When I first became pregnant I thought it would be fun to not announce the pregnancy on any social media and just surprise everyone with the baby. We let our family and a few close friends know but otherwise kept it to ourselves. So if you didn't know, don't worry, most people didn't either. I was hoping this would make the pregnancy go by faster, but it still felt like I was pregnant for ten years. I was blessed with another fairly uneventful pregnancy but I do feel like that each one has become progressively more uncomfortable.
It was fun having older kids during this pregnancy. They were so excited about the baby and talked about all the other babies I would be having after this one...I love their optimism.
I wasn't surprised when we found out we were having a girl. This pregnancy had been just like my other girls. I was nauseous the first trimester and had a lot of heartburn. I was afraid the boys were going to be disappointed but they were as thrilled as the girls. Like Chet said, "the next one can be a boy". Once again with the family planning.
Eliza was the most excited. She talked all about how she was going to hold the baby and bring me diapers and help change the diapers. She loved pretending like she had a baby in her tummy and once told me, "I had a baby in my tummy and I already got her out and it's baby girl (her favorite doll), and she's name is Rosie." Anytime I had a doctor appointment she would say, "are you getting the baby out?!" Towards the end of my pregnancy she would pray for the baby and I in every prayer.
As I got closer to my due date Tanner gave me a blessing that the baby and I would be healthy. His blessings always give me such comfort, especially before having a baby. We kept trying to tell baby girl that she just needed to hang tight until after the third of March which was when Tanner's dad would be flying in.
On the second of March I felt like I was leaking a little amniotic fluid just like I did with Eliza. I had a doctors appointment that afternoon so I planned on getting tested for it there. I did school with the kids and mopped my floor and then we headed to my appointment. Our friends watched the kids while I went to my appointment only to be told that they didn't have the test there in their satellite clinic and that I would have to drive forty-five minutes to the hospital to get the test done. I picked up my kids and braved Walmart for the first time with all four children in over a year. They were champs and I just prayed my water wouldn't break.
We hustled home and I put a pizza in the oven and waited for Tanner to get home. We decided that I would go to the hospital by myself and if I got admitted that Tanner would wait for Brittany to come up and then head over. I got to the hospital, was tested and then told that I wasn't positive for amniotic fluid. I was pretty sure I had a slow leak but they didn't pick anything up so I headed on home.
Tanner and I went to bed early that night. I had a crazy dream where I was at my parents' house and my brother Dan ate all my hospital snacks and I was so angry with him. And then I woke up to my water breaking. I was able to jump out of bed fast enough to save the sheets. Which was pretty impressive considering how slow I had been moving the last few months. It was three in the morning. I had tested positive for Strep B so I felt like we should head to the hospital pretty soon in case I had a fast labor.
We called Brittany up and she loaded up her five...yes five...children and headed our way. I decided to clean the house a little and Tanner made me some food. Brittany got to our house around five and we headed out. I tested positive for amniotic fluid, which was no surprise to me considering how much water I had lost by that point. They admitted me and started me on antibiotics.
We decided to try the Foley Ball to see how much I could progress on my own without Pitocin. At that point I was having contractions about fifteen to twenty minutes apart. I had pulled the Foley Ball out after about ten minutes which meant I was at a three. They finally started me on Pitocin and tried to put a wireless monitor on me so I could move around. The monitor wasn't working so the nurse decided to "sand" my belly to see if it would stick better. I kid you not, she had a little piece of sand paper and buffed away at my skin. It wasn't pleasant, the monitor still didn't work, and I had nice little abrasions all around my belly button.
Brittany said that Mariah began to get worried and kept saying, "I deserve to know when the baby is born." Finally Brittany let Mariah Facetime us and Chet told me, "I thought you would be home by lunch and it's way past that!" I could see that Mariah was worried and I reassured her that everything was ok and we would call them when the baby arrived. Maybe I should have been more clear about how long we would be gone.
They kept increasing the Pitocin but my contractions still were only about eight minutes apart and weren't very painful. They kept saying I was going to have the baby fast and even started setting up for delivery and telling me to let them know if I needed to push. But I knew I was a long way from that. Finally around three in the afternoon they decided to see how much I had progressed. The nurse checked me and said I was only five cm dilated. I wasn't surprised but was pretty disheartened because I was starting to get tired. The nurse felt like I had bulging waters, which was weird considering how much fluid I had been leaking all throughout the day.
The doctor came and broke my water, and I still had a lot of fluid. Towards the end of my pregnancy I had told Tanner that even though I felt like my belly was bigger than it had been in any pregnancy, I didn't feel like the baby was as big as Chet. I must have had a lot of amniotic fluid and that was why I was so big.
After they broke my water my labor progressed quickly and within an hour I felt like I was in transition. I still felt like something was wrong because I wasn't beginning to feel the urge to push even though the intensity of my contractions were at the point when I usually would be pushing. The doctor checked me again and said I was still at a seven or eight.
By that point I was exhausted and really worried. The baby's heart rate kept dropping and I knew everyone was getting nervous. I knew that if I didn't have the baby soon they would want to do a C-section. Then Tanner quietly asked me if I wanted to try a different position. He suggested I go on my hands and knees and I knew that that was what I needed to do. Immediately after I was on my hands and knees my body took over and I began to push. I've never had that happen and it was such a crazy, surreal experience. I only pushed twice and at 5:49 the baby was born. This was just minutes after being told I was only at a seven.
I have never felt so emotional after a birth and it was all I could do to keep from sobbing. Little Vivienne had the sweetest, quietest cry and I was immediately in love.
I think Vivienne's face captures perfectly how we all felt about the labor and delivery. Eighteen hours of labor is no joke. Vivienne was 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 in, our smallest baby. The nurses thought we were so funny when we kept saying how tiny she was.
We named her after her Great Grandma Kay and her Aunt Natalie Kay. I can't think of better women for her to be named after.
There were so many tender mercies during this labor. That morning I received a text from my dad saying that he was thinking about me and praying for me. This was before I had told he or my mom that I was in the hospital.
As a fellow doctor, Tanner didn't want my doctor to feel like he was taking over or questioning what he did. But when the doctor said he was going to use a certain drug with the Foley Ball to help soften my cervix Tanner didn't feel comfortable with it, knowing that a side effect can be uterine rupture. He said a silent prayer that the doctor wouldn't use it and right as he was getting ready to apply it, he had already opened the packaging, he decided against it. Later when Tanner could see that I was starting to get scared he prayed again and that was when he was prompted to have me get in a different position.
While this labor was my hardest by far and something I never want to repeat, I am grateful for the experience and the little miracles all along the way. We could feel the many prayers said in our behalf from family members far away. We didn't have to worry about our children at home knowing that Brittany was there. We are so grateful for her selflessness in coming in the middle of the night and being willing to be in charge of 9 children age 9 to 4 months. She cleaned our whole house and did laundry. She helped the kids make a welcome home banner and they decorated the door. She is an angel.
Tanner's dad flew into Des Moines about an hour before the baby was born and rented a car so he could be at our house to help Brittany. He stopped at Costco for us to pick up some things and when we got home with Vivienne, Eliza asked if we got her at Costco.
I was able to come home the next day because the doctor said my husband should know if anything were off. Perks of having a doctor for a husband. I was so happy not to have to spend another night in the hospital.
The kids were so excited to hold little Vivi. They waited a long time to hold their baby sister.
And yes, Austin has held Vivi many times, but apparently I haven't taken a picture of that yet. He is truly the middle child now, poor kid.
We are so grateful for the miracle of another sweet spirit in our family. We're exhausted but our hearts are full. We are grateful for all the help we have received and for all of the gifts and prayers. Tanner's coworkers sent him home one day with a pile of gifts and snacks for us and the kids. We were blown away by everyone's generosity. Our neighbors also brought us over a beautiful fruit basket. We are blessed with great friends.
Now here's hoping she starts to sleep a little more at night...
