Miss Kendra Marie!

Kendra Marie Dudley joined our family on Thursday, October 22 at 6:18am. She is 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 1/2 in. long. She has lots of light brown hair, Mikayla's nose, Megan's lips, and is just the sweetest little bundle of cuteness! We are so happy to have her here safe and sound and two weeks early (just like the other girls).

The story: Wednesday afternoon I laid down for a nap with Mikayla. I woke up about 4pm and when I stood up I realized my water broke. I took a shower and waited to make sure it really was my water and then we packed up and headed to the hospital. I got checked at 6:30pm and was 4cm, 80% effaced and having contractions 3 min. apart. We got into our room and steadily the contractions picked up. Lots of pain in my low back that moved to the front with each contraction. They got 2 minutes apart and that's when I started to panic and requested an epidural right away since Megan came too fast at that point for me to ever get my epidural!

My friend, the anesthetist, came and administered the drug. I have never had one and was worried for how it would feel, but it was just a simple shot and within minutes I felt my body go numb from the belly-button on down to my toes--crazy feeling!

Post-epi: feeling GREAT!

My parents arrived and we all thought she would be there before long--boy, were we wrong! The epidural sure relaxed me, but it also slowed down the contractions, in strength and frequency. I couldn't move and had to have Trent and my mom pick my legs up and move them when I wanted to switch sides in bed. We talked for hours and slept on and off waiting for something to happen. Finally, at 5:50am the nurse checked me and said I was 8cm--I was totally in transition and had NO idea! 10 minutes later she checked me and said, "Okay, you're complete and ready to go--let's have you give a practice push to see how you do." I gave a light push and she said, "Okay, stop! Wow, she's moving down and coming out without you doing anything, wait while I get the Dr!"

It was the craziest thing! I had literally NO pain and NO idea I was ready to have a baby. I pushed a few times and was able to watch the delivery in a mirror, which was really neat. Her head came out and the Dr. said, "Looks like someone likes neclaces, she's got the cord around her neck twice." She tried to slip it off and it wouldn't budge. She quickly got her scissors and cut through the outer cord, but had trouble getting under the second wrap close to her neck. She frantically nudged the scissors under the cord enough to cut it off and pulled Kendra out the rest of the way.

She quickly realized how blue Kendra was and that her body was limp and immediately called a team to get her breathing. They rubbed her vigorously, pumped oxygen into her and poked and prodded her trying to get her to breathe. "We need an RT(resp. therapist) STAT," we heard them call into the hall and within seconds 8 Dr.'s, neonatologists, an RT, and another crash cart came into the room and they all began to work on her trying to get her to breathe. The Dr. kept trying to reassure me that she would be fine, but when I saw the fear on her face and her eyes welling up with tears, I realized the seriousness of the situation. It was really scary to see her limp, blue body on the table and to have so many people working on her at one time. All the Dr.'s were saying, "Come on, baby, come on, breathe.... just breathe...." My parents and Trent and I were crying, just watching them work on her feet away from my bedside.

Finally.... after almost 4 minutes, Kendra took a breath and began to pink up. It was such an amazing feeling to realize she really was going to be okay. The Dr. wiped her eyes and turned back to finish working on me. She said, "It's a good thing you didn't have a home birth. She wouldn't have had a chance." Pretty sobering. The nurse who first tried to get her to breathe was crying and being consoled by a coworker in the hall and the RT was wiping his eyes and smiling on his way out too. Everyone was pretty shooken up.

After she took her first breath and began to pink up.

Proud Daddy

Holding my baby girl

But... she is perfectly fine and healthy now and will have no side effects from our little scare. She is eating like a champ, sleeping well, and is just the sweetest little bundle of cuteness you've ever seen! We are already in love with her and can't wait to see what her personality will be.

I'm recovering quite well and absolutely amazed that I felt NOTHING throughout labor and delivery. A perfectly pain-free birth--AMAZING.

Cute little profile!
Megan with her new sister.
Mikayla is so good with her!

Our Family of Five

Heading home from the hospital on Friday morning. She's such a little snugglebug!