Birth Story

It all started on Jan. 3, 2013. I had my 39 week appt. where Dr. Osborne checked my cervix and discovered I was dilated 1.5 cm & effaced 40%. Since I was 39 weeks 5 days that day, the doctor decided to schedule my induction for Jan. 17, which would've made me 41 weeks 5 days pregnant. I was determined to get you our before then, so when I got home I decided to take a long, brisk walk. During my walk I started feeling a ton of pressure and started having sporadic contractions when I got home. Later that evening my contractions started getting more regular and uncomfortable, so I began timing them. They were coming about every 6-8 minutes and lasting 20-30 seconds. As the night went on, the contractions got more intense and closer together. They were not unbearable yet though, so I tried to just relax and watch T.V. At about 1:30 a.m. I went to the bathroom and had my bloody show. It was pretty disgusting, but at that point I knew I was in labor and decided it was time to call labor and delivery. I started to get really nervous! The L&D nurse told me to take a bath (which would ease contractions if it was false labor & intensify contractions if they labor was real), drink lots of water, try some Tylenol to take the edge off (which she said wouldn't work if I was in real labor) and to call back if and when my contractions became 3-4 minutes apart and I was huffing & puffing through them. At that point the contractions were 5-6 minutes apart, so I did what she said. I started drinking a ton of water and took a bath a couple hours later. The bath made my contractions 3-4 minutes apart, but as soon as I got out of the tub they spaced out again. At about 5 a.m. I decided to take another bath. This time my contractions got pretty painful and became 2-4 minutes apart even after I got out. That's when I decided to wake daddy up and get ready to head to the hospital. I started getting super nervous at this point but so excited at the same time. Since the last few weeks of my pregnancy were so exhausting and quite miserable, I was so ready to have you in my arms. Anyway, daddy and I got to the hospital at about 6:30 a.m. and I was only dilated 2 cm! I couldn't believe I had barely progressed. We thought for sure we were going to get sent home but we were admitted instead. Once we got to our birthing suite we called your grandmas. My contractions started getting so unbearable. The doctor came in and told me I could get my epidural then she would break my water. I was 3 cm at this time. While waiting for the anesthesiologist, I was literally writhing in pain. Your grandma Marian showed up and she was crying because I was in so much pain. I snapped at her telling her to, "keep it together woman!" Your daddy on the other hand was smart and just left me alone. I was screaming, moaning, and crying the contractions were so horrible. I couldn't believe how painful they were. I honestly didn't think I could do it. It was definitely the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. The anesthesiologist FINALLY arrived and my water broke while he was administering the epidural. I felt amazing once the drugs kicked in. I was finally able to relax, chit chat, and of course update my facebook. I even got to take a little nap, which was great since I hadn't slept all night long. The doctor also decided to start me on pitocin in order to get my progressing. At about 12:30 p.m. I began feeling my contractions again and I was plain miserable. The doctor checked me and I was 5 cm. Halfway there! Yay! She also turned you from being face up to face down. I was again writhing in pain except this time it was about 10 times worse! For some reason my epidural didn't work, so I had to get another one. I again felt much better afterwards! At about 1:30 p.m. the doctor came in and I was dilated to an 8, so she stopped the pitocin. Unfortunately, the also stopped the progress. She came back at about 2:30 and I was still an 8, so she started to pitocin again. During the labor, your heart would decelerate whenever I had a contraction, so at this time the nurse inserted an internal fetal monitor to better keep track of your heart rhythms. Once the pitocin was restarted, I began feeling contractions on my right side. They were bearable at first, but continued to get worse and I was again in horrible pain. At about 4 p.m. the anesthesiologist came back to give me a little more medicine to ease the pain. The doctor also came in and wasn't happy with how your heart continued to decelerate during contractions. She decided it was time to prep me for a c-section but wanted to check me first. I was dilated 10 cm and ready to push! Since I had just gotten more pain medicine I was a bit numb and nervous about pushing since I couldn't feel much. Fortunately, hearing that I was ready to push made me feel empowered. I was so ready to get you and and I gained a great amount of strength. The nurse and doctor were impressed with how well I was pushing (probably because I was such a baby during contractions). I pushed like a champ for an hour and a half while your daddy counted for me (he did an awesome job!) and at 5:33 p.m. out you came!! You had the umbilical cord wrapped around your neck, which was what was causing your heart to decelerate, but the doctor quickly removed it as soon as your head was out. Daddy cut the cord and you were immediately placed on my chest. Your first breath took ours away! You were perfect, absolutely perfect! You were cone-headed from being in the birth canal for so long but you were still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! You instantly filled a place in my heart that I never even knew was empty. You weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and were 20.5 inches long. The first time daddy held you was beautiful. I will never forget the look of pure love and joy that was on his face. You had us both wrapped around your lil finger from the very beginning.

Love, love, love,
Mommy.♥