And then there were three…

The birth story of Avery Mae Nunley
Born Wednesday, August 4, 2010

6lbs 7oz – 19 ½ inches

Warning: Graphic

I had my 39w appointment on Monday 8/2. At the appointment my blood pressure was 146/79 the first time they took it and 145/76 the second time. This is really high for me since I am normally around 110-125/60-65. My OB did my exam and said I was “nearly 2cm”. She said she wanted to strip my membranes and see if that helps move things along.

After my appointment she sent me to Labor and Delivery to have an NST. At my NST my blood pressure was better, but at the end of the test the nurse came in an asked me if I had been “feeling that”. Apparently I had been having contractions every 7 minutes almost the entire time I was there. Then she said I was free to go home.

That night I could feel the contractions about every 7-10 minutes, but only if I was sitting still and looking for them. When I woke up the next morning I could definitely feel them more. I had already told my friend Holli I would go with her to the park with her and her 2 kids and feed the ducks. Once we were done around 10am I told her I was going to go home and relax because my contractions were getting closer together and stronger. I decided to take a shower and see how I felt.

At noon they were 5 minutes apart lasting 60+ seconds for over an hour. Since my OB’s office was closed until 2pm I called L&D. They said unless my water breaks, I was able to stay home until they were 3 minutes apart. So I tried to take a nap but ended up just resting. The contractions started getting stronger and closer and when Justin came home at 4:30 I told him we needed to go. They were actually 2-3 minutes apart by the time we got to the hospital.

The nurse checked and said I was almost 4cm, but that they wouldn’t keep me unless I was at 4cm since they were so full. The nurse told me to go walk around the hospital for an hour and come back and they’ll recheck me. I made it about 30 minutes before I had to come back because I felt like I was going to throw up. The nurse checked me and said that the walk had done the trick and the OB would write up my admittance papers.

When they were putting in all the info they took my vitals and my BP was up again and I now had a fever of 100.6. They gave me some antibiotics and I labored for a while and then around 9pm they checked my temp again. It had gone down, but they still wanted to keep me on the antibiotics. They offered some Fentanyl and since I was already so exhausted and still only 4cm I decided I would have some just to get a little rest. Then My sister in law, Stacy, and friend Holli came to keep us company.

For the next few hours I kept having strong contractions, but they were coming in clusters. I would have them every 90 seconds and then none for 30 minutes, so they put me on a low dose of Pitocin to help regulate them.

At around 2 am my Stacy and Holli left and my nurse checked and she said I was a “good 6 cm”. I felt like I was making progress, but not enough quickly enough. I was so exhausted and I needed some relief so I asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and asked the nurse to hold one hand and Justin to hold the other. As I was hunched over getting the epi, the nurse looks over at Justin and sees that he is white as a ghost and swaying back and forth. She tells him to sit down right there on the floor and yelled for another nurse to come in. Without even asking what was wrong the nurse brings in a glass of juice and a cracker for Justin because she already knew what was up.

The actual epidural wasn't even that bad. The Lidocaine injection was the most painful because it burned going in, but once the epidural was in I was finally able to fall asleep around 3 am and woke up again around 6am. I told Justin to go home and take a shower and let the dog out so he left around 8am and around 8:30 my OB came in to check on me before her office hours. She said I was dilated to a 9 and that she was going to break my water. She broke my water and saw that it was full of meconium. She explained to me that it was a “moderate amount” and that it would be very important during pushing for me to stop when she told me to after she got the head out so that she could suction before LO inhaled. She also said that once I dilated to 10 she wanted to wait an hour to give her time to descend naturally.

After she left I texted Justin and told him and he rushed back to the hospital. He got back around 9:15 am. At about 10:30 am the nurse came in and checked me and I was fully dilated – now we just had to wait the hour as instructed by my OB. By now Stacy and Holli were back, as were my in-laws, and my dad and step mom and brother Dylan.

At 11:45ish the nurse came in and asked everyone except Justin to leave. I asked Stacy to stay. The nurse had me practice push and started a perineum massage to help prevent a tear. She said she was going to help me get her to crown before she called my OB. I pushed for about 30 minutes and just as the nurse was going to go call my OB, she walked in. It was 12:15 and she stopped in during her lunch break from office hours. She sat right down and told me we were going to have her soon. She gave me a shot of Lidocaine at the perineum in case I did tear and then continued where the nurse left off.

Within 10 minutes she said she could see her hair. She had Justin look and he was just amazed. My doctor asked me if I wanted to see and I said of course! They brought in a mirror and placed it so I could see everything. It was so much more motivating to see the progress my pushes were making rather than just hearing it from them. I remember seeing her crown and then as her head came out her little chin popped up and I was able to see her tiny face. It was an amazing experience.

My OB suctioned and with one more push and her shoulders were out and the rest just slipped out. After she was out there was a huge gush of fluids and I could see just how much meconium was in the fluid. It was not even close to clear. I did have two little tears at the top and bottom but only felt the one at the top. The bottom one was the only one that required a stitch.

Justin cut the umbilical cord and they set her on my abdomen for just a minute while they wiped her off and I was able to see her up close. Unfortunately they had to do more suction due to the meconium and had to take her away right away. Luckily they were able to do all that just on the other side of the room. Justin went over to check her out and I could see the look on his face – it was priceless. As soon as I heard her cry I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. I honestly thought I would for sure cry too, but after 24+ hours of labor from start of contractions I was beat. I was just so happy she was here and safe and that I would be able to hold her soon. They weighed and measured her and she came in at 6lbs 7oz and 19 ½ inches long. She was a peanut! During all this my Stacy took all kinds of pictures and got everything. I thought it would be awkward having her see me all exposed, but I am so happy I asked her to stay in the room with us to capture all of that.

Once they got her all cleaned up and did the Apgars (7/8) they brought her back and I was able to do skin to skin. It was fantastic. She was just perfect. I could not believe how tiny she was. After a little while (not sure how long – it all ran together) they took her to the nursery to do all the tests and Justin went with her. They moved me from the labor room to the postpartum rooms – which were much nicer and way more comfortable!

Justin came back with Avery and we were able to spend the first couple of hours together as a little family. It was the most amazing feeling being all together like that.