Emma Lynn: A Birth Story

Introducing Emma Lynn Prescott
Born Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 7:14 PM
Weighing 8 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches long
This is her story...

Since this was my second pregnancy, my doctor gave me the option to induce one week early at 39 weeks. This worked out perfectly! My parents were able to come down from Bear Lake to stay at our house with Haylee. It also worked out for me because I could not be pregnant one more day! I was extremely uncomfortable and huge! Emma was definitely out of room because any movement, kick, or punch was very painful. We scheduled the induction for Wednesday, October 5th.

I was contacted by the hospital that Tuesday and was given instructions. I was told not to eat anything after midnight and that I would be called Wednesday morning with a time to come in. They do not give an exact time because my induction was elective so anyone that comes into the hospital in labor takes precedence and they never know how busy they will be. Well, obviously! They said that if | had not heard from someone by 10 am to call them. Well, 10 am rolled around and I had not heard from anyone. I called and spoke to the nurse in labor and delivery and she said that they have had an extremely busy night and did not have any rooms available for me! She did not want to give me a time and said to call back around 12:30. This was not a big deal, but I was told not to eat anything after midnight and was starving and still did not know when I was going to be induced. I called the nurse at my doctor's office and she said to go ahead and have something light and to keep hydrated so I would have energy to have a baby! My Mom fixed me some toast with jam and my Dad had gotten me a coke from the gas station. This was my last meal pregnant with Emma. I got ready and waited. The nurse called me around 12:30 before I could call her and said to come in ASAP! We loaded up the car and said our goodbyes to my parents and Haylee and drove to the hospital in the rain. It felt weird driving to the hospital to have a baby and not be in labor. We got checked in around 1:30 pm, but still had to wait for a room to be cleaned. It was a very active night and day for deliveries due to the storm that had come in overnight. The pressure drops and puts woman into labor. This was pretty significant because a snow storm had put me into labor with Haylee and it had snowed the whole time I was in labor and delivery. The storm on October 5th had not put me into labor, but it rained the whole time I was in labor and delivery. Just kind of crazy to think about.

Our wait was over and we were taken all the way down the hall to room 6. We took some last pictures of my prego belly:

I got into my gown and got settled into my bed. It was 2:10 pm when the nurse came in and got me hooked up to monitors, started an IV drip for hydration, and took some blood. I was checked for dilation, and I was at 2 cm. Then we waited for Dr. Terry. In the meantime, the nurse's shifts changed at 3:00 pm so I got a new nurse and thank goodness! I was told that Michelle would be coming in to take over. I wondered, could it be the Michelle that helped deliver Haylee? When she walked in I felt so much better about everything! It was the same nurse that was there when Haylee was born. Another sign! She did not remembers us right away, but we helped her remember. She was the best nurse and calmed so many of my fears then and now.

The doctor broke my water to start labor. Instead of just breaking my water all at once, the doctor inserted a monitor that attaches to the baby's head. This does a couple of things. It acts as a monitor for the baby's heart rate and also breaks the water. When the monitor is attached to the baby's head it creates a hole in the sack. As the baby moves down, more fluid is released. So instead of my water breaking in one "gush", it drains slowly. This was so painful! I hated it! Once that was done, the Pitocin was started. The Pitocin causes the uterus to contract and puts you into active labor. I tried to go as far as I could before getting an epidural. The contractions did not start out very strong, but were close together from the beginning. Once I could not bare the pain anymore, we called for an epidural. Getting the epidural was so painful this time around. It really was not too bad when I was in labor with Haylee because I was on Fentanyl to take some of the edge off. Plus, I think different doctors have different methods of administering the epidural and it seemed like this doctor was having a hard time or something. It seemed like it took forever! I was squeezing Rich's hand so hard that it was turning red and going numb! The epidural kicked in right away, but did not take the pain away 100%. I could not feel the contractions, but I could still feel a lot of pressure. Once I was feeling better, I was checked again and was only at 3 cm! I thought, "This is going to take a while!" Since I was at 3 cm and it was dinner time, Dr. Terry decided to pick up his wife and take her to dinner since he had not seen her very much in the last couple of days. Dr. Terry was able to drive home, change his clothes, and start driving to Mimi's Cafe across the street from the hospital before he got a call from Michelle saying I was at 7 cm! He headed straight to the hospital along with his wife. Once he got back, I was at 9 cm! His wife decided to wait in the waiting room. Apparently, this was not the first time! At this point the epidural started to ware off and I was really uncomfortable. Dr. Terry had the anesthesiologist come back and give me another dose. It took the edge off and I could not feel the contractions again, but still felt pressure. I needed to push! I could feel Emma's head and she was ready! I pushed for about 18 minutes. It was a lot harder and more tiring this time around. When I delivered Haylee, I felt NOTHING. I was almost over numb! This time around I felt a lot of pressure and could feel Emma come out. Luckily, it was over fast! When she came out, Michelle says, "Wow! That's a big baby! At least 8 pounds!" I thought, no way! Emma was weighed and we could not believe that she was 8 lbs 3 oz. Haylee only weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and Dr. Terry thought Emma would only be a bit bigger than Haylee because I was measuring right on.

Emma was perfect in every way! My delivery went pretty smooth. I only tore a tiny bit which required a few stitches. I was bleeding more than normal so I stayed in delivery a bit longer for observation. They gave me every drug and shot possible to get the bleeding under control. Luckily, I did not lose enough blood for a transfusion. When the epidural started to ware off, I got the shakes really bad. I was shivering so bad! I also felt really weird like I was congested and needed to cough, but I couldn't because I was so sore. We stayed in delivery for a few hours and then we were able to get into our room.


My cute nurse, Michelle

We stayed in the hospital until Friday. My Mom was able to stay with us until Monday so we could get settled with some extra help. The first few days and nights were pretty rough. All you want is a routine and a schedule and Emma was so mixed up between days and nights. The most frustrating thing during the first little while was getting Emma's feedings figured out. I was trying to breast feed, but it seemed like she was never satisfied and would still be hungry after just being fed. I was worried that I was not producing enough milk for her. I started to pump and could see that I was producing enough, but she just had a hard time eating. I like to call her a lazy eater. She would not suck hard enough to get anything. So I started pumping and bottle feeding and supplemented a bit with formula, but I felt like all I was doing was feeding and pumping and with a two year old it makes it that much harder. It was such a relief to hand a bottle to Rich and have him take a turn. I needed that! This caused my milk supply to decrease. After talking with Emma's pediatrician, we decided to make the switch to bottles 100%. I felt really guilty as if I was being selfish by not breastfeeding. Emma's doctor eased my mind and made me feel better. Emma is still very healthy and will be healthy even if she is formula fed and I can bond with her just as easily with a bottle as with breastfeeding. Once we found the right formula, Emma started doing much better and her feedings are on a better schedule. I call her my little porker because she is always hungry and loves to eat!

Haylee did really well at first. I was extremely surprised. She has been our little helper. She loves her "baby Emma". Sometimes too much. There has been an abundance of hugs and kisses and sometimes they aren't as soft as they should be. We did have a big meltdown at first regarding the binky. As you know, Haylee was very attached to her binky. Haylee has not had a binky for a while now, but when she saw Emma with one, she wanted it back. We used chap stick as a distraction. She loves chap stick so my parents took her to the store and let her pick out some chap stick and told her that big girls like her get chap stick and babies get binkies. Thank goodness it worked! Once Haylee realized that Emma was here to stay, the jealousy set in. It gets worse when Haylee gets over-tired, but when we realize what's happening, Rich and I will team up to give Haylee some extra attention.

I think we are getting the hang of things. Life seems so crazy right now. We are still working on a schedule and daily routine, but it gets better everyday. Having two kids definitely has its challenges, but also has its rewards. There is so much love flowing within our family. We feel so blessed to have two beautiful and healthy daughters. Life could not be any better.