This is my labor story. I predict it being very long. I'm going to start from a couple days before our princess was born because it has significant details.
Friday, August 12th, 2011
I went to my massage therapist, Vivian to get acupressure. (I and been on Tuesday that week also but Vivian said the baby was not ready to come just yet and to come back on Friday.) She still said the baby was being stubborn and didn't want to come yet but I ended up having 2 contractions about 15 minutes apart while she was still working on me.
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
It was a typical Saturday morning: Kahili went to play rugby with his friends and I slept in... til 11. Kahili called me and asked if I wanted to go out to lunch with everyone but I didn't feel like getting ready just yet so he went and I stayed home. When Kahili got home, he told me that he offered to help our friends, the Panee's, go get a bunk bed using our truck. They live in Springville so he asked if I wanted to go and of course I did because I didn't want to sit around the house all day. We went and ended up spending the rest of the day at Amanda and Jordan's in Springville because they were leaving the next day to move to Washington. We wanted to spend as much time with them as possible before they left. When Kahili and Jordan came back from the store, Jordan's parents were nice enough to invite Kahili and I along for dinner. We ate at Red Robin in Provo Town Center Mall. Amanda and I joked multiple times about me going into labor but I didnt feel any different than I had the day before. I had heard that spicy food kickstarts labor so I ordered the Burnin' Love Burger hoping it would work. After dinner and saying our goodbyes, Kahili and I went to walk around the mall for a bit (also because I heard walking kickstarts labor). Then we went to the store to get some things for dinner the next day because Kahili had invited some friends over and was planning to cook. We saw Vivian and her husband at the store and she told me that if I wasn't in labor by Monday to give her a call. We went home and got in bed around 11:15. At dinner, we had talked to the Panees about labor and how Amanda's water had broke with her first pregnancy. Kahili and I were laying in bed and I was saying how I would want my water to break because then the hospital has to admit you and you know you will have your baby that day. Kahili said it would be gross if my water broke and he wouldn't want that because then he would have to clean it up. haha. Literally 5 minutes later, no exaggeration, I sat up in bed and said, "I feel something wet." Kahili thought I was joking. We turned on the light and sure enough, I saw about 1/8th of a cup of pinkish fluid. Kahili was skeptical (because we had seriously been talking about this exact situation 5 minutes before) but he called both our moms while I got ready and they both said to go to the hospital...
Sunday, August 14th, 2011
We arrived at the hospital around midnight after a 20 minute drive. I told the nurses that I thought my water broke. They took me into a room and got me hooked up to some machines. Then they did a check of my cervix and said I was only 1 cm dilated and about 70% effaced. Then they tested my fluid with a strip of paper and said that if the strip turned blue, my water had broke. Well, the strip stayed yellow so it wasn't my water (they said it was probably just membranes). Right after the nurse checked me, I started having regular contractions about 4.5 minutes apart. Since they weren't very strong and I wasn't dilated very much, they sent me home and told me to come back when the contractions were stronger and closer together.
Disappointed, we went home but of course, I wasn't able to sleep. I stayed up and was timing the contractions. At about 2:30 am I woke Kahili up and told him I thought it was time to go back because my contractions were then 3 minutes apart and much stronger. So, we made the drive back to the hospital after I had called my mom and told her I was going back (Apparently, that is when her and my sister left Cali and started driving to Utah). When we got to the hospital, the nurse checked me again and said I was still only dilated 1 cm. She told us to hold on and that she would be right back. She sounded concerned. When she came back in with another nurse and an ultrasound machine, I got very worried. She said that when she had checked me, she couldn't feel the baby's head. They did the ultrasound and found that baby was laying diagonal across my stomach with her head facing towards my right hip (which is probably why my hips and lower back were hurting so bad). They told me they had to send me home because I still wasn't dilated but gave me a shot of pain medication to help with the pain. The nurses said to try to get baby to move her head over to the straight down position when I went home.
Again, we went home, Kahili went back to sleep, and I stayed up counting contractions. They got so strong that I was sitting up on all fours on my bed trying to endure them. About 7 am I couldn't take it anymore. I got up, walked downstairs, and ate a piece of bread and a peach. Then I went upstairs, woke Kahili up, and told him to get ready because this time, we weren't coming back home! haha. We got to the hospital again at 8 am. The nurses joked that they knew I would be back because the nightshift nurses had told them about me. Ann, was my nurse when I got there and she was awesome. She checked me and said that I was only 2-3 cm dilated but the good news was that baby's head was now down. She checked my fluid and the strip came out green which meant that my water could have broke but it wasn't likely. Ann was wonderful and said that she really felt like she should admit me so she put in the computer that my water was broken (even though it really wasn't).
I was admitted to Room 110 and hooked up to the contraction and baby heartbeat machines. They sent the anesthesiologist in and I was given an epidural. They had me sit up with my feet over the side and hold on to Kahili's shoulders. He asked if it hurt and I remember telling him it didn't hurt as bad as my back surgery last summer (that's all I had to compare it to). At 9:40 am, Ann came to check me again and I was 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She realized that my water was not broken yet so at 10 am, Dr. Baxter came in and broke my water. They checked me again around 10:30 am and I was 5+ cm dilated and 90% effaced. Ann said I was progressing quickly. At 11 am, I was 8 cm dilated and completely effaced. I couldn't believe how fast it was happening. Ann left and when she came back in at 11:45 am, she said I was so close! Well, Ann left and at noon, I felt like I wanted to push! So, I sent Kahili out to find Ann. She came back in and checked me at 12:15 pm and said I was right, I was completely dilated and ready push. They prepped the room and I started pushing. It happened so fast, the staff didn't know what to do. Before they knew it, her head was crowning and they told me to stop pushing because Dr. Baxter wasn't in the room! At that point, when we were waiting for the doctor to come and her head was halfway out, a nurse came in and said, "Brooke, your mom and sister are here. Would you like me to let them in the room?" I was like, "Umm, no! I want the doctor!" haha. I couldn't believe the doctor was making me wait so long! Dr. Baxter came back in at 12:30 pm and 'Ihi was born at 12:36 pm.
She was so loud! The nurses just kept telling me what good lungs she had and how she was going to be a singer. I think the first thing Kahili said when she was born was, "Wow, that was fast!" and the first thing he said about her was "Wow, she has a lot of hair!" Ka'ihilei weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz and measured 19.5 in. She was simply perfect in every way and looked just like her daddy.
Recovery was not too bad with a 2nd degree tear. I was up and about as soon as the epidural wore off. My mom and sister were able to come in right after she came out and we were happy to have them there.
We are so blessed to have a sweet angel with us here on earth. Kahili and I are learning more and more every day and hope we can be good parents to our sweet baby girl. We love her so much and she is spoiled already!
