Matt & Kate: Autumn's Birth Story

We arrived at the hospital at 8 pm Sunday August 31st. I put my gown on and within a half hour or so they got things started. It was a long process and a very long night. They gave me something to help soften my cervix and then hours later they put pitocin in my IV. I was awake basically the whole night with mild contractions. Both of these things weren't really doing much. The doctor eventually came in and told us in some cases that it could take 2-3 days before I would be ready to deliver. I had know idea it could take that long.

They finally decided to try something else in the morning and I won't go into much detail.... but it worked. Things were starting to progress and also starting to hurt. I decided it was time to get the good ole' epidural. The man who gave it to me was really nice and did a great job. I was afraid it would hurt and it really didn't (maybe a small pinch). I have many good things to say about epidurals! They are AMAZING!!! I stopped feeling the contractions completely for awhile. I was able to rest a little until I started feeling pressure - a lot of pressure. The contractions were getting stronger. They didn't necessarily hurt, but I could feel something. Within about an hour I went from being dilated to a 6 to a 10. That's why I was feeling so much pressure. I was able to get another dose of the epidural and then it was time to push. It was now about 4 pm on Labor Day. I was getting excited that Autumn was finally almost here. And it had only been 20 hours! (and 9 plus months).

The nurse told me the pushing stage could take 1-2 hours. So I began to push with just the nurse and when the baby was closer we would get the Doctor. Well it got closer really fast. I pushed two times and on the third push Autumn's heart beat dropped dramatically. The nurse started calling the Doctor and many other nurses to come and help. They needed to get her out and get her out fast. They were talking about reviving/resuscitating her and I started to cry. Could this really be happening? Could I lose my precious little girl before meeting her? They put oxygen on me and told me it would be okay and that I needed to push really hard. They also got the vacuum out to help get her out more quickly. I pushed and pushed and on the third push Autumn was here. She was alive and breathing and perfectly fine (besides a bruise on her head)! I was so happy! (I guess if she wouldn't have come that third push/vacuum they would have needed to do an emergency C-section.)

Autumn Wahlquist arrived at 4:38 pm-September 1st (Labor Day). She weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 inches long. She has strawberry blondish hair and is absolutely Beautiful!

All was well... or so I thought. I briefly touched Autumn's head and got to look at her and then I was being told that I was bleeding. Bleeding A LOT. They whisked me away to the Operating Room. I had a strange double lobe placenta, which I knew I had, but it ended up causing more trouble then I thought. They second part of the placenta did't come out well or broke. I'm not even really sure, but they ended up doing a D&C on me to make sure they got it all out. I lost about a liter of blood. Luckily the bleeding did stop and I was then taken to another room. I was really shaky and so exhausted. During all of this Matt was with Autumn in the nursery not really knowing what was going on. Finally they were able to come see me and I was able to hold Autumn for the first time. I only held her for a little bit because I was still so tired. Eventually they moved us to the postpartum room when I was feeling better. It was over. I could now truly enjoy my little girl and being a Mom.

I feel so blessed that even though our situation wasn't the best at least we didn't get the worst case scenario in our bad scenario. The Doctor told me as they were taking be to the O.R. that if they couldn't get the bleeding to stop they would have to do a hysterectomy. So worst case scenario we could have lost our little Autumn and never be able to have any other children as well. I would have been absolutely devastated. I am so thankful that I had such a good Doctor and was in a Hospital with all the right tools. I am also so thankful for the Priesthood blessing Matt was able to give me before we went to the Hospital. I know we were all being watched over and protected.

Autumn