quick clean on my own. Around 5:00, David started making the kids dinner. After that, we were going to give them baths and get their bags together to go to my sister's house. The kids were so excited that they were going to get the chance to spend the next few nights with their cousins. The kids sat down to eat around 5:30. I peeled myself off the couch to make a visit to the potty. The last week or so, Clara obviously dropped low and was putting pressure on my bladder. However, it was strange because it was like she was preventing anything from coming out. So, I had to pee more often, but it was a lot less each time. I managed to pee a little. When I stood up, I coughed and had a small, warm gush. Usually I would think, "Oh crap..I peed myself again." However, for some reason this was different. I changed my pad and went to the kitchen to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I told David that I think my water may have broke. As I was at the sink washing the pan, I felt another gush. It wasn't a large gush, but there was no reason for me to pee myself this time (no cough/pressure). On the way back to the bathroom to check myself, I felt a few more small gushes. My pad was soaked with clear fluid that had a sort of semen smell to it (lovely). David was standing there and saw all the fluid. He started panicking. I told him to chill out and reminded him that the baby was not going to fall out of me. My brother in-law wasn't suppose to show up for another two hours to pick up the kids. We decided that my mother would pick me up and take me to the hospital, and David would finish getting the kids ready and wait for BIL. I was quickly getting myself together, but not rushing. As I gathered last minute stuff for my bag, David was flipping out trying to get me out the door. As he was losing his mind, I took a shower. I knew it would be awhile before I could shower. When my mother showed up, the kids were running up down the hall (Evan was butt naked for his bath) and David was hyperventilating on the couch. David later told me that Pongo stood at the door crying for about ten minutes after I left.

He knew something was happening. The contractions had been going steady since my water broke. During the car ride, my mother started to time them....they were easily three minutes apart with a few that were closer to two minutes. Mom is usually level headed, but started to get nervous...lol. Once at the hospital, I signed some forms and was ushered into triage for normal stuff (pee sample, pelvic check). I found out that not one of my doctors or midwife was working. The practice I go to has three OBs and one midwife...and seriously not one was working! Fortunately, I did meet the fill in doctor during a NST...she was friendly. When the doctor went to check to see if my water did indeed break, the nurse laughed and said, "well, I guess there is no question about it." The bed was soaked and I was practically swimming in it. At this point, David, my mom and MIL were all there. I was admitted and walked to my room...108. As discussed before, I needed continuous monitoring since this was a VBAC. Monitors were put on. Clara's heart rate was very strong and reactive to the contractions. 160s during rest and 170s during contractions. An IV was started and fluids and antibiotics were given for the GBS. The contractions continued to intensify. The initial cervical check showed I was still a 3...which is what I was after the membrane sweep on Monday....my OB stretched me. Once the nurse had me settled, I HAD to get out of bed. My butt/back were hurting and it took the edge off to move around and sway. I couldn't go far, as I had the IV and monitors, but I only really needed room to sway back and forth. Honestly, I sort of went into my own little land and lost track of time. At one point, I kept hearing my MIL tell David to spot me because she was worried I was going to fall over. My mom and MIL kept making comments about how tired I must be and how worried they were that I was going to fall over. This seemed silly to me, as I was just standing for a little bit swaying. Come to find out, I had been standing there swaying for SIX hours straight! The contractions were so intense and literally one right on top of the each other. I barely had time to recover and another was on the way. I could not find one position or anything to escape or cope with the pain. I felt like I was trying to claw my way out of a box, but there was no escaping. I was howling through contractions and I remember violently shaking the bed railing and IV pole at one point. I do remember asking for someone to kill me and put me out of my misery...lol. Rocking, swaying, walking, squatting, laying, kneeling, hands/knees.....NOTHING helped. I could not recover from the contractions and it seriously felt like someone was trying to tear my spinal cord out of my butt....literally...it felt like that. I told David that I wanted the epidural. He said, "Okay hon..the nurse will be in any minute." I said, "NO....go get her NOW!!!!" David ran out the door. The nurse came in and told me I needed to finish the one bag of IV fluid before they could give me the epidural. I nearly broke down, but it didn't seem like too much to go. I asked her how long she thinks that will take. 45 minutes. "Are you freaking $hItting me?!?!" Yeah, it was getting deep at this point. Towards the end of the bag, I told David to make sure she had the anesthesiologist waiting by my door. He did just that...lol. The bag was done, IV started to beep. "Ugh...where the hell is she?!" David went to get her. She came in and said, "Okay, I will go call the anesthesiologist...should be about 15 minutes." What!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Seriously...this is getting ridiculous. Do they want me to turn into a werewolf and begin devouring all the nurses?? Finally, the anesthesiologist enters the room and started his routine of unpacking the goods. Holy crap, I seriously contemplated grabbing the needle off his tray and shoving it in my back by myself. Before the epidural, the doctor wanted to check my cervix. If I was close to full, there was no point of the epidural. I was at 6cm. The anesthesiologist turned to me and started telling me the risks and all the blah blah blah legality crap. David said I kept waving my hands at him, rolling my eyes and telling him to hurry up.....LOL! I kind of remember. I do remember waving my hands and telling him to just give me the darn paper to sign. I scribbled an N and a line and told him to hurry........please (hey after all he is sticking a large needle in my back). The contractions were slamming me hard...one right on top of another. MAYBE 30 second break in between. Even during that break, I still felt pain, but not the intense contraction. I told him to be ready, that I would finish the contraction and he could quickly get it done. The nurse warned me that I was going to still have several contractions before it was over, but I really needed to sit still. I tried....I tried SO hard to sit still. I had about five contractions before he was even able to prep me. The table I was bent over on kept shifting. I was in so much pain, I kept leaning towards David. Oh yeah...I sort of bit David. Okay, I really bit David. During a contraction, I bit his knuckle. When I realized what I had done, I apologized and bit my arm instead. The nurse pulled her hands away....lol. Eventually, he got the epidural in and soon I felt relief. I looked around the room and no one seemed nearly as happy as me. I then realized they were either irritated or scared. I quickly began apologizing to everyone. I swore up and down I really was not that much of a B and that I was truly grateful for their help. The anesthesiologist rubbed my shoulders and told me it was okay and assured me that I did just fine. The nurse told me it was fine and she was glad I just didn't bite her. I knew after the epidural and now that I was laying in bed, that labor would most likely stall. I was completely okay with this. I was already more than half way there.....which was my personal goal. I wanted to be half way or more than half way before I got the epidural. I needed rest and sleep so that I had the energy to push Clara out. I felt the contractions, but was finally able to rest. There were a few that were so strong that they still hurt. I kept thinking that if I could feel them through the epidural, how must they really feel?! Everyone decided to take a nap. I was in and out of sleep. Some of the contractions were strong enough that the pressure did wake me up. I usually nodded off once it passed. The doctor checked me again at some point and I was a 7. She told me she had to go to the OR for a c-section and would most likely be back in time for me to push. The nurse told me to try to sleep, but if I felt any pressure to call her right away. I told her I was so numb that I wasn't sure I would be able to tell if it was really pressure. She assured me I would know and left. I continued to sleep on and off. Everyone was sound asleep when I started feeling some pressure to push. I wasn't really sure if that was it though. I stayed awake and paid attention to it to see if it really was push pressure. Warning, TMI ahead...... Soon I felt my butt area spread and I realized yeah...I'm about to have a baby. I couldn't reach my call bell, so I woke my mother up. Soon MIL was up too. Mom couldn't find it in the dark without her glasses....lol. The doctor came in and I was a 10! Time to have a baby!! David was asleep on the floor, so his mother woke him up. The nurse was busy prepping the room for delivery and the doctor was getting cleaned up and making sure she had all her supplies. David said, "I have to poop...I'll be right back." He left the room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I looked at my mom and MIL and said, "Did that seriously just happen?!" We were all in complete shock that he left! He came back a few minutes later and quickly received Hell from everyone in the room...lol He told me he didn't realize I meant it was time NOW. Everyone got into position...MIL with camera behind me, Mom held my completely floppy right leg (poor Mom) and David held my left. He never held my legs because of a near fainting accident during one of the prior births. I told him it would be okay and that if he needed the nurse to take over, she would. The doctor was still prepping while we were standing there. David said, "Uhhhh......something is happening!!!" The nurse checked and sure enough, every time I coughed, Clara was coming out! She was literally crowning from me coughing. Remember that nasty cough I posted about?? The doctor looked over and sort of panicked. She told me to TRY not to cough. The bed was quickly broken down. During one contraction, I pushed Clara out. 5:07am. She pooped on the way out, but thankfully not before her head was delivered. Her cry was nice and strong. She was laid on top of me. It was so beautiful and amazing!!!! Then she pooped on me...lol!! The nurse and I wiped her off a bit. David cut her cord. My aunt was working the postpartum wing, but she came over to help out. My Aunt Grace carried Clara to the warmer to clean her up and do all that fun stuff. Clara pooped the entire way to the warmer. She continue to poop on my aunt and then pooped all over the floor as they carried her to the scale. She went SO much that by the time she was finished, she was out of meconium and had her first transitional bowel movement on the warmer bed. LOL! Her APGAR was 8 and 9! She weighed 8lbs 13oz and measured 22 inches long. She looks like her daddy. I had one very tiny tear that only required a stitch. Everyone was amazed how quickly she came out and mostly from me coughing. The doctor congratulated me as she delivered the placenta and said I officially had a successful VBAC.

It was quiet, calm, intimate, beautiful....and everything I could have ever wished for!

Soon after delivery, we noticed Clara grunting and her nostrils were flaring. She also had a slight fever. The grunting and flaring nostrils were signs that she was having problems breathing. The fever could have been from me....I had a fever during the entire labor/delivery. I was 102 towards the end...so I could have made her hot. They wanted to make sure though. After everyone got to hold her, they took her to the nursery to be checked out and monitored. The grunting and flaring nostrils quickly subsided and it was determined that she had problems transitioning since it was such a quick delivery. She didn't spend a lot of time in the birth canal and did manage to suck in some fluid when she was delivered. The temp quickly came down. However, they did some blood work and there were some problems. Her white blood count was elevated. There were two times yesterday that her temp dropped and she had to be placed on the warmer. She was having a lot of problems keeping it regular by herself. So, as a precaution (since I'm GBS+), they started the antibiotics. Even after a round of that, she still had temp issues. They gave her one more try to see if she could keep her temp up by herself. If not, they would have sent her to NICU for IV treatment. Fortunately, she has been able to control it alone and we have avoided NICU. She doesn't have jaundice.

ALL of my other kids had jaundice and some were bad enough for light therapy. So this is wonderful. She's eating better than any of them ever did and pooping/peeing like a champ. I think that a lot of that is because I let her come naturally. She came when SHE was ready and because of that....she was able to do all those things easily on her own. The big kids came to meet Clara today. They are all in love.

I thought Evan would be the most excited, but it really hit him today. He was a little hesitant. Not that he doen't like her. I think it was just a huge shock when he walked in today and saw a baby.

Brady has been very homesick and wanted to go home today. I promised him tomorrow. He was absolutely amazing with Clara. He even helped me change her diaper and feed her. Nicholas can not wait to put Clara in her swing. He was making funny faces trying to make her laugh today. He does this with his baby cousin and thinks it's great. I had to explain to him that it would be a little bit before that would work. Emily is over the moon. She looked like a little mommy holding Clara today. As for me.....I am completely in love with my little girl. Not only that, but I have fallen in love with my other children all over again. I have been blessed beyond measure!!!