Well, I told myself that I would get Linley's birth story written and posted in less time than it took me to get Cora's up, but the days keep flying by and I haven't managed to accomplish it yet! Where does the time go? Linley is already one month old and doing great! So here goes...
Since Cora was born at 39 weeks and I had a little bit of high blood pressure, I had it in my mind that the same thing would happen and that this baby would be here around 39 weeks as well. So when 39 weeks came and went I was really ready for her to arrive any time. I had made it through Cora's 3rd birthday party, which was a blast, and Neil's mom, Rita, had arrived from Minnesota to help with Cora during our hospital stay, so we were ready! On Wednesday, January 20th (which happens to be Rita's birthday!) I was 39 weeks and 3 days and had my 39 week check up at 10:45am. I took the following picture at home that morning thinking maybe they would tell me I couldn't come back home...which turned out to be true! Rita and I went out to a delicious breakfast in Bozeman that morning to celebrate her birthday before my appointment as well.
At my appointment Cassie checked me and said I was 2-3 cm dilated and 70% effaced and she said that my water could break at any time. I was still having Braxton hicks contractions every 5-10 minutes, but they weren't very painful and were the same as they had been for the past several weeks. In no way did I feel at all like I was close to going into labor, however, Cassie said she didn't really want me going back to Big Sky because my water could break at any time and it likely would be quicker when I did go into labor. She striped my membranes and said I should hang around in town for a few hours before coming back to Labor and Delivery to be checked again. She had some other moms in Labor and Delivery, so she would be there. It was about 11am then, so Rita and I left the hospital and had to come up with a few things to do in town. There weren't any movies we wanted to see playing at that time, so we got the car oil changed, visited a friend and her new baby, and then went out to lunch at a Japanese restaurant and had delicious ramen soup, which was a great last meal before having a baby! It was about 2:30pm when we got back to the hospital and I still felt about the same, definitely not in labor with mild contractions every 6-7 minutes apart. I felt kind of silly since I was clearly not in labor, but they checked me into a room in Labor and Delivery anyways and it was about 3:30pm when Cassie came to check on me. I was 3-4 cm and 80% effaced and she striped my membranes again and asked me to walk the halls of the hospital to see if the contractions started getting more intense. Rita and I walked pretty much the entire hospital halls several times. I called Neil and told him he should come to the hospital because they weren't going to let me go back to Big Sky that night. We planned to stay at a hotel in town to be close to the hospital if things didn't progress. I also called my manager around 4pm and we talked about last minute things for work and making sure all loose ends were tied up and that she knew the things to follow up on with my back up. She told me she could tell in my voice when I was having contractions, but they were still only slightly painful at that point. I said to Cara that we were hoping the baby would come before midnight in order to share a birthday with her grandma and Cara was like, "Sorry to break it to you, but that is in only 8 hours from now and that likely won't be happening." Or something to that effect. It was getting more an more unlikely! Neil showed up at the hospital around 4:30pm and we continued walking around the hospital. Rita left around 5pm to go back to Big Sky and get Cora for the evening.
For the next couple hours Neil and I both had our computers up and we were working on last emails before being out of the office. The nurses were around checking on things periodically and I remember thinking that they probably thought I was a crazy work-a-holic frantically typing emails while about to have a baby. I was also texting our parents and my girlfriends keeping them posted on how things were going. Around 6pm I was still feeling good and contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. They were monitoring the baby and she was doing well too. Here I was getting ready to have a baby!
They had me go walk around a bit more and we went to get Neil some dinner in the hospital cafeteria before it closed at 6:30pm and they said to be back in the room by 7pm to get checked out again. When Cassie came this time she decided to break my water (it was about 7:30pm) and that meant we definitely weren't leaving the hospital, so no hotel after all. We were going to have a baby soon!
We skyped with Cora and Rita to say good night. Neil turned on the TV and we watched Modern Family at 8pm-8:30pm. The contractions were starting to become more painful and I would have to breathe through them a bit more. The nurses said that the doctor was coming to do an epidural for someone else across the hall and that he could come to me after he was done there. It was great timing because it was getting quite painful and hard to focus on anything by this point. One thing that I found interesting was that I was suddenly having terrible heartburn in my chest. I didn't have it too bad during my pregnancy and definitely not when I was in labor with Cora. I mentioned it to the nurses and they brought me some alkaseltzer. It was still bad after a bit, so I think they gave it to me twice and then even brought me some Tums later.
It was about 9pm when the doctor arrived to give me the epidural. Luckily it went much smoother this time than with Cora. I think it helped that I was much more coherent and able to follow instructions. The doctor had me sit on the edge of the bed with my feet up on a stool and curl my back over. I had slowly been leaking fluid from my water breaking and I remember it running down my legs and on to the floor, which I kept apologizing for, even though they cleaned it up and I'm sure were used to that type of thing happening. After the epidural was all set they got me all situated with the baby being monitored and pillows propping me on my left side a bit. I still wasn't completely comfortable and I remember that from last time as well. I felt like one side was a bit more numb than the other and there was still quite a bit of pressure during each contraction, but it was a LOT less painful than it would have been.
Around 10pm the nurses said they would let us rest and they would be back around midnight to check on me. No more chance of having the baby on Rita's birthday! Neil fell asleep for about an hour or so. I tried to sleep, but between the pressure of the contractions and Neil snoring and the monitors beeping, I just dozed a little, but mostly watched the clock on the wall. Around 11:30pm I was feeling a lot more pressure and so I woke up Neil and pressed the nurse call button to have them come check on me. It turned out I was almost 9 cm, which surprised them! The baby's head was still pretty high, so instead of starting to push, they told me to relax and that we'd let the contractions bring the baby down a bit more, so I wouldn't get exhausted from pushing. The nurses and Cassie started setting up everything for the baby being born. At one point they moved me to my other side, which I was looking forward to after being on one side for so long, but apparently the baby's heartbeat went down or something and they said, nope, baby doesn't like it, we have to move back to the other side right now. I was trying to get a pillow adjusted and asked if I could have it moved and they were like, nope, sorry and shifted me right away. The heartbeat went back to normal, even though I wasn't as comfortable. The nurse was like, "Sorry, the baby runs the show." That was the only time that I remember there being any concern for the baby throughout the whole process. With Cora they had put a monitor on her head and there was much more concern about her wellbeing, so it was nice not to be quite as concerned about the baby this time.
Before I knew it I looked at the clock around 12:25am and they were saying I could start pushing when I felt the need to. I gathered all my energy and pushed as hard as I could. Cassie told me that she was really close, but I honestly didn't believe her. I thought maybe she was just saying that to encourage me to keep pushing. But two more contractions with 3-4 big pushes each later they said her head was out! The cord was wrapped around her neck once, so Cassie had to cut that real quick and then she was out. Neil said she was pretty blue at first, but turned instantly pink when the cord was cut and she started crying. It was 12:36am on Thursday, January 21st. I couldn't believe that I only pushed for 10 minutes instead of the hour and a half I did with Cora. What a relief to have it over with! Cassie said something about that being an ideal delivery and birth...I couldn't have agreed more!
They put Linley on my chest right away and Neil and I got to hang out with her until about 2am when they then took her to be weighed and bathed. They helped me take a shower (which is like the best shower ever after having a baby!) and then moved us to the recovery room. All was well!
We didn't decide on her name for a while, but she was here...Linley Quinn Johnson. 6 lbs 14 ounces and 21 inches long.
Since Cora was born at 39 weeks and I had a little bit of high blood pressure, I had it in my mind that the same thing would happen and that this baby would be here around 39 weeks as well. So when 39 weeks came and went I was really ready for her to arrive any time. I had made it through Cora's 3rd birthday party, which was a blast, and Neil's mom, Rita, had arrived from Minnesota to help with Cora during our hospital stay, so we were ready! On Wednesday, January 20th (which happens to be Rita's birthday!) I was 39 weeks and 3 days and had my 39 week check up at 10:45am. I took the following picture at home that morning thinking maybe they would tell me I couldn't come back home...which turned out to be true! Rita and I went out to a delicious breakfast in Bozeman that morning to celebrate her birthday before my appointment as well.
At my appointment Cassie checked me and said I was 2-3 cm dilated and 70% effaced and she said that my water could break at any time. I was still having Braxton hicks contractions every 5-10 minutes, but they weren't very painful and were the same as they had been for the past several weeks. In no way did I feel at all like I was close to going into labor, however, Cassie said she didn't really want me going back to Big Sky because my water could break at any time and it likely would be quicker when I did go into labor. She striped my membranes and said I should hang around in town for a few hours before coming back to Labor and Delivery to be checked again. She had some other moms in Labor and Delivery, so she would be there. It was about 11am then, so Rita and I left the hospital and had to come up with a few things to do in town. There weren't any movies we wanted to see playing at that time, so we got the car oil changed, visited a friend and her new baby, and then went out to lunch at a Japanese restaurant and had delicious ramen soup, which was a great last meal before having a baby! It was about 2:30pm when we got back to the hospital and I still felt about the same, definitely not in labor with mild contractions every 6-7 minutes apart. I felt kind of silly since I was clearly not in labor, but they checked me into a room in Labor and Delivery anyways and it was about 3:30pm when Cassie came to check on me. I was 3-4 cm and 80% effaced and she striped my membranes again and asked me to walk the halls of the hospital to see if the contractions started getting more intense. Rita and I walked pretty much the entire hospital halls several times. I called Neil and told him he should come to the hospital because they weren't going to let me go back to Big Sky that night. We planned to stay at a hotel in town to be close to the hospital if things didn't progress. I also called my manager around 4pm and we talked about last minute things for work and making sure all loose ends were tied up and that she knew the things to follow up on with my back up. She told me she could tell in my voice when I was having contractions, but they were still only slightly painful at that point. I said to Cara that we were hoping the baby would come before midnight in order to share a birthday with her grandma and Cara was like, "Sorry to break it to you, but that is in only 8 hours from now and that likely won't be happening." Or something to that effect. It was getting more an more unlikely! Neil showed up at the hospital around 4:30pm and we continued walking around the hospital. Rita left around 5pm to go back to Big Sky and get Cora for the evening.
For the next couple hours Neil and I both had our computers up and we were working on last emails before being out of the office. The nurses were around checking on things periodically and I remember thinking that they probably thought I was a crazy work-a-holic frantically typing emails while about to have a baby. I was also texting our parents and my girlfriends keeping them posted on how things were going. Around 6pm I was still feeling good and contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. They were monitoring the baby and she was doing well too. Here I was getting ready to have a baby!
They had me go walk around a bit more and we went to get Neil some dinner in the hospital cafeteria before it closed at 6:30pm and they said to be back in the room by 7pm to get checked out again. When Cassie came this time she decided to break my water (it was about 7:30pm) and that meant we definitely weren't leaving the hospital, so no hotel after all. We were going to have a baby soon!
We skyped with Cora and Rita to say good night. Neil turned on the TV and we watched Modern Family at 8pm-8:30pm. The contractions were starting to become more painful and I would have to breathe through them a bit more. The nurses said that the doctor was coming to do an epidural for someone else across the hall and that he could come to me after he was done there. It was great timing because it was getting quite painful and hard to focus on anything by this point. One thing that I found interesting was that I was suddenly having terrible heartburn in my chest. I didn't have it too bad during my pregnancy and definitely not when I was in labor with Cora. I mentioned it to the nurses and they brought me some alkaseltzer. It was still bad after a bit, so I think they gave it to me twice and then even brought me some Tums later.
It was about 9pm when the doctor arrived to give me the epidural. Luckily it went much smoother this time than with Cora. I think it helped that I was much more coherent and able to follow instructions. The doctor had me sit on the edge of the bed with my feet up on a stool and curl my back over. I had slowly been leaking fluid from my water breaking and I remember it running down my legs and on to the floor, which I kept apologizing for, even though they cleaned it up and I'm sure were used to that type of thing happening. After the epidural was all set they got me all situated with the baby being monitored and pillows propping me on my left side a bit. I still wasn't completely comfortable and I remember that from last time as well. I felt like one side was a bit more numb than the other and there was still quite a bit of pressure during each contraction, but it was a LOT less painful than it would have been.
Around 10pm the nurses said they would let us rest and they would be back around midnight to check on me. No more chance of having the baby on Rita's birthday! Neil fell asleep for about an hour or so. I tried to sleep, but between the pressure of the contractions and Neil snoring and the monitors beeping, I just dozed a little, but mostly watched the clock on the wall. Around 11:30pm I was feeling a lot more pressure and so I woke up Neil and pressed the nurse call button to have them come check on me. It turned out I was almost 9 cm, which surprised them! The baby's head was still pretty high, so instead of starting to push, they told me to relax and that we'd let the contractions bring the baby down a bit more, so I wouldn't get exhausted from pushing. The nurses and Cassie started setting up everything for the baby being born. At one point they moved me to my other side, which I was looking forward to after being on one side for so long, but apparently the baby's heartbeat went down or something and they said, nope, baby doesn't like it, we have to move back to the other side right now. I was trying to get a pillow adjusted and asked if I could have it moved and they were like, nope, sorry and shifted me right away. The heartbeat went back to normal, even though I wasn't as comfortable. The nurse was like, "Sorry, the baby runs the show." That was the only time that I remember there being any concern for the baby throughout the whole process. With Cora they had put a monitor on her head and there was much more concern about her wellbeing, so it was nice not to be quite as concerned about the baby this time.
Before I knew it I looked at the clock around 12:25am and they were saying I could start pushing when I felt the need to. I gathered all my energy and pushed as hard as I could. Cassie told me that she was really close, but I honestly didn't believe her. I thought maybe she was just saying that to encourage me to keep pushing. But two more contractions with 3-4 big pushes each later they said her head was out! The cord was wrapped around her neck once, so Cassie had to cut that real quick and then she was out. Neil said she was pretty blue at first, but turned instantly pink when the cord was cut and she started crying. It was 12:36am on Thursday, January 21st. I couldn't believe that I only pushed for 10 minutes instead of the hour and a half I did with Cora. What a relief to have it over with! Cassie said something about that being an ideal delivery and birth...I couldn't have agreed more!
They put Linley on my chest right away and Neil and I got to hang out with her until about 2am when they then took her to be weighed and bathed. They helped me take a shower (which is like the best shower ever after having a baby!) and then moved us to the recovery room. All was well!
We didn't decide on her name for a while, but she was here...Linley Quinn Johnson. 6 lbs 14 ounces and 21 inches long.
Her first bath.
Cora meeting her new baby sister.
Our first family of four picture!
Eyes wide open!
Awesome Anna! So sweet to read this beautiful story. What an amazing family you have!
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