Where to start? I have included all the details for anyone who wants to know and pictures for those who don't :-)
Warning this story is mostly me ranting about the stupidity that is the provo baby factory hospital.
Yes, baby Kaylee came exactly 2 weeks early to my surprise! It sure is a good thing I decided to quit at Thrive two weeks early.
On Tuesday night Ryan and I stayed at his mom's house so that we would be that much closer to his jobs and he wouldn't have to drive so much. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep very well because I was having minor contractions all night long. The thought crossed my mind that they could be contractions but I didn't want to get my hopes up so I assumed it was probably a bathroom problem of some sort for most of the night. As morning came they got pretty close together and I realized this was for real. I decided to go to the hospital because they were only 5-10 minutes apart as I lied there in the morning but when I got up to get ready they got further apart. We decided to drive home so that we could pack a hospital bag and get ready for the day. After that we drove to the hospital to see where I was at. They monitored me for an hour and then didn't see enough progress to warrant me staying. So we drove back home and tried to sleep a little. When the contractions got bad (6:30 pm ish) we headed back. Again they monitored me but decided to keep me there this time because I had progressed some.
I had some retarded nurses throughout my stay at the Utah Valley Hospital but I survived. people these days just don't give birth with out an epidural so they just didn't know what to do with me. My main nurse was like so why don't you want one. She tried to push it on me a little and that was annoying (more on her later.) The one time I really struggled was when I was at a 4 during one painful check and then still at a 4 during the next check. I was so over it! What saved me is the decision to take phentanyl at this point. It took the edge off the contractions just enough for me to survive them and it relaxed me enough for me to get some sleep and allow my body to progress. (Sorry if that bursts the bubble of all those who thought I had no pain killers at all.) I had 1 dose per hour for 4 hours. (About 12:30- 4:30 am ish) After you reach an 8 though they will not give you any more and it's effectiveness does wear off over time so you can't just take it all the time. All the nurses could care less about when I was having a contraction and wanted to be left alone because they are so accustomed to people not feeling anything. The real kicker is that at the end I progressed really fast from a 7 to 10. When my dumb nurse saw I was at a 7 she thought she had tons of time but the chart of my contractions showed otherwise. She came in and was like looking at my chart and was like what are you doing and I was like I need to push! She told me to breath through the need to push because I could tear. That was SO PAINFUL! Kayee was coming out and I was supposed to resist it. She came in and said well the shifts are changing so I'll get you a new nurse. She didn't check me and didn't wait for a new nurse to come be with me she just was done. Finally when I felt the baby coming out my mom went and grabbed a random nurse who came and checked me and said your ready. (I was so mad. How long had I been complete and "breathing through" the urge to push for no reason!) My doctor was not there because he had been assured I was only at a 7 despite not having my doctor or nurse be there yet I was crowning so the nurse there said it's okay to push honey. I litterally thanked her! I was pushing because it felt good I wasn't even thinking about getting the baby out. When the doctor got there and I was pushing I heard him say she's coming out this time and I was like seriously? I just started. She came out with the cord wrapped around her a bit, but she was good and strong! The only complication with Kaylee is that she had the marconium in there with her so they had to basically stick a second IV up inside of me to try and flush it out. That was not fun! I tore a little and again it was forgotten that I was without an epidural. The genius doctor just started sewing and I was like OWE! He was like hmmm I guess I should numb you. I got to feed her right away and she was HUNGRY! Then they quickly took her and my family away from me and whisked me off to my recovery room. I was left there all alone with no baby, husband, or family. Heck I didn't even have a nurse call button. (The one in my room disappeared and my mother in law was like WHAT THE HECK? why does she not have a call button and why has no one noticed?) When I did get a recovery nurse I liked her a lot. The only problem with her is when I first met her she was all about trying to give me as many pain killers as possible... do these people get commissions off pain killers or something? (yeah those ibuprofen that they charge $8 per pill)
So I hadn't mentioned but my doctor has been out of town which I am so sad about. In theory a doctor was supposed to check me before I left the hospital but everyone was too inconvenienced by me to do so! I was told that I had to get out of the hospital by 48 hours after my delivery. Yeah that mean 6:30 am was my checkout time. I decided to leave the night before because that is ridiculous.
I am just happy to be away from there and have my baby here!
She is a GOOD baby! Even when she is hungry she will keep quiet and let you know she is hungry but will still be patient if need be. Breastfeeding had it's own disasters for a while. At first she would only eat off one side and I was like COME ON KID! Then once she figured out that side, the side she liked got kind of plugged and engorged. OUCH. Most of the major problem have now been resolved and I am just in love with my little girl!
PS for those of you wondering why I went natural, I was inspired by my sister who has delivered both her kids without need of an epidural and a book called hypnobirthing.... You don't have to go natural but I think more woman should understand how labor works, understand the power of a woman's mind and body and learn to help labor, not hinder it!
We are really enjoying watching her smile more and hearing her coos. She is just so much fun!
I have another picture that is very similar from her first night away from the hospital... This is not a new thing.
This is the whole fam at the event... Sorry I'm hiding and Kaylee isn't looking but whatevs...
PS If you really want the shirt and you are reading our blog, chances are we could give you the family rate so let us know if you seriously want one.
The Hightowers all went in on a really nice baby swing for us which I set up on my day off on Monday. (So much harder to do with a giant stomach)
Mom gave me all the clothes she has been stock piling for ever. She can't pass up anything that is cute and a good deal so I benefit!
Kristi gave me this cute little octopus toy.
I was super excited about all the practical gifts I got such as diapers and wipes (can't get enough!)
All in all it was a great day. I was so grateful to everyone who made an appearance. I even had a few of my friends from Flagstaff come. (Well they are at BYU now)
I also got a IV real sweatshirt for free which I am pretty excited about. (It's fun to have connections) It was a great evening but I definitely didn't make it to work on time the next day!
and I am getting my hair cut that morning. I can't wait. My cousin Taylor sent some pictures to use as inspiration and I decided to go for a look that is something like this
Ryan got a job offer on a project in Draper today. The company has done some really cool stuff and this job has a lot of potential for him. However because this is only temporary for now he has decided to keep working 30 hours a week at Thrive. Yes that means 70 hours of working... EWWWW! I figure I'll never see him but hopefully I'll live. We are going to stay at his moms house for the next 3 weeks till I'm done with work . It's going to be crazy but hopefully things will all work out for the best.
That night Melissa went into labor and early the next morning Damien Bruce Smith was born. (For those of you who don't remember Melissa's first was born on our wedding day... A little bit of irony for everyone) Here he is with Memi...
On Friday we all (only the girls came) got to watch him officially walk (Ryan, not the baby)...
It was weird because people kept stopping Chelsie to get pictures... sometimes I forget she's so well known now!
We got to the areena around 7 am the day of the audition and waited outside for about an hour and a half . Here we are outside...
Once inside they took a bunch of crowd shots and Shots with Ryan and then got us all going on the auditions for producers. They set up 10 booths of producers and everyone auditioned 4 at a time...
Since we were basically last to audition we got to watch basically everyone go through the line. Out of that whole arena of people, about 5% of the people passed through the first producers. Many of which only made it through because they were so awful. I saw two guys from vocal point (BYU's national champ a capella group) audition and get cut instantly. It was about then that I began to wonder why I was still in line. After around 11 hours of waiting we finally had our chance on the floor to sing for about 45 seconds. (I sang let's hear it for the boy) Then the judge said thanks for coming, you make this show great job but this is the end of the road for you all. We walked passed her and they cut off the wrist bands we were so proud to be wearing...
(sorry my camera takes very blurry pictures in low lighting...)
