At my 40 week appointment, I still hadn't made any progress. Despite having many strong contractions I was still "closed." My doctor is not a fan of inducing first time moms because it can increase the risk of having a c-section. From the beginning he said that he'd let me go up to a week past my due date before scheduling an induction. Fortunately for me, he was going on vacation and wanted me to be delivered before he left (and I did too - I don't think the delivery room is the ideal place to be meeting a new doctor).
So, we scheduled an appointment for me to go into the hospital Tuesday night (August 10th - my official due date) to do an overnight "cervical ripening" to prepare my body for the pitocin.
Here I am right after we'd checked in. 40 weeks and 1 day. My belly was giant, but I still can't believe there was a whole person in there!
I had a total of three doses and the the third dose, given at 3:30 am put me into full blown labor. The contractions were coming strong and fast and I was given an epidural at about 6:00 am. And for all of you pregnant girls reading this, getting the IV was much worse than getting the epidural (could be that they had to dig for a vein and then switch arms...). I was always nervous about the epidural but it was seriously no big deal. I was anxious for the relief from the contractions so I was excited to get it.
My doctor came to the hospital at 8:00 to check on me and break my water. At this point I was dilated to a 2.
Unfortunately, the majority of my labor was in my back, which the anesthesiologist informed me they were unable to do anything about. The epidural also didn't numb all of the necessary areas so I could feel my catheter in addition to the baby pressing against my spine on her way down. So I was in a lot of pain during that time. My mom and Danny were in the room with me trying to comfort me and feeding me ice chips.
The nurse was estimating that I'd be ready to deliver between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. At about noon I had an intense urge to push and I told my mom. She let me know that that usually means I'm ready so she got the nurse to check on me again. (She had been checking me throughout the morning and I was dilating fairly quickly.) She came in and checked and I was fully dilated. She had called the doctor and he was on his way but not yet to the hospital. I told her I had to push and I was going to whether she said I could or not. The epidural was obviously wearing off for me to be able to feel that urge so strongly. The nurse recommended I not renew it because if I could feel the urge it would make the delivery go much more quickly.
My mom left the room and the nurse let me start pushing a little and the baby was already crowning when the doctor came into the room. It was just after 12:00 so he was surprised at how quickly things had progressed. I pushed for a little while and Ella was born at 12:44. The actual delivery was not bad. Even though my epidural was wearing off, the pain wasn't bad and it felt good to get her out! It was actually very helpful to be able to feel the contractions because I knew exactly when and how to push.
There was a little meconium in the amnionic fluid so as soon as she was born the doctor had to quickly cut the cord and pass her off to a respiratory therapist before she took her first breath so she wouldn't get any of the fluid in her lungs. Fortunately, they were able to do so and there were no complications. Danny watched as they weighed and measured her and then they brought her to me.
It was amazing looking into the face of the little person who had been growing inside of me. She really didn't cry and was very alert to all of the things going on around her. When they placed her on my chest, she looked up at me with big wide eyes and just stared at me. We spent the next half an hour or so bonding as a little family and trying to feed her. It was amazing how fast and how strong you can love a new baby.
In the mean time, our families were in the waiting area anxiously waiting for news that she was here. I had told the nurse to let them know that she was here and we were both doing fine and that I just wanted to try to feed her right away. But I guess the nurse got distracted and didn't tell them. My mom overheard crying from our room when she went to the nurse station so she was nervous when they didn't come get them right away and was worried that something went wrong with me or the baby.
After we'd been with her and had attempted to nurse we invited our immediate families into the room to see her. Everyone was very excited to meet the first little grand baby and be reassured that everything had gone smoothly for both of us.
I had been really nervous beforehand about the actual process of having a baby, but honestly, with an epidural (even one that isn't fully effective) it really isn't that bad. Nothing like they make it look in the movies. And the end result is completely worth it.
Our first picture as a family of three.
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