I am a little more on top of this baby's birthing story 😜 She's only 1 and Cole was 2 before I got his story out there!
We knew Oakley was a girl long before conception. It was just a feeling Tyler and I both had. So it was no surprise when our kids all bit into their gender reveal cupcakes and had pink sprinkles fall out :) The next day I got rid of all my baby boy stuff! We were busting at the seams in our house and it felt so good to finally be able to purge things we didn't need anymore. It was bitter sweet knowing we were moving out of baby mode soon and into the next phase.
About a month after finding out she was officially a girl, I started getting itchy. I have had liver problems in the past and I knew the moment I started itching, that's what it was. It's an unmistakable type of itch, I don't know how to explain it. It was mild, but it was everywhere. I went to the doctor and she said "We live in a dry climate, it's winter, it's probably from that." I knew it wasn't that... But she ordered blood work anyway. I had double the normal bile acid levels. Basically, my liver wasn't able to keep up with the hormone production, which can cause a few things to happen. For me, it would just cause increasingly annoying major itching from bile acid being backed up into my blood stream (sounds like not a big deal, but I stopped being able to sleep, wear anything even remotely tight on my skin, etc, weeks before she was born, even on medication), but for the baby it could cause anything from fetal distress to stillbirth. I had already miscarried with that OB a few years before, so she didn't want to chance anything and decided to deliver the baby a month early!
With the current pandemic being pretty new, I was super paranoid about it all. We all were! Fortunately for me, Tyler was home for 7 weeks with all the kids being home from school before she was born so I only had to make it to the doctor and back and didn't have to go anywhere else. I had to go twice a week for non-stress tests and ultrasounds for the month before she was born. She passed each one with flying colors except for one! I got steroid shots in my booty and Mother's Day was her "due" date.
Tyler and I went to the hospital early Mother's Day morning. My kids made sure they got up and handed me the cards they had made so I had them with me at the hospital. 😍 I have gone into labor 3 times on my own and had one without an epidural, and then with Cole I was induced. I do not enjoy being induced... so I knew what I was in for! I got all set up with a balloon catheter... I did not enjoy that either. Super awkward, but effective. Between that and the little pill, I started having some contractions. Then they stopped, then they started, then they pulled the balloon catheter out and everything stopped altogether. I know this sounds silly, but I was really excited about her birthday being 5/10/20 so I was bummed that labor stopped! They gave me another little pill and we walked the tiny maternity ward square what felt like 1,000 times and finally got contractions going again. Enough to not need any more help. I had planned on not getting an epidural, and caved 😂 I reacted both times being induced to the epidural. I get really dizzy and can't sit up or anything for a few hours after it wears off. Oakley Gwen Page (Lyndi sold us on her first name, her middle name is after my Grandma) was born at 7:07 PM on 5/10/20, weighing in at 5 lbs 13 oz. She was little enough that I didn't need stitches, I didn't have any with Lyndi either, and recovery is SO MUCH QUICKER! I was grateful that I could move around in the hospital, sit without wanting to sob, and be home and not have to worry about it. I was also so grateful that because she was early and so little, she basically slept for the first several weeks unless she needed to eat. She was seriously the sweetest note to end on! It could not have gone better, and I was grateful she was healthy as could be and Lyndi was excited she had dark hair and eyes like her. She was the sweetest, sleepiest baby and I think God knew we needed an easy one with all that happened for our family this past year! She is so cute and funny and sweet and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect baby.
