Paisley
Ann Lohner was born on Monday, December 31, 2012 at the Utah Valley Regional
Medical Center in Provo, UT at 11:29 am.
She weighed 7 pounds even and was 19 inches long. She came almost
a week early by induction.
Chris'
grandpa (who was an OB) is really good friends with Dr. Dayton who was one of our doctors so we
were really hoping he would deliver her for us. Grandpa Lohner talked to
him and then I met with him at 37 weeks for an appointment. I was only
dilated to a 1 and about 60% effaced which isn't much so he said to shoot for
like the 2nd or 3rd of January to induce me if I was dilated to a 3. Well the day
after Christmas I met with another doctor and he was concerned because my
uterus wasn't growing. It measured at 35 cm when it should have been at
38 cm. The concern is that it measured 35 cm 2 weeks straight, which
could cause the fluid level to be too low and for her to not have enough room
and not get the nutrients she needs. So,
the doctor decided that I should do a non-stress test just to make sure
everything was going okay. I was still
only dilated to a 1 so it wasn’t looking good to be induced early. We went in on the 27th and they do
an ultrasound to measure the fluid level.
They measure the black spots on the ultrasound and mine was at a 6. Apparently if it is at a 5 they will
automatically induce you because It isn’t safe for the baby anymore. They also put on a monitor to measure my
contractions as well as her heartbeat. I
was having contractions, although I didn’t feel them. They watch her heartbeat for 20 minutes
looking for increases, which looked perfect.
She was doing great.
We
decided to call Dr. Dayton and tell him the situation and see what he
said. So Chris called him up and Dr.
Dayton decided to go ahead and induce me on the 31st but I would
have to spend the night before in the hospital to help my cervix dilate and
soften. So Sunday night finally came and
we headed in to the hospital at around 6:45 pm.
They got us all checked in and took us to our room. I got changed and then the nurse came in to
get me all hooked up to an IV and the monitor that measures my contractions and
baby’s heartbeat. She then checked to
see what I was dilated to and I was still the same. She said I was having pretty good
contractions but we went ahead and started the Cytotec. We started the first dose at 9 pm. At midnight she came in and checked me, and
my cervix still hadn’t changed much, so she started another dose. At 3 am she checked again and I was at a 2,
so we did the last dose. At 6 am she
checked and I was at about 2 ½ cm and 80% effaced which still isn’t great. At 7 am they finally started me on the
Pitocin. I was able to sleep most of the
night luckily, other than when they came in to check me. I was on the Pitocin for about an
hour and a half and the doctor came in.
I still hadn’t changed much so he decided to break my water at
8:30am. He basically just took this
plastic stick and stuck it up there until all this water just gushed out. Immediately after he did that I was having
intense contractions that were so painful!
I was grabbing Chris’ hand and just kept thinking I can’t do this! I told the nurse I wanted my epidural right
away and at about 9:15am I got the epidural.
I hardly even felt it cause I was in so much pain, but apparently he had
to poke me 3 times cause I kept moving.
By 9:40 am I could hardly feel a thing and was able to just relax. The nurse came in and checked me again at
10:30 am and I was now at a 6, so things were progressing pretty quickly. 15 minutes later she just had to look down
there and could see that I was at a 10 and ready to go! We did a couple practice pushes and she could
see Paisley’s head so she went to grab the doctor. The doctor came in and got all dressed and
ready and we started pushing. It was
surprisingly painless with the epidural.
All I had to do was when the nurse told me to, I would push and hold my
breath for 10 seconds 3 times in a row.
I pushed just a couple of times and her heart rate started dropping so
they put oxygen on me and decided they needed to do an episiotomy and use the
forceps to get her out quick. Literally
3 minutes later she was out.
He
immediately put her up on my lap and I was in shock! She was covered in white gunk and blood and
the umbilical cord was still attached.
My first thought was that she didn’t look anything like me and I was
kind of sad! I grabbed her little hand
and she held my finger. It was such an
amazing feeling knowing that she is my daughter and that I basically grew her
for the last 9 months! They cut the cord
and took her over to clean and weigh her.
The doctor finished stitching me up, and then they brought her back and
let me do some skin to skin time with her.
At that point Chris and I both just started crying and holding our
little family. I just felt so
overwhelmed and in awe. She ended up coming so quick that we hardly
had time to get ready or tell anyone she was coming.
It
was such an amazing experience and looking back and reflecting on it I feel so
much gratitude to have had the opportunity to experience this miracle. I feel so blessed not only to have had this
experience, but also for how smoothly everything went throughout both the
pregnancy and the delivery. Paisley is
such a sweet little girl and is such a blessing to our little family. We could not have asked for anything more and
are so excited to get to know her and raise her. It truly is an instant love, more than we
could have ever imagined.
