Juliana's Arrival

 Introducing Juliana Nicole Clark

Juliana had quite the adventure getting here. Last Sunday I woke early as usual rummaging through the house at three in the morning looking for something to eat, clean or organize... and after not finding anything to keep me busy I decided to hop in the tub to relax before going back to bed. I had a good rest and woke up later than I wanted. After getting up I mosied my way to the couch and since I wasn't feeling real well I laid there for a bit. It was then I realized that I was having regular contractions so I contemplated whether I could get through a day of work or not. I decided I would give it a shot. But thought to myself I should really probably stay home to rest as to not waste all my energy. I really should learn to listen to my gut feeling.

Once at work I monitored the contractions so that if I needed to I could let Matt know he should come up. I hurried through the work day and got home at about 8:00 p.m.. The contractions were not bad. I used an app on my phone to time the contractions. Most were six to eight minutes apart. However, some were longer and others were shorter. Although they were irregular they were become more and more intense. So I decided that I should go get a shower and prepare for a trip to the hospital while Matt went to take a nap. After taking a quick picture out the door we went.

We arrived at the hospital at about 2:40 a.m.. The nurse hooked me up to the various monitors, which showed that I was having some very strong contractions. Then she checked to see if I was dilated and nothing was happening. Ugh.

Anyways, I was tired from working all day so I decided that although I really would like to go for a walk that I would just take a quick nap. Well next thing I knew I was jumping up needing to go to the bathroom. However, it was more than that...my water had broke. It was about 4:20 a.m. now. So Matt went and got the nurse. She got us in a labor room to prepare for the arrival of our bundle of joy. Because I was gushing fluid I felt that it would be best to relax in the tub before doing any activities that would help calm the labor process... as I really wanted a natural birth.

After a little while the doctor came in to check me and I was 2 cm with very strong contractions. So I got some pain medication via IV and to relax I slept between contractions. When all of a sudden I woke up with a severe contraction that about killed me. It was then that I was told "you were given some Pitocin because your contractions were irregular. So they are going to become more intense". Great... I tell myself. I didn't want that. Others had told me how much harder labor is with pitocin. So I told myself oh well I can do this... just remember to breathe through them and relax. That's about when the doctor came in to check me again... and I had only dilated to 3 cm. At that point I was done...the epideral it was. Matt said that within minutes I was out and no longer complaining of pain. Really I don't remember much of that morning past my water breaking. It all seems to be a blur.

A few short hours later the doctor checked to see if I had dilated anymore and I had. I was now a six. And a few more short hours I was at a nine. Several hours went by and I was still at a nine. Ugh. What was going on? The nurse finally said they had to stop the Pitocin because little one was not tolerating it. Well finally they said I was ready and could push. But then I couldn't feel the contractions to know when to push. So they had me "labor down" so I could feel the contractions. By now it was Monday night. At 8 p.m. the staff asked if I could feel the contractions I said yes and they said well let's push. I pushed and pushed but with everything that had taken place since Sunday morning I was exhausted. So I was only making small amounts of progress. Almost three hours later the doctor said I had two options: 1) c-section 2) the aid of a vacuum and if that didn't work c-section. She said that she felt the vacuum would work as I pushed her far enough down. So that's when I tried even harder to stay focused and wake to deliver. I pushed another forty two minutes and she was born. Our sweet little snug-a-bug.

We are so glad she made it here safely! ... and is here with us!