Kate’s Birth Story

I can’t believe that as of today, we’ve had our little girl for 3 whole weeks. I’ve taken a little hiatus from the blog to really allow myself to enjoy every little minute with my girl. But I’m so excited to be back. I’ve been so excited to share Kate’s birth story with you guys since the moment she arrived. It was such a crazy, special day and one that I’ll never forget. I’m sharing some sweet photos from the hospital (why is it that hospital photos look so much better in black and white?) and my entire experience start to finish. So keep reading! It’s long but it’s a great story!

First of all, I have to preface by telling you that every two years my ENTIRE family (all 25ish of us) head on vacation somewhere together. It’s the most fun ever and I’m so blessed to have a family that loves each other enough to spend 7 uninterrupted days together! So about a year ago at Sunday lunch, I helped them decide on a location (San Antonio, TX), helped them choose dates (June 1st – 8th), and helped book a gorgeous cabin on a lovely river.

Fast forward 4ish months to me finding out that I was pregnant and realizing that my due date was June 13th… a mere 5 days after we were supposed to return from said vacay. Needless to say, the trip was out of the question for Keith and I. But knowing my genetic history, we all figured that I’d carry full term if not longer. So the plan was that everyone (including my parents) would go ahead on the trip and just come back if I thought I might be going into labor.

AGAIN, the thought of me going into labor naturally NEVER crossed my mind.

You see, my mom and grandma were notorious for carrying past term. In fact, my mom only went into labor naturally with 1 out of 3 of her kids. And that’s only because she was so determined that she waited until she was 10 days overdue! WOAH!

I just assumed I would be very similar to her since I’m so much like her in EVERY other way.

After telling Dr. Johnson (my OB) about my mom’s history of terrible, long labors in weeks 41 and 42 that ended in emergency C-Sections, we decided to schedule an induction on that Thursday, June 7th. I let her know that above all, I wanted her to be candid with me. I, of course, wanted to try my hardest to have a vaginal birth, but I didn’t want to push my luck.  When I was born, my mom’s doctor waited so long that she ended up with a crazy and super SCARY moment where they were rushing her back to the OR for a c-section without much warning because the baby was in distress. That’s what I wanted to avoid.

A Thursday induction meant that my mom, dad, and siblings would be leaving vacation a day early, but that was totally fine with them!

So here we are on June 1st and my family heads off on vacation without me. I was super bummed but I tried not to let it get me down. We had 6 days to prepare for baby. I made lists of things to clean every day, I double checked my hospital bags, and Keith and I went out on our last pre-baby date that Saturday.

Sunday night (June 3rd) we had dinner with our Small Group friends and when I got home that night, I had my first contraction!!

I hadn’t had ANY contractions before that. Not even braxton hicks. At my 37 week appointment, I was 1 cm dilated, so I knew something was happening, but I hadn’t felt it yet. I honestly wasn’t even sure that it was actually a contraction, so I kept on about my usual business and told Keith that I thought I was having braxton hicks, but I wasn’t sure. No cause for alarm. I had contractions all night but they were really irregular and most were over an hour apart. So I wasn’t super worried.

When I woke up Monday morning around 8, I realized I was still having them and they were around 30-45 minutes apart by this point. I was also losing parts of my mucus plug. I still wasn’t sure that it was real, but I didn’t want to alarm my mom yet so I called my best friend, Ashton, to get her thoughts on it. She assured me that those were definitely contractions but that it might be false labor and not to panic or worry mom yet since they would probably go away.

So, per her advice, I got up and did a little cleaning and the contractions didn’t get worse or better. By 2 o-clock that day, they were inconsistent but around 20-30 minutes apart. Still no cause for concern, but since they hadn’t gone away, I decided to update my mom. She was spending the day in 6 Flags and was MUCH calmer than I thought she’d be. I promised I’d keep her updated but there was no reason for her to head home yet since the contractions were still so irregular.

I honestly thought it was just a false alarm and that I would still be having the baby on Thursday like we planned.

We got a decent night’s sleep on Monday night but I woke up bright and early at 6 am to more contractions. This time, they varied from 10-20 minutes apart and lasting around 45 seconds. The pain was much more intense so I called mom to let her know. She was headed to Schlitterbahn water park that day and told me she would call me every hour for an update just in case she needed to head home. My family had already packed their bags just in case.

I decide to take a hot bath to see if that would make the contractions stop but sure enough, they didn’t! I was waiting for the 5-1-1 rule  (5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, for at least an hour) before thinking about the hospital. At about 10 am, I called Keith inside (he was working on building our shed in the yard) and told him to pack a hospital bag, shower, and come in and help me time the contractions. Within an hour, they went from irregularly 10 minutes apart to a consistent 5 minutes apart and lasting a minute each. I’m a stickler for the rules so I wanted to make sure it had been happening for a full hour before we left, but at 11 am I knew that the hour mark was only about 30 minutes away.

I started getting ready and tried to call my mom. I couldn’t get her. It had been a little over an hour since our last ‘check in’ and I was starting to get nervous. I’m a huge momma’s girl and I NEEDED her to be there with me for the birth. But as Keith and I loaded up the car and headed to hospital, I realized that it was probably going to be just the two of us.

Keith was so calm and supportive and he assured me that we were going to be just fine (and I knew we would be), but even he knows how much I rely on the emotional support of my family in times like these.

On the way to the hospital, I got a call from a random TX number. I answered it on a hunch and sure enough, it was MOM! She was in line for a slide at the water park and realized that it had be over an hour since we talked last. So, she explained the situation to  a super sweet lady in line if she could borrow her phone. When I answered, I tried really hard to hold back tears as I told her that we were already headed to the hospital. She responded quickly with ‘ok, we’re coming’ and hung up the phone.

I found out later that she and my sister were 10 people from the front of the line. They then explained the sitch and begged the worker to let them skip the last 10 people and slide down so that they could get down faster. He refused them (you’re on my list, bud). So they took off down the dozens of flights of stairs opposite traffic to try and find my brother (who was apparently alone and lost at the time). They headed to the cabin, grabbed my dad and their luggage and started the 9 hour drive to MS.

Meanwhile, Keith and I check into the hospital at noon and they got me all hooked up to the monitors. Turns out, it totally was real labor and I was already 4 cm dilated! I’m still in shock…

As we sat there alone in the room, tears rolled down my face because I knew that Keith and I were doing this alone. I was so proud of my body for going into labor on its own and so angry with it for the timing. It was about the time that I was laying there praying for God to stall my labor until my family could get there that my mom called back.

They were on the road (driving way too fast, I assume) and headed my way. She then, through tears, said ‘I’m sending you some moms’. I wasn’t sure what she meant, but about that time, I started getting text messages from my mom’s best friends and mine as well, the women that raised me, my back-up moms. They were all on their way to Jackson. Most had left work the second that my mom called and told them what was happening. They knew that since she wasn’t there, I would need someone, and they came, no questions asked.

I cried and Keith held my hand and prayed and thanked God for his provisions in times of need both physically and emotionally. It was then that I realized what what happening. We were having a baby.

Dr. Johnson came in to examine me around 2:30 and realized that my bag of waters had been leaking already and she broke it the rest of the way. I then got my epidural (thank the heavens)! It sure did help with the pain, but I very quickly realized that the control freak in me was NOT a fan. Every 20 minutes, I had to make Keith come over and lift my legs and move them around. Something about not being able to move them myself was a bit unsettling.

That was when my village started to arrive. They had made the 2.5 hour trek from Baton Rouge to Jackson and they were here! Ms. Shannon, Ms. Chandra, Ms. Teresa, Ms. Erin, Ms Michelle, Jessica, Haley, Baby Riley, Ashton and Baby Lennox. Suddenly, what was a quiet hospital room, was now alive with chatter, laughter, and so much love. Just the way I like it!

From then on, the day went by so quickly. By 4, I was 6 cm dilated and by 6, I was 8 cm dilated. We told stories, reminisced about old times, checked in with Mom every 2o minutes and we had a BLAST! They are the reason that I was able to stay so calm and positive all throughout my labor. God knew that they were EXACTLY what I needed.

At around 7, I started to realize that I could totally feel my feet again and the contractions were starting to hurt as well. My epidural was starting to wane!! Talk about panic! Ms. Shannon immediately sprung into action as Replacement Mom and found the nurses and insisted they FIX IT! They ended up giving my 2 doses of another concoction before I finally stopped feeling the contractions again. Talk about alarming!!

8 o clock rolled around and we were thinking that my mom might actually make it in time. She was set to arrive at around 10:30. But at around 9, Dr. Johnson came in again to check me and we had ‘the talk!’

I was still at 8 cm and stalling completely even though my contractions were still coming on REALLY strong. That wasn’t the bad news, though. The problem was that the baby hadn’t descended AT ALL. After a long examination, Dr. J told me that she thought that the baby was stuck on my pelvis. This is something she had mentioned earlier in the day but I hadn’t paid much attention to. She then explained that the baby was still sunny side up (facing my front) and her head was wedged in my pelvic bone.

They had been shifting me into all kinds of weird positions all day to try and get her to turn and descend but at this point we realized that none of those things had worked. I asked what my options were and she laid them out for me.

Option 1: We can wait another hour or so and see what happens. With this, we run the risk of having on of those panicked moments where we rush you into emergency surgery. The baby is at a high risk for going into distress and you are at risk for complications as well.

Option 2: We can do a C-Section. You can take the next 30 minutes to prepare yourself and call your mom. We can calmly prepare you for surgery and you’ll have a baby in an hour. Just in time for your mom to arrive and see you after recovery.

After discussing the options a bit and saying a quick prayer, Keith and I decided that God was totally in control and that he had prepared and educated my doctor. So, we took her advice and decided to move forward with the C-Section. I had mentally prepared for this scenario throughout my pregnancy and labor. I knew from day 1 that my genetics put me at a high risk for a complicated delivery so I wasn’t disappointed at all. In fact, I was totally impressed that I had gotten this far on my own.

I called my mom to tell her. We were both much more calm than I thought we would be. I was nervous for the surgery but totally at peace with our decision. I was able to tell my back-up mom’s as well. They sat and prayed with me as the nurses began to prepare me for surgery.

They wheeled me to the OR and the Anesthesiologist gave me the rundown of what was going to happen. He prepared me for the SUPER weird feeling that I was about to experience (especially since he knew that I didn’t like the Epidural). One of the most painful parts of all of it was when he gave me the full spinal block. It felt like every nerve in the lower half of my body was on FIRE for about 15 seconds. I nearly fainted! He assured me that this was a reaction that some people experience and it was nothing to worry about.

From there, they let Keith come into the OR and they began the surgery. It was so weird. I could totally feel them doing things down there. Pushing and pulling and moving stuff around, but nothing hurt or was uncomfortable at all. I remember be amused because Keith was DETERMINED not to look over the curtain. He had laser vision locked on my head, arms, face, etc. It was hilarious.

I wasn’t laughing, though, because the medicine was making me feel horrible. I didn’t throw up, but I did get horrible pain in my shoulders. The Drug Man gave me something for that but I was so uncomfortable the whole time. I was shaking and trying to regulate my breathing. It was REALLY stressful.

It took them a few minutes to get her out and they even had to pull out the vacuum because her head was WEDGED in my pelvis. Turns out, I have an odd shaped pelvis. Odds are, my mom does too and that is why labor is so difficult for us. Dr. Johnson said ‘There is nooo way this baby was getting through there!’ So I am SO glad we went forward with the section.

About 15 minutes into the surgery at 10:12 pm on June 5th, I heard my girl for the first time! I cried tears of joy as they stuck her little head over the curtain so that I could see. Her eyes were wide and alert and she was screaming her head off!! The nurses and docs talked about how alert she was and how beautiful she was. They might say that about every baby, but it felt really sincere to me!

They wrapped her up and gave her to Keith for a minute so that I could give her a kiss before they took her off to weigh and stuff. She was gorgeous! She IS gorgeous.

I couldn’t believe it when they said she was only 6lbs 5oz and 18.5″ long. She was so tiny. Keith, baby girl, and the nurses headed to the recover room while they put me back together. A little bit later, I joined them in the recovery room. This was easily the hardest hour and a half of the whole ordeal.

I felt HORRIBLE and was (apparently) white as a ghost and shaking violently. I felt so unbelievably weak and I was so thirsty. After checking the baby out, they finally brought her to me for skin to skin and our first time breastfeeding. I was so weak that the nurse had to lay her on my chest and move my hands to hold her. But the moment she did, I could feel myself regaining strength and feeling so much better.

The nurse had to help her latch on but she did so pretty quickly and breastfed slowly for about 45 minutes! Keith and I just sat in awe as this little tiny girl captivated our hearts completely. We told her all about the people she was going to get to meet, her awesome room, and her AMAZING puppies. I cried and held her for over an hour while I recovered my strength and finally it was time to head back to the room and introduce her to her family.

My parents and siblings had arrived while I was in recovery so they, along with Keith’s sister Jessica, were the first in the room. The second I saw my mom, all of the emotions from the day happened all at once. But more that anything, I felt complete relief. Mom was here, Kate was here, and we were all OK!

After my family had some time to meet and hold baby girl, we called my village back in. For the next half hour, we oooed and ahhed over our sweet baby girl and we thanked God for his timing and his plan. It worked out better than we could’ve imagined. By the time the ladies left, it was after midnight and they wheeled me into my postpartum room (suite is more like it! It was HUGE).

My recovery was and has been great. I was up and moving the next morning. As soon as they took out my IV, I was able to shower and change clothes. Since then, I’ve been great! My scar is basically invisible (rockstar doctors) and I haven’t needed to take any pain meds. I was amazed at how great I felt despite having major surgery. I was prepared for a much tougher recovery. But I’m feeling great!

All in all, it was a spectacular day. Kate Madolyn Randazzo surprised us by coming over a week before she was expected and several days before we planed on inducing. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

More than anything else, the greatest gift in this process was the group of women that came to my rescue when they realized mom wouldn’t be there. I am so moved and blessed by their sacrifice and willingness to drop everything when I needed them. Keith and I are so thankful to have to all. And so glad to know that Kate already has a group of powerful, wonderful women in her corner. We cannot thank you all enough. We love you.

I laugh looking back because we were silly to think that we were EVER going to have to do this alone. God provided when we needed it most. He heard my cries and Keith’s prayers and he came through, of course. And now we have a beautiful story and wonderful memories to share with our little girl when she grows up.

Thank you to all of our friends and family for the support and love over the past 3 weeks. We are living in a beautiful, pink, happy bubble. And we can’t wait to share out little girl with all of you.

We love you, Kate. So much.