We got up bright and early for a 5:45 check in to be induced. The boys stayed the night at my parents and would join us later after breakfast with St. Nick.
On December 1st at 39 wks 4 days I gained 29.5 lbs.
At 5:45 we checked in and at 6:15 I had my first nurse visit and got my IV. Then at 6:45 Pitocin was started. They checked me for starting progress and I was only a 1 and still thick. Kyle settled in for a long day and took a nap
At 9:30 Dr Atkins came around and went ahead an broke my water. I was nervous because with the boys I didn't get my water broken until after the epidural. I had heard that it hurt but luckily it didn't hurt at all. At that point I wad dilated to 2.5 and still at station -3 which means Chloe was still high up because she needs to get to 0.
Right after my water was broke Chloe's heartrate started acting up and they couldn't keep her on the belly monitor so they did an internal monitor on her head. This was uncomfortable for me since I wasn't dilated much and she was still so high up, but whatever they need to do to monitor our girl.
At 10 I got my epidural and catheter and then Chloe's heartrate kept dropping. Thanks to the internal monitor on her head we could actually hear her heart beat out loud in the room and it was very scary to hear her heartrate drop. Instead of horses galloping it was sound like a very slow knock on a door.
At 10:30 Very similar to with Cooper things got very scary very fast. Suddenly we had a team of nurses in my room and they were on the phone with Dr Atkins. They put me on oxygen and I just cried listening to Chloe's heartrate rise and fall between contractions. They said it was 'taking too long for her to recover' after each contraction. They tried several different positions to try to help her. Dr Atkins got there and she had them put another internal monitor to clearly monitor contractions. We found that sitting up was best for Chloe and she seemed to recover quickly from each contraction. They decided to back off the Pitocin, keep me sitting up with oxygen and give Chloe some time to recover and relax. Then we would restart the Pitocin and see if she could handle it. If not then it would be a C-section. But Dr Atkins felt like she would be okay if we slowed down for a while. Dr Atkins is very patient, tries lots of things, and is slow to rush to C-section. That can be very scary in the moment but I appreciate this approach as long as my babies are okay. Even the nurse said many doctors wouldn't be so patient.
By then it was after 11 and we had family showing up at the hospital but we needed some time. The room finally emptied out of hospital staff and Kyle and I just stared at each other in shock of everything that happened. I couldn't stop crying and couldn't handle visitors. I was coming off of a major adrenaline rush and was shaking like a leaf.
Once I recovered and could take a break from the oxygen (I didn't want the boys to be scared) I had my mom bring the boys back. Cooper didn't want to come back so just Casen did. Kyle took Casen back to the waiting room and to get something to eat. As soon as Casen was gone I just cried to my momma and tried to explain everything that had happened.
A little after 12 they restarted the Pitocin or increased it back to an active induction level. And at 12:30 they checked me and I was at a 4 and they put me back on oxygen. At this point they started putting me in all sorts of positions. They put me on one side with my top side leg in a stirrup and then they did the same to the other side. Somewhere in here Jen, my mom, and Susan came to visit. It was really hard for my mom and Jen to hear Chloe's heartrate go down and then anxiously waiting for it to recover. It was probably hard for Susan too but my mom and Jen were vocal about it :)
Then since Chloe was handling things well they had me do 'knees to chest.' Which meant I was on all fours and then in like a yoga 'child pose' (curled up with my butt in the air). This was especially challenging and took two nurses because I was completely numb from the epidural. I also lost any chance at modesty doing this pose. Good gosh embarrassing! Trying this stuff was weird but as long as Chloe was handling things well I was willing to try these positions. I knew that this amazing team was on my side and trying to help me deliver Chloe vaginally and safely. The funny thing is that they did this on their own and probably because of my doctor. It wasn't like I was strongly against C-section and willing to push all of the limits. I would have been scared like crazy for a C-section but if they said it was time I would have done it.
At 2:02 they checked me and I was a 6 and they sat me straight up to help things progress. At this point contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart and I could feel the intensity. This is when Cooper got the courage to come visit and I am so glad because then things started moving quickly. It didn't hurt but I could feel the tightness and felt like they were really doing something. I mentioned it to the nurse and she said well I have another nurse coming in here and we are going to try a new technique. The second nurse had recently been to a baby spinning class and wanted to show my nurse and a 3rd nurse how to do it and see if it works. I guess I forgot to mention that somewhere in here we discovered that Chloe was face up instead of face down.
So they did this technique where I was lying on my right side at the very right edge of the bed. My belly was hanging off and so was my left leg dangling. Two nurses were supporting my weight (remember I am completely numb and cant control my lower body. In between contractions she did a stretching motion on my torso. She did it twice and then I said 'umm I am feeling a lot of pressure' and she said 'stretching pressure or to push?' I said 'to push' (which I never really felt that strong urge with the other two) and the rolled me to my back to check my progress. They barely rolled me before they said 'umm you are a 10 and it is time to have this baby!'
It was only 2:30 and they were quickly calling Dr Atkins to get to the hospital to deliver Chloe. The funny thing is that Jen had left after she came to the room to go get David and I told her she had plenty of time. Instead I sent a quick text to everyone saying it was time. I went from 6 to 10 in less than 30 minutes so everyone was shocked.
At 2:44 they had everything ready and we were waiting for the doctor. In walked Dr Atkins.
At 2:54 Chloe Marie Cline was born. I literally did 2 single pushes and Dr Atkins handed her to me and I put her on my chest. I was watching in the reflection of the lights and I couldn't believe she was here. My first words were 'oh my gosh she is so little' and I looked at Kyle with huge shocked eyes and they handed her to me. I just couldn't believe after all of the scary moments, drama or whatever you call it she was delivered so easily. It was like she just slipped out.
I sent a text that she was here and 'She is gorgeous and itty bitty'
They had me do skin to skin for an hour before they did any stats. I also started nursing her right away. She nursed like a champ but that makes it difficult to get a pic to send to everyone.
Finally I sent this picture to family with her stats.
5lbs 4oz and 17in long born December 1st and 2:54pm
Chloe's blood sugar levels were low so they had me do lots of skin to skin and nursing.
Finally at 5 we had everyone come back at once to meet her because we were heading up to postpartum. They also told us that if we couldn't get her levels up she would be going to NICU so I really wanted everyone to at least see her in person before that.
Then they came back in and said that there was no room in NICU so they were going to try a few things in postpartum including donor milk because otherwise she would get sent across the street to Cook Children's. I am so glad we had everyone come meet her in case that happened.
Proud daddy not sure what to do with a girl or a baby that little!
Next up are pictures of everyone meeting her at the hospital.
