After a few days of on/off contractions and other impending labor signs, Friday morning I woke up extra uncomfortable and agitated. Mike left for work which was becoming increasingly stressful for both of us due to him being an hour from home and us living up to an hour from the hospital. Thoughts of going into labor at home alone with the kids compiled with worries of repeat placental issues were making me a wreck. I decided to put in a call to Kaiser to explain the situation to one of my doctors and see if they would be willing to induce since I was already past my due date. The nurse got me an appointment for that afternoon. Mom left work early to take me to the appointment and help with the kids.

We got to the appointment a little early but they took us right away. The nurse came in and took me into triage and hooked me up to the monitors. They monitored contractions and baby's heartbeat for about half an hour. The doctor came in and looked at the monitor report and then checked me. I was fully expecting for there to be no change from my appointment two days earlier but to my surprise, he said, "Yep, you're in labor." HOORAY!! He instructed us to go straight to the hospital, that he would be notifying them that we were on the way. :)

I called Mike on the way out of the doctor's office so that he could meet us at the hospital. It was rush hour, no doubt!! Thankfully, Mom had convinced me to bring my hospital bag with me, just in case. So, we began the drive up. Caleb fell asleep and watching him, it sunk in that it would be the last time I saw him while he was still "the baby". (Can you say hormones? LOL)

Mom dropped me off at Piedmont Hospital at around 5:30pm and Mike was waiting for us. We said goodbye to Mom and the kids and went up to L&D. Once we got there, they took us straight to my room and got things started. I was still about 4cm at that time. I got my epidural around 6pm, was nice and comfortable, and they left us to rest for awhile. Probably around 8pm, the midwife checked me again and I was about 5cm and contractions were still weak and pretty far apart. So, they started me on a low drip of pitocin and gradually increased it throughout the night.

My epidural didn't take all the way and I began feeling some pretty intense contractions in the early morning hours around 5am after the midwife came in and broke my water. About 7am, I felt some definite movement and a little pressure. About 5 minutes later, my midwife and nurse came in and said they had seen it on the monitors. My midwife checked me and said that I was almost complete. They raised the back of my bed up and lowered the bottom so that I was in a mostly sitting position. They left me that way to "labor down" for an hour. At 8am, they came back and my midwife began "gloving up". She asked me to do one test push and then told me to stop. She and the nurse finished getting everything ready.

Once they were ready, I was allowed to push. Less than 5 easy pushes later, the midwife had delivered Kinley's head and shoulders. She asked me if I wanted to deliver the rest of her. I reached under Kinley's arms and lifted her onto my chest. It was the most amazing feeling in the entire world. I held her and she was looking up into my face and barely crying at all. The midwife then asked Mike if he wanted to cut the cord. He declined so they let me cut it instead. All in all, it was a really amazing experience that I will never forget for my whole life and by far the best delivery experience of all 3 of my babies. Kinley never went into distress, never required internal fetal monitoring, and there was no need for an episiotomy, forceps, or vacuum. :)

They let me hold her for quite some time before taking her to get weighed, measured, and cleaned up. Then the drama began. My midwife couldn't deliver my placenta. It was happening again. I tried to remain focused on Mike and Kinley and what was going on with her but kept getting distracted by the amount of blood I kept seeing in front of me. Lynette (my midwife) had the OB surgeon paged to the room immediately. Once he arrived, it was an extremely painful repeat of my post-delivery with Caleb. External uterine massage is excruciating pain. After about 30-45 minutes of massage and manual curettage, an increase in epidural, and a shot in the leg of pitocin, the doctor was able to remove all of the placenta.

Things calmed down after that and we were feeling good that everything seemed to be more controlled this time around vs. with Caleb. I ordered some breakfast and was enjoying spending time with Mike and Kinley. Once my breakfast arrived, I began to feel nauseous and weak. Suddenly, I told Mike that I was going to pass out and we put in a call to the nurse. The nurse and my midwife were in there in a matter of seconds and were tilting my bed backwards and checking my blood pressure. I felt like I was in a tunnel as my hearing and vision began to fade. I heard one of the nurses say that my blood pressure was 77/45 and distinctly remember beginning to cry. I looked at Mike holding Kinley and thought of my other two babies. I've never been so scared in my whole life.

The OB surgeon came back in and they ended up doing more massage and gave me more medications to help my uterus "clamp" as I was still passing a lot of blood. Thankfully, they were able to stabilize me and I began to feel better after some time.

Later in the afternoon, Mom and Dad brought the kids up to the hospital to meet their new baby sister. Reagan instantly loved her but I think Caleb didn't really care one way or another. Ha!

We brought her home Monday afternoon and have been adjusting well. Kinley is such a joy. She is a great sleeper and has been eating well also. She has become more alert and awake in the last couple of days and I just can't wait to see her little personality and smiles as she gets older. We are so in love! :)