{Birth Story: Marlo Ingrid Guymon}

B I R T H * S T O R Y
Written by Mallory

Tuesday, September 2, 2014
We go to our doctors appointment and I am dilated to a 2 and 90% effaced. I was tempted to have them strip my membranes because with the next day as my due date and having had no contractions, I knew that I wasn't going to have this baby anytime soon. I opted not to and tried to stick with allowing this baby to come on her own time (against my selfish desires). OH, and it was my birthday too. I kept forgetting that. I got my carpets cleaned and went to dinner with my parents and Nephi.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014
NO BABE - Still working. I want to die.

Thursday, September 4, 2014
I think I had 1 contraction in the morning and it freaked me out. I went to work and told my boss I was going to start my maternity leave, packed up my desk and was out of there and out to lunch with Nephi to enjoy our last moments of just the two of us.

Friday, September 5, 2014
NO BABE. Enjoyed the day by organizing the final details of my house and worked on Marlo's room. Took an evening walk with Nephi and ate pineapple to get this baby going!

Saturday, September 6, 2014
Woke up at 4:30 a.m. with burning tummy pain. Went to the bathroom (no signs of baby), went back to bed. Woke up at 8 a.m. with burning tummy pain (almost like cramps). Laid in bed waiting for Nephi to wake up. Had another burning tummy pain and told him that I THINK I am having contractions  - I am not sure. Over the past few weeks anytime I would have braxton hicks or anything that felt slightly like contractions (to my current understanding) he would want to start timing. Uh, NO. I did not want that. I only wanted to time when it for for real - and I knew I would know when that was. So, after another burning tummy pain, we officially starting timing them on the app on my phone. For the remainder of the day I had contractions every 20-40 minutes. At one point, I went almost an hour during a nap and we decided to go for a walk to the gas station to get a Vitamin Water to take to the hospital.  Our bags were all packed and we got showered and ready for the hospital earlier on in the day which made the day feel looooong. Nephi was a little zealous to say the least.

During this whole day full of contractions and preparation, I kept catching myself not wanting the contractions to grow closer together, but kept saying on the outside that I wanted her to come. I clearly felt conflicted, scared, and nervous for the whole thing. I really wanted to meet her, but I really liked just being Nephi and I and our great life together. But, the feelings of not wanting to be pregnant anymore would soon remind me and then I would want her out! I look back now and can say that I LOVED carrying Marlo, but at the time I wasn't so flowery.

Around 9 p,m. we were all sitting around watching "Saving Mr. Banks" and my Dad made the comment, "If you don't stay active, you are not having that baby tonight." That scared me because maybe it meant that I was going to be having these contractions (that were getting worse and more evenly 20 minutes apart for 60 seconds/piece) for a few more DAYS!? So I called the hospital and told them where I was at and asked them if I should stay active or sleep. They said to try and sleep and labor as long as I can at home. My parents left and went to my brothers to stay the night there and Nephi and I started getting ready for bed. I, of course, was interrupted every 15-20 minutes with contractions. I told him to get the hospital bags out of the car because it had our tooth brushed and make-up in it.

At around 11 they started getting to be 10-12 minutes apart and every 2-3 contractions I would have a back labor and that KILLED!!! I couldn't get comfortable and they were getting LONGER! 90 seconds to 2 minutes some of them and I started sweating. When they were around 8 minutes apart, I called the hospital and told them where I was at and they said to come in. My doctor told me to wait until they were 5 minutes apart so I kind of felt like a baby that I was already exhausted and ready for the meds! (Up until this point, I hadn't made a decision on whether I would get an epidural or not, but you better believe after a few back labor contractions, I was going to get the epidural!)

By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were 5 minutes apart and I started getting so nervous. When I get nervous, I get quiet. I don't remember even talking on the way tot he hospital besides to tell Nephi that I was having another contraction and hit the button on my app. Nephi started recording as soon as we stepped out of the car and started walking towards the doors. We (ahem - I) waddled to the doors and rang the bell because the doors were locked,

"Hi, can I help you?"
"Yes, we need to get up to labor and delivery."
"Are you visiting someone?"

{{It's 12:30 at this point.}}

"Uh, no, I am in labor."

We walked up the stairs because I was feeling brave and as soon as we opened the door to the L & D floor, a nurse greeted me, "Hi Mallory, your room is this way..." I went to the room and they gave me my gown. I was shocked because I thought they would take me into an exam room first to make sure I was in labor, but I guess they believed me! The nurse was really relaxed and just watched me go through my contractions, and I tried to breath and I kept repeating, "I can't, I can't" and she didn't even try to coach me through it...ummm, that is why I came, I need help, lady! They asked me a ton of questions of course including when my last doctors appointment was and how dilated was I at that appointment. I told her I was at a 2 on Tuesday and you could tell she wasn't too convinced I was actually in real labor. But, I proved her wrong when she checked me and I was at a 5 and 100% effaced. Yeah, lady. Let's get this thing going! She said my cervix felt like I have already had a baby it was so soft! (TMI? Maybe. Sorry.) Then she asked the magical question and 3 contractions later, I had a needle in my back. The anesthesiologist was amazing and let Nephi watch and walked me through everything. It could not have gone smoother!


Nephi's parents arrived and we chatted for a bit. The plan was to start me on pitocin and then have the doctor break my water at 7 a.m. and the nurse said that the baby should be here by noon. GREAT. Planning...I like planning, I thought. Nephi's parents left and my Dad left and Nephi and my Mom shared the couch bed (don't worry, it was big enough and hardly awkward because they are best friends). I was in and out of sleep for a bit. The nurse said she would come back in at 5 a.m. to start the pitocin so I think we set an alarm to wake up at that time to be ready for her but she didn't end up coming back in until about 6 ish and by that time Nephi's parents were back in and everyone was ready for me to get going. Kind of a weird feeling to have people just looking at you waiting for you to pop a baby out.

**I didn't have my original doctor. He was out of town, you know, hunting in Africa, and I was left with the only doctor he had on call who I had a 1/2 dozen people tell me NOT to go to. Great...just great...**

They said the doctor probably wouldn't be coming till a little later that morning and so we knew we had a little bit more time. I was in and out of sleep until I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up so I yelled at my Mom and Nephi to help lift me up and we grabbed a barf bag and they sat me up just in time to barf. I did that another time an hour or so later and the anesthesiologist came back in and gave me some Zofran. This was a good sign, however, that she was dropping and pushing up on my stomach! I think it was around 9 a.m. that I was to a 10 but still no sign of the doctor...

Over the next 2 hours the nurses proceed to tell us he was coming in a 1/2 hour...oh he has an emergency c-section...oh he wants your water to break on your own...suddenly, I had an oxygen mask on because Marlo was in a little distress. My levels were great but her heart rate was up a little but they kept coming up with excuses as to why they were waiting. At one point, I thought my water had broken but it was just a little gush of fluids. Ugh.

Finally, around 11 a.m. my water broke! I told the nurse and she lifted up the blanket and her eyes widened. "Oh, yes. Let's change your sheets." She quickly left the room and then came back and explained that I Marlo had a bowl movement inside of me and that there was likelihood of meconium aspiration so when she was born that they wouldn't give her to me right away and that they would have a NICU and a respiratory nurse there to treat her and clean out her lungs. I was a little upset that I wouldn't get to hold her right away but mostly just agreed with whatever the nurses said would be best.

Over the next little bit my contractions increased and I started to have a little pain -- or more pressure. I could feel the waves of the contractions slightly but mostly felt a constant rectal pressure that was increasing. Oh man, it was painful. I told the nurse and she hit the button for more medicine in my epidural but it didn't really help. When the anesthesiologist came in I told him and he was pretty worried. He gave me a bit more but said he was really concerned about break-through pain and said it was very dangerous at this point. He said he would come back and check in 30 minutes and at that point we were getting ready to start pushing and they said the doctor was on his way in the building. The pain was still coming so he gave me another round (i think?) and then around 12:30 I started pushing with every contraction. After 1 round, the doctor came in, shook my hand awkwardly over my widespread legs, and checked me all dressed up in his church clothes. So glad he went to church that morning - thanks for being worthy, Doc. He looked at the nurse and said, call me when your ready, and then left the room.

By this time we had a new nurse who had been with us since 7 a.m. and she was awesome. She communicated, repeated herself, was very clear with what to expect and what to do and how things would feel. She also didn't set up any false expectations throughout the day. She was kind of all business and I liked it. Nephi grabbed 1 leg and my Mom grabbed the other leg. My Dad was on the other side of the curtain and I started pushing. At  5 to 1 p.m. the nurse yelled for another nurse to call the doctor. Within a minute he was back in the room and as he was putting on the gloves I started getting another contraction and the nurse said, "Okay, ready...go..." I pushed 3 times, and the doctor had his gloves on and was down at work and said, "push again..." so I pushed again and he said, "can you do 1 more?" I nodded yes, and pushed and then she was out!  (Pushing was not nearly as hard as I expected but I think that's because I was really clear with the anesthesiologist that I did want to feel enough to push and it was the perfect amount of medicine for me to do that and not have pain.)

Marlo Ingrid Guymon

9|7|14 - 6 lbs 9 ounces  -1:03 p.m.

She came out and he put her on my belly for only a moment. I just starred at her, knowing that she would be swept away, and then Nephi cut the cord and she was gone. I mostly watched Nephi watch her. My Mom was hugging and kissing me and I was so distracted watching my cute little family across the room. Nephi's face was priceless! It felt like they were over there FOREVER! Then I remembered the doctor and him and the nurse were exchanging words and stats back and forth. The nurse kept saying "he" and "him" referring to Marlo and I was like, "I know you are saying 'he', but it is a girl, right?" "Oh, yes, it's a girl! Sorry!". GEEZE. Scared me.

Suddenly, I felt the tugging. "Ouch" I said and the doctor finally looked up at me as he brought a thread up. "Uh, is everything okay?" I asked. "Ya, just performing an episiotomy." Oh, okay. What? -- Seriously though. Through all my reading and researching I didn't even know what that was. They mentioned it to me when I was signing all the papers but I didn't ask for an explanation because I didn't expect any complications [which really bugs me when people automatically think they are going to have complications with their birth or pregnancy without any prior knowledge or history]. So he tugged for what seemed like forever and I felt all too much - which really made me question how much more medicine I got...he didn't bill me for 2 epidurals which he said he may have to do I don't think he gave me another one. Wow, I am brave ;).  No, but it really hurt afterward.

FINALLY, they brought sweet baby Marlo over to me. It took a few minutes while they were sucking out her lungs for her to cry, but she cried most when they did her footprints. Nephi carried her over to me all swaddled up and I got to hold her. She had her eyes open and she looked like a little alien. Haha - Okay, maybe like a little dolly alien. We all throught she looked a lot like Ava (my niece) and we just starred at her and looked at her features and pointed out which features were what and took pictures. Then Nephi's family came in for a few minutes and got to hold her and then left. I fed her (she did OK) and then bathed while Nephi and my Mom went with the other nurse to bathe Marlo. All I have to say is those nurses are special souls. As she was wiping me down after my bath I said to her, "You're a good person." She just looked at me and we laughed.

I met Marlo in the recovery room and she had a cute little purple polkadot bow headband that Nephi picked out for her - it was perfect for her! So we spent another day and a half in the hospital. Had a lot of sweet visitors, great nurses, and zero to hardly any sleep but we drooled over her and we still are!