Taylor's Birth Story

Taylor Elizabeth
2 weeks old - August 29th, 2010

So I've been meaning to write this post for some time. Now that it is two weeks later I figured that I should get around to it before I put it off more.

Here is the story of Taylor's birth!

Sunday morning August 15th I got up like I had normally been doing for the past week around 4-5 am and went downstairs to lay on the couch and watch some TV while Chris slept in. Luckily it was his day off. Around 8 AM, I got up to go to the bathroom and as soon as I stood up I felt this trickle. So I thought, OK my water broke. I called up to Chris and then called the OB. They told me to pack up my things and head in. The only good part of all of this was the fact that I wasn't having contractions. We packed up those last minute items we needed, got food out for the cats, and then headed out to the car to go to the hospital nearly an hour later. Still no contractions.

About a mile from our house, Chris says, "Honey what's that light on your dash?" Yes, it was a tire pressure warning light that I had a flat tire. So we pulled over, checked the tires and they all looked fine. Oh did I mention it was pouring down rain at that exact moment that Chris got out of the car to check? Yep! Great luck we have. So since we didn't know what was really going on with the tires, we went back home and switched cars. I figured by the time Chris got back home after the baby was born, if there was a leak we would be able to find out which tire it was and change it then. So we switched cars and were back on our way.

We got to the hospital around 10 am and headed up to Labor and Delivery. The room they wanted to give me was in the middle of being cleaned so they asked if I could wait about 10 minutes and I figured sure. Still no contractions. So they sat me down in a chair and started to take my registration information etc, when all of a sudden there was this HUGE GUSH of fluid. So apparently my water hadn't broken fully earlier. For the next hour I felt like a five year old that kept wetting the bed. We ended up in a different room that was already to go.

So from here on out not much happened. I started to get contractions, got settled in the room, was checked by the doctor and sent walking around the ward. We walked for about an hour and then rested and then walked about an hour and rested. I was really proud of how I was handling the contractions and pain during this time. My cervix continued to dialate slowly but surely. By 5 pm I was about half way and got my epidural. Over the next hour I advanced to 6-7 cm and things were going well.

Here is where things changed. By 6 PM my OB was happy with my progress but he didn't feel the contractions were strong enough for me and baby to make it all night especially since almost 12 hours had passed since my water breaking. They gave me some Petocin. This sent baby's heart rate up so they immediately stopped the Petocin. By 10 PM I was still at 6-7 and baby was starting to get distressed. I was then given a choice.....go ahead and have a c-section or wait another hour and make a decision then.

Something was obviously wrong so we decided to go with the c-section. From there things happened so fast. Chris was getting put in scrubs, I was wheeled off to surgery, my parents packed up all our bags and headed to a recovery room to wait. Chris was finally let in the OR at 11 PM and by 11:03 she was out. I was shocked to find out that it only took them 3 minutes to take her out. Chris then did the Daddy duty of following the baby around the OR while they checked her out and did all the clean up. I got to hold her before they headed us off to recovery.

So why wouldn't she come out on her own? When they went to get her out the cord was wrapped around her neck. The OB has given me reason to think that if I was to have a second child they would let me try for a vaginal delivery since it appeared to be the cord that was the issue and not the labor, my cervix, or the baby's size.

By 2 AM they finally sent us over to our more permanent room in the Maternal Child Unit for the evening and my parents went home. Chris spent the evening with me in the hospital that first night.


I'll have to work on updating you on her daily happenings but that will have to wait for another time! =)

Meet Taylor Elizabeth

More details coming later all about Labor and Delivery and our eventful trip to the hospital early yesterday morning. For now here are some photos of our bundle of joy!

Born 8/15 @ 11:03 PM
Weight: 7 lb 2 oz
Length: 21 inches

Officially Overdue

Well, I was due yesterday and guess what? No Baby! This morning I was checking some things on my computer and I noticed my countdown on my dashboard had changed......tell me what is wrong with this picture?



Apparently, according to my MacBook Pro she arrived yesterday. Wouldn't that have been nice! Taylor came and I didn't even have to go through labor. =)

I've still been busying myself with those long term sub plans. Yesterdays excitement hindered where I wanted to be with them by today. What excitement you might ask? You would think it had something to do with the baby but No....it was a tornado warning in our area. Now those of you who know me, know that extreme weather and Carrie don't mix all that well. The drama and excitement didn't come from the fact that I had to go into the basement and was completely freaked out but from my cat, Kuroy, who refused to go into his cage. Ten minutes and lots of tears and crying on my part, pleading with him, I finally shoved him in his cage and we all made our way down to the basement together. Our basement is partially unfinished so the cats had to be in their cages when we were down there. After about 45 minutes when the tornado warning had been lifted and the severe thunderstorm had passed we made our way back up to the main level and the cats were released. You would think OK, end of drama. NO! Unfortunately not! Tristan our other cat who went in his cage very willingly decided to discipline his brother for his behavior. So the rest of the evening, I was faced with Tristan chasing his brother around the house, trapping him in every corner, growling, hissing, and swatting at him. He was even like that with Chris when he came home. I guess he thought it wasn't fair for his pregnant mom to be left alone during the storm. While I appreciate Tristan being protective of Taylor and myself, it was a bit much! Makes me wonder what he will be like when Taylor actually arrives.

Needless to say after that ordeal I needed a stiff drink, but settled for some donuts instead. I put off the sub plans, which is what I'm about to get started on again now, and relaxed for the rest of the evening. I'm hopeful that something will get started in the labor department soon, but realistic that I may be headed for being induced. That will be determined by whether I make it to my next appointment on Wednesday the 18th.

Hope everyone has a fun weekend planned and they are enjoying their summer vacation. It's hard to believe that school and the end of summer is coming up so fast!!!

39 Weeks 6 Days - Almost There!

So my due date is tomorrow. Nothing much is new here to report. I had my regular weekly appointment on Monday. The internal revealed nothing going on in the way of baby making her way out. I'm still only dilated 1-2 cm.

The doctor recommended being up and walking as much as possible. So Chris and I went for a trip to Best Buy and then a walk around the neighborhood Monday evening at 8 when it was a little cooler. I still drank almost a whole bottle of water while we were out. Since, yesterday was Chris' day off we did a lot of errands around Columbia. Before going for another walk last night around 7, followed by a trip to Rita's for some custard.

The last few days have been peaceful around the Trudden household. I've been working on a Peter Rabbit alphabet sampler, computer login cards, and my sub plans. The rest of the week will be much of the same. Chris' next day off is Friday so I think we will be doing some errands so that I can get out and mobile as much as possible.

My next OB appt is Wednesday the 18th and at that time they will begin to discuss induction. Let's hope that Taylor decides to come out on her own in the meantime. I'm writing her eviction notice tonight. Hopefully she will be a good tenant and pack up her belongs and leave on time. =)

Here are some current photos in the meantime.

Belly Photo - 39 Weeks 6 Days


Peter Rabbit Sampler - All Done and ready for framing!


My next cross-stitch project!

Take a Tour of Taylor's Room

So today I spent some time in Taylor's room doing some final cleaning and organization. All that is left at this point is to put up the curtains that my mom is currently making, whenever I give her the measurements for the window and curtain rod. I should probably do that soon. =) I took some photos which can be found on our photo website so you can see the all of the photos from start to finish of her room.

Click here to see all the photo's

Last night I got a new laptop that I have been saving for since June! Graduation, Birthday, and Curriculum Money combined with paychecks that are free of benefits deductions helped me to be able to make this one last indulgent purchase for myself.

My new MacBook Pro just out of the box.


So Pretty Inside


I love my MacBook Pro and made a quick movie this evening that shows off Taylor's room. As an avid iMovie user I was hesitant to use the newest version (which I have NO experience with) to create this movie, however I figured the movie won't be too long so I'll give it a try!

OMG! I love it! All in all it took me about 10 minutes to put it together from start to finish! Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.