The Kinkle Family: Miia's Arrival

Miia Anneli Kinkle

Birthday: February 5, 2010, 11:16pm

Weight: 8 lbs 2 oz

Length: 21-1/4"

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Still not sure, but we see some reddish hues to the blondish/brown color

Miia is finally here and here is her birth story:

On Tuesday and Wednesday, February 2 and 3, I had some slight cramping in the morning, so I was thinking I was finally progressing toward labor, but knew the cramps weren't at the intensity or frequency I needed. I was walking and drinking raspberry tea and was about to try some other herbal methods of bringing on labor because I was feeling better from my cold and ready for Miia to come! On Thursday, my cramping was more intense and lasted all day. I went to lunch with Jason and my mother-in-law and had Mexican food, hoping the spice might help me along. That afternoon I went to the doctor for my regularly scheduled appointment and was told I was only dilated 1 cm and I was so disappointed. My doctor asked if I wanted to be induced on Saturday which would allow her to deliver Miia, so Jason and I agreed. When I got home from the doctor, my cramping got more intense. By 5pm we were timing the contractions and found they were ranging from 5-9 minutes apart for 2 hours. By 7 pm, I was having intense contractions every 2-1/2 minutes and they lasted for 1 minute. However, knowing that I had a long way to go, I didn't call the doctor yet. Jason and I tried the breathing techniques we learned in our Preparing for Childbirth class. I tried multiple positions to try to get comfortable but the contractions were coming so fast that I couldn't get enough of a break. Finally after 3 hours of this, we decided to call Kaiser. After all, they said we should come in if contractions were 5 minutes apart for 1 hour. I thought surely I have progressed after 3 hours of contractions that were 2 minutes apart!

I took a shower before heading to the hospital, hoping the hot water might relieve some pain. We put our packed bag in the car and headed off at about 10pm. I always pictured this moment in my head--the rush and anticipation, but looking back, all I remember was trying to close my eyes and breathe through the pain and after too long, we arrived at the hospital. They rushed us through the doors into triage where I was immediately hooked up to monitors. They could see that I was contracting as often as I said, but much to my dismay, I was still only 1 cm.

The midwife decided to admit me since the contractions were so strong and so close together, I was past my due date, and they planned to induce me Saturday anyway. After about an hour in triage, we moved into the labor and delivery room and called my mom. By this time, it was midnight, but she agreed to come to the hospital. The midwife told me I would not be able to have an epidural until I was 4 cm dilated, but they could provide me with some other drugs that would help me until then. I had hoped to do this drug free, but I’d already been in labor for 7 hours and knew I had a LONG haul ahead, so I took them up on their offer. The drugs didn’t even dull the pain, but they allowed me to rest between contractions. Granted, my “resting” was only about 45 seconds long, but those periods of sleep allowed me some much needed comfort. Jason slept and my mom watched the monitor all night.

They checked me periodically through the night, but I was still dilating so slowly. Around 5 am, they broke my water to try to move things along. They found meconium in the fluids, which meant that Miia needed to be delivered within 24 hours—at least I now had a deadline! They had me sit in the shower to help with the pain, and apparently I was in there for about an hour and a half. I remember falling asleep between contractions and then needing to throw up. Jason took a walk and got some breakfast and then my mom took a break. This was all told to me later. Around 7:30 am I got back into bed and about an hour later, I was told I was 4 cm dilated and I could finally have an epidural. The anesthesiologist came in shortly after and provided me with the much needed medicine. I was so exhausted after 14 hours of labor with virtually no break. Once the epidural kicked in, I was like a new person. I could finally hold a conversation and take a long nap. My aunt Nancy came by around noon and my brother Keef came to see how things were going. Unfortunately, the progress slowed and by 2pm I was only 5 cm. They decided to give me pitocin to intensify the contractions. They upped the pitocin every 30 minutes and by the third increase, I was starting to feel the pain again. I used my epidural clicker as often as I could (every 10 minutes), but by 6pm, the pain was so intense again that I was breathing through each contraction. My in-laws and my dad came around 6, but I hardly remember the conversations going on around me. My brother and his girlfriend also showed up. Finally around 9pm, the midwife came in and told me I was 9-1/2 cm dilated and I could start pushing. I couldn’t believe it! I was so sure she’d tell me I still had a long way to go, but the adrenaline kicked in and I felt a renewed sense of energy. Two hours and 15 minutes later, I was holding a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to hold her for long because they had to get the meconium out of her lungs, so they stuck a tube down her and cleared her up. They bathed and weighed her and then I finally got a chance to hold Miia again. It was such a blessed moment and I soon forgot all the pain I’d just gone through. The family came back into the room and though none of them held her, they all adored her.

That night I was so hungry since I hadn’t eaten since Thursday at lunch, so the nurse brought me applesauce and ice cream at my request, but I could only make it through the applesauce (Ok, for me to pass up ice cream is huge, so you know I must have been exhausted!). We were escorted to the recovery room around 2am. Jason and I slept on and off, waking up for routine checks by the nurses and for feedings. The nurses took care of all the diaper changes that night, which was so helpful! On Saturday, we had numerous visitors, which was so nice. It was hard to find the time to eat or even feed Miia, so Saturday night, we were told to focus on her and feed her as much as we could. On Sunday, we spent a lot of time with the nurses “perfecting” the nursing techniques and once we conquered that, we were free to go home! We made it home right before the Super Bowl, so Jason was able to watch it while I tried to rest and take care of Miia. My mom brought Lexi (our dog) back to our house that night, so Lexi got to meet Miia too. It was so nice to be home, but I knew things would never be the same.

In the week following the birth of Miia, Jason was fortunate enough to stay home from work. We focused on my recovery and keeping Miia’s weight up, since she dropped nearly a pound within 3 days of birth. Luckily by day 6, she was back to 7 lbs 13 oz, so we knew we were on the right track. Jason was a huge help to me, by providing me with water and food on demand. It was really hard to not be able to do things for myself, but the pain made it very difficult to be mobile. I believe I somehow bruised my tailbone during delivery, so I’m still struggling with that. We also had some family and friends provide us with dinners, which was so nice.

Miia does really well sleeping at night, but gets pretty fussy in the evenings. Overall she is a great baby and we can’t imagine life without her. She is truly one of God’s miracles!