Labor and Delivery: Edited Edition

Many people have asked how labor and delivery went for me. So here's an edited version of the story. (You can ask for the unedited version if you're that curious.)

Feb 10 at about 5:00AM I woke up with what I thought were just cramps. But then I realized they kept leaving and coming back, and realized that they weren't cramps. They were contractions.

Around 7AM they started to get harder and more frequent. So I woke Troy up and we started timing. After like 5minutes Troy had to get ready for church. So I was lying bed, in pain, trying to time them. I then thought my water broke, but I really didn't know what was going on. I called the doctor and she said to go in to get checked.

Troy was getting ready to walk out the door for church; that quickly changed. "We're going to the hospital." I kept saying. He kept responding "But what about our class.... I need to go tell Julie..." It wasn't sinking in that church was not going to happen today.

We got to the hospital and they decided to keep me for observation. Around 11AM my water broke. Now there was no turning back. I sent Troy home to get my stuff, I didn't bring it since I was sure I was just being paranoid. I decided I would walk around for an hour then I would get my epidural.
So I started walking and around 11:45, I said "I want my epidural now!" So the anesthesiologist  showed up at noon and I got my epidural right when I wanted it. Kelli and I did not react well, both our heart rates just dropped, but we came back after some medicine.

I still think my epidural wasn't as good as it could have been. I still had a good amount of pain with the epidural, but I lived.

I loved my L & D nurse. She was funny, and very honest. Your nurse really makes or brakes this whole situation. And the fact that there was 2 patience, including me and 5 nurses was absolutely great! The nurse was honest with me, Kelli's heart rate kept dropping with the contractions. That meant one of two things:.

1. Her head was in the birth canal. Which we knew was not the case at this point.
2. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.

I was glad the nurse told me.

At this point it was just a waiting game. We slept and my parents came by. At around 7pm they checked me and I was 8cm. "Good bye!" was mom's response. She didn't want to be there for the "fun" stuff, and I honestly didn't want her there either.

At this point, you have lost any and all dignity. And you really don't care.

I got a new nurse, she was nice too. I didn't like her as much as my first one but she was good.

At 8 I called the nurse and said I think it's time... Sure enough it was time to start pushing. At that moment my doctor walked in, she stayed in the room more than most doctors, I was her only patient. She needed something to do.

Your pushing and pushing and thinking "when will I be done!?" Then you see the doctor get on her blue outfit, and you know the end is near. Then:

Ta Da!

Troy got to cut the umbilical cord and then they put her on my chest. And you immediately forget the hell you just went through; at least for the moment.

After about an hour or so the nurse said "it's time to get up." I stared at her like "your hysterical!" But I got up and walked a little. 

Then I was up to the maternity floor. I had some good nurses, but 3 of the 4 were not good. They assumed I knew that I knew what I was doing, and as a first timer that was not the case. Luckily since I've gotten home, I've received a lot of help from other moms. 

What's In A Name?

In my child development class we did an exercise on names. How names mean so much to a child, that it was important as teachers to know the child by their name, and be able to pronounce it right. As weird as it sounds it's linked to their self esteem and how they view themselves in the world.

I think aside from the actually giving birth part, the next hardest thing is picking a name for a baby. There are so many pretty, fun names out there. You either have it all figured out before they're born or you only have 24hours to come up with a name. You want it to fit the personality of the child and not be something they will be embarrassed about. You also want it to have significance, to mean something to you and the child.
I met someone named Snickers, that was on their birth certificate, apparently their parents favorite candy was Snickers. While I would never name a child after candy, that meant something to the parents.

A child's name?

                                     

I couldn't commit to a name before she was born. Actually we thought it was a boy in the beginning, all we could think of was boys names! We had it all picked out and ready to go. Then we were told it was a girl, and the name got tucked away for future use.


So we made a list of names that we liked:

Tabitha (was Troy's top pick)
Rose
Lilly 

And of course:

Kelli

So we made out our list and I just left the topic for a while. It's very overwhelming if you haven't had to do it before. 
As time passed the name Kelli kept sticking in my mind. Troy would call her Tabitha, and it just didn't sound right. I didn't know her but it didn't seem to fit. The name Kelli seemed to common to me, although I loved the spelling. People kept asking for a name and I'd say were not making any commitments till she's born. 

When I was about 6 months pregnant I was sitting in the temple and again the name Kelli popped in my mind. And I knew that was the name, but still I resisted to commit. Then she was born, and it's so cliche I know. But once she was born, and I got a glimpse at one eye since the other was covered with a blanket, that was it. She was:

Kelli Bouley

So where did the name come from? 

Well, it has Irish origins and means "lively." 

Troy's mother's name was Kelli. She passed away about 12 years ago in a car crash and she spelled it with an I instead of a Y. 
 
There is no middle name. My mother's side of the family didn't have middle names. Nor did I, it makes changing your name when you get married so much easier.

So she's got a little history from both sides in her short, simple name.