Birth story

Again- this is info you may not want to know but I want to remember it.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010:

Went to doctors office for routine appt. Dialated to 3+. Doctor stripped membranes again and said baby looked big and would probably be between 8 and 10 pounds. Between the painful contractions and the thought of pushing out 10 pounds (and the increased risk of a c-section), I started bawling in the doctors office. The doctor also said labor and delivery would call sometime that night to tell us when to come in for the induction. I thought for sure it would have been planned out already, but it depended on how many other patients and nurses they had. It made sense why they would do it that way, but I am a control freak and hate not knowing "when".

For several hours I was in a lot of pain and contemplating going to labor and delivery. I just kept telling myself give it a few more minutes. Eventually the pain lessened. I had spent so much time at home recently that I was going crazy being in our house for much longer. So we went to John's parents house and played Catch Phrase until 10 PM. It was so fun and the hysterical laughter brought on a few more contractions. On our way home I decided to just call labor and delivery and ask if they had any idea what time. They said plan of coming in at 6 AM the next day. I was happy with that so we went to bed. I got up at 4 AM to shower and get all ready. John didn't sleep much that night because of nervousness, but I slept pretty good.

Thursday, November 4, 2010:

I went downstairs to eat breakfast. I thought I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye, but figured it was just my wet hair in my eyes. Then I turned around and a mouse ran from the pantry to behind the fridge. I was freaked out, but didn't want to get too excited. Then a few minutes later I was standing at the sink and a mouse ran around the island and hit my foot. I screamed and was hopping up and down (like a lunatic I'm sure). It circled around my feet for a second, then ran the other way. I backed up and screamed again because Frank (our dog) was standing there and scared me to death. John heard my screaming and thought something horrible had happened (apparantly a mouse running into your foot isn't considered "horrible" to him). I went upstairs and told John I was not coming home from the hospital until that mouse was caught. The worst part is I was pretty sure it was two different mice because they looked different. (It still hasn't been caught by the way)

So we get to the hospital and by 7 AM my IV is started with Pitocin. I was contracting, but not really painful. They increased the Pitocin every half hour. I was dialated to a 4. At 9 AM, the doctor came in and broke my water. That is sure a weird feeling. Before the water broke, I was contracting every 2 minutes and the nurse was amazed I wasn't in severe pain. She kept reminding me about the epidural. I was a little nervous that I would wait too long and it would be too late to get one. But within 5 minutes of the doctor breaking the water, I was in excruciating pain from the contractions. I asked for the epidural and it took a few minutes for the doctor to arrive and get ready. As he's putting the epidural in I was having very painful contractions that didn't seem to stop and the big needles in the back hurt also. After a few more minutes the epidural started to take effect and I felt like I was floating. My legs were completely numb and I felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. I felt sleepy and pain-free, it was great! I slept off and on for a few hours as the Pitocin did it's job. There was a nursing student with the nurse who told me she had to leave at 2 PM so if I could deliver before then that would be great. I told her I would enjoy that too, but it's not going to happen. At 1:15 PM, the nurse checked and said I was fully dialated and effaced and if I started to feel pressure I should let her know. I was amazed things had progressed so rapidly. At about 1:30 she told me to start pushing. Apparantly I am a good pusher... The doctor barely made it to the delivery. After pushing for only about 15 minutes she was out! (Most first time moms push for 1-3 hours). Born at 1:45 PM! They put her on my belly and the nurses were drying her off while the doctor was preparing to cut the cord. I knew something was wrong when she never cried. The nurse told the doctor a few times (each time getting louder and more forceful) to hurry up because she needed to take the baby. Hearing the concern in her voice freaked me out. John hurried and cut the cord and they took her to the warmer. As I was being stitched up and cleaned up- there were several people working on her, trying to get her to breath better and cry. She was breathing on her own, but not enough and her lungs were full of fluid. Usually when the baby is in the birth canal the fluid in their lungs gets pushed out, but since she was only in the birth canal for a short time the fluid didn't have enough time to come out. They sucked out her lungs and gave her oxygen for about 45 minutes in the delivery room, then finally they decided they needed to take her to the transition nursery (near the NICU) for cpap (a machine to force air into her lungs to help her breathe).

I was moved to the mom/baby floor without my baby. Family members took pictures when they could and showed them to me, but it wasn't the same. Finally, a little after 5 PM they brought her to me and I got to hold her and see her for the first time! It was soo good to finally have her in my arms!