Kaelyn Alexa Seelal - Birth Story

Kaelyn Alexa Seelal! Happy Birthday!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011
10:05am
7 pounds, 2 ounces
19.5 inches long


On Tuesday, August 9th, I went to the doctor's office at 1:15pm. I saw the nurse practitioner who examined me and told me that I was 2-3 cm and 50% effaced. FINALLY I had some sort of progress! Maybe being so sick Sunday and Monday actually did something! She stripped my membranes again and made an appointment for Friday where we'd set my induction for the following week.

That afternoon, Ryleigh, Reggie and I were hanging out at Lisa & Marcus's house. Sometime around 5:00ish, I started noticing that my contractions seemed to be occurring in a regular manner, though they were certainly not painful. We all went for a walk hoping that this would help send me into labor. The contractions continued to be consistently 5-6 minutes apart. We had dinner (Lisa called it her special "labor dinner") and then went home. I realized I probably couldn't drive since I'd have contractions on the way so Lisa drove me home. Reggie kept asking me if the contractions were "real" and I kept telling him "I don't know." The whole night, they were always 5-6 minutes apart but never painful, just uncomfortable - completely different from my contractions with Ryleigh. We decided to lay down in bed and see what happened.

We both fell asleep, but I was woken up by the contractions every 15-20 minutes. I thought they were just Braxton Hicks since I wasn't up all night. At 4:00am on August 10th, I woke up to a contraction, followed by a "POP!" that I could hear. I ran to the bathroom, thinking it was my water breaking, and was slammed by a REAL contraction - exactly how they were during my first labor. PAINFUL! I knew this was it and woke Reggie up. I called my mom to have her come over right away to be with Ryleigh. 15 minutes later, we were on our way to the hospital.

Since it was the wee hours of the morning, we had to enter through the ER so we had to wait for someone in Labor & Delivery to come get us. Around 4:30am, we were headed into Labor & Delivery (though we had to wait several minutes--which felt like an hour!-- for someone to let us in the door there!

Daddy & Kaelyn

Mommy & Kaelyn

At my first check, I was 3-4 cm and 80% effaced. We figured I'd be there for a while. My nurse, Michelle, was amazing. We went over my "plan" which was to see how long I could go without drugs and to get them if I felt like I needed them. I also re-iterated that I was terrified to do anything that could potentially lead to stroke. Dr. Adibi was at the end of his shift as I came in, but he stopped by to check on me and let me know that they'd be putting compression socks on me for my labor to help avoid any type of clots from forming (LOVE the way they proactively did everything they could to help ease my stroke fears!).

Lisa & Reggie were my labor coaches and they were an amazing team. They did exactly what I needed - made me focus on my breathing and helped ease the pains that were tearing through my back (back labor SERIOUSLY sucks!!). By 7:30am, my contractions were still only 4-6 minutes apart. Michelle told me that the doctors were going to order Pitocin at 8:30am, so she suggested that I walk for the next hour to help the contractions progress - which is exactly what I did. That definitely intensified my contractions. They came closer together (every 2-3 minutes), lasted a minute and were MUCH more painful. Lisa found my nurse and asked her if the anesthesiologist could come in and talk with me at 8:30. After an hour, we returned to my labor & delivery suite.

Dr. Hamilton, who delivered both Ryleigh and my nephew Amari, was now on shift (YESSS!!). Michelle checked me and I was 5 cm 80% effaced, so the walk certainly helped! The anesthesiologist answered all of my questions and eased my anxieties. During his few minute talk, I had several MASSIVE contractions so I went ahead with the epidural. It hurt, of course, but then - wow! An epidural that worked (unlike with Ryleigh). I kept saying "Wow, now I know why women get these!" About 35 minutes later, I felt something painful and LOW. The doctor ran in and asked me if it was pain or pressure I was feeling and I kept saying "OW! I'm not sure, but it hurts!!!" It was her head, I was fully dilated & effaced and her head was *right there*! My water hadn't broken yet, so Dr. Hamilton broke it. "We have meconium" I heard, which I knew wasn't great and motivated me to get her out quickly.

I tried to push with my first contraction but it was very difficult because I couldn't feel my legs. The second push was better and almost brought her out. Lisa & Reggie told me they could see her head which really helped motivate me. With the third contraction, Dr. Hamilton gave me an episiotomy (which I was totally fine with), I pushed her head out and she gave me a swift kick in the belly! Then she came out! Dr. Hamilton suctioned her to get the meconium out and Kaelyn was pushing her hand away...my sassy little girl!

Mommy, Daddy & Kaelyn just minutes after her birth

Support Person Extraordinaire - Lisa Marie!

They put Kaelyn on my chest and it was just amazing. All I could do was cry and touch her. She was perfect and she was finally here! Reggie got to cut the cord and we had a few wonderful minutes with her before the pediatrician took her to do some more suctioning. Lisa and Reggie went to the opposite side of the room to be with Kaelyn as I delivered the placenta and got stitched up.

Meeting big sister Ryleigh Rose

It was a perfect birth. I wouldn't change a thing!! We are so overjoyed and thrilled that our little Kaelyn Alexa is finally here, 5 days late!