Labor Story

I'm a slacker, I know. But I am finally going to share our exciting story. Kyla Michelle Jensen decided to come on April 15th, two days after my due date. I woke up at about 3 in the morning, not from labor pains but because Kaden needed a drink and was crying. I took care of him and went to the bathroom (typical for a pregnant woman!). I kept having a bunch of contractions so I decided to time them for a little while because I was curious just how close they were. I also got on facebook to help distract me so I didn't go completely crazy. They were coming every 1-3 minutes and some were lasting a minute. At 3:45 I decided it was time to go so I walked over to the bathroom to grab my make-up and stuff. Wow. I thought I was going to have the baby right there. I knew she was going to come soon, so I woke Brad up. "Honey, we need to go to the hospital. She's coming, soon." He jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. I just sat there (contraction). I couldn't move and I could barely speak. He had to go wake up my sister (to listen for our kids) and my mom (so she could come to the hospital too). Meanwhile, I struggled to throw on a pair of pants and a hoodie.

Brad sped the whole way to the hospital. I'm so grateful we didn't get pulled over! I told him I wanted a wheelchair because I knew I wouldn't be able to walk the whole way. We got inside as fast as we could and the security guard was awesome. Brad got the wheelchair and the guard told him to go get the elevator while he wheeled me over there. He took me into the labor and delivery area too. Super nice guy!

Luckily the nurses decided to just put me in a labor and delivery room without making me go into the triage room first. It took all my strength to get out of that wheelchair. By the time I got on the bed and they started their admit questions it was 4:08. The nurse asked if I was planning on an epidural and I just laughed. I knew there wasn't enough time. She checked me and told the other nurse to call the doctor.

We spent the next few minutes answering questions. Brad would answer when I was having a contraction (thankfully). At about 4:25 my water broke (an odd sensation). The doctor walked in about a minute later. Once he gowned up I started pushing and two pushes later Kyla was with us. Brad was able to cut the cord and after they were done weighing and measuring her I was able to hold her! That's the first time either of us have been able to do those things. It was absolutely incredible! It all happened so fast... they didn't even have time to give me an IV.

The nurses cleaned up the room and my mom walked in at 4:45. I told her sorry, and she thought I was apologizing for waking her up so early. Then she saw Brad was holding a baby, "You already had her!" So, she wasn't there for the delivery but she still got to enjoy her granddaughter. My dad even stopped by that morning on his way to work just to see her.

She was born at 4:30 and weighed exactly 7 pounds and she was 19 inches long.

Anyway, that's the story minus gory details and other things I figured no one really wants to know. To address the question of whether I'll get an epidural next time, we'll just see. It was definitely intense but now I know I can do it. Brad was amazing and helped keep me from hyperventilating! Every delivery is different so I can't really say whether I'll want an epidural next time or not. I will say that the recovery has been great this time. Not that I've ever had any problems, but I was ready to come home from the hospital the next day (and I did). I've only had a few complaints and all in all I feel fantastic! Yay for that!