Savannah Jo's Story...and then some! part 2

Sitting at a table in the back of the church that Sunday morning, I didn't eat much. I wasn't feeling very good, and about 9-9.30 I started having contractions. These contractions were different than with Kyah. With Kyah they were sharp, intense, sudden, gripping contractions, wrapping around my belly and back and causing me to gasp for air.  These ones were a little more gradual. They would come in a wave, starting off in the back...radiating around to the front, then my stomach would tighten, and it was more of an intense cramping feeling, then a sharp pain. I was glad. Now I understood why some women had babies and wondered why it was so hard for others, these kind of contractions weren't so bad as the other ones. Of course if you give them long enough all contractions get to a point of ah...excruciatingness? Is that even a word?  I say it's a good word for contractions!

Anyways, I decided not to time the contractions persay, but I got out my cell phone, and a pen and paper. Each time during sunday school I had a contraction, I would glance at the time, and write it down. When one would hit, I'd close my eyes, breathe deep, and sometimes rubbing my belly helped. haha

So, it's no wonder, that after sunday school, Pastor inquired as to whether I was having contractions or not.  I told him I was, after checking my paper I noticed the contractions were coming about every 5-7 min.  We decided to stay for the rest of church, unless things continued quickly. Pastor announced that I could possibly be in labor, and I really hoped I would be having a baby that sunday!  I had many watchful eyes on me that day.  I continued my, "Check time, write it down, shut eyes, breathe deep" routine, and listened as much as I could. Which turned out not to be much...by the end of the sermon, the contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes.  I decided we should go to the hospital, if for nothing else but to see what was going on. I was scared to go, because on the way there, the contractions seemed to slow. I was sure by the time we got there they would stop. 

We had taken the Pastor's eldest daughter Ashley with us, to keep an eye on Kyah until my mum could come get her, she stayed with Kyah in the waiting room while they took me into the triage room and got me hooked up to the moniters.

When Kyah came in she seemed concerned for me, so I was a little bit glad that the contractions didn't feel so bad anymore. It turns out though, I was having contractions just as I had been earlier, but some of them I wasn't feeling as strong as I had been.  They thought it could still be a while, but there was a decel in the baby's heartrate at the first  contraction on the moniter, and since they didn't know why, and I was already overdue, they said they would admit me, and possibly break my water soon.

Stacy arrived not long after that, and Mum and Dad came to get Kyah and took her to church with them.  Ashley let me smell her lovely smelling chapstick every now and then, and my Sister-in-law Jessica came in case I wanted her to rub my back etc. I mostly loved her freezing cold hands on my neck and back!!

Stacy helped tell the girls when to quit touching me or talking to me, I much appreciated that.  She helped me breathe through the contractions, and "sink into the bed" with each one. That was some intense focusing I had to do there...but at the same time as the pain was increasing, I felt more encouraged that I was doing well, and was coping much better than with Kyah.  Stacy continued to encourage me and push me forward. Her calming technique of sliding her hand down over my side as I had a contraction really helped me to relax and breathe myway through.
Kyah came back for a visit, and my sister accidentaly took a picture of us mid-contraction, because she didn't realise I was having one.  That picture is so precious to me now. My beautiful, tender-hearted girl...comforting her momma!

There were snacks, games, and plenty of fun being had over at the table on the side of the room, and my lovely husband was watching sport, of course. Lol  It must be the manly tradition to do such things while your wife is in labor. haha  But I do have to give him credit, he was a better this time than with Kyah.  It did kind of drive me nuts, all the "shenanigans" over in the corner, but true to my nature, I didn't say anything, it's not very fun to watch so much fun be had when you're in agony. Some might argue that it is...but at this point in time, I didn't think so. My husband still makes fun of me for that..."how dare someone have fun, while you're in labor!!" ...Exactly, now he's getting somwehere! :) 

I eventually got to that point where it was getting harder to breathe, and I was tensing up a little more. I felt like I would go out of my mind in pain, sometime soon, but when Stac asked if I wanted the epi, or for her to keep encouraging me and pushing me on, I opted for going some more. The Dr came and saw me and decided that with not mch progress, they would have to break my water. I was hesitant, I had heard horror stories of kids getting poked in the head.  So they said they'd be back in an hour, to check my progress. If  I wasn't getting anywhere, then they'd break my water, I agreed.  I continued through contractions for an hour, sure there was going to be progress. This is Savannah we are talking about remember, when they came back in an hour, they broke my water. It was surprisingly easier than I thought, the nurse/dr ...midwife? I can't remember who did it, but she came in with a BIG LONG needle, it totally freaked me out, so I looked away, she made sure I was ok, and I assured her I just didn't want to look, and I'd be ok.  I felt a warm gush, and there you have it, water broken.  Easy.  What came next, was not so easy!

The difference between contractions before and after "water breakage" is big! OUCH!!  The contractions picked up, and became increasingly tougher to breathe through. Someone came in and asked what the baby's name was going to be, and wrote WELCOME SAVANNAH JO on the board. I thought, this is it...Savannah's almost here...I'm having a baby! ...

I continued through contractions, for about an hour to an hour and a half more. By this time everyone had gone, except Joey and Stacy...I decided I wanted the Epi.  I couldn't keep steady through the contractions, I was shaky, tensing up, and they hurt SO bad. I tried and tried to relax and breathe, it just wasn't doing any good. So we called for the Epi. I was quite pleased to find I got the same "Bandana Guy" as with Kyah, I felt instantly at ease...same drill as before, he went through all the steps with me before, and explained them as he did it. Barely felt a thing, and there it was...that swoosh of relief. Unlike with Kyah, I could still feel the contractions, they just weren't intensly painful, just the tightening feeling. I can do this, I thought.  This time I'm going to get some rest!!

The nurses and Stacy let me know to tell them when I felt, "the pressure" I didn't feel it yet, so I turned to my side and faced stacy, who had pulled up a chair nearby. I remember talking a little bit about almost being ready to have the baby, how exciting it was, and then we rested. Suddenly, I felt "the pressure" with my contraction. I wasn't sure so I waited through about 5 contractions. Then I told Stacy I thought I was feeling it, she was like me and said to wait for a few contractions to make sure.  I was just going to sleep when a nurse, or someone came in and fiddled with the IV, and moniter. I looked at her with my eyes all blurred, and said something about feeling the pressure. I promptly fell asleep.

Next thing I know I'm being woken up by a strangely familiar looking nurse.  She wanted to check me, and at that point it almost felt like I could feel JoJo's head between my legs, I told her that. So she said, "let's take a look" and lifted the sheet to do the check, and got that wide-eyed, jaw dropping look. She said, "the heads right there" and ran out.

Stacy woke up Joey, who looked up all weerily, and half asleep.  He then realised what was happening and rushed over to my side, and hugged me, I think he stroked my face and said something sweet about it being time to have the baby, he gave me a sweet kiss, and we had a little, we're having a baby moment.  Stacy had hopped up as soon as the nurse came in, and was visibly excited when the nurse made her "announcement" and made her way to my right side. We were all charged with a new energy, at the thought of what was about to happen.   God was about to introduce us to our baby girl...He knew her, He formed her...and soon, we would meet her. *sigh*

A bunch of people came rushing in all at once and broke down the bed, set up the stirrups, and prepared the table with all the "tools" 

The midwife, asked me to push once, so off we went, Stacy and the nurse counted, (Stac was at my head again, on the right side, Joey was by her but at my right leg, the nurse was at my left side. ) I felt SO heavy, I breathed in as much as I could, but it felt like I was barely breathing in. I pushed my hardest, but it was more of a strain than anything. They told me to breath in deeper, as much as I could, and push hard. I did. It was no good. I told them I couldn't breathe properly, and my chest was heavy.  They propped my bed up,  sat me up  some more, and turned down the epidural.

I pushed again, with this push I had a big WOOSH feeling come over me, and felt lightheaded and dizzy.  ...counting...and again PUSH... I started to say, "I think I'm gonna..." and I jerked my head over the bed to the left and threw up all over my side and the floor.  I continued to throw up, and gag. I was in tears, involuntarily, from the throwing up. But the nurses comforted me, and assured me it was ok, and that I was doing good. They thought I was upset. "you're doing great, it's alright, the babies coming,"  *little stifled giggle* "The babies heads coming out. It's working, you're doing great."  They looked on in awe and amazement. I could feel her head coming out each time I wretched...so gross, but so cool. It was amazing. Before I knew it, I felt her head come out.

Joey and Stacy, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on.  When I started throwing up, Stacy had rushed to get things to clean me up, and was washing my face, and along with the nurses, comforting me and encouraging me. I vaguely remember her holding my face...I think...hmm. Joey was somewhere over by the sink, looking for the notorious "blue thing" My poor husband, heard someone say grab the blue thing, meaning the long plastic sick bag thing, but there were also blue paper towels, blue cloths, and I believe blue chux pads...the poor guy was grabbing the wrong things, "no not that blue thing" He turned around to see Savannah's head out. haha he was quite surprised, as was Stacy. It happend so quickly...

They cleaned me off a little, with a wonderful cool cloth, and we were back at it. PUSH...I gave it my all, and out she came. They wisked her up onto my stomach, and Joey cut the cord.  I just stared at her, I was in awe. I didn't know what to do.  Kyah was taken away pretty quickly, so I just kept staring at her expecting them to take her. I looked into those beautiful big eyes...Savannah Jo...  

Savannah Jo Jaco was born at 2:20am, Dec 15th, 2008.  8lb. 20in.  

They wisked her over to the baby bed, and did all the weighing, taking her vitals, etc.  I remember thinking she looked like Kyah, but a more daddy-like version.  They took her footprints, which was something new since we had had Kyah. 

They took her over to the sink, and bathed her. It was so awesome to watch that, I missed Kyah's first bath.  I soaked it all in.

The nurses changed my gown, after I delivered the placenta with one push. No stiches. YEAH!! With Kyah I had pushed for an hour and a half, I only pushed for ten minutes with Savannah! Most of that was throwing up too. The nurses and I joked about how effective throwing up was for getting the baby out, we all decided,  it was quite a memorable experience.  In case you don't know what it's like to "throw up a baby" I highly recommend it. It's much easier than pushing!!  It got the job done nicely!

I was so hungry, one of the nurses brought me pain medicine, and a yummy hospital meal. A cheeseburger. That was almost the best burger ever. It probably helped that I hadn't eaten for so long...and worked hard. It was so good.  I ate while Daddy, and Stacy snuggled JoJo.  Then Stacy asked if I wanted to nurse her.

I admit, this moment was ackward for me with each of my kids. I Love breastfeeding them, it's no trouble at all...but that first time. I always felt unsure. Like I wouldn't know what to do or it wouldn't work, etc. I don't know why. Once I had each child in my arms, and started the feeding...*BLISS* It's so amazing to be able to do that. True to form, Savannah ate with gusto, letting us have a glimpse into the future.  She always did let us know her unique personality traits right away!

We transfered over to the postpartum room, and said goodbye to the nurses. I found out that the nurse I had recognized had helped me in postpartum with Kyah. It was nice to see a few familiar faces. I was wheeled over to the new room, and hopped into bed.  This time we had our own room. YAY!!

We had lots of visitors the next day...including BIG sister!! When Nana walked in carrying Kyah, she looked so big!  She was asleep.



Kyah was SO excited to see her baby sister. The first thing she did was say, "I hold her" when Daddy said no, she broke down...

Daddy then went on to explain to her, she could hold her, she just couldn't grab her and carry her on her own. So we got her up on the bed, and she got to hold her brand new sister. She was so proud!

Joey took Kyah home with him that night, and I had Savannah all to myself. I had my routine again of feed the baby, change the baby, go to bathroom, clean up myself, get baby to sleep, pain meds, and then it would start all over. I didn't really get any sleep. 

Jenn Campbell had been trying to get to the hospital to visit, but we were about to be discharged. Joey came and picked us up, and we decided to go to the campbells for a quick visit.

 

When we got home I was utterly exausted. I went to bed early, and I don't remember much. I don't remember ever being that exausted before. That is until I had Ava... But anyway. With Kyah we would both wake up, I'd sit up and feed her, Joey would change her diaper, I'd feed her the other side...lay her back down...etc.  Poor JoJo...at least she got fed. I was SO exausted, I don't even remember waking up, but I know I woke once and put her on one side, and again once more to switch her to the other for another feeding. WHen I woke up in the morning it was all a blur, but there she was...laying right next to me sleeping blissfully. Perfectly content. I fed her again. 

She got to meet her cousin Gracie. (whom she now says is her best friend) can you see the immediate connection? I Love it!!

Savannah Jo...we barely knew the meaning of scared until we met you.Oh, she's tripped, fallen, crashed, bashed and smashed just about every part of her, she's had a mild and moderate concussion, she's almost passed out, she's run into walls, jumped from places higher than she should have, climbed to places she shouldn't be able to, gotten into about everything imaginable...Oh our crazy little JoJo...How we love her. She's been so ill at times, she got us to drive halfway to the hospital at 2am after she screamed bloddy murder for an hour, like we'd never heard before, only to fall asleep in the car. We've thought we'd lose her, more than once.

But oh..those big beeming eyes, that sweet cheeky smile, that husky high voice, and crazy little giggle, that turns into an all out belly laugh. What would we do without you sweet little thing. Everyone has a JoJo...they require a lot more patience than most.  She's our Daredevil...that's for sure. But hey, she did warn us from the womb!! ...and she is the second child...we should have known!