Lola Marianne Moulton

FYI: Lola's birth story is pretty uneventful and boring. I've documented it for my own memory and journaling so feel free to skip the details. Also, there's a billion pictures, I couldn't narrow any of them down.

Lola Marianne Moulton

October 12, 2015

7 pounds 9 ounces

21 inches

     I know I just said that I couldn’t believe Boyd is 7 in the last post. But now I can’t believe that Lola is here. To me it feels like a dream, but more about that later. First I want to share the story of her entry into our lives and family. Two doctor appointments before she was born, Dr. Matt talked to me about doing an induction. It was a Wednesday, the 7th, and he talked about doing it any time the following week. He was going to be out of town over the weekend, but would be back Monday, and technically he wouldn’t do inductions before 39 weeks any way. I would be 39 weeks on Monday. I wasn’t ready to commit to a date then. I’m not sure why, but it just didn’t sit well with me. Both the boys came on their own and I wasn’t sure how I felt about an induction. So while I think Dr. Matt would have liked to schedule something because we live so far away, we left the appointment to just see how I progressed until Monday, when I would have my next appointment.

            At home over the weekend my anxiety ramped up a bit. I was having some anxiety prior to this, but it wasn’t caused by anything specific…maybe just not feeling ready to have a baby or possibly just nerves. However over the weekend my body started to feel differently in the evenings, like things were really progressing, more pressure, and like she was almost trying to push her way out. This made me really nervous and Phil and I talked about our plan for when she decided to come. The thought of having to travel an hour and a half to the hospital while in labor with the kids didn’t sit to well with me any more. We talked about the appointment on Monday and what we should do when he offers to set an induction date. In the mean time I kept praying (like I had for weeks) that Lola would come when it would be good for our family.

            On Monday at the appointment, I had progressed from a 2 to a 3 (I was hoping I would be to a 4 or 5 and he would just send me over to the hospital). After he checked me we talked about the anxiety I had been having over the weekend. He expressed his concern for me and baby girl because of the long drive. He then said we could start an induction today (what?!) or first thing in the morning. I really wished Phil would have been there, but I think we both knew in the back our minds that Monday would be the day. I thought about driving back home and sitting around all night just feeling nervous, counting down the hours until we would drive back. I also knew that Dr. Matt was in surgery for part of the day on Tuesday and I really wanted him to deliver Lola. He thought that if I went straight over to the hospital that it wouldn’t be until 2 am that I would deliver. I explained Brewer’s labor and thought it would go much quicker.  So I opted for that day. He called the hospital to make sure they had room to take me and before I knew it I was on the phone with Phil, driving across the street to check in to the hospital.

It was surreal, but exciting. It may have seemed even more unreal because Phil wasn’t there and he wouldn’t be for about two hours. I did have a little buddy though. Brewer was my pal and hung out with me in my room. I quickly called the school and had Boyd waiting for Phil at the office. He was so excited and knew that because we were taking him out of school that baby sister was coming. I had everything packed up and in my car for the boys so Phil just had to make a quick stop at home to grab what he needed.

Brewer and I hung out. He helped take a quick belly picture and then settled in on the laptop to watch a show. After a little while the nurses came in and started an IV. Brewer was intrigued and came over to watch the nurse. She was explaining everything and when she learned about Brewer’s heart it clicked to her why he was so interested and knew what was going on. After the IV was in they started the pitocin, turning it up every twenty minutes. Brewer climbed up on the bed with me and we played games and watched Phil and Boyd’s progress as they headed to Idaho Falls. It was very refreshing to see Phil walk through the door. I wasn’t in pain, but my contractions were picking up as they upped the pitocin and I was glad to have him there. After we took a quick picture with the boys, he ran them over to Chris and Charise’s, who so willingly took them last minute. We were going to leave them with Grandma and Grandpa Monson, but they had just left town the night before. We knew where ever they would be, they would be in great hands.

Phil came back to the hospital and we just killed some time. The nurse had talked to me about getting an epidural, which I had decided I would do. After the year we had, I wanted Lola’s arrival to be uneventful and enjoyable for both Phil and I. Unfortunately there was a bit of a time frame: the CRNA who was over L&D had to be in a c-section at 6. That meant I would have to call him down about 5 to get the epidural started. By 5 I had only progressed to a 4 and wasn’t in much pain. I could feel the contractions and they were regular, but they weren’t anything to bad. Dr. Matt still hadn’t come to break my water either, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. He said he would come after office hours. I figured that meant some time after 5. By six we still hadn’t seen Dr. Matt and the nurse said she was going to give him until 6:30 and then call over to check in with him. At 6:30 she talked to him and he said he would be over in an hour. Part of me was a little frustrated that it was taking so long because my contractions were right where they wanted them, I just needed my water to break to kick things into gear. Then I remembered that the CRNA was occupied and wouldn’t be done for another half hour or so. It would give us about a half to get the epidural before my water broke and the contractions intensified.

Then a few minutes later in walked Dr. Matt. He said he just took a break and zipped over really quick. He was quick about breaking my water. I warned them of my past experiences and made sure they were prepared.  Not very long after that my contractions picked up, not in frequency but with pain. Unfortunately the CRNA was still in the c-section and would be for another 20 minutes or so. Not great timing. They paged him so he knew to come down when he was done.  I figured I would have to endure about 7 contractions and figured that was doable. Or at least it gave me a goal to work through.  At 7 I was asking for morphine (they gave that to me with Brewer when I was waiting on the epidural) or anything else that might lighten the pain while we were still waiting. They had just talked to the CRNA and said he should be down any minute so I opted to just keep enduring. The pain continued to ramp up and I remember a nurse saying that I was on the highest setting of pitocin that they usually allow. I didn’t want them to turn it down because it was important to keep the contractions regular, between two and three minutes, but the thought did cross my mind even though I was sure they wouldn’t do it.

At 7:15 the CRNA, Lynn Jenkins walked through the door with his cart of tools and medicine. It was wonderful to know he was there and relief was so close. Although I think in my mind it would just take a couple minutes and I would be set. That wasn’t exactly the case. It took much longer, probably about 15 minutes since I remember having 5 contractions while he was working. At that point I was just trying to survive. The sweet nurses were so helpful and counted for me as I tried to breathe through each contraction. How did I thank them? (Note: this may be TMI…there’s your fair warning…With fluid to clean up all over the floor while I sat up at the edge of the bed. It was so embarrassing. I wasn’t too impressed with the amount of fluid when they broke my water and then I knew why. I thought it would be okay because I was sitting on a few pads, but then I heard it falling on to the floor. Gross and embarrassing. I’m just so grateful my water has never broken in a public place.) The last two contractions I couldn’t even breathe all the way through they were so bad. And then the epidural kicked in just in time. Lynn will always hold a special place with me; he was the same CRNA that placed my epidural with Brewer. I got adjusted back on to the bed, and my paid was so much better, I was just left with a little pressure on my left side toward the bottom of my bum.

Lynn left about 20 minutes to 8 and by then I started to shake a little. Sure enough I was nearing transition and progressing fast, about an 8. We all took guesses for delivery time and weight and then I told them to check me again because the pressure had increased and I had that feeling of being ready to push. She checked me and called Dr. Matt. While we waited the pressure increased and thankfully he arrived just after 8. He had me do a practice push, thought we were ready and changed into his scrubs. About 8:20 we started. It took two contractions to work her head through and then the shoulders came in the second as well. As the pushing went the nurses gasped over all her hair. Phil and I were both a little surprised and not prepared for how much hair she had.

It was a sacred and emotional experience. This babe had endured with us the demanding, difficult, and challenging year we had. She was our hope, our goal and our bright beacon. She was one of the biggest reasons Phil kept fighting and keeps fighting. She was perfect we were so happy to have her safely here. Her lips and tongue were bright red and her eyes were big and bright. We were surprised by her long dark hair and so tickled over her long feminine fingers. We got to soak her in, such a sweet babe sent to us from heaven.

Eventually the nurses took her and cleaned her up under the warming light, weighed her and put a diaper on her. Phil was able to help with her while Dr. Matt finished up with me. Lola came in 7 pounds 9 ounces, a whole pound bigger than her brothers and her official birth time was 8:29 pm. Once she was done I got her back and she nursed like a champ for 30 minutes or more. She no problems and it all came naturally and without frustration. I was so grateful. I remembered with Brewer how excited and anxious I was to nurse him and he wouldn’t. It was the first sign that something was wrong. So when Lola nursed so well, my heart was full of gratitude for a healthy little girl that knew just what to do.

Once we were able to snuggle her for a couple hours and the epidural had started wear off, they moved us to a recovery room. At that point, Phil left to go get some sleep at Grandma and Grandpa Monson’s house. Normally I think I would have been a little nervous to be left alone, but I was glad for the quiet moments that Lola and I shared. She slept by my bed and a couple times I had to suction her mouth. She had a lot of fluid in her stomach that she kept gagging up, but it got better each day. During the night the nurses had to take her and check her over. After a bit they came back and told me that her temperature had dropped a little. They asked if I wanted to keep her in the nursery under the lamps or keep her in my room and do skin to skin. I opted to keep her and enjoyed having that sweet babe snuggled up with me for the next few hours.  I didn’t get too much sleep that night because of Lola and the after labor cramps were pretty brutal.

In the morning the on call pediatrician looked Lola over in the nursery, which gave me some time to get cleaned up and ready. He said that she looked great and her temp had come back up to a normal range. It was a strange feeling to have no issues. Phil called and said that he was on his way to pick up the boys. It was great to see them. They were so excited to finally meet her and we were so happy to finally have our little family all together. The boys stayed for a couple of hours. They watched a movie, constantly checking in on Lola and they even got to be there for her first bath. Boyd was a little worried when they first started the bath and she started to cry. But we assured him that it was okay and we could love on her to make her happy. That helped him feel a little better and then he became the photographer for the rest of her bath. She didn’t love the actual bath but she did really like getting her hair and head washed. Once she was all cleaned up all 3 boys snuggled her and sang her a song in Portuguese. It was a tender little moment.

Phil took the boys home to the valley once we figured out what we were going to do with them. It was a little stressful trying to figure out who would take care of them. Nate dropped his plans and came and slept at our house and then Megan Woolstenhulme came in the morning, took Boyd to school and hung out with Brewer until we got home. Phil slept at Grandma and Grandpa Monson’s house again and I opted for Lola to spend the night in the nursery except to nurse. I felt like I got a little more rest that night.  In the morning while the pediatrician was checking over Lola again, I was able to shower and get ready. When Phil came we began to pack up and get ready to head home. Our discharge papers were coming along and we just had to wait for the OBGYN to write my prescription and for my flu shot. While we were waiting Mike and Sarah came and visited. They brought some super yummy Jamba Juice and it was great to see them and show off our baby girl.

Finally it was time to go home!! Phil loaded up the van, we left the truck down there until we would be back, and then we loaded up Lola. It felt like a dream taking her home and we couldn’t have been happier.

More to come about being home and how incredibly grateful and blessed we are to have this sweet little Lola.