The Long Awaited Arrival

Katelyn Jo Manuele

December 18, 2010

7 pounds 5 ounces, 20 inches

12:55 am

Our lives have forever been changed by our sweet little girl, Katelyn Jo.  She is an absolute cutie, a joy and a blessing!

After seeing the doctor several weeks before my given due date, and measuring at 3-4 cm and 70 percent effaced, my doctor predicted I would not make it to December 12.  I therefore cracked down hard on my school work and whipped out sub plans for all of December.  At the same time, Paul was busy getting papers done and working final exams out with professors in case he was at the hospital.  Meanwhile, home in San Diego, my mom was freaking out she would not be able to get to Utah in time for the birth.

Needless to say, all this panic was for nothing.  Day after day, doctor's appointment after doctor's appointment, still no baby.  My parents drove out on the 9th only to sit around and watch me be pregnant.  All the sub plans were pointless and Paul rushed to get his finals done for nothing.

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday the 17th at 4:45pm and when I got there, was told my blood pressure was really high.  The original plan was to induce Sunday night if the baby had not come but this convinced my doctor otherwise.  He sent us straight over to the hospital.  Luckily, we were prepared with our bags already in the car!

I was admitted at 5:45pm and by 6:40pm was started on oxytocin to get contractions going.  This was all good news because my parents were scheduled to leave Sunday and might not have been able to witness the big event.  Oh, and a funny side note: The delivery nurse, after a few minutes of talking to me, said, "You remind me of someone I went to nursing school with.  Do you know a Katie Benson?  You look like her and you share some of the same mannerisms."  Small world!  (Katie is my sister)

I went from a 0 to about an 8 on the pain scale in a matter of minutes and by 7:36 pm my contractions were pretty regular.  At 7:45pm contractions were measured at 3 minutes apart.  At 8:47pm the on-call doctor broke my water and I was still only 4 cm.  I tried sitting on a big yoga ball but that was just uncomfortable so I resorted back to the bed.  The contractions were pretty intense.  My parents were helping by putting pressure on my knees while Paul was my official hand squeezer to distract from the pain. 

By 10:20pm the contractions got the best of me and I had an epidural.  So much for going natural.  I was told that induced contractions are a bit more intense than normal contractions, so that helped me feel like less of a panzy.  The epidural took the pain away but definitely left me with the pressure.  It was as if I had a huge straw hooked up to my belly and every minute someone blew as much air as they could into the straw and then slowly let the air escape.

By 11:55pm I was completely dilated and began pushing, but shortly after had to stop because the doctor was not there yet and I was progressing pretty fast.  It was snowing outside and the doctor was still on the freeway.  Go figure!  The doctor got there at about 12:30am and I only pushed for 20 minutes.  Katelyn was born at 12:55am, Paul cut the cord, and everyone was happy!

All the hair was definitely a shock but she was born a healthy, strong baby!  What more could a mother ask for? :)

Check out the Picasa Album "Life with Katelyn" link (up and to the right of this) for more pictures!