Peytyn's Birth Story

So today is Peytyn's fourth birthday!  It's amazing how fast time goes by.  I thought I would put together a blogpost about being pregnant with Pey and her birth story.  Enjoy!

Overall the pregnancy was great.  I never had any morning sickness, I was just extra tired and would take naps in between my classes.  My last term of school for the 08-09 school year I only had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they were general classes and not too demanding which was great!  I do remember two days that I felt a little nauseous but, whatever, I'll take it.  Haha.

I also did not gain much weight.  Which was fine up until the last few weeks of my pregnancy.  I carried small and didn't really start showing until I was like 28 weeks pregnant.  Obviously there was a bump there sooner but nothing too noticeable.

One thing that was troublesome was that when I was 32 weeks I was only measuring 28 weeks.  So my doctor scheduled an ultrasound to check her weight and she turned out to be "small-ish" but it wasn't anything to worry about.  Then a few weeks later (when I was seeing my doctor once a week) I had lost two pounds .. again that was concerning.  Normally at this point you're supposed to gain a pound a week.  I remember crying in my doctor's office and I could tell where on my body I lost the weight, my jeans were fitting looser but I also felt like I was eating normal.  It was all confusing but the ultrasound helped me feel better about her growth separate from what was going on with my body.

The last month of my pregnancy was tough though.  A month before I had her (about two months before her due date) a good friend of mine passed away.  It was a very tough first week mourning the loss of Corey.  But I was truly amazed with how my body handled it.  I really don't remember much of that week but I remember looking back at the end of it and while my brain was aloof my body was still in check.  It's like my body was doing what my brain was forgetting to do.  I ate and slept pretty normally but it wasn't intentional - if that makes any sense?  Not that I wouldn't have tried to eat and sleep normally but again, my brain and emotions were not in check.

Also during the last month of my pregnancy I had to go to the hospital three times (I think..it might have been four but I really don't remember).  But I remember at the end of one appointment my doctor told me to call if I couldn't keep food or water down.  I thought this was odd since I never had any issues with that but of course I kept it in mind.  Then the next day, I was laying in bed feeling super sick and couldn't keep food or water down.  I called my doctor and went in to see her.  After seeing me she decided to admit me to labor and delivery.  After five hours of fluids and IV I felt a lot better and was sent home.  Then a week went by and it happened again.  This time I think I was in the hospital for more like 10 hours, but I can't really remember.  After this event my doctor prescribed me some anti-nausea medicine to help prevent it.  But if I remember right it made me feel sick and I threw it up.  They tried a few different pills for me to take and there were two or three that just weren't working and a few days later I was back in the hospital.  This time it was for good.


It was a tad annoying though.  One of the times I went in the doctor on call kind of dismissed me and what I was going through.  UM LADY...I wasn't faking!  I'm not some crazy who's trying to get my baby sooner.  Thankfully another doctor came on call and was much nicer to me and thought everything going on with me was very odd.  The last time I called L&D to go in the nurses were trying to keep me at home.  Even after I told them that none of the prescriptions worked and it really was unbearable. I told them I would try to stay at home but I would call when I couldn't handle it anymore.  I think I called back like 15 minutes later.  It was also annoying that when they checked to see if I was dilated this time a nurse said I was like 2cm and said I could be having the baby that night.  Um.  No.  I first spent three days in there and then eventually got induced.


It was a hard three days.  I was at least stable and not feeling super sick but I still couldn't keep food or water down.  Eventually by day three was able to keep some Gatorade down but it was truly exhausting.  I was told that if I got up to 4cm they would induce me but I think I stayed at 2cm those three days.  But finally I was given the option to be induced.  It was a hard choice to make.  I was three weeks early at this point and was explained that her lungs and being able to breast feed were the two concerns of having her that day.  I was given three options, 1. Go home and wait it out. 2. Stay at the hospital and wait it out. 3. Be induced.  I told them I for sure wanted to stay in the hospital because there's no way I would've been comfortable at home without the IV and fluids.  But then like a few minutes later a nurse comes in to discharge me.  Um...no crazy lady, I did not choose that option!  Since we were going to be there who knows how much longer my mom decided to leave me and went home to get a few things.  While she was out I was alone for probably the first time (thanks Mom for being there!!) and I felt the calmness come over and felt that if I had Peytyn that day, she would be fine.  I called my doctor I was ready to be induced.  She came in, broke my water and started the pitocin. I will say my dad wasn't happy about that choice.  He wanted her in there as long as possible but once we found out after she was born she was perfectly fine, it was all good.

Now the contractions.  For the love...those things suck!  I knew I wanted to wait as long as I could before getting the epideral but seriously.  It sucked.  I yelled at my dad at one point to shut up (sorry Dad!!).  But I did make it clear to everyone in the room that no talking was allowed during contractions and there was a machine that beeped whenever I was having one so they knew what was going on.

I was in labor a total of six hours (which was great considering I was on pitocin).  The first three and a half hours were the painful ones.  I finally got my epideral and I was actually afraid to get one because I heard it hurt going in.  But honestly, I did not feel one thing!  I didn't like how it made me feel though.  I hate the numb feeling of my legs.  It made it so hard to push her out.  How the hell do you "push" when you can't feel a thing.  My favorite part of labor was the nap I had after receiving my epideral.  BEST NAP EVER. Seriously, can I have another?

Once I woke up from my nap I had dilated to 8cm (an hour before I was at 4cm) and a few of my friends were there and it was awesome to see them.  After not very long at all my nurse came to check in on me and when checking to see how dilated I was she told me to push.  Um..what?  I was alone in the room with this nurse and you want me to push?  Once that contraction was over she called my mom and doctor and 11 minutes later out came the baby!  I do want to add in that Peytyn was "right there" since I first arrived at the hospital.  There was no way for her to be lower without slipping out on her own.

There was a little complication with Peytyn's heart rate dropping every time I had a contraction so that was another reason she came out so quickly..doctor took matters in her own hands to make sure she was okay.

On July 29th, 2009 at 11:41PM my baby Peytyn Cosette was born weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 inches long.  For being three weeks early that was a great weight!  Especially since me and all my siblings were all about 6 pounds as well.

She had a head full of hair and out of all the crazies I heard and dumb pregnancy stereotypes the one and only thing that was consistent was that baby hair equals heartburn.  And that was so so so true in our situation.  It's what I felt was causing me to feel so sick at the end. It's funny actually, you could even see Peytyn's hair waving in the fluid during my last ultrasound.

We were able to leave the hospital two days later and she had great lungs and breast fed right away.  So the two possible issues were totally fine.

I'm so happy and thankful that I have my Peytyn.  She has been such an amazing daughter and I love her so much.  It makes me sad thinking that next year at this time I'll be buying her school supplies!!  But it will be so fun taking her to school and seeing her continue to grow.

I love you Peytyn!

A few days before giving birth.