Fredrickson: December 2012

Giving birth was hands down the best thing I have ever done in my life. It was the most magical and special experience, I can't even begin to describe its perfection.

*this birth story is long & filled with a bunch of boring details that I want to remember years from now, so feel free to skip around or the whole thing all together.

{30 October 2012}

I had my 39 week doctor's appointment on October 30th. My mom had come to town the previous Friday for my family shower & we were really hoping we would hear that I would be going into labor any day, so she wouldn't have to go home to St. George. My doctor checked me and I was dilated to a three and one hundred percent effaced. I will admit, I was slightly disappointed. I was anticipating being a four & that much closer to baby's arrival because each week for the past few weeks I had been progressing one centimeter a week and the previous week I was a three. We started asking the doctor all sorts of questions regarding how to naturally induce labor and what the likely hood of me going into labor within the next few days was. He was giving us no hope and saying there was a chance I wouldn't go until November 14th - My due date was the 5th. I was feeling really frustrated and a part of me wanted to think he had no idea what he was talking about. Bottom line is, he was pushing for an induction. He asked if I would like to schedule and induction for next week on my due date. I was really hesitant and told him I would prefer to go into labor naturally. He said okay just think about it and let me know tomorrow and we can get it scheduled. We left and I decided I wasn't scheduling one.

We got home and my mom and I started talking about ways to naturally induce labor. Tyler was a skeptic and kept saying "oh they are just wives tales, they aren't going to work." We didn't let that stop us. We did lot and lots of walking and shopping that day. We went to Buy Buy Baby and bought a stroller and then to city creek to walk around and do a little shopping for baby clothes. The whole time I was having contractions-nothing very painful, just uncomfortable but they were becoming more frequent. We thought just maybe all the walking was working. That night when I went to bed I put a warm washcloth and hot pad on my breasts {a method we learned earlier in the day to induce labor} and went to sleep.

{31 October 2012}

At three in the morning I awoke to feeling sopping wet. I told Tyler "I think my water just broke," but I wasn't sure. My first thought was my water had broken, but I was a little unsure and confused cause I didn't think there was enough fluid for it to have been my water. I went to the bathroom and there was a little bit of bright red blood. At that point I knew it wasn't my water, but I was a little concerned about the blood. I had read about mucus plugs and figured that's what it was but I thought it was supposed to be brown. I called the hospital and they confirmed that it was my mucus plug. At that point My mom, Tyler, and I all tried to go back to bed, but we couldn't get much sleep after that. I kept wondering if the baby was coming and I was having contractions pretty consistently, but again not too painful just uncomfortable. I laid in bed counting my contractions till about seven thirty.

All day we were on edge wondering what was going to happen. That morning my contractions slowed down but I still thought this could be the day, so I tried really hard to get a few last minute things crossed of the to do list before baby comes. We also continued to go on walks around our complex. Around one thirty that after noon my contractions started to get a little stronger and become more frequent. I downloaded an app and started timing my contractions. Pretty soon they were coming about every five minutes. We timed them till about four o'clock and decided to go to the hospital to get checked. I was a little worried that we were going too soon cause the contractions hadn't gotten terribly painful yet, but I was really anxious cause they were consistently five minutes a apart for at least two hours. I had kept saying I didn't want to be that girl that goes to the hospital too soon and gets sent home.

We get to the hospital and they get me all set up to monitor my contractions. The sweet nurse checks me. I am dilated to a two and a half and one hundred percent effaced. We were a little surprised. We told her the day before I was a three. She told us its really subjective when they measure and its possible my body tightened back up when I started contracting. So, they monitor me for an hour. If I don't dilate any more in an hour then they would send me home and if I did progress I would stay.

Well, I ended up being that girl. After being monitored they sent us home. The nurse had said she wouldn't be surprised if I went into labor within the next twenty four hours, so we still had hope.

We went home had some dinner and continued walking the stairs and around our complex. Meanwhile, my dad and Dillan decided to head up cause we were all thinking this baby was coming soon.

My contractions had grown much more stronger and intense and I was having a lot of labor pain in my back. All the walking and heat applied to me breasts seemed to be paying off! I tried laying down to get some rest but it did no good. There was no way I was going to get any sleep through those contractions. Dad, Dillan, & his friend Mike showed up. We visited for a bit but I was really in no condition to be chatting with anyone. I just wanted to focus on breathing through the contractions.

Everyone got settled in around midnight for some shut eye while my contractions began to grow even stronger. I was really sad the 31st had gotten away from us. We were really hoping for a halloween baby but it just wasn't going to work out that way.

{1 November 2012}

I was determined to labor at home till the next morning so Tyler and my mom could catch up on sleep since the night before we really didn't get any. I tried to lay in bed and breathe through the contractions but it was really hard for me laying down and I felt like I was being loud and didn't want to wake Tyler up, so I went into my bathroom. The remainder of the night, technically morning, I stood at my bathroom sink and labored. It was hard, tiring, and painful. Around Six in the morning Tyler woke up.

He helped me into the shower and it helped with the pain quite a bit. It felt really good and helped my body to relax a little bit. Meanwhile, my parents woke up and started getting ready. After the shower I continued to labor. I tried using one of those work out/labor balls and it worked okay but I preferred to labor standing up. Around eight or eight thirty we decided to got to the hospital. I was really nervous. I didn't want to go back and not be dilated again. Once we got settled into the room the nurse checked me. I was dilated to a five. Thank heavens there was progress, but I was slightly disappointed I only dilated two and a half more centimeters after ten hours of labor. I was so exhausted. At this point I hadn't slept for about thirty one hours. I began to wonder how I was going to have enough energy to make it to pushing. I had decided to get the epidural and a couple hours later I was getting it. I was a little nervous to get the epidural, but it really wasn't painful at all just felt a little funky. I was mostly nervous about something going wrong with it but it went great- it worked on me and I didn't have any complications with it. Once I had the epidural I was able to relax- I never took a nap, but I was able to gain back some energy and enjoy the afternoon. We kinda had a party in our room with family and friends up until the doctor broke my water around one thirty. Then we played the waiting game until three or so. The nurse came in and checked me and I was dilated to a ten. She told me they were going to have me wait about an hour to push so the baby could drop down into the pelvis more. She said it would make pushing a whole lot easier. At this point I started to get really hungry and was feeling a little light headed because of my hypoglycemia {which I failed to tell my nurse I had}. Once I told her, she brought me some apple juice and a throw up bag. The juice helped and luckily I didn't need the bag. Around four the nurse checked me again and said I was ready to push. She had me push a couple times and then called the doctor{a substitute doctor because mine was on vacation}. It was time. Once the doctor arrived and everything was set up it was about four thirty. We started pushing again and I asked for a mirror. It was really cool to see but I was freaked out by the size of the opening, it was still pretty small! I thought it was supposed to be a lot bigger for a baby to come out! I asked the nurse to take it away cause I didn't want to watch myself tear. I am so glad I could feel the pressure of when I needed to push. This was my biggest concern with an epidural. I wanted to know what I was doing when I pushed and thankfully I did. After about thirty minutes of pushing the baby was out. We were all so anxious to know what it was. It felt like the longest few seconds of my life waiting to see if it was a boy or girl. Finally, I saw her for the first time. It was a girl. I can't even begin to describe how sweet that moment was. Tyler and I were completely shocked and smitten by her all at once. It was just pure joy and such a natural high. I would give anything to relive that moment over and over again. There seriously is nothing like it and it is so hard to articulate just how beautiful the experience was. Holding her for the first time was heavenly. I couldn't get over just how perfect and beautiful she was and I couldn't stop thinking about how proud I was of her for choosing to come to earth. Jade Alexa Fredrickson was here all six pounds and seven ounces of her & her sweet spirit. She was nineteen inches long and a happy and healthy baby.

& that is how she stole our hearts.

{Side-notes}

I loved delivering at Mt. Timpanogos Hospital.

All of my nurses were so sweet, helpful, & kind.

I loved my substitute doctor. Dr. McCarter.

I ended up tearing.

I will not find out what I am having for every child. The surprise was so fun!

I loved everything about labor & delivery including the pain. I can't wait to do it again.

30 December 2012

Christmas Cheer at Riverwoods

Temple Lights

Thanksgiving

15 December 2012

Grandma Michelle

dr. check-up

07 December 2012

1 Month

04 December 2012

♥Jade's Debut♥