Labor and Delivery

Sunday, February 27th

Andrew took these pictures of me on Sunday, just 1 day before my water broke. As you can see, I was ready to burst as seen by the immense swelling in my face and unseen legs and feet. Andrew likes to call the side shot the "double-wide".

Monday, February 28th

My last day of work was the previous Friday which meant I was supposed to have a good week before my due date to 'nest'. I was so anxious to organize the baby nursery, deep clean my house and elevate my legs after working up until my 39th week of pregnancy.

Those last few weeks at work were a killer. Everyday I felt larger, heavier, and more uncomfortable than the day before. By the end, I had to take hourly bathroom breaks, elevate my legs under my desk on an upside-down trash can and push through the day without falling asleep at my desk. My last week

every single person I passed looked at me with a pained stare...no doubt wondering "How far is this girl passed her due date?" Strange enough, leaving work was hard...probably because I left not knowing if I will ever return. It is difficult to close different chapters of your life sometimes, but I am excited to be starting another...a much more meaningful and important chapter. I will truly miss my co-workers who are dear friends and were so wonderful to me while pregnant and unable to pull my work weight sometimes; however, I am ecstatic to face the new adventures and challenges that come with motherhood.

On Monday I woke up and took it pretty easy convincing myself I deserved some much needed R&R and promising myself I would be productive the remainder of the week. I took a couple cat naps, watched several TLC "Baby Stories" and "Bringing Home Baby" episodes. Being the day after the Oscars, I was watching Oprah who was interviewing Colin Firth (Best Actor for The Kings Speech) when all of a sudden at 4:15 pm my water BURST! No, it was not a trickle down my leg, it was a powerful gush that caught me off guard and sent me into a panic. Words cannot describe what I was thinking in that moment, but it was clear I was on a one way street to having my baby sooner than planned. To say I was unprepared, would be an understatement. I had not gotten out of my lounge clothes for the day, packed a hospital bag or eaten anything since breakfast. I jumped off the couch in search of my cell phone to call Andrew who was working in Provo. I called him three times in a row with no answer before I called my mom screaming from the shower. Andrew finally called back and tried to calm me down as I began rushing around the house in a panic. This is TMI, but it's important to note that my water broke, so scurrying around the house trying to get ready to go to the hospital means that our house became a bit of a biohazard. By the time Andrew came home I had calmed down significantly and was downing a bowl of cereal. I had managed to pack some things in a duffel bag and was ready to leave for the hospital.

Arriving at Intermountain Medical Center

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 pm and were admitted. A nurse checked to make sure that my water had broke and determined I was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. She also

called the doctor on call, Dr. Thackeray to receive my orders. He said I could wait 6 hours to see if my body would begin laboring on its own and would start me on pitocin if needed at 10:00 pm. Fortunately, we had The Bachelor (Fantasy Suite Episode) to watch while we waited to see what would happen. :) By 8:00 I began to have mild, sporadic contractions that came about 7 minutes apart. I met Dr. Thackeray around 9:00 and immediately liked him so I knew I would be in good hands if Dr. Terry didn't end up delivering Madsen. My mother, Anna Belle; Andrew's mother, Mary; and my brother Christopher stopped by briefly to say hello and offer appreciated support.

At 10:00 they checked me and I was 4 cm dilated. They started the pitocin drip on the lowest dose possible and within minutes I was contracting every 2-3 minutes with a coupling effect. That means the contractions were back to back with little relief in between. We tried to implement some hypnobirthing relaxation techniques but with all the distractions and visitors it went out the window rather quickly. From the beginning, I knew I was destined to get an epidural but I really did want to experience the pain and go as long as I felt I could. I had a heart to heart with my awesome nurse Pam so that she would monitor the whereabouts of the anesthesiologist. She promised she would let me know if he were to become unavailable due to a C-section. After an hour of pitocin induced contractions, I requested the epidural from Pam...only to find out the anesthesiologist had just gone into an emergency C-section and I would have at least 45 minutes to wait!!! This is where my Hypnobirthing class helped out a bit as I continually visualized slicing an enormous lemon with a sharp knife with each intensified contraction. Finally, when I thought I was about at my breaking point Pam said it would only be another 10-15 minutes and I was the first in line to get my epidural.

Pam checked me at midnight and I was 6 cm dilated. I finally received the epidural just before midnight which was super easy and within 15 minutes I felt comfortable and relaxed. Afterwards, Pam instructed us to get some rest before she came to check me at 2:00 am. Andrew was immediately asleep and I tried, honestly, but I just could not get comfortable. I felt this constant muscle spasm in my right buttox radiating down into my thigh. I shifted to the other side hoping that would alleviate the spasm but it didn't. I began to realize I was probably experiencing back labor and asked the nurse about it when she came in at 1:00 am to check my rising blood pressure. She decided to check me and I was 9+ cm dilated. She called Dr. Thackeray who came to the hospital to check on me and await the delivery. By 2:00 am I was fully dilated but still at -1 substation so it was decided to rest for 2 hours and let my body naturally push Madsen down the birth canal till about 4:00 am.

I should probably mention that I had a wonderful epidural experience...better than I could have anticipated. I still could feel each contraction, experienced unusual full range of motion of my legs and could feel the pressure and urge to push when Madsen got closer and closer to his debut. It was perfect and after doing it, I will definitely do it again! But on the flip side, I am proud that I got to 6 cm on my own and enjoyed experiencing the intense reality of labor pains for those few hours before the drugs brought their relief. At 4:00 Dr. Thackeray and nurse Pam came in and we starting pushing. I pushed for nearly 2 hours and Mr. Madsen was born into this world at 5:56 am. Dr. Terry arrived just in time to deliver and was an excellent cheerleader helping me know what to do and expect. Dr. Thackeray stayed for the delivery which I thought was extra special.

When my water broke it was evident there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. Thus, certain precautions were taken to ensure he did not aspirate any into his lungs with his first breath of life. That meant a couple of things: first, Andrew would not be able to cut the cord and second, I would only be able to see him for a few seconds before he was handed over to NICU specialists to access his Apgar score and a Certified Respiratory Therapist to suck all the meconium out of his mouth, throat and lungs. Fortunately, Madsen never did aspirate any meconium but I am so thankful for modern medicine that can deal with so many potential and unforeseen complications that can arise with labor and delivery.

First picture of Madsen being weighed on the scale. (8 lb. 8 oz.)

Just minutes after his birth...

The first time holding my son Madsen. :)

Andrew holding Madsen for the first time.

Our new family right after a long labor & delivery.