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Where do I begin? Kathryn Sadler Bazzle is here and our hearts are full. Baby Kate came into the world on her own time and her birth story is one I will never forget.
It all began on Monday, August 13th. I was so ready to bring little Kate into the world and Dr. Holmström knew it too. At my last appointment that day, she gave me a quick membrane sweep and told me labor could start in 12-24 hours if Kate was ready. Kate was ready!
After about 3 hours contractions started and they were anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes apart and growing with intensity. At 5pm we made the call for our good friend Heather to come hang out with Camden and at 6pm we were on the way to Tampa General Hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital they got me hooked up to all of the monitors and checked my blood right away. At my previous appointment I was told I most likely wouldn’t get an epidural because I had low blood platelets. When my body is pregnant my blood platelets drop and during labor that could mean a lot of complications with an epidural. As we were waiting the doctor examined me to find I was 4cm and about 80% effaced. The contractions were slowly making my body progress to active labor. Then the doctor came back in with the amazing news. Somehow my blood platelets which were at 88 a week before, had jumped to 103. Tampa General wants your level to be at 100 in order to get an epidural. I hugged the doctor and she told me she wanted to get me admitted while my levels were up and if they needed to use Pitocin to induce the labor, that’s what we would do. I was on cloud 9. I was so anxious about not getting an epidural.
I was admitted to a room overlooking the water and they got me all hooked up to the right stuff. At 3am they started Pitocin because I was still at 4cm. Around 6am I was still 4cm so they kicked it up a notch. Around 9 or 10am, (I can’t really remember) I started feeling the contractions on my left side. They shot into my leg, into my back, they took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. They upped my epidural and rotated me on my side to help the drugs disperse… well, that didn’t do a thing. Slowly but surely the contractions took over my entire abdomen and shot down my legs. The anesthesiologist found a leak in my epidural connection and repaired it. By 11am I was still feeling everything but the epidural was starting to work again. I started feeling pressure and the nurse went ahead and checked me. In a matter of 4-5 hours I went from 4cm to 9.5cm and Kate was almost ready to make her entrance. At 11:30 or so the doctor came in and I was ready to go. She told me Kate was on her way and i started crying. I was overcome with excitement and I let it all out in happy tears. The pressure started and she prepped me for delivery. When it was time to push, I couldn’t feel a thing but I pushed with all of my might. After 6 minutes of pushing Kate was out and on my chest crying with her oh so strong lungs! She was and is perfect! All of the pain was terrible but seeing her made it all worth it.
Our “little” 8 pound, 11 ounce, 21 inches long bundle of joy was here at 11:57am on August 14, 2018! We were shocked at how big she was and so was the doctor. She has 3 ounces on her big brother.
WARNING… this is a little graphic…
While I was taking her all in, the doctor worked her magic to deliver the placenta but things got a little complicated. My uterus was working in overdrive to shrink down and my cervix wouldn’t close. I started bleeding a lot. I could see the shock in the doctor’s eyes and Drake’s eyes. It was a scary moment for sure. The doctor advised me if I kept bleeding they may need to do a blood transfusion. I lost more than 900ml of blood in the moments after Kate came out. So what caused it? The doctor told me Kate’s size and how fast she came out had a lot to do with it. My blood platelets also dropped during all of this. The next 3 hours would be some of the most painful. The doctors had to continuously come in and push on my belly to push out any clots or extra blood. It was excruciating. I was getting shot after shot to help control the bleeding and they were constantly checking my levels. They finally went back up and I didn’t need the transfusion.
We were transferred to another room and Kate and I both recovered from the day. Kate’s vitals were perfect throughout the night. My blood levels jumped back up and I was on the mend. Our prayers were answered and we were discharged. Thankfully my parents got on the first flight to Tampa on Wednesday morning and they got to meet Kate and help Drake and me with Camden.
Camden met his little sister on Wednesday and it was a perfect moment. He was so in love with her and asked to bring her home right away.
Check out the adorable moment below:
Kate is home and she’s doing great. We are working on breastfeeding and getting on schedule. Thank you to everyone for the kind words and congratulations. Life is good as a family of four and I’m so excited to watch us all grow together!
Love always,
The Bazzles, party of four 😍
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