Lo's Birth Story

This birth experience can only be described as a series of answered prayers. 

Lois Rue Hazley was born on 9/12/16 at 9:31am. She weighed in at 5lbs 9.7oz and was 18.5 inches long. 

Our induction was scheduled for the night of Sept. 11th. We got checked in around 10:30pm and got the party started. I can't say that it started off the smoothest. I was in need of antibiotics and it took 4 pokes to get my IV. The nurses felt so bad but obviously being a nurse I know how these things go sometimes. That being said 4 sticks with an 18 gauge needle freaking sucked. The antibiotic used was Penicillin and the nurse told me it would burn but hot damn! It was so painful and the ice pack I had wasn't cutting it. I would need this antibiotic every FOUR hours until delivery, yikes. 

At 2am my nurse did her first check of my cervix to determine whether or not I would need a medication called Cytotec to help ripen my cervix. At that time I was 2cm dilated and 75% effaced. She decided to place the Cytotec near my cervix. Each dose lasts for 4 hours. In my case, it was one and done. I started having contractions pretty regularly but I was still able to get some rest. My nurse came in and said that I had been contracting every 3 to 4 minutes. The charge nurse came into the room and started discussing starting Pitocin, I stopped her immediately and told her that was not the plan I had with my OB. I almost bursted into song, singing "cut it"!

My OB showed her beautiful face after we heard she wasn't on call anymore. She assured me she'd be around to deliver my baby. At this point she checked me and decided she could go ahead and break my water and strip my membranes, it was 6:26am!

Of course, this is when the turn up began. My contractions got much stronger and I tried eating breakfast but I couldn't take a bite without having a contraction while chewing. Smelling the food began to be too much. I had my nurse Carrie (who was the bomb) start a bath. I tried several positions before getting in the bath. Once I did it was too hot!! I couldn't focus on breathing because I was starting to sweat bullets. I was a little restless so I decided to get out and try laying on the floor. Weird I know but I couldn't quite get comfortable. Tj was so awesome. Though I know he felt helpless at some points, he was everything I needed him to be. 

Being in labor is kind of like being in a time warp. I had no idea of the time or how frequently I had been contracting. I started to feel some serious pressure so I decided to get back in the water. My nurse came in and asked me if I was feeling any pressure. I answered like a child who had not followed the teachers instructions because she clearly told me to make her aware of any changes, but I figured I couldn't be anywhere close. I got out of the water and she checked me, 8cm, I was in transition! Wait. A. Minute! She told me this phase of labor could be 10 minutes or an hour. She phoned my doc and I knew it was getting real. Shortly after my doctor came, I was made aware that Lo was sunny side up. I would have to try and turn her by getting into a position of a squat turned around facing the head of the bed. I pushed for about 10-15 minutes and my doc told me that she hadn't turned and if she didn't, we'd have to try something else. Something else? I didn't know what that something was but I didn't want to find out. After about another 10 minutes of pushing she was turned the right way and it was go time, thank God. It took so much out of me pushing in that position but we were so close, I had to push through, literally. 

I pushed for another 20-30 minutes and there she was. Our Lo-Lo, born THREE hours after my water was broken!! I was shocked and could not believe things had moved that fast. God, I was so incredibly grateful. The least amount of intervention was done and I did it unmedicated, with burst blood vessels in my eye and face, it was everything I prayed for. Her Apgar scores were 8 and 9, which in Denver's elevation is considered perfect!

Swaddle blanket

Unfortunately, things weren't smooth sailing afterwards. Because things had moved so fast, my placenta did not detach completely. And if anyone knows what happens next, then you know it means hell. Not to be too graphic here but I'm a details person. My doc had to go in after it, more painful than the birth, I asked for all the drugs I could get. After several attempts and a ultrasound they were confident they got it all but the bleeding didn't stop. Two doses of Pitocin, four doses or Cytotec and a IM injection later, the bleeding was under control. This hour and a half was so not fun!!! But Lo was healthy and I was able to feed her and do skin to skin. It was a messy scene as I urinated on my doc while pushing and covered my nurse in red during the after birth. Yeah! It was interesting. I had a small tear to my urethra that did not require a stitch. I was so grateful that it was nothing like the second degree tear I had experienced with Noelle. Lord have mercy I was so grateful. After my Percocet got a chance to settle on my empty stomach I covered my bed, Tj's shoes, our suitcase and nearly Lois in vomit. 

Birth can be such an amazing experience but things can get scary and I knew that postpartum hemorrhage is one of the scariest. I called out loud for Jesus several times during this period. I know things could have ended very different. I thank God for my nurse who was not shaken by any of this and who made me feel like I was in the perfect hands. God was without a doubt in that room! I thank God for my husband who once again was the perfect support. Dropping his tooth brush in the middle of my contractions to run to my side. His encouragement was a huge factor in dealing with every one of my contractions. 

We were so incredibly blessed to have Tj's sister Londa show up from Houston on such short notice to keep Noelle for us. We were so excited for Noelle's first meeting we could hardly wait. 

Checking out her gift from her new sister. 

My sweet friends Joanne and Erica sent their love from Orlando!

We are so excited for this adventure and I cannot describe how blessed we feel to have had this type of birthing experience. Little intervention, no medication, only three hours of hard labor, a healthy mama and baby was a dream and prayer realized. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers, I can't tell you how much it meant!