I told you that the next time I would be posting, I would hopefully be announcing
our little one's arrival... Well she is HERE!!
Meet Willa Kay Rupp!
Born 9/18/2017
7lbs 15oz
20.5 inches long
I have had a lot of questions regarding Miss Willa's birth story,
so for those of you that want the details... here ya go!
As the title of this post suggests, Miss Willa had her own plans about how she wanted to make her arrival that she forgot to mention to her mama beforehand!
On Sunday, 9/17/17, daddy arrived home from working over the road for 2 weeks.
We were 39 weeks and I just prayed everyday that our peanut would wait to arrive
until he was home, thank goodness she was on board with that request! Before going to bed
I had noticed what the medical world would call a "bloody show" needless, to say it
wasn't anything spectacular and I honestly didn't think much of it. I informed the hubs, but he didn't really want to know all the "gross details" lol! He did however rub my belly and told little miss that he was home and that she could come any time now! :)
At 12:45 am I awoke to the sound and feeling of a pop (yes, just like in the movies...
and like my Dr. said probably wouldn't happen to me!!), needless to say there was sudden rush of very warm fluid and I waddled/ran to the restroom as best as I could. Women say that they feel like they are peeing their pants, and they are completely right! Only difference is, there is no stopping it! A couple bath towels later, I decided that I was feeling good yet so I was just going to get some rest because this could still take quite awhile to do anything. Now I can't remember the exact times of everything as my mind was elsewhere!!! lol! I went back to bed and within half an hour another gush of fluid and sudden cramping. I knew this was it! I started keeping track of the contractions and they began at about 30 seconds long and about 5 minutes apart, but within the hour they got stronger and began to last about a minute each. I called our Doula, Kari, and she informed me that it still could be awhile so try to get some rest. Rest was not happening for me as the contractions were strong enough to keep me awake. At about 4:30 she messaged me and asked for an update on where my contractions were. At this point they were around a minute long, 3-5 minutes apart and pretty consistent. She said it would be best that we get a move on and get to the hospital! I woke up the hubby and told him that this was it and we needed to get moving! I have never felt so excited and anxious about anything in my whole life! THIS WAS IT!
We had a good 40 minute drive to the hospital and I felt every single bump on the road!
We got to Orange City and met Kari at her office so she could check back in to make sure we needed to go to the hospital. The contractions were definitely strong, but I could manage them. They were pretty consistent at 3ish minutes apart, so we headed to the hospital. When we arrived, we got checked into a triage room and the nurses started an IV and locked it (I didn't want anything attached to me so that I could be as mobile as possible for my natural birth plan). The nurse checked me and I was at a stretchy 8, but my uterus was still felt to be high... I could still feel it up under my ribcage on the left side (remember that tidbit ;) lol). Dr. Moeller came in about an hour later and rechecked me but found me to only be at a 6-7. Everything seemed to be moving right along and I was able to breathe through my contraction and move around the room to comfortable positions. They continued to monitor me while I was near the bed. Baby was doing wonderful, heartrate stayed perfect through all the contractions! We really thought that this labor was going to go quick, but boy oh boy did little one have another plan...
One of the things that I continued to feel through the last few weeks of pregnancy and into labor was a pressure on my right pelvic bone in the front. I had asked Dr. Moeller about it at our last appointment and she indicated that little miss's head was up high yet and putting pressure on my pelvic bone. I started to do stretches and exercises the last few weeks to help get her to move, but they were difficult for me to do regularly due to the significant amount of acid reflux I had at the end of my pregnancy. I had only had it here and there depending on what I would eat during the early and mid pregnancy, but towards the end it was significantly worse and nothing was helping! During the labor I was still feeling that same pressure and due to not being able to eat much, the acid reflux would not allow me to lie down long enough to do the exercises for long. I spent time in the whirlpool tub, on the exercise ball, using the peanut ball in bed, on the toilet (no joke that felt like the most normal position ever...), kneeling on the bed, and walking/holding onto the Hubs.
The hours seemed to just keep passing by without a lot of progression. A couple times there were indications that transition was happening, but then it would subside. Kari was so confused. All the exercises we were doing that should be progressing the labor and moving baby down, just were not working. As the afternoon rolled around, the reflux seemed to get worse and caused me to vomit everytime I had to lie down. This did not help with the progression of labor at all. The doctor returned numerous times to check me, and as I dilated slowly, I was also thinning. She didn't seem too concerned as she kept stating that often times, first time moms have long labors. BUT she did remind me that their policy is that baby MUST be born within 24 hours of my water breaking, so we had a timeline... come on baby girl! The afternoon time ticked away and I continued to labor. I felt pretty good, granted I couldn't have done it without the positivity that Kari brought to the room! She was amazing, she continued to know exactly what to do to decrease the pain. She would have John put pressure on my hips during the contractions while she used heat and compression on my tailbone. That felt amazing! I know now that she and John were both getting concerned about how long the labor was taking, but they never gave me any indication to worry!
Thank goodness, because I would've!
Sometime around supper, the contractions really started to pick up. They got to the point that they were not stopping, the monitor showed they were "on top of eachother". This was exhausting as I couldn't catch my breath and the pain was never ending. The doctor gave me the option of an epidural as I was still only progressed to an 8, but I refused. About a half an hour later, she returned and said that she wanted to begin pitocin in order to get the baby to move down and finish dilating. I knew that there was no way at this point that I could handle that without the epidural. She did allow it since I was progressing so slowly. Thank Goodness!!! I was shaking so horribly that I had a very hard time sitting still. I was exhausted, I was hungry, and man I was in pain. 18 hours of active labor was more than what I could handle. I had to reach inside myself to be ok with the epidural. John was concerned because he knew that I didn't want it, but that it had to be bad if I was willing to go for it. I prayed very hard for help controlling my body so that they could do the epidural, you can NOT move at all! Prayers were answered and I was feeling relaxed almost instantly. I slept for about 15 minutes and when I woke up, I felt refreshed, but soon I felt the urge to push!
They called the Dr. and she confirmed I was finally a 10 and completely effaced! AMEN!!! She said we were ready to push! I was given instructions to push, but luckily even with the epidural I could still feel pressure and the urge to push. The other thing I still could feel.... that pressure on my pelvis and the uterus still riding high under my ribs... Why is she not dropping! I am pushing and nothing is happening... Dr. Moeller stopped me and said that something wasn't right, she ordered an immediate ultrasound. Now I started to worry! Baby was still looking good, heartrate stayed steady, she was a trooper! When the ultrasound tech began, she immediately stated "Here's the problem... that isn't her head, that is her butt..." WTF?!! Are you kidding me?! I knew immediately what that meant. Cesarean Section... That was something I had NEVER even contemplated happening... Baby girl was nice an cozy this whole time with her butt down and head and feet up by my stomach!
I began to cry. I was sad. I was exhausted. I was also afraid.
This wasn't in the plan. But then I remembered... None of this was in the plan. I didn't plan to need surgery, I didn't plan to have endo, I didn't plan to need hormone shots, I didn't plan any of that... Why would this be any different?!
But this is it, this is our birth story, the good the bad, all of it.
Let's do this! I want to see my little girl! So we did!
Miss Willa came in to this world her own way, screaming and perfect in every way!
I heard her cry immediately and couldn't hold back the tears. I have never been so happy in my life!
John got to go be with her and cut the cord. The nurse was able to bring her to me to see and also to get as close to skin on skin as possible. It was perfect, in our own way. It may not have been the way we planned, but for a change of plans, it was perfect. Kari wasn't able to be in the OR with us, but she met John in the nursery while I was in recovery and when she met me there she helped me get one of the things I wanted to badly... to be allowed to nurse as soon as possible. Little girl knew exactly what to do and crawled her way up to nurse. It was incredible!
I can't begin to thank every single person at Orange City Hospital enough.
They treated us so well and I feel that even through all of it, they gave us the utmost respect and care! I would recommend Orange City to anyone looking for great OB care! I also have no words to describe how grateful WE are for what Kari was able to do for us. She helped keep me positive and helped John to know exactly what was going on and what to do. She also helped to make sure he was eating and taking breaks. Lastly, I am more than grateful for my amazing husband. He did everything I needed him to do. He is my rock and my soul mate. I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without his support. He stood by me with all my crazy needs throughout my pregnancy, and he was there through all the appointments leading up to it. He was there for my surgery, took care of me after, and didn't bat an eye at giving me shots in the rump twice a week for 32 weeks! He's an amazing daddy already and I can't wait to see this little girl wrap him even further around her finger.
So there you go, there's the story.
Willa is our miracle rainbow baby.
After she was born, I searched for a quote to use in my blog and this one came up first...
Considering who it is was written by, I thought it was more than perfect!
and like my Dr. said probably wouldn't happen to me!!), needless to say there was sudden rush of very warm fluid and I waddled/ran to the restroom as best as I could. Women say that they feel like they are peeing their pants, and they are completely right! Only difference is, there is no stopping it! A couple bath towels later, I decided that I was feeling good yet so I was just going to get some rest because this could still take quite awhile to do anything. Now I can't remember the exact times of everything as my mind was elsewhere!!! lol! I went back to bed and within half an hour another gush of fluid and sudden cramping. I knew this was it! I started keeping track of the contractions and they began at about 30 seconds long and about 5 minutes apart, but within the hour they got stronger and began to last about a minute each. I called our Doula, Kari, and she informed me that it still could be awhile so try to get some rest. Rest was not happening for me as the contractions were strong enough to keep me awake. At about 4:30 she messaged me and asked for an update on where my contractions were. At this point they were around a minute long, 3-5 minutes apart and pretty consistent. She said it would be best that we get a move on and get to the hospital! I woke up the hubby and told him that this was it and we needed to get moving! I have never felt so excited and anxious about anything in my whole life! THIS WAS IT!
We had a good 40 minute drive to the hospital and I felt every single bump on the road!
We got to Orange City and met Kari at her office so she could check back in to make sure we needed to go to the hospital. The contractions were definitely strong, but I could manage them. They were pretty consistent at 3ish minutes apart, so we headed to the hospital. When we arrived, we got checked into a triage room and the nurses started an IV and locked it (I didn't want anything attached to me so that I could be as mobile as possible for my natural birth plan). The nurse checked me and I was at a stretchy 8, but my uterus was still felt to be high... I could still feel it up under my ribcage on the left side (remember that tidbit ;) lol). Dr. Moeller came in about an hour later and rechecked me but found me to only be at a 6-7. Everything seemed to be moving right along and I was able to breathe through my contraction and move around the room to comfortable positions. They continued to monitor me while I was near the bed. Baby was doing wonderful, heartrate stayed perfect through all the contractions! We really thought that this labor was going to go quick, but boy oh boy did little one have another plan...
One of the things that I continued to feel through the last few weeks of pregnancy and into labor was a pressure on my right pelvic bone in the front. I had asked Dr. Moeller about it at our last appointment and she indicated that little miss's head was up high yet and putting pressure on my pelvic bone. I started to do stretches and exercises the last few weeks to help get her to move, but they were difficult for me to do regularly due to the significant amount of acid reflux I had at the end of my pregnancy. I had only had it here and there depending on what I would eat during the early and mid pregnancy, but towards the end it was significantly worse and nothing was helping! During the labor I was still feeling that same pressure and due to not being able to eat much, the acid reflux would not allow me to lie down long enough to do the exercises for long. I spent time in the whirlpool tub, on the exercise ball, using the peanut ball in bed, on the toilet (no joke that felt like the most normal position ever...), kneeling on the bed, and walking/holding onto the Hubs.
The hours seemed to just keep passing by without a lot of progression. A couple times there were indications that transition was happening, but then it would subside. Kari was so confused. All the exercises we were doing that should be progressing the labor and moving baby down, just were not working. As the afternoon rolled around, the reflux seemed to get worse and caused me to vomit everytime I had to lie down. This did not help with the progression of labor at all. The doctor returned numerous times to check me, and as I dilated slowly, I was also thinning. She didn't seem too concerned as she kept stating that often times, first time moms have long labors. BUT she did remind me that their policy is that baby MUST be born within 24 hours of my water breaking, so we had a timeline... come on baby girl! The afternoon time ticked away and I continued to labor. I felt pretty good, granted I couldn't have done it without the positivity that Kari brought to the room! She was amazing, she continued to know exactly what to do to decrease the pain. She would have John put pressure on my hips during the contractions while she used heat and compression on my tailbone. That felt amazing! I know now that she and John were both getting concerned about how long the labor was taking, but they never gave me any indication to worry!
Thank goodness, because I would've!
Sometime around supper, the contractions really started to pick up. They got to the point that they were not stopping, the monitor showed they were "on top of eachother". This was exhausting as I couldn't catch my breath and the pain was never ending. The doctor gave me the option of an epidural as I was still only progressed to an 8, but I refused. About a half an hour later, she returned and said that she wanted to begin pitocin in order to get the baby to move down and finish dilating. I knew that there was no way at this point that I could handle that without the epidural. She did allow it since I was progressing so slowly. Thank Goodness!!! I was shaking so horribly that I had a very hard time sitting still. I was exhausted, I was hungry, and man I was in pain. 18 hours of active labor was more than what I could handle. I had to reach inside myself to be ok with the epidural. John was concerned because he knew that I didn't want it, but that it had to be bad if I was willing to go for it. I prayed very hard for help controlling my body so that they could do the epidural, you can NOT move at all! Prayers were answered and I was feeling relaxed almost instantly. I slept for about 15 minutes and when I woke up, I felt refreshed, but soon I felt the urge to push!
They called the Dr. and she confirmed I was finally a 10 and completely effaced! AMEN!!! She said we were ready to push! I was given instructions to push, but luckily even with the epidural I could still feel pressure and the urge to push. The other thing I still could feel.... that pressure on my pelvis and the uterus still riding high under my ribs... Why is she not dropping! I am pushing and nothing is happening... Dr. Moeller stopped me and said that something wasn't right, she ordered an immediate ultrasound. Now I started to worry! Baby was still looking good, heartrate stayed steady, she was a trooper! When the ultrasound tech began, she immediately stated "Here's the problem... that isn't her head, that is her butt..." WTF?!! Are you kidding me?! I knew immediately what that meant. Cesarean Section... That was something I had NEVER even contemplated happening... Baby girl was nice an cozy this whole time with her butt down and head and feet up by my stomach!
I began to cry. I was sad. I was exhausted. I was also afraid.
This wasn't in the plan. But then I remembered... None of this was in the plan. I didn't plan to need surgery, I didn't plan to have endo, I didn't plan to need hormone shots, I didn't plan any of that... Why would this be any different?!
But this is it, this is our birth story, the good the bad, all of it.
Let's do this! I want to see my little girl! So we did!
Miss Willa came in to this world her own way, screaming and perfect in every way!
I heard her cry immediately and couldn't hold back the tears. I have never been so happy in my life!
John got to go be with her and cut the cord. The nurse was able to bring her to me to see and also to get as close to skin on skin as possible. It was perfect, in our own way. It may not have been the way we planned, but for a change of plans, it was perfect. Kari wasn't able to be in the OR with us, but she met John in the nursery while I was in recovery and when she met me there she helped me get one of the things I wanted to badly... to be allowed to nurse as soon as possible. Little girl knew exactly what to do and crawled her way up to nurse. It was incredible!
I can't begin to thank every single person at Orange City Hospital enough.
They treated us so well and I feel that even through all of it, they gave us the utmost respect and care! I would recommend Orange City to anyone looking for great OB care! I also have no words to describe how grateful WE are for what Kari was able to do for us. She helped keep me positive and helped John to know exactly what was going on and what to do. She also helped to make sure he was eating and taking breaks. Lastly, I am more than grateful for my amazing husband. He did everything I needed him to do. He is my rock and my soul mate. I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without his support. He stood by me with all my crazy needs throughout my pregnancy, and he was there through all the appointments leading up to it. He was there for my surgery, took care of me after, and didn't bat an eye at giving me shots in the rump twice a week for 32 weeks! He's an amazing daddy already and I can't wait to see this little girl wrap him even further around her finger.
So there you go, there's the story.
Willa is our miracle rainbow baby.
After she was born, I searched for a quote to use in my blog and this one came up first...
Considering who it is was written by, I thought it was more than perfect!
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