Presley's Birth Story

July 30th, 2012....a day I will never forget, only to be trumped by July 31st, 2012-the day my first born arrived in my arms at 11:11 a.m. Let's cut to the chase and start at the beginning.

Monday, July 30th, 2012- 39 weeks pregnant and woke up to the alarm sounding for work that morning. Realizing I was still carrying our daughter in my belly and not in my arms. I had come to terms with the fact that she was going to hold out to her due date. She wouldn't be early like I had hoped and I knew I needed to regain some patience and start being realistic. The night before I had had a few painful contractions over night which were a little different than the painless yet uncomfortable Braxton Hicks that I had been experiencing for week, yet they were not consistent enough to make any mention of. I got ready for work knowing it was going to be a tough day. Another Monday and I had a girl coming in to train that afternoon, she would be taking over for me while I was on maternity leave. I don't think I really thought it all through when I agreed to train on a day I would be by myself with a full schedule of patients. The morning went really great and of course I got lots of patients asking how far along I was and questioning why I was still working, lol...my thoughts exactly is what I wanted to say!

 I have to note that I have also been having the most fun seeing babies that I have scanned being born and coming into the clinic with their mamas for postpartum visits. Since I have been at the clinic full time about 8 months, I'm just now getting to the point that all the babies I have scanned from beginning of pregnancy are approaching their due date. As I am approaching mine as well I am starting to see women come in and get last trimester scans as needed. I have enjoyed comparing stories with them and almost see it as a mini support group! I really do have some wonderful patients, they have been as equally interested in my pregnancy as I am in theirs. My only sadness: Once these babes deliver and their mamas come for postpartum, I'll be on maternity leave! I'll miss quite a bit of the births of patients I have become to know so well.  But still very cool to have been a part of their pregnancy!

ANYWAAAYYY...ugh focus ADD..back to the birth story. So, naturally, training someone you tend to go a little slower than your usual pace and we had a full schedule that day as it was. As I was training my new co worker she was beyond patient with me as I was a little scatter brained and generally all over the place. We got pretty backed up with regular schedule and add ons and I could tell I was really pushing my body to keep up. Around about 4 o'clock I started having some pretty painful contractions. I immediately knew that these were different. Uncomfortable plus painful. But I also knew I was super busy and for one, didn't have time to stop and rest, for two, it could just seem worse because I was so busy and maybe when I did rest they would go away. I knew for sure I wasn't going to be able to slow down till I got home and actually would have to stay a little late at work to get everything finished up. We got all the patients done and I did my best to get all the paperwork done and everything cleaned up for the next day. I jokingly thought in my head, "Man, what a day, this day is gonna cause me to have this baby tonight" I left a few things un done as I just had to get headed towards home as soon as possible, the pain was unfamiliar and pretty uncomfortable at this point. I texted Jason, "I hope you have dinner taken care of because I'm really hurting" he texted back. "Chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese?" lol, "Yep, perfect" It probably could've been my least favorite food on the menu that night and I wouldn't have even cared, as long as I didn't have to deal with it that's all I needed to know. I got in the car and called Saundra to give her a heads up on everything that happened that day. Something told me I should call and brief her just in case I didn't see her in the morning, yet I assured her that I planned on seeing her. But in case I didn't, I would have already passed the info. I got home and Jason had dinner ready and I got right on the couch trying to see if these contractions would go away. They say if you lay down and relax or do something different and they go away then it isn't true labor. Still in some pain it seemed like they weren't disappearing. Jason's sister Leslie, Jeff, Zack and Allison were coming over to see Presley's nursery in person so we sat and visited with them for awhile and actually it seemed as if the pain eased up some. Still there, yet less intense. After they left I went and got in bed and the first thing in my head was, gosh I got to finish up some thank you cards, just in case I can't later. Jason had made me start timing the contractions and I could tell I was definitely seeing a trend but was more than a little bit in denial.
I kept thinking surely not, this can't be it. I've been waiting and waiting for this and could this really be it? I guess I just had it in my head that my water break and I would have that tell tale, no doubt about it sign. Even though I know lots of women who have gone into labor with no water breakage. This was about 8:30ish. I finally broke down and called my mom and asked her opinion. She knew right off the bat I was in labor and said she could tell it in my voice alone. I'll never forget what she said, "Ok, well, you're in labor" that's when it kinda hit me that she was probably right. I told her to let me sit down and focus on timing these things and see if it continues and I would let her know. All the while I notice Jason is finishing packing bags and picking up around the house. I remember thinking I wish he would just stop because we aren't going anywhere tonight and I don't want to disappoint when these things suddenly stop or slack off. I asked him, "What are you doing?" and he said, "You do realize this is the real thing right?" LOL. I tried everything I could think of, walking them off, hydrating more, resting.  Nothing really worked. Finally I went to the restroom and when I saw a little bit of blood, I knew it was definitely time and I wouldn't be stopping it. So with Jason having the bags halfway in the car already, I packed a few other things I needed such as toiletries, did a double check through Presley's bag to make sure I had everything I would want for her, had an extreme amount of sadness for having to put Auggie in the laundry room all night as he was almost already snuggled into his place on the bed, and we loaded up to head to the hospital right around 10:30 p.m. We called both of our parents en route and asked them to please stay at home till we get to the hospital and see where we're at and if they were even going to keep us. As we pulled away from our driveway I knew we wouldn't be returning without an extra tiny passenger. We briefly discussed how we were pretty sure this was it and I felt a rush of excitement. I was definitely ready! Mentally and physically!

We arrived at the hospital and after I had to text Jessica to figure out where do I even go (how bout passing on that childbirth class now??! lol), we headed up to Labor and Delivery. As we were waiting there to check in, a nurse came and touched me on the shoulder and said hello, I looked up and it was Meagan, my supervisor from work's daughter. I said, "What are you doing here? I thought your mom said you worked the weekends??" She replied that yes usually she does but her anniversary was the coming weekend and she had switched schedules...HOW PERFECT!! Wow this was already working out to be just the way it should! I had prayed and prayed for a great nursing staff for delivery and having Meagan, someone I already knew, put us off to a great start already! They went ahead and got me in a room and in a gown and once we did a pelvic check I found out we were at a 2 and about 90% effaced....OH NOOOOO....I thought. So what do we do now? I asked Meagan, she said we were going to call Dr. Simmons and see what he wanted to do. I was scared to death at the possibility that he may send me home. This was exactly why I didn't want to come up here. However, I knew the contractions were painful enough that it would be next to impossible to go home and sleep if they kept up.

Meagan returned to the room shortly and said, "Ok, he says we're gonna have a baby!".....WOW, all I can say is music to my ears! I was THRILLED, yet so scared at the same time. It just got totally real! It wasn't too much longer till Dr. Simmons showed up. He had another patient on the floor in labor so he decided he would just sleep there at the hospital so he could check on both of us periodically.  He came in the room and took a look at the monitors. At this point my contractions were about a minute and a half to two minutes apart. They were pretty intense and close together but he wanted to break my water in order to make my contractions start working harder for me, in other words, making more progress in the dilating and effacing area.  I was skeptical as I figured once he did that, labor would progress a lot quicker and I would end up having her in the middle of the night or super early morning, before anyone had a chance to get there to be with us. Dr. Simmons assured me that it would still be a good 7-8 hours he thought so I agreed and was ok with it. Dr. Simmons held my hand and Jason came to my side as Dr. Simmons prayed over us. He prayed for Presley and her safe arrival, for me for the strength to get through and to remain healthy, for Jason to be a strong coach and support system, and for himself that he would get us all to the goal safely. What an amazing man, I had no fear, I knew we were in the hands of someone who was not only going to get our baby girl here safely but would treat me as if it was his own daughter. I must say, if Dr. Breniman had to be out of town, I'm forever grateful for Dr. Simmons and his sweet soul!

Keep in mind at this point I had not gotten my epidural, just requested a little medicine to take the edge off which was working quite nicely! Well, let me just tell you, he broke my water and the contractions went from "not to bad" to "oh holy moly" Absolutely the worst pain I have ever felt in my life!!! I toughed through about 5-7 of those and at that point I was ready to get that epidural in motion. Poor Jason, I must say, he was a champ. He held my hands and let me crush his, he talked me through each terrible pain as I literally screamed, cried, and begged for the pain to stop, and still in the middle of the night he faithfully studied the monitor and would let me know when the contractions were coming on and when they were about to peak. I couldn't watch, the anticipation was more than enough and the time between the pains was far too short to not be using it to rest and relax. When the CRNA made it into the room to start the epidural, I didn't think he could work fast enough. And as luck would have it, right when he went to insert the needle, I got a huge contraction, staying still suddenly became the most difficult task yet! Thankfully he got it in no problems and had me lay flat. I felt like a total idiot as he was talking to me and all I could do was moan and whine in pain...and finally, the epidural took affect and I suddenly felt no pain, it was all smooth sailing after that for awhile.

I would say that all that happened about 1-130 am and we knew it was going to be a long night so now that I was comfortable we pretty much just had to rest and wait. I went right to sleep and quite honestly got some of the best sleep I've ever gotten in my whole life! Once again, poor Jason, he wasn't quite as lucky. I don't think he slept a wink that entire night. Both of our moms arrived at about 2-3 am. I had Jason call and give them the go ahead when they checked me and I was to a 4. We thought it would really move quickly from there but boy were we wrong. Here I was scared to death that no one would be there except us for the delivery if we had her in the middle of the night, when if we had really knew how much she was taking her time we might not have jumped to call our moms so soon!

Fast forward into the morning and me snoozing away as my sweet husband, mom, and mother in law, sat in the room listening to me snore and probably wishing they could crawl up in the bed with me and catch a few Zzzz's. The in between parts are pretty boring and self explanatory but by 9am, everyone had made it there and still no baby. BUT everyone was there, I was thankful! Including my sister, thank goodness! Ok, now I was ready for her to come whenever she was ready! All systems go! It seemed like we moved in slow motion approaching 10! And literally stalled at 9-9.5 for probably an hour or more. Finally, about 10:30 am, Dr. Simmons said it was time to start pushing! Oh wow, it's finally here is all I could think. I wasn't scared at all. I was just ready! Ready to meet our little girl and see the face I had been dreaming of for so long. I was ready to hear her cry and hold her in my arms. So ready to have her here that I didn't even care how hard I had to work or how physically drained I would be. It was definitely go time!

We took final pics with all the family, gave kisses and hugs, and sent everyone out except my mom, my sister, and Jason who would all be in the delivery room with me. In the meantime, our wonderful nurse Meagan's shift had ended at 7 and she left us in the hands of Mandy, another amazing soul! So at 10:45 we started pushing and with the support and coaching of my wonderful mother, sister, husband, Mandy, and Dr. Simmons, I felt like I could do anything. They were remarkable! I've never felt more exhausted and empowered all at the same time. There's not much I remember about the actual delivery, but I do remember distinctly that everyone in the room was just having a fit over her hair! They were laughing and in total awe and I had no idea why. Dr. Simmons said he could twirl it with his finger! I couldn't even imagine, but I was so ready to see those beautiful locks of hair. Finally at 11:11 am, Presley May Otwell entered this world and came right to my chest. There are no words. No words at all to describe the joy in that moment. I remember Jason and I were looking at each other and then back at her and we were both crying and laughing at the same time. Tears streaming down my face but laughter and smiles and joy that she was finally here and she was all ours! Our daughter had made it here safely and she made us a family of 3! I felt complete and my heart was full. What a beautiful sight that I could have never prepared myself for. She was perfect! A healthy girl clocking in at 8 lb 15.6 oz, which translated to 9 lbs even, a more than full head of thick dark hair with little frosted tips (yes, she was LITERALLY born with blonde highlights), and the sweetest chubbiest cheeks I've ever seen! Just how I envisioned her, minus the hair because I've never seen hair like that on a newborn at all!!! Here's a little preview!

After they took her to clean her up everything really went so fast. I begged for the biggest glass of water anyone could find and as I solely focused on drinking it as fast as possible. Mandy worked on little Presley getting her all cleaned up, measured, weighed, footprints stamped, and her very first sponge bath. Dr. Simmons got me all sewed up because, of course, delivering a 9 pound baby gives you quite the laceration! He also told me that I pushed her out like a champ in about 25 minutes what usually takes women more than an hour with a baby of that size! I gotta say, super empowering moment there! After she was all freshly clean, I listened as Presley met all of her family. I was in and out of it and had been given a fresh dose of pain meds as delivery had been quite rough. But I do remember once hearing her cry and then someone giving her to Jason, I heard everyone laugh as she got totally quiet when he talked to her. And then I started talking and they said she turned her head to look for me. She knew our voices, oh wow. Amazing. Just amazing.

And that was it! My little girl was here in our arms and we were instantly parents! We spent the next 2 days in the hospital receiving top notch care from our doctors and nursing staff! I have to give it up to them, they more than exceeded our expectations. Every single person that walked in our room was fantastic and we literally never wanted for one thing. Every need was met and in a timely manner too. I can't say enough good things about all of them. Every nurse, nursing student, PCT, even housekeeping staff were phenomenal! On the day we had to leave I told them they literally made it hard to go home and I genuinely wanted to stay! I know there is probably no way any of them read this blog but my most sincere thanks goes to them, they made our stay so comfortable and enjoyable!

I also have to mention that Presley came into our lives one day before our 3 year wedding anniversary (we almost knew it would happen that way based on her 8-5 due date). Typically we would be beaching it somewhere on vacation celebrating the day we were married, this year we traded beautiful beaches, pool time, and four course meals for tiny hospital room with a view of the roof, service and care by those dressed in scrubs carrying meds and needles, and some less than stellar cafeteria food. But to go along with all of that, we held our baby girl so all was well and we wouldn't have traded it for any beach, anywhere on the planet. As usual, Jason did not disappoint in the special holiday category and remembered to bring me a present for our anniversary. So that evening he presented me with a small gift bag and said it was an anniversary gift from him/push present from Presley. In that bag was a new Ipad!!! I was THRILLED! Jason thought this would be a great family gift for all of us that we could use easily while tending to baby, anticipating that it wouldn't be as easy to whip out a lap top during late night feedings or rockings to pass the time! It's actually been the only reason I have been able to complete this blog post, my lap is just not as free anymore for a computer as a little tiny baby occupies that space most of the time these days. Here is the photo from the night we celebrated our anniversary.

Here are some photos from our big day, I can't wait to share Presley's growth here on the blog. I hope that I am able to stay as diligent documenting things as I did while pregnant!

Before all the company, just me and him, ready to be parents! Here we go!

My sweet encouraging husand, strong and steady as a rock!

Aunt J and me, ready to meet little girl!

My sweet sister, ready to be an Aunt! I love this picture!

Nettie, mama, and Auntie Randi, so ready to meet our girl!

The family is here! let's do it!!

Super swollen!!

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Dr. Simmons! Bless his sweet soul, he was wonderful! 

My first look at my baby!

I could re live this every single day!

Love this! Presley and her smitten daddy the first time he held her!

Sweet cheeks!

Welcome to the world Presley, meet the best friends you will ever have!

Sharing this moment with my sister tops my list of memories with her!

Mommy was worn out!!

First sponge bath

Brushing out those beautiful locks!

Made it to our room and Lesley came to visit!!

Meeting her cousins!

Meeting more cousins!

That hair!

Love this one too!

I'm pretty sure this little girl will never want for one thing when it comes to her daddy! Totally wrapped!

Sweet feet!

Getting ready to go home!

Presley's door hanger from Nettie! LOVE!

Our other door hanger! We loved them both and couldn't decide!

Let's go home guys! I'm ready!

I wish I had taken photos of every single guest at the hospital and I totally had planned to but I never really knew how worn out I would be, we did our best to capture as many moments as possible but truthfully I was so wrapped up in her I literally forgot about the camera or taking pictures! We promise to try to do better in the future Presley : )

Hopefully everyone enjoys reading this story as much as I enjoy telling it and re-living it. This is so I won't ever forget the moment my world changed forever and I became a mommy!

More to come later, till then...

Happy Baby Trails,
Kelly