Induction day came. I was a bit bummed that labor didn’t begin on it’s own for me, but then again I was so relieved to having this baby boy. I’ve never not wanted to be pregnant so badly before. I was spent, I was done, I was exhausted. I had a doctor apt that morning to check if I would need to be at the hospital at midnight that night or wait until 6:00 am Thursday morning. I also had a massage scheduled that afternoon, which I was of course very thankful I could go to that ;) Mike took off work that day and evening and so we had a simple family day. Nothing eventful, just all being home together before life would turn another chapter in the Kaelber home.
Midnight was the decided time to arrive at the hospital to slowly kick me into gear. I wasn’t really dilated much past 1cm and his head was still pretty high up. This was pretty confusing to us all with this being my 3rd baby and having been contracting already for a couple weeks. Hmmm….is what we all thought. IV was started, medication placed and we were tucked in for a few hours. Thankfully the Olympics were on all through the night, giving me something to watch. Mike has no problem sleeping wherever ;)
7:00am rolls around to my doctor and my great and wonderful nurse friend coming on into our room. Side note but, I love, love, love working where I deliver. I love that my doctor and my nurses are my friends also. I love knowing I'm receiving the absolute best care. I love how fun it is also :) Really, there is no fear, no up tightness, just lots of talking, laughing and simply having as much fun as you can when in labor. So anyways, doctor broke my water and labor began. Contractions right after another. Enough to request for that epidural pretty quickly. I get the epidural quickly because I have quick labors, to me there is no point in dragging out the pain when relief can be met. I love my epidurals!
8:00 am epidural gets placed. Exactly what I’ve been waiting for for months! 100% relief and comfort. So that was also the beginning of nap time. So far everything going right along according to plan. By 9:30 I was 4cm and by 11:00am I was 7cm. Looking like this baby boy was going to be here by noon, again totally according to plan. At 11:45 I was just about ready to begin pushing, I just had a rim of cervix on one side that wouldn’t go away. Parker’s head was still a little high up but had come down, so we decided to just begin pushing to see what would happen.
We pushed for a few minutes to discover with every push, little man would just kinda turtle back to where he had been pushed from and that rim of cervix continued to not go away. To some frustration, the bed was put back together and I was going to “labor down” (wait for a couple hours to see if decent would happen on it’s own). We were all so confused as to why pushing wasn’t successful.
By 2:00pm my epidural began to wear off a bit. I wrestled with receiving a bolus of medication from the anesthesiologist because we just weren’t sure when delivery would happen. I eventually gave in after another test run of pushing with no luck. I was hurting and just worn out! I received more medication and with Mike right by my side holding my hand, I slept. So many questions began to come to mind in us all. “Was there a cord wrapped around him”? No that wasn’t possible because he looked great on the heart rate monitor. “Was he too big”? No, that couldn’t be because I don’t have large babies and the ultrasound 2 weeks ago didn’t reveal a big baby. Hmmmmm…….
Right around 3:30 pm my nurse came in, checked me and suggested we started pushing again. By now I was feeling worn out. I could barely keep my eye’s open, I felt sick, I just wanted the day to be over so badly. But I put on my momma face, washed my face with a cold washcloth, brushed my teeth and began pushing and pushing and pushing. My epidural again began to wear off again soon into pushing and so I had some motivation to push my heart out to end the pain. Doctor came in soon into pushing. I’m not sure what it is but I found so much comfort in his constant presence. Pushing lasted what seemed like forever, especially for this being my 3rd kiddo. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This had now become the longest labor I’ve had by several hours. What on earth was going on became the question of the day! We were now a good hour into pushing. I kept looking at my doctor in-between pushes asking, “when are you going to call it?” Meaning when is enough, enough? When will he call the c-section? He kept assuring me, no that can’t happen, and it’s not going to happen.
About 4:45 the conversation I knew was coming but was dreading came. Doctor looked at me and pretty much said, “It’s time Ash.” Little Parker was starting to not tolerate labor anymore with an increased heart rate and I just couldn’t push any longer. I layer in bed in total understanding but cried tears of what felt like failure for me. How could I do this with 2 other kids but not this one. I just didn’t get it. The room was silent, except for me. I felt another painful contraction coming on, looked at doctor and asked if he wanted me to push. He said yes and so I reluctantly pushed. He asked me to push again and I wanted to strangle him. I didn’t get why he just called the c-section and was continuing to have me push. The other nurses in the room stood their in disbelief also but no one was saying a word. You could have heard a pin drop in there. After about the 2nd push in tears and pain, the Holy Spirit just came upon me, really and truly! We sing a song during family devotions that I began singing out loud breaking the silence,
"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do. The mountains are His, the valleys are His, the stars are His handy work too. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do. For you!"
Mike and I began quoting scripture verses such as, “In my weakness, you are strong” and “Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified for the Lord your God is with you.”
A couple minutes into this worshipful time, I began to feel so nauseated and started throwing up. As Mike was holding my puke bag and the girls were wiping my face, doctor began almost shouting, “No way! No way! I’ve never seen this before, come look. Baby Parker isn’t stuck anymore, he’s coming!” Of course everyone stops what they are doing to look in shear excitement and disbelief. Shear excitement broke out in our room and everyone was shocked by the power of prayer in that moment. I was set up for delivery, and about 4 or 5 contractions later we heard the first cry of our son as he was placed on my chest at 5:21 pm. I held him so tightly, wrapping him in warm blankets, sobbing tears of joy and praising my Savior over and over! There wasn’t a dry eye in that room. Praise you Father!
That moment, when your child is placed on your chest, is my absolute favorite moment in all the kid’s lives. Love so overtakes you for this tiny human that you two are the only ones in the room. I smile, I laugh, I cry. I look over at Mike and he’s doing the exact same thing. I think this little, tiny soul was made from me and the love of my life. It makes no sense and that’s why God deserves all the glory! This pregnancy was a long one. This labor was a long one. I’m so happy all that is behind us. But goodness, without a doubt I would do it all over again if I needed to for the sake of how perfect Parker is! Thank you Jesus!
Soon after delivery Brody and Aubrie came up. They walked into our room, their eye’s beaming at what I was holding. The famous Baby Parker was finally out of mommy’s belly! Brody crawled right up onto my bed and said, “Hi, Baby Parker” smiling from ear to ear. Then it was Aubrie’s turn. She was fascinated by his face and his tiny sounds he was making. He was a real baby doll! Baby Parker had brought them gifts. Brody opened up Bulldog from Planes the movie (which he has been asking for for weeks and weeks!) and Aubrie opened up a baby doll. Parker became the coolest brother ever :)
And now we are home. Adjusting to being a family of 5! We all got into the van the other day and for the first time I thought, “Wow, we have a lot of kids!”. Life has been a bit overwhelming, but with each day Mike and I are learning how to navigate with three. I’ve learned the “art” of asking for help and also the “art” of being honest and truthful with others when I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed and that really has been liberating!
Brody and Aubrie continue to “love” on their new brother. He is the first thing they talk about in the morning and the last thing they mention at bedtime. Mike and I are so thankful at how well they are doing at adjusting to the new chaos :) Is our family done growing? I have no idea. But for now we will continue to bask in the beautifulness of this family of 5 :)
