I was uncomfortable, but not overly anxious to have baby. I could wait the 10 days because I still had stuff to get done.
I have never had my babies more than 3 days early without induction, but I had a feeling this time would be different. I started having contractions at 9 pm on Friday night. After a few hours of trying to sleep through them I decided to get up and get ready to go. I got the carseat and diaper bag ready. I walked. I soaked in the tub. The contractions were consistently spaced and getting stronger. Since I was already dilated to 4 at my last appointment and this was my 10th, I decided to wake Levi up at about 1 am and head to the hospital.
The hospital was quiet. It appeared I was the only mom in labor and there was not a midwife in house. The nurse hooked me up to the monitor and checked my cervix. It hadn’t done much, but I was glad to be there because I know how fast that changes. After a couple of hours my labor became inconsistent and stalled. The nurse called the midwife and was advised to let me go. They gave me a discharge paper with instructions on how to identify “real labor”. I was frustrated and humiliated even though I was sure this wasn’t false labor. My babies are posterior and I have a history of needing Oxytocin for my inconsistent contractions. I was beginning to wish I hadn’t changed clinics/doctor.
We arrived back home around 4 am and I slept restlessly through more contractions. By 7 am I was up and determined to get my house in order before I had to go back in. I took a morning walk in the sunshine with the children. Levi made us all breakfast and I was able to get some things done before climbing upstairs for a nap. Exhausted, I slept hard. A couple of hours later I was awakened by a hard contraction. After the 2nd one I decided to get out of bed. I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding. I panicked because my first thought was placenta previa. When I had my ultrasound they were concerned about this and it was determined through further testing that though my placenta was low it wasn’t too low.
I ran downstairs and yelled for Levi and we were back on the road, rushing to the hospital.
Upon arrival, I was put in triage to monitor the baby and determine if I should be admitted. The dreaded windowless triage. The nurse suggested that maybe the bleeding wasn’t as bad as I thought, that perhaps it was just from having my cervix checked the night before. What? Did someone jot “hypochondriac” on my chart? Good grief, I had never been in with false labor before with the other 9 and I know the difference between a little bit and a lot of blood. I knew that the bleeding at home wasn’t merely from being checked and prayed they wouldn’t send me home because I was worried about baby. Baby was stressed and they were concerned about that. I was trying to stay calm because Jessie’s heart rate was in the 190’s and she was jumping around like crazy in my womb.They kept me off food and liquids in case I had to have an emergency cesarean. This was not going as planned. My last 5 labor and deliveries and been fast and easy and I was expecting the same with this one.
After about an hour Jessie’s heart rate stabilized. The nurse finally examined me and was alarmed that I was indeed actively bleeding. Within in minutes I was admitted to labor and delivery. A room with a window. The midwife came in and explained that they had no idea why I was bleeding and they hoped it wasn’t my placenta. The plan was to watch baby very carefully, induce me and pump me full of fluids in case baby became distressed or the bleeding became too heavy and they needed to take baby quickly. They told me that NICU would be standing by. I was so worried.
Oxytocin was started, contractions became hard and consistent, epidural was put in, my water broke, I developed a fever, bleeding continued, I prayed. A few hours into induction they decided to have me start pushing before I was fully dilated. We wanted her out. Jessie Pearl was born healthy and squalling at 9:33 pm and we were thanking God. I have never been so happy to have my baby born.
A relieved midwife said “all that we thought could go wrong, didn’t”. The placenta was examined and found to be healthy. The unexplained bleeding, still unexplained. We are all perplexed. And so very thankful.
The moment I saw her beautiful little face it was all worth it.
The months of nausea, the weariness, discomfort and sleepless nights, the anxiety of birth.
Worth all that and more.
So glad she arrived safe & sound, and so beautiful ~ congratulations! 🙂
Don’t you just hate it when they don’t listen to you. So frustrating. I’m glad that both of you are doing well. She is beautiful.
Sometimes the medical staff is not so perfect…hence the license to “practice” medicine. SO glad both you and Jessie came through with no further problems. We were sure praying! She is absolutely beautiful. The pictures of her tiny face between Levi’s hands is precious!
Ugh, giving birth is a tricky business, so glad you’re both okay!
Wow, what a story, Jen! This had me in tears…….I’m so glad all ended well!
What a stressful and beautiful story for her entrance to the world. God is good!
Congratulations and enjoy your little beauty!
She is gorgeous. Congrats to you and the family.
Congratulations! She’s beautiful and God was looking out for her.
I’m sorry that you had to go through all of that with the hospital. God Bless you all! : )
CONGRATULATIONS! She is beautiful! You have such gorgeous babies.
Thanking God that both she and you are fine.
and, that last picture needs to be enlarged and framed!
Oh Jen…what a scare! Moms know best, dont we? Im pretty sure I would take the advice of a 10-timer over anyone elses opinion in a heartbeat!! So glad to hear that mom and baby are healthy and well. I am in love with Levi’s strong man hands around Jessie’s precious soft face *sigh*….
Enjoy your sweet newborn moments my dear!!
XOX
She is beautiful. I hate triage, too! And I hate it when they “know” everything even though you’re the one who’s had so many babies and know what your body does!
ahhh, soooo sweet (tears from this hormonal pregnant mama), thanks for sharing. Congrats and I am so happy she was eventually born without complication.
She is perfect and beautiful… You are truly blessed… I am so glad everything turned out well sorry you had to go through that scare…
Much Love
e
So glad God took such special care of you both. You and Levi are blessed indeed. You have a beautiful family!
Thanks god! She is gorgeous.. congrats 🙂
I had my dose of adrenalin for months … What a birth !! This little girl sure knows how to make life adventurous … Enjoy the smell and sounds amazing Jen … The last image is beyond beautiful .. Well imprinted in my heart for life. Srnding love xx
What a blessing that the end result was positive for you both. I understand the frustration of knowing your in labor and the triage nurses telling you you’re wrong. In my experience I was told that no, it wasn’t amniotic fluid leaking, it was just my bladder and it happens to all pregnant women. 14 hours later (after we came back to the hospital again) the nurse who was about to send me home again (though different nurse) noticed that I had a lot of fluid leaking out, and she was ANGRY when I old her about the triage nurse that had sent me home the night before. Baby was out pretty fast after that…
Jessie as absolutely gorgeous! I expected she’d look just like, and as cute as, the others but she’s got her own look about her!
Beautiful…I loved the well-written story and, of course, those wonderful pictures of your baby. So precious and heart-wringingly cute. 🙂
i can’t wait to meat my adorable new cousin.she is the cutest thing under the sun!!!!!!!!!!
*meet
I am so glad the angels were watching over you. She is absolutely adorable. Congrats!
So glad it all turned out well.. I soooo know the panicky feeling of bleeding! That is not fun and heart stopping! Been there, done that… can’t wait to meet the little lady..
Aaand ya made me cry. And while you were being scared I was praying loudly for you. I know how it feels to be scared… Love you! 🙂
Welcome Jessie! I’m happy all is well. How beautiful you all are! The last picture is amazing.
Good grief if they treat a mom of 10 like she doesn’t know what’s going on with her labor theres no hope for the rest of us! Jessie is beautiful though and that feeling of” it was all worth it” makes me so excited to meet my little girl! So looking forward to that. Congratulations on your precious little girl.
She is so exquisite, especially next to Levi’s orangutan arms. Hehehe. Sounds like you had quite the adventure and the perfect happy ending with a newborn who’s as cute as a button. Love that little chin of hers. You’ve going to have to give it plenty of smooches and I see she’s got that big ol’ cute Stenerson tongue. I can’t wait to hear the things she comes up with. How are all her big brothers and sisters adjusting to her? Namely Hazel and Violet? Congratulations again on Number 10 Stenerson!
Congratulations, Jen!! What a beautiful little bundle. So thankful everything turned out so well. Blessings to you and your new addition.
I am almost 7 weeks along and soooo tired and sick!!! I look at baby Jessie’s pictures and awwwwwww!!! I CAN’T WAIT! I know it’s so worth it! She is soooo beautiful!! Btw, I’m on 8 mg of Zofran (the generic) 3 times a day-just wondering if that’s an ‘ok’ dose? Thanks, Abby Spaulding
First of all I would like to say superb blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your head before writing. I’ve had a difficult time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out. I truly do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Cheers!
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