Tenley Belle

Warning:  Labor Story

The following are things that I DID NOT want to have happen:

1)- Have the baby on the 4th of July
2)- Go into labor on my own
3)- Have a baby WITHOUT an epidural!!!!
4)- Have a different Dr. deliver my baby

Well, ALL of them happened with Miss Tenley Belle!  Here is the story:

I had a Dr.'s appointment on June 28th.  I was dilated to a 2.5 and 60% effaced so Dr. Stanczyk stripped me and said he thought I would go into labor sometime that week.  BUT, just in case I didn't, he scheduled an induction for July 8.  He was so sure that I was going to go into labor that he gave me his card with a note for the nurses to call him for delivery because he was not on call that weekend and was going to be at a wedding.  He said he would come deliver me and he would try to be "responsible". :-)  So, as soon as I got home I started to get ready.  I got everything packed and then decided I would try to get this baby out by walking....and walking....and even more walking.  I took the kids out in the heat and we went on a 2 mile walk and then went to the Y so I could walk another 3 miles on the treadmill.  I also bounced on an exercise ball, trying to break my water....not 1 contraction!  Which, was weird because I always had contractions while I exercised!  Tenley must have had fun watching me try though!

So nothing happens the rest of the week.  I really wanted to have her on July 1- Canada Day.  July 1 was also on a Friday and Dave had a 3 day weekend (4th of July weekend) ...PERFECT.  Well, I did everything I could to have some contractions so I could go in.  I drank a full bottle of Castor oil, walked and walked and walked, scrubbed all the grout in the kitchen, vacuumed, steam vac the carpets, washed walls, cleaned the trim with a toothbrush, and mowed the lawn....NOTHING!  Ugh!  I finally gave up and had peace of mind that she would come when she was suppose to come.

Well, the one day that I did NOT want her to come was on the 4th of July.  We had fun things planned all day and we hadn't spent a 4th of July together in a long time.  We were also excited about taking the kids to the fireworks.  Kaylee had been counting down all week.

We decided to take the kids swimming at the pool, this was at 1:00 PM.  I started having contractions while we were there but they weren't anything I hadn't had before.  They were 5 minutes apart. If it had been any other day I would have been excited about the contractions and gone in, even though they weren't that bad.  Well, we stayed at the pool until 4:00 PM.  We had a BBQ to go to at 5 at the Branvold's so we hurried home, changed, and went to the BBQ.  I had had one hard contraction right when we got home and then an even harder one once we arrived at the BBQ.  I went inside and asked Heather how far apart they had to be before I went in.  She didn't know because she had never gone into labor on her own either.  Well, my contractions were getting closer together and harder.  Heather suggested I ask Stacy, who was on her way and OVERDUE.  I said there was no way I was going to ask the poor girl if I should go in to have a baby.  Well, as as soon as she walked in, Dave B said, "Hey Stacy, Jenna has a question for you"  HA...great.  I felt so bad.  Her husband, Wicky, started timing my contractions.  They were 3 minutes apart and lasted for at least a minute.  Stacy said I had better go.  So we decided we would go but first, we wanted to have a picture with all 3 of us PT wives pregnant.  As soon as I stood up my water broke.  I wasn't sure at the time because I've never had my water break on my own so I took the picture, hurried out to the car, and told Dave I had thought my water had broke....and sure enough, it had!  We rushed home, grabbed our stuff, and headed to Springfield.  Dave flew down 13!  He went 95 all the down!  We were lucky we didn't get pulled over...especially on the 4th of July!

Water had just broke....had Tenley 1 hour after this was taken!

The drive was horrible!...to say the least!  The contractions were getting bad and I started crying.  We finally arrived to the ER at the hospital.  We didn't go straight to Labor and Delivery because we didn't know where it was...Dave ran inside, I hobbled inside hunched over, Dave ran to a nurse and told them his wife was in labor.  The nurse said, "Oh no, we don't do that here"!  They grabbed a wheelchair, asked me some questions, grabbed a guy nurse, and off we went to labor and delivery.  The nurse was trying to be nice and talk to me but that was the last thing I wanted to do.  I felt like I was going to die! :-)  Dave had to go park the car so just like in the movies, he was running somewhere behind me.  The nurse pushing me kept telling people the husband was behind us and to send him our way.  We finally reached labor deliver and the first thing I said was, "I want an epidural NOW"!  They quickly took me to a room to check me.  I was at a 6 so they rushed me back to a delivery room.  I kept asking and asking, pleading and begging for an epidural.  The nurses kept telling me they had to do labs before they could get me one.  I didn't want to hear it.  I wanted an epidural NOW! 

The whole room was filled with nurses.  I think there were between 8 and 10 nurses all trying to get things ready.  I had nurses working on both arms putting in an IV in one and putting bands on the other.  It was chaos! 

I started to feel like I needed to push so I told them I thought I needed to push.  Well the nurse checked me and I was a 9!  She couldn't believe it! I remember her saying, "She is a 9!  She was a six 5 minutes ago!"  (It seemed a lot longer than that!)  So now there was even more chaos.  I'm not even sure what all was going on.  All I knew was I thought I was dying and wanted an epidural!  I was still begging for one and finally a nurse grabbed my face and said, "Look at me, you are not going to get an epidural".  Well, that was the worst thing she could have told me.  I honestly think I would have been better off if she had not told me that.  I flipped out!  I remember saying, "No!  No!  No!" over and over and saying, "I can't do it!  I can't do it!"  I was panicking just thinking that I was not going to get one and I was delivering this baby without any pain medication.  I was now having a panic attack.  I had a couple nurses trying to calm me down and trying to get me to breath because I was out of control!  I also remember yelling, "Get this baby out"!  :-)  I was not calming down or breathing.  A nurse told me to look at her and to breath.  She told me that if I wasn't breathing the baby wasn't breathing so I needed to calm down for the baby.  My blood pressure sky rocketed!  It was in the 170's!! I tried to calm down but it just wasn't working. 

I'm not sure at what point the Dr showed up (not my Dr.)  Dr. Smith-O'Brian was there to deliver me.  Luckily I had met him 2 weeks prior because Dr. Stanczyk was out of town.  I remember pushing and getting the head out without even knowing if there was a Dr there.  I just did it because I had to get the baby out.  The next thing I heard was the Dr saying to push to get the shoulders out and she was here.

I had so many emotions going through me at this moment in time.  I was overwhelmed with love for my new baby, I was mad, I was in pain, I was still really upset, I was crying,  ...luckily a nurse kept wiping my face so I didn't have mascara everywhere, I was relieved, I was in shock, it is just really hard to explain what I was feeling but every time I see this picture I remember exactly what I was feeling. 

Tenley Belle Eskelson

July 4, 2011

6:26 PM

6 lbs 6 oz

18.5 inches

Head 13 in

Born @ St. John's Hospital in Springfield, MO

We hit highway 13 @ 5:36 PM and Tenley was here @ 6:26 PM. 50 minutes after leaving home!

(The hospital was 30 minutes away!)

We timed our trip home from the hospital and figured Dave shaved 10 minutes off our time.  If he hadn't gone 95 down the highway, I probably would have had Tenley in the car!

The nurses said she was one of the cleanest babies they have ever seen. 

We didn't have our camera, it was in the car.  So, Dave had to take pictures with his crummy camera on his phone...we didn't even have nice phones to take pictures with.

With my other kids, I never felt the after birth.  I just enjoyed my baby and didn't have clue what else was going on.  Not this time!  It was so painful while the nurses and Dr massaged my stomach/Uterus etc.  I just wanted it all to be over!

The labor part was finally over and I could hold my baby again.  I was still in pain though so I asked if I could finally have something for it.  I was still having trouble breathing so I was given oxygen and medicine for the pain.  I started to get really dizzy and light headed and had to ask the nurse to take the baby from me.  Then I was out until Dave came back from the nursery.  He said that they wouldn't let him go in.  Usually with our other babies he has been able to go in and help give them a bath and watch them do all they have to do right after delivery.  We wondered if something happened when a dad was in there video taping and then turned around and used it to sue or something.  I always liked that Dave stayed with the baby the whole time but they put security bands on me and the baby before they took her so that an alarm would sound if either of us left.  They also had a security guard station guarding the nursery.  It was the most secure hospital I've been in.  Even though I would have preferred to have Dave with the baby, it was nice to have him in recovery with me.  I had to stay there for 2 hours before I was moved to my other room.  He usually meets me in the other room after they are done with the baby.

After some drugs and sleep, I was feeling so much better and so happy and excited to be with my new baby!

I am so happy our little Tenley Belle is finally here!  It seems like I waited forever for her to be a part of my life.  After going through some heartache and some hard times, I am more appreciative of what a blessing it is to be pregnant, give birth, and have a healthy baby.  I love her so so much!  Welcome to our family Tenley!