Paige Alexis Kartchner

We stayed in the hospital for two days after you were born. We had a private room to stay in so Dad was allowed to stay the night with us. You slept in a bassinet on wheels, I slept in the hospital bed, and poor Dad had to sleep on a chair that folded out into a pseudo-bed. I worked on recovering while both Dad and I spent the time getting to know you and learning how to take care of you.

You in your bassinet:

Watching TV with Dad:

Cuddled up with Mom:

The second day in the hospital the nurses took you to give you a bath. They told us later that you did not like this one bit, and let the whole world know it. They said you screamed through the entire thing. They brought you back all bundled up, and you had the cutest little pout on your face! It was as if you were pouting because the bath was not fun at all.

Right after your first bath:

During our stay in the hospital it started snowing. The snow and the winds created lovely blizzard conditions. During our stay Dad got a ride home from Brian and Michelle Prince (and little Gabbi) and picked up the car seat (the car still didn't start). On Saturday when it was time to go home most of the people we knew didn't have cars that could handle the snow. Adam and Eve Fowles called around and found someone in the ward with four-wheel-drive who was willing to spend 2 hours digging their car out to come and give us a ride. We were so blessed to have so many good people around to help us out in getting you home.

This is you cuddled in your car seat with Dad's hand by your face:

You are so little and sweet! We were so glad you have you home with us.

You were born right before the biggest recorded snow storm that DC has ever seen. Since a lot of snow was predicted Dad and I did our best to prepare. We had chains for the car, a camp shovel that could be used to dig ourselves out if necessary, and plenty of winter clothes.

I woke up February 4th around 1:00 am to discover I was bleeding. I told Dad and then (surprisingly) calmly called the doctor on call and finished packing my hospital bag while I waited for him to call back. I talked to the doctor a few minutes later, and he said it wasn't time for me to go to the hospital. Since I wasn't having any regular contractions and wasn't bleeding a lot, he attributed the bleeding to the pelvic exam I had earlier that day. I went back to bed and did my best to sleep. I slept a little bit over the next few hours until 5:00 when I woke up again and found that I was still bleeding. The difference this time was that there was more fluid with the blood. I figure that was probably just because I had been laying down, so when I got up the blood rushed out a bit. I tried going back to bed, but couldn't sleep. I was having mild contractions so I started timing them. I kept wondering if my water had broken, but I couldn't tell for sure. Around 6:45ish I got on the internet and started looking up how to tell if my water broke. After reading for just a couple of minutes I decided that, yes, it indeed had broken. At that point I looked back at the timing for my contractions and found that they were coming 8 minutes apart like clockwork. The contractions still weren't very painful and didn't last very long, but I called the doctor again and this time he told me to head to the hospital.

It hadn't started snowing when it was time to go to the hospital. We headed out to the car only to find that our car wouldn't start. We'd been having problems with it (although two trips to the mechanic had failed to fix it) and finally on that morning it didn't start at all. Awesome. Fortunately, we have a lot of great friends in the area that were more than willing to help us out. We called the Josh and Christen Snow (and little Henry) and they generously came and gave us a ride to the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital we checked in and they took us to triage. They had me put on a hospital gown and get on the gurney. I was still bleeding pretty regularly. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor that monitored my contractions and your heartbeat. My doctor came in and saw me, determined that my water had indeed broken and I was dilated to 5 cm. He said I was definitely having you that day and they got me hooked up to an IV. Dad kept me (and the nurse on duty) entertained by reading to me from blogs on the internet and telling me about case law relating to a paper he needed to write. Around 11:00am they moved us into a room on the labor and delivery floor.

Here are pictures of us in that room waiting for you to come. We both look kind of awful, but they're the only pictures we took during that time.

I had fun during this time waiting with dad for you to come. We didn't do anything too exciting. I spent time reading a book, he was reading things on the internet, and we talked a bit. Mostly it was just nice to be able to be with him and spend time with him. I just really like being around him.

Throughout the day I continued having contractions, but they weren’t horrible. I started getting grumpier and grumpier because I was hungry and wasn’t allowed to eat anything in case I ended up needing a c-section. I was also grumpy because with the IV I couldn’t use my arm much and the contractions were getting worse. They weren’t unbearable, but definitely weren’t fun. Around 1:00 pm my doctor came and checked me again. I hadn't progress at all, so he decided to give me something that would up the contractions. That was the point I decided definitely to have an epidural done.

For quite a while I had been contemplating and wanting to do a natural birth. However, as the pregnancy progressed and I felt more and more discomfort and pain, the epidural was starting to sound like a good option. I had read up on and practiced a natural child birthing technique (hypnobirthing) just in case I decided to go that direction. When it came time for the decision to be made I decided without hesitation to go with the epidural. I hadn't slept much the night before, was a bit scared because of all the bleeding (during the night and the day in the hospital), was uncomfortable due to the IV in my arm, and I was getting grouchier by the second because I was really hungry. I didn't have the level of focus needed for hypnobirthing.

The anesthesiologist came in shortly after to give me the epidural, which ended up creating the perfect experience for me. Once the fluid was hooked up and flowing into me I was able to relax since the pain was pretty much gone. The great thing was I was still able to feel most of what was happening in my body. I could still feel the tightening of contractions, touch on my lower body, and I could still move my legs a bit. However, it took away the pain and discomfort of the contractions, of being hungry, and of being pregnant in general.

At one point your heartbeat dropped dramatically. The nurse came in and figured out that it was because I was laying on my back. I knew I wasn’t supposed to do that the last few months of pregnancy (and hadn’t done it up until then) and felt awful when I saw the proof of your heart rate decreasing. For the rest of labor I made sure to stay on my side or propped up slightly.

At 6:45pm my doctor came in again and checked me out and found that I was completely dilated and ready to push. The hospital shifts change at 7:00 so he informed me that a different doctor would be delivering the baby. Around 7:00 I started pushing with the help of Dad and the nurse. As each contraction hit (they were only a couple minutes apart) I pulled up my legs in kind of a frog position (laying on my back) with Jake holding one leg and the nurse holding the other. I tucked my chin to my chest, took a deep breath in and pushed out for the count of 10 three times per contraction. In between contractions I would lay back and rest.

Pushing actually felt really great. I could feel the pressure of it and the squeezing of the contractions, but none of it hurt. One of my biggest worries with the epidural was that I wouldn’t be able to feel anything and would have to rely on the monitor to tell me when to push. So I was absolutely thrilled that I could still feel some of it. Exerting myself physically, as much as I possibly could, felt really good. It felt like I was pushing myself to the physical limits, and since it was only for a relatively short period of time, it felt fantastic.

At first as I pushed, the nurse counted the seconds, but after a few contractions Dad took over as the counter. Having him counting helped me a lot, because hearing his voice constantly was really nice and encouraging. About halfway through the pushing the nurse set up a birthing bar (a bar attached to the foot of the bed) and tied a sheet around it. From that point on I pulled myself up using the sheet instead of my legs.

During one of the pushes the nurse pointed out to Dad that he could see the first glimpse of your head. Dad got a glimpse of it and saw that your little head had plenty of hair on it. The nurse offered to get a mirror so I could see, but I declined. I figured the mental picture of what was happening down there was more pleasant and motivating than the real thing.

Eventually, after almost an hour and a half of push, as your head was getting ready to crown the doctor came in. He had popped in and out a few times before for some of the pushes, but this time he came in for good. At this point your heart rate skyrocketed (which was scary!) so the doctor took a minute to explain our options. He said that I was having a little bit of trouble slipping you past the pubic bone and since your heart was going so fast he recommended that we get you out quickly. He said my options included continuing to push, a c-section, or a vacuum extraction (he recommended the vacuum). Dad and I easily decided to go with the vacuum. I breathed through a few contractions (and really had to work to hold back the pushing) until the vacuum was ready. On the next contraction the doctor put on the vacuum in, I pushed, and we got your head to come through (1 hour and 35 minutes after I started pushing). The doctor said I had done most of the work; the vacuum just helped you past the bone. Feeling your body wiggle out was one of the strangest things I have ever felt. You were slimy and wiggly, but at the same time it was really special. I got a little teary right then because I could feel you wiggle and I knew you were ok.

They put you on a blanket right away and put you up on my chest. While Dad cut your umbilical cord and the nurse wiped you off a little bit, I held you and looked into your eyes that were big and open wide. It’s hard to describe how precious that moment was.

The nurses took you across the room to clean you up and do all your measurements.

Dad went with you while the doctor and nurse attended to me. I had a slight laceration that needed to be stitched up, so the doctor started sewing. These stitches were way more painful and unpleasant than the actual labor had been. I could feel the poking of the needle and the pull as the thread worked. Once that tear was fixed the doctor found another tear up inside the canal. This tear took way more effort to stitch. It was in a place that was hard to access, the lighting wasn’t right, there weren’t enough nurses on hand to assist (they ended up grabbing a med student that was around to help out), and I couldn’t hold still because I was shaking uncontrollably due to the hormones released with birth. I tried and tried to focus to keep myself from moving and eventually found that I could only hold still by growling (yes, out loud) and channeling the pain through the growl.

During the stitching Dad was close by holding you (as he should have been). Since he was holding you it freed up the nursing staff to take care of me. He kept checking on me, talking to me, and telling me about our new little baby girl.

Once the stitching was finished and were all cleaned up, I finally got to hold you again. We were loaded onto a gurney and taken to our room.