Reagan Jo Skipper May 19th 2010

A few months ago (5 to be exact) I finally got around to writing down Reagan's birth story. I want to try and do this with each of my children so they can someday read all about how they came to be :)

As I mentioned before this blog is serving a dual purpose of keeping friends and family up to date as well as a family journal. My reason for posting this whole long story is for the latter. I do not expect any of you to read this novel (and would prefer you didn't because I'm sure it is chuck full of spelling and grammar errors) but lets be honest I would totally read it if this were your blog and you were writing this whole long explanation about how I "don't need to read this". So do as you wish…

My baby is ONE!! Where has the past year gone??! Everyone always told me when I first had her just how fast time begins to fly. I believed them. But really it seems like yesterday we were headed to the hospital (4 days overdue) and SO ready to meet this baby!

Reagan Jo Skipper

May 19^th 2010

8:18am

Weight 6lbs 5oz

19” long

I have been meaning to write down Reagan’s entire birth story and now that she is 5 months old I think it is the perfect time haha ok really I am just now getting around to it…. Better late then never right? Right!

I figured I would start off with a little about the pregnancy. In a nut shell… BLAH! Haha jk pregnancy was a neat experience but defiantly took its toll on my body and mind. I tried my hardest not to complain but I’m sure I did my fair share of it. I was sick pretty much all 9 months of the pregnancy. The first two trimesters were definitely the hardest and I enjoyed that last two months the most. We found out we were pregnant at about 4 1/2 weeks. I was late and thought there was a small chance we could be pregnant. Me and Brent had decided on when we could start trying, which was for the most part based on when I would be finished with school. Well the first month we tried it happened, which ended up being perfect timing and we felt so blessed that it happened so easily for us. The sickness started at about 5 weeks right in the middle of our cruise… but that is a whole different story. Lets just say I have vowed to never go on another cruise as long as I live haha Oh and when we got back Brent had gained 6 pounds and I had lost 6 pounds. Enough said!

We found out Reagan was a girl at our 16 week appointment. To be completely honest I was kind of hoping for a boy. I had grown up with an older brother and I thought I would be better at raising a boy haha Well that mentality changed quickly. It took a couple days for me to change my mentality, because I really thought we were having a boy. Now I wouldn’t change it for anything. I needed a girl first!

The pregnancy went really well other then the sickness that I mentioned before. Reagan was growing great and we were healthy. You always hear that pregnant women have all these cravings and can eat like there is no tomorrow. That was not the case for me at all. I pretty much ate to stay alive and my love of food was nonexistent for those 9 months. Looking back this was kind of good because I didn’t really gain any “extra” weight. I was about 100lbs when I got pregnant. The lowest I got was 92lbs. And before I delivered I was about 122lbs. Ok now onto the delivery…

Reagan was due May 15^th so she was four days overdue. When you first become pregnant you view your due date as the latest possible date that this baby will still be inside of you so when I was 1,2,3,4 days over due It was pretty hard. I was still feeling great but just wanting to meet our little girl and know that she was strong and healthy. The last 3 appointments were pretty depressing. Every time Dr. Judd measured me I was 0s across the board. His exact words were “Your about as closed up as a liquor store on Sunday” Not what I was wanting to hear. The last appointment when I was overdue I just about lost it ok actually I may have lost it. But Brent always knew how to make things better, “You want Chick-Fil-A??” my response, “Yes” So after our last appointment Dr Judd sent us over for a stress test to make sure the baby was ok to stay in there. To our disappointment everything was great… I know that sounds bad. Well that was on a Monday and my induction date was set for the following Monday. Then out of the blue Tuesday Dr. Judd’s nurse called asking if I wanted to come in and be induced… YES! That day I had started having contractions, nothing painful but just to the point that I was able to say yes these are for sure contractions.

We got to the hospital at about 6:00pm Tuesday evening. The plan was to give me cervidil that night and we would spend the night at the hospital while my cervix did its thing. Then the following morning they would start me on poticin and then the real labor would begin. They put the cervidil in at about 7:00 or so… OUCH! The nurse checked me one last time just before putting it in and I was still a 0. At this point we hadn’t told anyone in our family that we were at the hospital. My parents called saying they were down our way and wanted to go to dinner. They were pleasantly surprised with the news and stopped by the hospital to wish us luck. A little while after they left my contractions started to become much more painful. All the pain was in my lower back. We tried to go to sleep but I knew that wouldn’t last long. I wasn’t quite sure if this pain was normal for the cervidil and I was just that big of a wuss. I know I have a low pain tolerance so I didn’t quite know what to expect as far as the delivery and how long I would make it without an epidural, yes an epidural was part of the birth plan all along. As soon as they could give it I would take it.

By 12:00 I was in tears. We called the nurse and I told her I needed something. I knew I would get no sleep with the pain I was in and we had a big day ahead of us. She checked to see if I had dilated at all and I was already at a 3. I was in full-blown labor! She decided to call Dr Judd and get his opinion. I was surprised to hear that he said give her an epidural. I wondered how long I could have it in and reminded her I wasn’t supposed to have this baby for like 18-12 more hours. She said Dr Judd thinks you’ll go fast. Well ok I could not take it anymore so I was all game. It didn’t take long and by the time the anesthesiologist got there I was so done. The epidural was cake and I will do it every time J I felt very little pain when it went in because first they numb you with a small shot. Brent watched the whole thing and commented after that I looked like I was some sort of an appliance with a cord coming out my back. Haha thanks huh! Just what I needed to hear. Well after about 15-20 min I was in heaven. Feeling great and totally relaxed they told us to get some sleep and that I would probably deliver by lunch the next day. Brent fell right asleep and I laid there watching the monitors. I couldn’t sleep I was way too excited. Well all of the sudden at about 3am I felt a pop! Yes it really felt just like a balloon popped inside of me. Weird! So I woke up Brent and told him I thought my water had broke. Then I made him check haha what a good guy! He said well I don’t smell pee so it must be. He went and got the nurse who was a little surprised and didn’t really think that’s what had happened. Well it was and I was dilated to a 5. Throughout the whole delivery I was shaking like a leaf. They told me it was probably because of how fast my labor was progressing and just all the hormones running through my body. On top of all of that I was puking my guts out. I know I have a weak stomach and once again with how fast labor was going and the hormones my body was just kind of freaking out. I would throw up about every hour and then it was more frequent at the end. I really didn’t mind too much, one because I was pretty used to it, and two I knew that there would be an end to it.

Well things were going along pretty normal until the nurse came in and looked at the monitor. She told me that the baby’s heartbeat was dropping with each contraction. She said this could be just stress on the baby or the cord could be wrapped around the baby’s neck and with every contraction it could be getting pinched off. I was getting nervous but my nurse (Kiley) was so great to reassure me things would be ok and that things like this happen. So she did something (can’t remember what it’s called) that basically pumps water back into the uterus to make it seems as if my water hasn’t broken and keeps the pressure off the baby/cord. After a few minutes her heartbeat stabilized and we were back on track. She would check me throughout the night and I was continuing to progress rapidly. This was so exciting because we weren’t expecting her to arrive until the following evening then they guessed the following afternoon and by 6:00am I was at a 10 and 100% effaced so they said I would be delivering on Dr. Judd’s morning rounds.

We called our families and told them that things would happen a little sooner then expected. My mom was going to try and be there when I delivered, not in the room but just at the hospital but this wasn’t going to happen. So from 6-8 I just sat at a 10. Dr. judd likes to do what is called rest and descend, which is when you sit at a 10 for 1-2 hours and just let the baby work its way down the birth canal on its own. Well at 8am he strolled into the room. Calm and kind of looking like he just rolled out of bed, I guess he had. The room was already prepped for the birth so they got me ready and then it all happened fast. Dr. Judd used forceps to get her out. Most people when they hear forceps get freaked out, but we were told Dr. Judd is a pro with forceps and so I totally trusted him. He was so gentle, calm, and reassuring. I also had to get an episiotomy; obviously with the epidural I couldn’t feel any pain, which of course was great. After her head was out Dr. Judd had me push and after two pushes she was out!! He held her up and it was pretty overwhelming. I watched as they handed her around the room to be weighed, measured, and checked out by the respiratory therapist. Then within minutes she was in my arms and everyone had left the room. There we were a family of three!!! I fed her within the first hour of her being born, which was definitely a new experience but so neat.

The recovery went well. It takes a toll on you but I had the best support system. My mom stayed with us for about 5 days and made sure the house was in order and that we were all well fed. Brent was so good to make sure I always had what I needed and was so willing to help with EVERYTHING! I couldn’t help but feel so so blessed throughout all of it. I have an amazing family and husband. I felt so loved.

So here we are 5 months down the road and to be honest I am so excited for the next one. Well I am a little scared just because Reagan has been so perfect we can’t get this lucky twice right? However we are not in any big rush haha we are just enjoying our sweet Reagan and the good baby that she is. To say she is a good baby is the biggest understatement of the century. We have been spoiled!! She was sleeping through the night by about 3 weeks. She has such a sweet disposition and is always so happy. And on top of all of that she is probably the cutest baby I have ever seen… really!!