Meet Charli Kate Nelson {Birth Story}

November 17th
It's 32 degrees and sunny outside
It was a long night that felt like I had no sleep and what little I got was ruined by a bigger contraction. 
I got up and went to the bathroom I noticed that I was starting to probably loose the mucus plug at 8:20am. It was really odd to see all of that considering your not use to a period for the last 9 months. After Kelly woke up I told him that I was bleeding and that I think today really is the day.
I took a warm bath thinking that may help slow things down or at least make me some what comfortable. I made Kelly sit in the bathroom so I could have him there for comfort and to squeeze his arm off. The bath didn't really seem to do much because things got worse.

We sat and debated if we should go to the hospital and sit through the long process at the triage or if we should go to the Circle of Life. I told Kelly to call the circle of life and see if we could get an appointment. Of course its Dr. Bierer's day off and he wasn't there but we were able to get an appointment with a midwife. They gave us a couple options of times and I picked the earlier one feeling bad that Kelly wasn't going to be able to shower, eat breakfast or even do any ounce of preparing. 
We headed to appointment for 11am and the whole time in the car I was in horrible pain and just hated every time we came to a stop light. Once we got to the Circle of Life it took me a long time to make it from the car to inside because of the contractions. Kelly checked us in and I stood there holding on to him. A contraction came on and I just put my head on his shoulder and started to cry. The ladies at the front desk asked if I needed anything and were so nice considering I had to just stand there until that contraction was over. Kelly mentioned to them it had been a long night and morning. 
We finally hobbled our way back to see the midwife and of course having to pee in a cup and check blood pressure had to happen before I could really find out what was going on.
We sat and talked to the nurse for awhile and she was so nice and kind for the fact that I felt like crap, looked like crap etc. 
Once the doctor came in she talked to us to find out when my due date was and what had gone on at the hospital the last couple of days. She finally checked me. 
After she sat there for awhile I thought don't you dare tell me that I am not dilated enough and that I should go home. I wasn't going to go home again...
Then her face kind of smirked and said "Uhm your dilated to a 5 you should go straight to the hospital!"
It was relief to finally here that I was no longer posterior and stuck at a 3cm...

Kelly went and got the car and helped me outside.. I grabbed a few teddy grahams and we drove down Harrison Blvd. to the hospital. It was surreal knowing that we would no longer be the only ones in that car once we leave the hospital again. Texted family at 11:50am to let them know we were in the hospital for reals this time.

Once we parked Kelly got a wheelchair and came and got our crap out of the car. He wheeled me as fast as he could with all of our stuff to the fourth floor. We told the nurse that I was in labor. Once we got to the desk they started asking me when I was due, what my insurance was, who my doctor is, if I was getting induced and blah blah blah... 

Kelly was doing great at answering the questions but I finally looked at the nurse and said "We just came from the Circle of Life and I am dilated to a 5 cm." She quickly stood up and grabbed my wheelchair and took me into a delivery room. 
I knew that they would try and stick us back in the triage and I wasn't going to go through that hence why we went to the clinic first.

We were finally in the delivery room at 12:30pm. The nurse was starting to check my blood pressure, she checked me to make sure I was at a 5 cm, she started to do my IV when we heard a knock on the door. I was thinking it was another nurse when finally our nurse Trina looked at us and said I think its for you. Well, Kelly went and opened it and there was my mom. I was never so relieved to see her in my life, just knowing that she would be there for the rest of the afternoon and night was so calming.

The first nurse tried to put my IV in my left hand she totally messed up and so Trina had to do it in my right hand. They pumped the first bag into me fast so I could get an epidural quicker. The anthesiologist came into our room and asked if he could go do another patient really quick and be back in 10 minutes. I said that was fine.. Kelly thought I was crazy but I figured somebody may be in worse pain.

1:30pm
Well once Dr. Silver came back in and heard that I was dilated to a 5 he said I am sorry I should of done you first. He asked what I knew about a epidural and what he was going to do. I told him no and he started to tell me about it. He explained it like going on a flight in a airplane. He had me roll over and started to get stuff ready to go. I was glad I didn't see any of the tools he was going to use (aka the needle). He put the local anesthetic in and it was just a tiny pinch at first I thought that was it.. then he kept talking to us. I was talking to him when I suddenly stopped he looked at the monitor and looked at me and said are you having a contraction. I nodded. He said perfect time to do it. I was scared at this point because I didn't want to move and end up screwing up the epidural or let alone paralyzing myself or something. But once he put it in and started everything I didn't even feel it go in. 
The whole time I held Kelly's hand and our nurse Trina's hand. It wasn't too bad and it felt so nice to have relief from what I had felt the last 2 days.

They had told me that Dr. Bierer was at a meeting and would be back around 6pm but if not Dr. Davis would deliver for us. I didn't really seem to care since I heard great things about Davis and he seemed very nice.

2:15pm 
Dr. Davis came in and broke my water I was dilated to a 6.5 plus about a half hour later Trina came in to roll off the sheet underneath me. I heard it hit the floor and she said "well I think you lost about 5 pounds of fluid and still had more left, that was a lot of fluid!"
Kelly's mom arrived to the hospital with candy and a gift for me and Kelly. I was jealous of the candy since I only had ice chips and suckers.3:10pm 
checked me 7.5cm dilated
4:20pm 
checked again still at 7.5 cm then given Pitocin to speed things back up.
I became itchy and I felt like I was freezing I guess that is a common side effect with epidural
5:55pm dilated to a 9cm
We were almost ready to go.. yay!
Kelly's Mom says: "let it rip"  I said:"eh how bout not" everyone laughed.
At 6:30 I was checked and at 9.5 cm 
7pm I was almost to a 10 and the heartbeat on Little Miss Nelson had dropped
A couple pushes and I was dilated to a 10cm and ready to start
7:05pm Trina started to get the room ready

I did a few more pushes with Trina and she suddenly stopped and said we would wait until Dr. Bierer got to the hospital. I guess the babies heart rate had dropped every time I was pushing. It would go from 160bpm to 60bpm. She then grabbed the oxygen and put it onto me and had me roll to my side. I didn't get what was going on. Kelly came and stood by me and I asked what was happening. My mom looked really nervous. 
I heard Trina say I think the cord may be around the babies neck. She then said its more common than you think. She said she paged Dr.Bierer and he was on his way. She told us it doesn't take him that long to get here.

Our doctor finally came in. It was odd to me that he was dressed in a nice shirt and pants. I was expecting scrubs since thats what I have seen him in. He put on the delivery gear and we were ready to go. I pushed about 15-20 times when he decided that her heart rate 
I was pretty drowsy and sleepy right before we started to push once he got there, I think everything was finally catching up with me.

Bierer decided after a few pushes the baby was going to have to go around another corner and it would be hard to sit and push her so he guided her out and then used a vacuum to suction her out. Which made it seem like it went pretty fast. I also was glad that he made that call since her heart rate was all over the place.

My mom had worn me that the shoulders are the hardest but after her head popped out the rest of her body slid on out. She didn't really have broad shoulders. 


The cord wasn't wrapped around her body it was just a really short cord probably like 17 inches long so it reached enough to lay her on me and have Kelly cut the cord but they couldn't run a test like they normally do because of it being short.

I was really jealous that everyone got to see her over on the other side of the room while she got shots, weighed and wiped down. I kept watching them look at her and Dr. Bierer noticed it and said "Now no one cares about you since you got the baby here!". We both sat and laughed. I could tell the epidural was wearing off but luckily they give you pain pills before you leave the delivery room. 







We did skin to skin after they had her ready. My parents snapped some photos of us with our new little girl and she was so calm. I couldn't really look at her since they had put her on my neck it felt like but it was nice to finally have her here.

My dad and Marci came in to see her and then everyone walked out and we tried to breastfeed her which wasn't happening she wasn't interested and was exhausted. (I can't blame her she just had contractions for 3 days and then a suction cup to pull her out)

We then got moved to our postpartum room and right as we got there my mom and Marci came in. 
I thought they had left but they didn't both held her a little more and took pictures.

The nurses came in and did her footprints and measured her head since she had the suction cup they don't want a lot of swelling to happen in 24 hours. They also talked about getting her to breastfeed and that they have started a new thing where the baby has to have 2 feedings in 4 hours from delivery before they can have their first bath. Which at 10pm that seems almost impossible since Charli was worn out and so was I.




They had left for a while and I ate a box lunch since the room service was closed for the night. 
It wasn't extremely great but after only having a handful of Teddy Graham's I ate most of it.

Kelly sat and held her and rocked her in the chair. It was so cool to see him finally holding her and getting to experience it. We sat on the bed and held her and tried to get her to wake up to eat. 

We did a couple spoon feedings for her to get something in her system. She wasn't at all interested in doing anything with breastfeeding. 

The nurses then took me to the bathroom with the help of the nurses and started the best thing ICE PACKS & Dermoplast & Witch Hazel (HEAVEN).

We then sent her to the nursery after we fed her and they asked where we wanted her first bath because it would be 3am when she would be ready for it. We let them do it in the nursery so we could finally get some sleep. Not that you get a whole lot in the hospital.

She slept the whole night in the nursery we fed her at 3:30am. 

What a day it was but we are so glad to have Charli Kate Nelson finally here!

Oh Labor.

So almost three days of labor and here is how the story goes.

On Saturday November 15th we woke up and it was a normal day Kelly wanted to get somethings done outside and I was going to try and get some cleaning done. Around 10:35am I could start to feel contractions they lasted consistently for 5 minutes in between until 1:35pm. I had called Marci to see what she thought I should do. They weren't painful but obviously your belly tightening isn't the funnest thing. I decided to finally time them and they were in the guidelines that my doctor had told me that then I should go to the hospital. 
Well, we fell asleep and then woke up around 5:15pm I asked Kelly if he thought we really should go and if it was worth it. I wasn't in the crazy pain that I had read about or had been told about.

At 6:20 pm headed to the hospital just to see if things were going to be picking up and what was really going on. After getting to the hospital and being in the triage for what seemed like forever and walking for an hour around the labor and delivery we finally were discharged at sent home at 9pm.

We were both starving and so we stopped at in and out burger and I chugged my chocolate shake like a crazy woman. I wasn't really that hungry by the time we got home and I only ate part of my cheeseburger. We stopped at a redbox and got Fault in Our Stars, I had wanted to see it for awhile now. We both stayed awake for the whole movie. I relaxed on the couch with the heating pad while Kelly was on the LoveSac with Nala. We went to bed after midnight.


Sunday November 16th

I woke up around 7:30 am with a noticeable difference that contractions started. They were definitely a lot more painful than they were before we went to bed the night before. I timed them and they were at 3 minutes in between with 43 seconds each contraction. We thought what the heck they are more painful and they are timing out to be faster and longer.So we left to hospital at 10:47 am it was 23 degrees outside and sunny. Snow covered mountains.
We started the whole triage room again. They checked me and watched contractions for over 2 hours. They contacted my doctor to see what he wanted to do. He couldn't induce me because of others already pending. I would sit and grab Kelly's hand through every contraction and just cringe. I remember praying that they would keep me because I just couldn't last with how much pain and discomfort I was in. But of course here we are getting sent home. Kelly could tell the pain I was in and asked if I could be given something to help with the pain. After a phone call to my doctor he approved a morphine shot. Yay! We left the hospital at 1:30pm.

Since I was just a few minutes from dosing off and being completely loopy with the shot I told Kelly to go to my parents so he could at least talk and watch TV with them since I wasn't going to be much of anything. 
Marci and Landon stopped by with there kids and we talked about what had happened at the hospital. I remember telling them I felt so stupid for showing up at the hospital 2 days in a row and then being sent home. Landon said you did what your doctor wanted you to do and what we would tell any one to do so its better that you went.
I tried to eat mashed potatoes but wasn't feeling it and could tell my appetite had really decreased. I ate snickers, Cool Ranch Doritos and some Coke. (Great diet right?!)
Towards the end of the morphine shot and while I was asleep I could still feel a lot of the contractions. Which I thought was really retarded since I was wanting to just not feel anything.
Kelly finally packed up everything and we headed home around 9:30pm. Krystal and Kishell came over with a birthing gift (magazines, candy, playing cards) for Kelly and me. It was nice to sit and talk to them. I stayed in the chair in the nursery the whole time. There were a few times I had to stop talking because of the contractions. I had never wanted to scream, yell and cry so much but you are in so much pain you become speechless.


Kelly was trying to get me to eat but I was not very hungry and still disconnected from the shot.. I knew I was in for a long miserable night..

And yes it was a long miserable night.

We took this last belly photo on Saturday night. You can definitely tell she had dropped!

Cravings

I kept this list of cravings throughout the pregnancy!

Between 8-12 weeks.
Did I get a large Pizza & Breadsticks from Papa Johns on a night that Kelly is working a Construction On-Call shift? Yes, I did. I can't turn down a craving for ham & pineapple pizza.. it's never been possible. But it was delicious and Kelly didn't seem to care!

Wendy's Chili.. Twice in one day I would say its a craving.

Potato Chips!! But only Classic Lays, something about that salt!

Zupa's Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup. I can not get enough of that stuff!

I still am a candy fanatic. I realized if I suck on life savers or jolly ranchers when I feel a little nausea it makes it go away and I am fine.

13 weeks craving.
Oh My goodness.. I had been craving a BBQ ever since it has been warm. Our families have yet to have one but I still have faith that we will soon. But, with that being said I still needed to satisfy my hot dog craving.

I know, you aren't suppose to but if you know a pregnancy craving you won't judge. I was at Sam's Club and I realized they had a hot dog... boom & done. It was so delicious. It may have been because of the relish and all of the condiments but it was just so good. I probably will be heading there again soon to get another hot dog.

20 weeks

I finally worked up the guts to try Cafe Rio again.. and guess what I did fine! Yay, it was just that morning sickness!!

I still love potato chips!

Late night snacks are really needed but hard for the fact I am starting the heartburn.

23 weeks

It was 10:30 pm and we hadn't ate dinner. Kelly was asking me what I wanted, I wasn't sure. I felt like not eating because I knew anything that late would keep me up with heartburn. But, he knew how to get me to eat. He told me to order a Pizza Hut dinner box.. I was done. I love pizza.. there is nothing better. Its the one thing that I would probably not care how much heartburn I got!!

The other thing that happened was when we were at Zupa's I had really wanted some yummy Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup and well, they didn't have anymore. Nothing ticks off a pregnant person more than not being able to satisfy a craving.

We also have loved banana creamies lately! Something about raspberry & banana shakes... yum.

This could be the LAST Bump Update?!

This could possibly be the last Ultrasound of Little Miss Nelson before she is here... 

Now that is CRAZY!

We actually were able to get a picture of her this week at our Ultrasound. She has a little dancer bicep showing if you know what you are looking for. I don't know what it is with this child but she loves the duck lips. Hopefully they stay as a pose and not used for kissing boys till she's 35 years old.

How far along are you: 39 Weeks

Dialated/Effaced: 3 cm and 75% effaced to 80%

Total Weight Gain: I gained about 2 more pounds this week so it would be 15 lbs total so far. I had a heavy coat on when they had weighed me.

Stretch Marks: Nothing yet. I do have some pain on my left side mainly because she doesn't sit anywhere else but on my left side.

Sleeping: I have been able to sleep fine with only having to get up to go potty once a night. It really hasn't been to bad. Although I realized my arms fall asleep and become numb a little bit.

Best Moment This Week: I have still been coaching and going to dance. Although I have cut back on moving mainly because its painful and well I can't do a whole lot of stretching with this bowling ball in the way. But I was really bummed at watching the dance girls turn so I made Alexa do a turn combo or two with me. It was great to turn again. I came home to show Kelly the video of us turning... he was anything but happy. He was like "I told you to not dance and blah blah blah.." Well sorry dear I couldn't help it. I look a little funny with the belly and I am totally not balanced completely but it was fun to turn at 9 months pregnant. You may even be surprised that I can still do the splits, it actually feels good to sit in them since my hips are getting tight and tense sometimes.
Little Miss Nelson is going to come out knowing how to turn and she is going to find this years dance music soothing more than likely since she has heard it a ton.

This week I also used a gift card that Kelly gave me for Valentines Day. It was for Massage Envy. I hadn't used it because I wanted to make it worth something. Well a prenatal massage was totally worth it! I loved it. It was the best hour. I can tell that I haven't had as many back pains and it made my attitude better about still being pregnant. I called Kelly and told him how much I loved it and how I want to go back once a month. He laughed and said you have had that gift card for over a year and you now are in love with massages.. Sound about right!

Contractions: Sunday was pretty bad I couldn't walk very well and was definitely waddling. Monday & Tuesday was fine. After the doctors appointment today I have felt a lot more contractions but they aren't up to what they should be to rush to the hospital quite yet.

Cravings: I got a frosty with Kelly tonight and Nala hitched a ride with us. I was very excited to have Ice Cream even though its 20 degrees outside and its suppose to snow tomorrow. Also Kelly got us a Chicago Style pizza for dinner this week. It was delicious. We also stopped at Fiiz drinks on the way home from Grandma Smiths.

Labour Signs? I have noticed that she is shimmying down lower. Now if she would like to just make things move along a little faster.

Happy or Moody? impatient. I am getting to the point where I am sick of being pregnant and I am sick of being asked so are you still pregnant, is it going to happen today, are you at the hospital... I understand the excitement that everyone has but this little girl inside really isn't wanting to leave quite yet.
Looking Forward to? I am hoping that my doctor is somewhat correct and that she will be here before our next appointment. He seems to think that its any day now.. But I don't know if the baby thinks that.

We have talked about how we are going to spell her name, all of the insurance stuff and Kelly has asked me several times if I have a bag packed for him. He also has shown that he is nervous for the time when we are sitting in the hospital.

I finally parked in a parking spot for me.. it was already an empty parking lot
since I woke up early to get clearance halloween candy.

This is at 38 Weeks

On Sunday in between 38-39 weeks

Since I haven't had to go to work the last week it's been nice to be able to clean the house, work on things for the babies room, read a bunch of blogs and of course watch Studio 5. But we also have had our lazy moments.. more than I would like to admit too but look at how cute this puppy is.. ignore the fact that I don't wear make up hardly ever now. 

081 Lunch Reunion!

From Left to Right: Vanessa, Kenzie, Me, Keli, Krista

Today I got to meet up with some of the best people I ever met and got to call roommates and friends! It was great to catch up and talk about what everyone has done in the last 3 years.

We met at City Creek and ate at Kneaders. It was a yummy lunch because of the eclair and I love their chicken salad sandwich.

Vanessa just returned home from a LDS mission to Cape Verde. Kenzie just got engaged to a guy we went to school with he was a cheerleader my first year at Snow. Keli has been married for 3 years and just finished building a house in Tooele. Krista has two daughters and is married she will be going through the temple to be sealed soon!

It was awesome catching up and laughing about the retarded things we did as roommates. As great as everyone lives are now it really makes it hard to not wish that we could go back and live together again. They were some of the best roommates and I enjoy that we still make an effort to see each other so often.

We decided at the end of our two hour lunch that we are going to make a point to get together every Conference Weekend. I can't wait until spring now.. to be able to see these ladies again.

"Friends pick us up when we fall down, and if they can't pick 

us up then they lie down and listen for awhile!"

I saw this quote and instantly thought of these 4 girls. There were so many times where we sat and just talked about the things we were going through, the dreams we had for the future, the things we did in the past. I learned more from those sessions than I think I learned in college but I definitely did leave Ephraim knowing what a true friend is and how to act like a true friend.

I love O81 and miss that apartment but I am glad that I still get to cherish the ladies that made that apartment something I will forever miss!

The Cutest Baby Wrap in America!

I have been so excited about getting a crib, painting the room, buying cute outfits and getting things set up for Little Miss Nelson. Although its funny how you can seem like you look ready but completely feel like your not.

Today something came in the mail.. I have been wanting one of these Solly Baby Wraps ever since I knew we were expecting. As I was trying to pick one out I asked Kelly for his opinion he totally wasn't interested. Maybe because he will not be caught dead wearing it but we will see if that changes?

I picked a mauve color, it was really hard to decide what one I wanted.. I am sure I will collect these eventually.

I love the cute packaging that they did for these wraps it definitely added to my excitement. Plus even better they are all made in the United States and the company was started here in Utah!

I also have bought a couple things for Little Miss Nelson's newborn pictures. I am excited to make up her announcements and send out all of the Thank you cards to our friends & family. 

Meet The Mormons!

I have mentioned a few things about Kelly's Grandma throughout the last couple months. So get ready here is another post. Ever since she has been out of Rehab and the hospital we have gone over on a weeknight to visit with her on top of our Sunday night visits. This has been good for her to chat and get extra help around her house. 

On Sunday, we asked her if she would want to go to a movie with us. I honestly was thinking she would say no! Well, to my surprise she said "YES!". We told her that we wanted to go see Meet the Mormons. She instantly started talking about how she wanted to see it. 

Come to find out it had been years since she had gone to a movie. She does go to play's with some of the other family members but she normally wouldn't go to a movie. Well we picked her up Tuesday night and drove to the Megaplex. She was so excited the entire day before we got there that she got to go out with us. 

We had asked her how she wanted to get into the theater she said she would walk herself. She is becoming so much more independent. We asked if she wanted to sit in the handicap seating and she said "I'm not handicapped! I can do stairs"... Well did she prove it to us. She did about 15 stairs up and down. She rocked it!  

I had to catch a picture of Kelly walking next to her and helping her around the theatre. Even though she insisted that we didn't need to worry about her. 

It was a fun night and the movie was great! I am really impressed at how the Church put together such a movie that can bring the spirit into a theatre and teach little things about the things we believe.

I really loved the song that David Archuleta sang at the end of the movie. 

If you haven't seen this movie you need to!!

The Megaplex theaters offer a deal on Tuesdays for $5 all day, any movie. We also had gone to the anniversary of their opening day so we each got a free popcorn with our ticket.

They also have small popcorns for $1 on Tuesdays.

(Now you have no reason not to go!!)

Grandma has now told us that she wants to go out on the town more with us. We drove her around the Ogden Temple after and she was in love with it. She wants to go and do a session. Hopefully we can work that in after the baby is here. I love being able to get her out of the house and do something that she will enjoy for weeks to come.

Thanks Grandma Smith for a great Tuesday night!

Watch the trailer here.

        

The Last Day

Wow, I can't believe how over excited I am that today is my last day of working at Sunset Elementary. Okay, I will miss my friends and co-workers but I am just ready to be done at the same time.

Although it does hit me that Little Miss Nelson could make her arrival any day, any time, any place. But, I think I am becoming more and more ready for that. Mainly because I am sick of being pregnant and the giant bowling ball that is weighing down on my bladder constantly.

There are several kids I will miss not seeing and the little Kindergartners who hug you every time they see you. They are very sweet kids but sometimes very hard to manage. I am hoping that the lady I train today to take over my job for the rest of the year doesn't mind kids because today is just younger grades.

I have been so lucky to have an awesome principal who I have been able to joke with, laugh with and talk to for the last 2 years. I hope one day he will admit that he is retiring soon but I know their will be some in the building who will miss him greatly.

For awhile I wasn't sure if I would quit working at the school or if I would try and go back in a few months. It finally hit me one afternoon that it wasn't something I had to do, needed to do or want to do. Once I convinced myself that it was okay to stay home then I was ready to leave the school that day.

I have been use to not being home in fact, Kelly and I joke about how we are never home hardly because of our crazy lives. I guess I felt like if I said I was going to stay at home that I was never going to be able to leave the house. Which probably is true for the first while but once I had told my family that I had told my administration I was quitting my family was relieved and somewhat estatic. My sister even said, "Yes now we can play and do mom things"... well then a few weeks later she reminded me its just mom things.

I will miss being away from my dance girl when the time comes that Little Miss Nelson is finally here. But I am eager to see what they have learned and worked on when I get back to seeing them.
They are all excited about having a little baby in the dance family and I am excited for them as well. Although, it will be quite awhile before she will be around all of them. Little Miss Nelson doesn't know it yet but she has 42 big sisters who are awaiting her arrival rather impatiently.

So here's to what ever happens in the next week and a half and to being a stay at home mom.

I couldn't be more nervous, anxious, excited, stressed and worried.
eek..

They even send a letter informing me that I quit! Made me giggle!