Peyton's Birth Story

I'm a little late posting this, but I was trying to tell someone the story the other day and realized that I was forgetting details. So I figure here is as good a place as any to write down the ups and downs of possibly the craziest day of my life.

On Wednesday (the 21st) morning around 6:30 AM, my water broke. I went and told Chase and we quickly decided that we should probably wait to call the doctor's office especially since I wasn't feeling any contractions. We called my mom so she could book a flight to Texas and she said she agreed with our idea to call the doctor before heading in to the hospital.

I drove Chase to school because it was raining and I needed something to do to keep my mind occupied. When I got home I finished packing hospital bags for me and Peyton and waited patiently for the doctor's office to open. The nurse I talked to told me to head in to labor and delivery. So around 9:00 Chase got home from school and we headed to the hospital!

At 9:40 we got the confirmation that my water had broken (I was glad to hear I hadn't just been peeing my pants) and we were being admitted! At this point I was extremely excited and also extremely nervous. 

By noon we got back to our labor and delivery room and Chase left again at 12:30 to go take his big test (he had asked me to hold onto Baby Trejo just until he could take his test so he wouldn't have to reschedule and take a different version). I spent the time while he was gone talking to my family on the phone - they did a good job of distracting me while I was a bundle of nerves. We even went through all of the girls' names of Back to the Future in case we needed to use one of those names for Baby Trejo. 

At 3:30 I still wasn't really feeling strong contractions, but I was starving. Luckily Chase was great and snuck me some jello that he had packed before making it back to the hospital. At 4:30 we decided to try to get things going since Chase was back for good and my body hadn't gotten the message yet - we did lots of laps around the hospital room and bounced on the yoga ball. 

By 5:45 my doctor went home for the night, so I met the doctor that was on call. She checked me and I still wasn't any further dilated than I had been at my appointment 2 days before. This was tough news to get. I had been hoping to avoid going on pitocin because I wanted to have a natural childbirth and had heard that pitocin made contractions harder to cope with. We decided to start pitocin based on the recommendation from the doctors, and to try to see if I could still do it naturally.

By 6:30 I was having regular contractions - longer and more frequent than anything I had felt all day.

The nurses continued to alternate increasing the pitocin and checking my progress. At 9:15 I was up to 2.5 cm.

Around 11:30 the contractions were starting to get pretty intense. Chase climbed into bed behind me to help with counter pressure and just help me feel better. At midnight my mom's flight had gotten in - luckily Chase's mom had come down to see the baby too and was nice enough to go pick up my mom. They came to visit us for a little bit.

By 1:15 I had made it to 5 cm! The next stretch was the worst pain I think I've ever felt. From about 3:30-5:00 AM I felt the contractions front and back and felt like I wasn't getting any break between them. I was sure that I was progressing well because everyone kept telling me that the contractions that hurt are the ones that are helping my body move along. Every contraction I had Chase wrap his arms around my back and put as much pressure as he possibly could on my lower back and just tried to breathe through it, almost in tears. 

At 5:00 they checked me again and said I was still at 5 cm. I was exhausted, so hungry, and couldn't do it any more. I asked my nurses for an epidural. It took about an hour for the anesthesiologist to be available. That hour was extremely difficult emotionally. I had been in labor for almost 24 hours (even if it wasn't active labor the whole time), I hadn't eaten, I had decided that I wanted meds to help me and they couldn't get them to me yet. Luckily it made me so tired that I barely remembered getting my epidural and fell asleep almost immediately after they got the pillows situated around me. 

At 8:00 the nurses came and checked me and I was at a 9! They increased the pitocin again to get the baby to drop as far as she could before I needed to start pushing.

Around 8:45 we started getting me ready to push. I was feeling kind of nauseous so the nurse gave me an oxygen mask and some wet washcloths. Luckily that helped the nausea go away! At this point I was ready to push and was feeling a little nervous again, but I was so excited to meet our little girl! My nurse and doctor were great about coaching me through the pushing - I was very glad to have their help. I pushed through three or four contractions and she was here! Peyton Emma Trejo arrived at 8:58 AM. She was 7 lb. 4 oz. and 19.5 inches long. 

After she was born Chase got to cut the cord and we got to hold her for a few minutes before they needed to take her to a transitional nursery to check on her breathing levels and monitor her blood sugar.

It was such an amazing, special day for our family and while I'm not sure I'd sign up to do it again right away, I'm so grateful for every part of it. It wasn't what we had planned, or even close to how I imagined labor would go, but our sweet Peyton is perfect and here and we couldn't ask for anything more! We love her so much and are so grateful to be starting our life as a family of three!

I also have to say that my love for Chase has grown more than I thought possible since having Peyton. Seeing him be a dad to her is one of my favorite things in the whole world. I'm extra grateful to have him beside me for all of this and everything to come.