Labor & Delivery

I was scheduled to be induced when I was 41 weeks on March 21st. Up to this point, I had been dilated to a 3, but only 10% effaced for weeks, so I was certain that I would make it to 41 weeks. At 40 weeks 4 days I had an ultrasound & appointment to check on her, I also had my membranes stripped to try and get things moving. She looked good, so I was clear to stay pregnant for a few more days, but had an induction scheduled for Thursday when I got to 41 weeks.

The next day was just another day. I gave Kellen a fresh haircut, watched the kids play outside and just did our normal routine. But around 5 PM when I was about to start making dinner, I started feeling a little crampy. It was minutes before my doctor’s office closed so I called and told them what I was feeling & was advised to head into the hospital just to get checked out. Jarin had just finished work so I told him to head home & called my mom to come watch the other kids because she was an hour away.

Jarin got home & I showered quickly. At this point, I started timing the cramps that were turning into contractions & they were immediately super painful and 5 minutes apart. I packed the last minute things in my bag & waited for my mom to get there. She got there & we left around 6:30. With all of my pregnancies, I get super nauseous when I am hungry. Knowing that I would have to stop eating once I was admitted & not knowing how long I would be without food, we stopped by Wendy's to get something to eat. I ordered a simple crispy chicken sandwich with extra pickles. I felt like I was dying in the long drive thru line when the contractions would hit, but I needed to eat, so I just powered through them. When we finally got to the window, they had us pull around because they were waiting on something for our order. Another 10 minutes later, we finally got our food when I realized that they gave me a spicy chicken sandwich with no pickles… But whatever, i needed to eat.

We got to the hospital at 7:15. At this point, my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart & super intense. I was at a 4.5 & admitted immediately. The nurses were quick to get me settled & in much more of a hurry than my previous births, which made me a bit nervous because with my other kids it was much more relaxed. I wondered if they knew something I didn’t.

I got my epidural at 8:15 & hoped to get at least a few good hours of sleep before it was time to deliver. I got sick & lost all the Wendy's I just ate(dang you spicy chicken sandwich). My nurse told me she was going to check me again in a few hours and if I wasn’t making any progress, they would start pitocin. I didn't get any sleep and was soon feeling a ton of pressure that I knew meant it was probably almost time to deliver. I called in my nurse & she asked if I wanted to be checked, I said yes & sure enough, I was at a 10. At 10:30 my doctor was called in. He got there at 11 & broke my water, 10 minutes later I was pushing.

Peyton Jane Price was born at 11:16 PM weighing 7 pounds 15 ounces & measuring 19.5" long. From first crampy contraction to holding her was just over 6 hours and went SO FAST! Let’s hope our next kid doesn’t decide to come any quicker or they won’t make it to the hospital.

Name

We didn’t know her name going into it. We always struggle to agree on names, so we just don’t discuss it until we we have to decide, usually the day we fill out the birth certificate. We usually both come in with names and then widdle them down until we agree. This time, Jarin didn’t really have any names, and I had a list I was adding to throughout the last few months. The day after she was born, I pulled it out and narrowed it down to 5 names or so, then let him look them over. Peyton was the name he liked the best, so we went with it! We then had to decide on a middle name. Since her first name was more of a gender neutral name, I knew I wanted a more feminine middle name, and I like single syllable middle names for girls. After going through a bunch, we decided on Jane! Which happens to also be a family name, even though we didn’t realize it at the time.

Meeting Siblings

This was the first of our kids where visitors were allowed in the hospital so Jarin went home to get the other kids to come meet her. Thankfully they were both obsessed with her and fought over getting to hold her. You can see the videos of them holding her for the first time here.

She passed her tests with flying colors & we were able to head home on the 21st to be a family of 5!