Josie Rae

Josie Rae entered our family November 14th, 2012 @ 10:57 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is so precious and we could not be happier with our family!
While it is fresh in my mind I want to record my pregnancy and birth story with Josie, even though I have a lot of catching up to do and this will be out of order.


My pregnancy with Josie was a stressful one! At my first ultrasound the tech found that I had a 2 vessel cord. Which means that there was only 1 artery and 1 vein, instead of 2 arteries and 1 vein. This is not very common at all, it happens with 1% of pregnancies. There can be a lot of complications with a 2 vessel cord such as clubbed feet, cleft pallet, heart problems...so they were very careful and checked things real close. It can also mean early delivery if the baby stops growing. With this condition I was considered high risk and had to see my regular Doctor (Dr. Leavitt) every 4 weeks as well as a Perinatologist every 4 weeks. So I was going to a doctors appointment every 2 weeks until I hit 32 weeks and then it was every week.
At 18 weeks my Perinatologist could not find one of the arteries of the heart, so I was sent to Primary Childrens to see a Pediatric Cardiologist to have an Echo done. Luckily Josie was just in a bad position and the Echo came back completely normal. STRESSFUL!
Starting at 32 weeks I had to have an Ultrasound done every Thursday to check Josie's growth and have a Bio Physical Profile (BPP) which checks her tone, movement and breathing. I also had to have a Non Stress Test (NST) done every Monday. Lots of doctor appointments! But every week she looked perfect!

At 35 weeks at my appointment the doctor checked me and I was dilated to a 1, 75% effaced and Josie's head was very low. I honestly did not think I would make it much longer! At 36 weeks I was dilated to a 3, and 80% effaced. We thought for sure that I would have Josie any day and since I was delivering in Idaho Falls and I have fast labors we decided it would be beast that I stay at my parents until she was born. I stayed the same for my 37 & 38 week appointments. At 38 weeks I was feeling VERY uncomfortable. On November 13 I went into the chiropractor and he adjusted my Pelvis. The next day I went back in and he did Accupuncture on all the pressure points that help stimulate labor and your cervix. I had a Non Stress Test later that day at 3pm. While I was having my test I started to have some small contractions and they were picking them up. By the end of my 20 minute test I was having more regular contractions. I talked my mom into going and walking the mall with me for 30 minutes. My contractions started to get a little stronger and they were 8 minutes apart. We left the mall at around 4:30 and headed home to my parents. By the time we got home the contractions were every 6 minutes and were starting to get a little painful. I called JK and told him he should probably head to Idaho Falls. He was studying for a big test that he was supposed to take the next day and didn't want to head up unless I was for sure in labor. I told him I couldn't be completely certain but I would be shocked if I didn't have her tonight. JK got to my parents around 5:30 and at that point my contractions were every 5 minutes. While he was on his way I wanted to keep the contractions coming regularly so I walked, jogged and skipped around in my parents basement.
We got to the hospital at 6 pm. By the time they hooked me up to the monitors my contractions were every 2-3 minutes and were PAINFUL! They check me and I was 4 cm Dilated and 80% effaced. I told the nurse that they epidural helps me go fast and I asked if I could get the epidural and the nurse told me that they had to see some improvement to confirm I was in "Active" labor before they could help me in any way because I was only 38 1/2 weeks. WHAT?!! I wanted to scream! I had her check me 30 minutes later and nothing had changed. So we let another 30 minutes pass and she checked me again and I had effaced to 85% and she said that was enough change that I could stay and I could get my epidural! The nurse called the anesthesiologist to come and do the epidural and he was in a C-section and it had just started so it would be a little while. I really thought I was going to die! I was in so much pain. Finally around 9 pm the anesthesiologist came in to do my epidural. I was at a 7!! He told me that an epidural would not kick in fast enough with how fast I progress. So instead of an epidural he did an Intrathecal which is similar to an epidural. They still put the needle in the same place in your back, but they put it a little deeper and just inject the medicine and then pull it out. Nothing stays in your back, and the Intrathecal only lasts 2 hours. As soon as The Intrathecal was done it kicked in immediately and I could finally relax. Dr. Leavitt came in and broke my water around 10:20 pm and then they got ready for delivery. I pushed 2 times and Josie Rae was born. JK delivered her just like he did Boston. It was such a wonderful experience.
As soon as she came out they put her up on me. The chord was wrapped around her neck so she was purple when they put her on me and she was holding her breath which seemed like FOREVER! It kind of freaked me out and I asked all the nurses if she was alive and breathing! They took her and put her on some oxygen and suctioned out her mouth. That helped a lot and her color turned real fast.
Everything went very well and we feel so blessed to have Josie a part of our family. She is such an Angel. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has