carlee faye

carlee faye jensen

october 4, 2013

7lbs 13oz

20.5 inches

on october 3rd we had the neighbors(teri and brinton) over for dinner. they helped move the play kitchen into our basement. they left and we got the kids in bed. i had felt a few twinges in my lower belly, but hadn't thought anything of them because they usually happened when i was doing something. like leaning over the sink to close the window. once the kids were in bed, i got in the bathtub. it was warm and relaxing. besides, if those twinges were the start of labor, i hoped this would slow it. i wasn't ready.

when i was ready to get out i noticed that i had some blood running down my legs. oh great. this is not what i wanted. i'm going to have to call the doctor's office and i'm sure they are going to want me to come in....so i thought about not calling. in the end i decided that it would be best to call, even though i knew the outcome and didn't really want to. 

of course they wanted me to come in....they wanted to at least observe me for a little bit just to make sure the baby was ok. it was about 9.30 at night. the kids were fast asleep, so i talked with andrew and then i called teri. she said she would be right over. andrew and i both expected to come home that night or morning, since it was so late to begin with. 

we got to the hospital and we actually had to wait for a bit because they were busy moving one mother to another room. that was no big deal for us. they got be hooked up and low and behold, i was having contractions. the dr decided that between that and the contractions (i was still 3.5cm) i wasn't going anywhere that night. so we let teri  know that we would not be home and to make her self at home. also to take the kids to mary's in the morning. we let mary know that she would have our kids the next day. since it was friday, the kids didn't have school. jason didn't have school, so he and sterling could play together. mary was also going to have hudson, who is a few months older than quincey. we also called my mom who said that she would leave in a few hours. andrew and i thought that she was going to drive all night, but she ended up stoping in ellensburg, wa to get some sleep at a hotel. 

andrew slept on the bench in the room. it wasn't all that comfortable. i tried to get some sleep as well, but it was hard since they wanted to leave one of the lights on and labor and delivery beds are not all that comfortable either. by morning i hadn't processed much. i had thinned some more, but was still 3.5cm. 

they wanted to start me on some pitocin, but that's not what i really wanted. so i asked if she (the dr) would be willing to break my water first to see if that would help move things along on their own. and it did...a little. not much. i moved as much as my cords (monitors and IV) would allow me. i wished that i had alyssa's exercise ball with me. that was just before 9.30am. i don't remember what time they started me on the pit. 

my contractions increased in pain and frequency as they turned the pit dosage up. i finally paged the nurse to ask her to page the anesthesiologist (med man). i knew that he had some surgeries that day and that he might be awhile. that's exactly what happened.  andrew finally paged the nurse again to ask where he was. of course he was "coming". but that's NOT what i wanted to hear! before i had to sit up they checked me. i was at 5cm. ugh! though i KNEW sitting up would changed everything. why i didn't just sit up earlier? because laboring mothers aren't always thinking straight. 

so i got up, the med man was trying to get me to relax while i was having an awfully painful contraction. so while i was having horrible contractions (andrew's poor hands!), med man was getting everything ready and doing his job, but i don't remember taking so long with sterling. so by the time i go to lay down again, i was pretty much ready to give birth! the one last contraction i had before i laid back down, i could tell that she was right there. i could feel myself opening up. i wanted to roll over on my side, since it was a much more comfortable position than on my back. i tried and i didn't get very far before i went back to my back. someone said, you can stay there, you will be pushing soon. 

they had me scoot down a little (why do they always ask you to do things while contracting and they seem like impossible tasks?) anyway, they told me to push and keep pushing. and keep pushing...there was no rest. just enough for a breath. in one really long push, carlee was born! 

i have no idea if they epidural was worth it, other than getting me up and getting this birth over. or maybe just knowing that relief was on the way made it easier, i couldn't tell you. it did make me numb from the hips down afterwards. it took about 3 hours for it to wear off so that i could stand safety. i told my nurse that i had to pee and that i was going to the bathroom no matter what. she said "not if you can't feel your legs! i can get you a bed pan if we need to." it was nice to get up and pee. it just kept comin'! but when you think about all the liquids i had in my body....it's not a surprise. 

andrew left a little after 6pm to go and get sterling and quincey from mary's house. my mom arrived not too long after he left. she was there for me to go to the bathroom, which made her nervous since the last time she was with me after a birth (sterling's), i fainted. twice. while getting up to go to the bathroom/get cleaned up. they moved me two doors down and there i stayed until sunday afternoon.

oct 5th:

andrew got the kids up and ready on oct 5th. he then brought them up to see their new sister. my mom had planned on bringing the kids up with her, but she was just getting out of bed i think, when they were leaving. andrew didn't want to deal with having to get them out of the car, so he brought them. 

my mom took them one of the parks in polson and got them some lunch or dinner and took them home. 

oct 6th:

i think i wanted to get something to eat and sterling was laying by the kitchen, waiting for quincey to fall asleep, so i laid carlee down next to him. he enjoyed having her next to him.