The DAY arrives...time to be induced

Two weeks before I was induced, I set up the induction date never actually thinking I would actually reach it, but sure enough I did.

What an experience delivering a baby is...can never really prepare for it and can never forget it either.

We received the call at 6:00 am on Friday, March 29th to come to the hospital for a 7:00 am induction. Oh joy, I hadn't been able to sleep at all the night before and had finally cuddle with Matt, so I could calm down enough to get some sleep and the phone rang.

Well we got up and hurried and got ready. I showered the night before, but Matt hurried and got in the shower not knowing when he would have the opportunity after that.

I ate a small breakfast of frosted mini-wheats. Had I known I would be in labor for so long, I definitely would have eaten more!

We packed up the car and went to the hospital. We parked and walked in...The first thing I remember them asking was..."Do you have a pediatrician?" NOPE, no one had even mentioned about researching and having a pediatrician already set up.

We went back to the delivery room and got all comfortable in the hospital gown. Not the most comfortable outfit, but who is in the hospital for comfort.

I had this app on my phone telling me I was over due.
 Thought it was funny and ironic.

Walking around my room checking things out. 

Waiting in bed for the nurses to start the drugs. 

 

I remember laying in bed staring at this baby station thinking,
"Sometime TODAY, we will have a baby in that bed!"

They started the drug, Pitocin, to get my contractions started at 8:00am. Mind you I was starting off at a "2+" and had to get all the way to a "10" before I could start pushing for a delivery. They also hooked me up to the baby monitors too. After about an hour, the nurse and doctor came to check on me. One said to me, "you know there is no award for how much pain you go through." Well that got me thinking...and I had my epidural at 10:00 am. The epidural was the most painful thing of the whole experience. Plus it never quite got my right leg numb, so I could feel the contractions, at the end of the delivery a little too much. Thank goodness for the booster button. After the epidural was working, they broke my water and hooked me up to a catheter.

Ready, set, go...the waiting game was still going until 5pm, when my body was finally ready for me to assist in pushing. While we waited, we watched Stars Wars I, took naps, drank a ton of apple juice, and tried decided what the baby's name should be...Hailey Caroline or Kara Dianna.

Finally we got to stop waiting...I got to push for almost 3 hours. What a fun experience.
During those 3 hours, I got extremely tired. They put me on oxygen, so the baby had enough oxygen through me. They set up internal monitoring to make sure the baby heartbeat was okay. They kept threatening that I would have to have a C-section if things didn't progress and I didn't start "pushing" better. I got mad at one of the doctor's for making me feel like I wasn't pushing well enough and started crying because I was so mad. My nurse who had been with us from 7am - 7pm had her shift end at 7pm, so she left and I got another nurse for the rest of my stay in the delivery room. Not recommended to switch nurses, in the middle of the experience, but I had no choice!

Finally everything came together and our little bundle came out. When they put her on my chest, I thought"Yuck!" and then they kept sucking out her mouth to get her to breathe, which made me start wondering if she was going to breath. Finally she started crying and they took her to the bed to clean her up. Matt stood guard over her and snapped her first pictures. While I had the fun experience of being cleaned up myself.

After all the fun...we finally got moved to our room for the next 2 days for another adventure.

The waiting game...

Due date Thursday, March 21st...delivery date 8 days past due on Friday, March 29th.

Playing the waiting game...Matt started his leave on Thursday, March 21st thinking we would have the baby soon, so each day we would wake up and he would ask, "Have you felt anything yet?" Meaning any contractions, and I would always get to say, "Nope, what are we going to do today?"

So each day we found something to do...going to museums, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and Church History Museum. Going for walks at This is the Place Monument and the International Peace Gardens. Going to his parents and hanging out while he played Epic Mickey. Going to the movies, G.I Joe and Safe Haven. Going for a drive up Emigration Canyon, visiting the Salt Lake Cemetery, and driving through the avenues and surrounding areas. Hanging out with my family.

We had 8 days of staying close to home in case the contractions started, but trying to find something to do so we weren't to far away.

We saw this chair at the Daughters of the Pioneers Museum. It is for potty training.
Matt and I are both glad we have flushing toilets.

 

We went to 2 different cemeteries, one by chance, and the other to see
Matt's grandparents grave at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
We ended up finding Porter Rockwell's as well. 

 

Movie time - - great distraction when you are waiting for a baby to come. 

 On Wednesday, March 27th, we went to This is the Place Monument and got in before the prices double for the summer season due to the "Baby Animals" season. We still got to see the baby animals and pet them too, which took me awhile to get up the courage to do so.

We even got to ride on the train around the pioneer village,
which turned out perfect cause I was tired of walking . 

 Thursday, March 28th, we got to play with Arlee and Lydia as they arrived that day. Fun as I didn't feel up to much after having had Kara.

Getting ready...setting up her room

Where to begin? Kara is now 18 days old and we can't imagine life without her!

Lets start from the beginning...

I was due on Thursday, March 21st, but Kara decided to wait and show up 8 days later, with having to be induced. Will get to that story in a bit.

I stopped working on Tuesday, March 5th, because I was worried about going early and wanted to make sure everything was completed at work and I also needed to make sure I got everything situated at home. I become a neat freak.

I hadn't put anything away for the baby since Christmas, so I had a whole room full of items that needed to be organized, washed, and placed accordingly. Fortunately, Kristin came and helped me on a Friday night that we made into a girl's night of going to dinner, washing and folding laundry, and watching a movie.

So needed her help and girl time!

Here is the video of our second bedroom where we kept all the baby items we received. It was a long process to get everything put away. 

Here is the room with everything finally put away! We got the bed so Matt's mom could stay with me the week before I was due in case I went into labor. Well, that didn't happen, but it is a great place for Matt to sleep on his days on, so Kara and I can stay in our bedroom and not wake Matt up. 

Baby Showers

We had so much support from everyone our baby was showered with love and support.

I ended up having 4 baby showers - my family, friends, work, and Matt's family. I loved coming home to Matt after the showers and watching him opening the gifts after I had already seen them and telling him about each shower.

First shower was a family shower on Saturday, February 2nd. I was glad that two our of my 3 sisters were able to be there.

Chelsey, Kali, and my mom had fun putting together everything for my shower.
Everything looked great!

Second shower was a friend shower on Saturday, February 16th. It was nice seeing so many friends at one time as I hadn't seen some for awhile. /(Have to get actual pictures from Turkey)

Third shower was a work shower on Saturday, February 23rd. It snowed that day and delayed some people from being able to come, but we had fun playing games and seeing people outside of work. (Have to get actual pictures from a co-worker)

My last day at work my boss gave me his "gift" and this is what I came home with.
It almost made me cry. He was so supportive and great throughout my pregnancy!

Fourth shower was a shower from Matt's family on Saturday, March 2nd. I got to see Matt's family that I knew and celebrate in the joy that we were finally going to have a little one of our own. (Have to get the pictures from my mother-in-law)

New Arrival...Baby Kara

Well my due date of March 21st, came and went. I finally got induced on Friday, March 29th. We checked into the hospital at 7:00am and had baby, Kara at 7:52pm. More about the birth story and fun later.

7 lbs 11oz
21 inches long

Here is our precious little one.

3-29-2013 Delivery room picture - 1 hour old 

3-31-2013 - Time to go home. 2 days old

4-2-2013 - First day out... Pediatrican Visit