Harper Vee Ewell's Birth Story

Here we are again! I'm still a little shook that I have three kids now and we have completed our little family. I'm not going to lie though when I say that I'm a little sad to be done. I love being pregnant and LOVE the newborn stage. But having the feeling that we are done having kids is good. Josh was content with being done after I had Roman and I just wasn't. We went back and forth SO many times if we wanted another for awhile. We tried for like 6 months with no luck, stopped trying, then decided to try one more time and got pregnant! I was so nervous to be having another child when Roman is such a handful! 

When we decided to try one more time I had a positive pregnancy test sometime in September 2019, due date was May 1 2020. About a week or two later I started bleeding. If you remember I had implantation bleeding with Roman so I wasn't too worried, but then I started passing blood clots and I knew then I was having a miscarriage. So I called my doctor, had an ultrasound and blood work done. It was too early to see a baby but we could see the sac. I just knew though it wasn't a viable pregnancy. The next day my doctor called and said that my progesterone was low which is critical in having a viable pregnancy. He put me on some and said to see him in a week for another ultrasound. So that next week went in and had my ultrasound and we should be able to see a baby but all we could find is a sac. Another blighted ovum pregnancy.  This time with me still bleeding my body was already starting to miscarry it unlike my first one. I still chose for a D&C and had it done October 1, 2019.  

So fast forward to March 2020 after 5 months of trying again we decided that this was going to be the last month to try and if I don't get pregnant then we would be done. March 31 I took a pregnancy test a day before my period was supposed to start and it was positive! I was so excited but we had just entered a pandemic and I had no idea what the future held. 

As you could tell leading up to my 9 week appointment was brutal. But once we saw baby and everything was good we could relax. My pregnancy went great with no complications.  We did have to check my thyroid every month because my levels were low from hyperthyroidism but it was not enough to take medications for. We also kept baby's gender a surprise which the most awesome thing to do and I highly recommend it! 

Ok, birth story time.  At my 39 week appointment Dr. Syndergaard stripped my membranes and asked if I wanted to schedule an induction. I already was set on not being induced, but decided that I would schedule one Friday the 4th just two days before my due date hoping I would go into labor on my own before that because the thought of being on Pitocin again was nerve wracking! I had some painful contractions throughout the day after my appointment  but nothing that told me I was in labor. Then at midnight that night I woke up to a contraction I tried going back to bed but soon realized that they were constant. I told Josh 30 minutes later it was time to go in. We had to wake up the kids, make sure we had everything we needed and had a 30 minute drive to Roosevelt(laboring in the car is not fun btw). We dropped the kids off at my sister's house and when we got to the hospital it was 01:28. When we got to L&D I was the only patient there. We got into our room, I changed into the gown, put the monitor on and my nurse wanted to check to see where I was at and if I was really in labor(I knew 100% I was but I just let her do her job).  When she checked me I was 7-8cm dilated and my bag was bulging. I was 2 cm at my doctor's appointment. At that point I knew I wasn't getting an epidural which I didn't want anyways.  My nurse left to call Dr. Syndergaard and let me labor more and said to call if I had the urge to push.  I'm not sure how long it had been when I called and said I had lots of pressure. Everyone came in including my doctor and got everything set up. Then my doctor broke my water and it was time to push. I remember pushing longer than last time and trying to push baby's head past my cervix was excruciating because I still had a lip. I pushed so hard for what seemed like forever, but it was maybe 10-15 minutes or less. Finally at 02:27 after only 2.5 hours of labor, baby girl Harper Vee Ewell was born. 7lbs 2oz 20in. December 1, 2020. 

Roman Joshua Ewell's Birth Story

So Roman is now 7 months old, I've wanted to share his birth story for awhile now and didn't want to type it all on Facebook or Instagram, but I totally forgot that I had a blog account, haha...since clearly I haven't written anything in years! But this is a good spot to keep memories like this. Also, since this is a birth story blog, it's going to have some details that would be expected, so...enjoy! :)

So I want to back up just a little bit before I got pregnant with Roman.  It was December 2015, Josh & I had been trying to get pregnant again for about 3 months (if you don't remember it took us almost 2 years to get pregnant with Mylee). I had taken a pregnancy test and it was positive!! I was so excited to tell Josh that I facetimed him that moment to tell him! We were so excited! So I had an appointment and I was only 7 weeks, my doctor told me that it was probably too early to see the baby but we would look anyway. So we saw the sac and saw a small something that looked like it was the baby. My doctor wasn't worried, said everything looked great and to have a bigger ultrasound in about 3 weeks to get a better measurement to figure out a due date which was about August 29, 2016.  So 3 weeks later I go in for my ultrasound and all we could find is a sac with no baby.  The tech told me to go see Dr. Syndergaard right away and she would send the images to him.  So after meeting with him, he told me that what I had was a Blighted Ovum, where a sac forms and no baby, but your body acts as if you are pregnant with all the hormones, it would eventually lead to a miscarriage, but I chose to get a D&C surgery.

After my surgery my doctor told me that the sooner I tried to get pregnant again the better the chances were of getting pregnant, and he was RIGHT! 2 months after my surgery I found out that I was pregnant with Roman! We were so happy! But about 2 weeks after finding out I was pregnant, I was at Walmart when I felt like I had just started my period...(we all know that feeling ladies!).  I quickly ran home to find quite a bit of blood in my underwear! I called Josh in a panic and then called my doctor. They got me in the next day for an ultrasound. The tech told me not to worry that it was just an implantation bleed and everything looked good although I was only 6 weeks along we couldn't see the baby.  Fast forward to 4 weeks later we had another ultrasound and saw Roman! It was as if we could finally breathe and relax.

My pregnancy with Roman was so different from Mylee. I was more uncomfortable, I gained more weight, but I wasn't as sick!! But I ate way more junk with him than every! I craved Orange soda and Rootbeer, and Taco Bell.....things I haven't had in YEARS!! I did Crossfit the entire pregnancy, I even PR'd on my deadlift by 20lbs, I felt good for the most part until my hips started moving..ouch! But it was another pleasant pregnancy!

My due date with Roman was December 21, 2016, almost exactly a year after finding out I was pregnant with my blighted ovum.  So I wasn't worried about going to my due date since Mylee came 3 weeks early, well that definitely was not his plan.  At my 39 week appointment my doctor stripped my membranes, I DON'T recommend that to anyone....OUCH! I also wanted to have another all natural labor, but since his due date was so close to Christmas I didn't want to go that far so I decided to get induced on Friday December 16 if I hadn't gone into labor by then. I had TONS of Braxton-hicks contractions but these ones didn't even dilate me! When I went in Friday morning to be induced at 7am, I was at 2cm and 80% effaced. I wanted to go all natural so my doctor broke my water at 8:30am and we waited, also I had tested positive for strep b so I had to get antibiotics before giving birth. So since I hadn't been having any consistent contractions I had to be put on Pitocin, my nurse started my on a drip of Pitocin at 11am.  By 11:05 I was having 10/10 pain with the strongest contractions imaginable, I had never experienced so much pain in my life. By 11:30 I asked for some fentanyl for pain(which by the way didn't do a dang thing) my nurse checked me and I had dilated to a 4 and I asked for an epidural. At this point I didn't know how I could possibly make it through another contraction, that Pitocin is crazy stuff! It was about 11:45 when my nurse came in to tell me that my epidural was coming soon. My sister then came into the room, I was in so much pain that I didn't want anyone in the room so I had asked her to leave. As she was leaving I was having a contraction and I felt Roman start to come out....haha no sure if he actually was but that's exactly how it felt, I was thinking that Josh or my sister is going to have to catch this baby because he was coming.  I asked my sister to hurry and get the nurse. The nurse finally came in not too worried and checked me.  She told my that the bad news was that I wasn't going to be getting the epidural, but the good news was that I was ready to start pushing!! I couldn't believe that I went from a 4 to a 10 in 30-35 minutes.  I remember the nurses running around to get everything ready, and me yelling at them to get my doctor!! I was a little crazy from the pain! My doctor finally got to the room as I was pushing. I remember giving 2 pushes and then the third final push Roman Joshua Ewell was born after being in labor for an hour at 12:12pm weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inch! I couldn't believe that after Roman and the placenta had been delivered by pain was absolutely gone! What a relief it was! We were so happy to finally have him in our arms!!

Mylee Marie Ewell's Birth Story

Wednesday October 23 I went into my 36/37 week appointment since my doctor had to cancel my 36 week appointment because he was getting ready to deliver a baby, this was the first appointment where he was going to check me to see if I had dilated and thinned out any.  I was thinking maybe I'd be at 1cm or so. I remember the look on his face while he was checking me and when he was finished he told me that I was already 100% thinned out and was 2cm dilated, and said the soonest I could have her would be 6 hrs!!! I was in shock and was thinking that I hope I had enough time to go back to Vernal to Josh and to grab our things.  I wasn't having any contractions that hurt though, just the same braxton-hicks that were about 10 min apart.  I then told mine and Josh's family and they all were so excited.  That night I was having the same contractions about 7 min apart but I wasn't going to go in until they started hurting, if my water broke or if they were 5 min apart for 1 hour.  I then got into the shower and they settled down a bit, I think that my anxiousness were the cause of them.  

The next couple of days were very long with the anticipation that we knew she was going to make her arrival very soon.  I still went to work and I was in my Advanced EMT class that I needed to be there Friday and Saturday, so she needed to stay in until Saturday after class.  That Saturday I woke up feeling very different, my contractions were on and off again and felt different, still not hurting but I knew they were different.  I had class that morning from 8-4:30 that was one of the most important classes.  That whole day I couldn't concentrate but still managed to get through the entire thing.  We also were practicing our IV's on each other but my instructor wouldn't let anyone stick me because the stress could put me into labor and I had to finish class on Saturday.  So since I had made it through class I decided that I would let someone try and IV on me.  When I got home that night I told Josh that we were going to take Titan and go walking at the walking park, and oh did I walk like it was nobody's business.  I was so ready for her to be here.  But the contractions still weren't hurting and would come and go, but I could just feel her getting ready to make her appearance. 

About 9:00 that night my contractions were very regular so I got an app on my phone and timed my contractions and they were about 5-6 min apart, so by 10:00 when they were still going even though they weren't hurting I decided it was time to go in and see what was going on.  I called our family to tell them what was going on but said we weren't positive I was in labor.

We got to the hospital and checked in at 10:30pm Saturday night.  I got dressed in the lovely gown and the monitors were placed on my stomach. When the nurse checked me I was 3cm, and said she would come back in an hour to check me again.  When she checked me again I was at 4cm(12:15am) and she said I was definitely in labor and she admitted me.  I was such in shock that we would be meeting our daughter really soon. 

Since my contractions weren't hurting the nurse said that it would be a good idea to walk around.  So myself, Josh, my mom, and my sister went walking around the hospital, and while we were walking we saw my grandma and the check in desk.  My grandpa was having chest pain so they brought him into the ER, he has had history and many surgeries with his heart.  I was so scared for him.  

When we got back to my room the nurse checked my again and I was only at a "loose" 4cm.  I was so discouraged.  So they hooked me back up to the monitors.  My contractions were coming and going irregularly again and still felt like braxton-hicks.  My nurse came in, said that she had talked to my doctor, and that he said to put me on pitocin if I wanted and he was leaving at 9:00 in the morning to catch a plane to go to a conference.  I wanted to go all natural so I said no to the pitocin. I asked if they could just break my water and since it was 3:00 in the morning my doctor wasn't going to come in and said that my nurse could break it if I wanted her to.  

30 min after my nurse broke my water I was at 5cm(3:52am), but my contractions were spacing out so I got on the ridiculous diapers and went walking again.  This time I felt a HUGE pop and incredible pain afterwards.  Josh helped me back to my room and my nurse checked me again and was at 6cm.  I was relieved that this process was going along more quickly.  This was now when the contractions started hurting, and oh my did they hurt.  Every time one came I couldn't hold still I need to walk, stand up, or anytime but stay still.  I tried laboring on the big giant ball and that helped alot, I also tried standing up and leaning on Josh which also helped too.  Finally I got back into bed and my nursed checked me again and was at 6.5cm this was at 6:54 in the morning and there was a nurse switch.  

The pain was finally so bad that I needed something for the pain so I decided to get a dose of fentanyl, It didn't take the pain away but instead just relaxed me and I fell right asleep, but it only lasted an hour and the contractions were back at it. At 7:45am I was still at 6.5cm, but at 8:10am I got another dose of fentanyl and checked again and was at 8cm!!! I was so close, that hour that the fentanyl was in my system I slept because I was so exhausted.  When it wore off at 9:00am my doctor, who was getting ready to leave, came in and I totally lost it, I was so sad he wasn't going to be delivering my baby and was such an emotional wreck that I just shouted I wanted an epidural.  When the anesthesiologist came in I told him that I didn't want an epidural because I didn't want a catheter put in me(not sure if they actually do that, but in my mind they did) and I always wanted to go all natural.  I then decided when I was 9cm I wanted to get a spinal, because I didn't think I was going to be able to push through all that pain.  9:10am I got the spinal and Josh passed out while I got it...sorry Josh.  I'm not sure if it was from the needle or the fact that he hadn't eaten in over 12 hours, had not slept, and was a nervous wreck. The spinal was so nice, I still felt my legs and feet and could still move them. I still felt my contractions and they still hurt but not as bad. 9:43am I was almost ready to push, I still had a little anterior lip on my cervix so I couldn't push yet.

By that time we had gotten news that they were going to fly my grandpa by helicopter to UofU Hospital so I was trying so hard to have the baby before he left.  My doctor stayed as long as he could but he had to leave.  10:00am came and I was ready to do some practice pushes, Josh was holding one leg while the CNA held the other, my sister was taking pictures and my mom was in the room as well.  The nurse finally went and got Dr. Williams who was going to deliver my baby.  I was so ready to meet her and when it was time to start the real pushes my spinal wore off.  It was the most incredible pain I had felt, after a couple pushes I felt a gush going down me and I was so embarrassed that I had pooped! I asked the doctor if it was poop or blood and he said that I had torn...luckily I didn't feel it.   A couple more pushes and some loud screams from me, Mylee Marie Ewell was born at 10:31am 6lbs 13oz and 19in long 10/27/13 and had the biggest cone head ever with lots of black hair. I could hear everyone in the room crying, and looked to see my husband who had tears rolling down his face with the biggest grin, he also got to cut the umbilical cord.  They immediately put her on me, cleaned her up and sucked her out, and we were able to do skin to skin for two hours.  She did so well that they didn't have to take her from me, they took all of her vitals and assessments with her on my chest.  The doctor had sewn me up and I felt great. No pain whatsoever! They even got to bring my grandpa in the room in a wheelchair to see his great-granddaughter before being flown out. After two hours they weighed Mylee and got her dressed, and Josh finally got to hold his baby girl for the first time!! He was a natural like he had been doing it for years. My heart felt so full and I was so in LOVE with my little family!!