Finally, I am making myself sit down to share about how Emmy came to be... well, not the full story : ) just the series of events that occurred within the 24 hours before her arrival. This might be TMI for some people, but I love reading birth stories on other people's blogs so I thought I would return the favor to anyone who might enjoy reading a birth story on my blog. If the words cervix, dilate, or labor bother you, then you better skip this post : )
First of all, you ought to know that I was READY for her to get here. Being pregnant was a wonderful experience, there were parts that I really enjoyed, and I hope to have the experience again BUT I was ready to be done. I was OVER being pregnant. SO, I was trying every trick in the book to help speed up the process. Her due date was approaching (Sun., Jan. 2nd) and I headed to my last (hopefully) doctor's appointment (Mon., Dec. 27th) scheduled before her due date. Sadly, they informed me there was little-to-no progress and that they wanted to go ahead and schedule me for an induction on Monday, Jan. 3rd. I really did not want to be induced, but at least there was now an end in sight. I just didn't like the idea of her birthday being scheduled. Most of me was convinced that I would still be pregnant by the 3rd, but a very small part of me still had hope that she would come on her own.
On Thursday, Dec. 30th , I was at work (for those of you who don't know, I also work part-time as a Social Worker at a dialysis clinic) where one of my co-workers who is also having a little girl, who is also due Jan. 2nd (how crazy is that) started to experience some contractions. Her doctor had just told her the same thing as mine- no progress, let's schedule an induction. So this renewed my hope that I could possibly go into labor on my own before Jan. 3rd. With this in mind, on my way back to work from lunch, I opted to climb 10 flights of stairs rather than take the elevator. Not sure if it helped, but man I was worn out! My co-workers thought I was crazy.
That evening, my husband and I invited a few friends over to play the new Monopoly- Monopoly City version, which is definitely much more interesting than the old version. For three hours, I sat at the end of the table on a large, blow-up exercise ball just bouncing away as I played my best Monopoly game ever! I beat my husband : ) The ball was suggested to me by several people including my doctor as a way to induce labor. Supposedly it helps to open up the pelvis? After our friends left, I was feeling something (not sure what) and so I convinced my husband that we should go for a walk to help spur this "something" along. By this time it was midnight and he was less-than-thrilled but being the sweet guy that he is put on his jacket and head lamp, yes we are dorks, and escorted me several laps around our neighborhood.
When we got back to the house, I decided I should eat mac-n-cheese with A1 sauce. I had never heard of this before, but my dad (a physician, so you think you can trust his advice, right?) said he heard about it from several people and that within 72 hours of eating it labor would begin. It was pretty disgusting, but I was willing to try anything.
So, after climbing 10 flights of stairs, sitting on an exercise ball for three hours, going for a midnight walk (actually I had been walking everyday for the two weeks leading up to that night), eating mac-n-cheese with A1... nothing. I gave up and decided to go to bed. By then it was 2:00 a.m. At about 4:00 a.m. I woke up with some cramp-like feelings but they didn't warrant too much attention and I dozed back to sleep.
I woke up the next morning at 7:00 a.m. still feeling alittle crampy and then noticed that I was also leaking some fluid. My husband wanted me to call my doctor in case it was my water breaking, but I didn't want to call her because it would get my hopes up only to find out that nothing was happening. I called one of my best friends instead, a nurse, who also recently had a baby. She too recommended that I call my doctor. So, reluctantly I called my doctor and she told me to call her back in a few hours if I was still leaking. Meanwhile, my husband is almost slightly freaking out that I'm not more concerned or that the doctor didn't tell me to go to the hospital (think Jim from The Office in the episode where Jim and Pam have their baby) and he is asking me all these questions with the appropriate medical terminology... he really was listening in birthing class : ) I reassure him that everything is fine, that I feel fine, and we will call the doctor back in a few hours if things stay the same. So, we made a fabulous breakfast... waffles, fruit, and brown sugar bacon (a new Pace favorite) and then decided to watch The Thomas Crown Affair (an old Pace favorite).
A couple hours later, I'm still leaking and so I give the doctor a call and she then tells me to go on over to the hospital and let them check me. Just in case, I finish blow drying my hair and put on a touch of make-up. A girl has got to look good for labor you know. Both David and I were thinking that they would end up sending us home... there was no way that this was the dramatic, life-changing drive to the hospital that we had been envisioning for the past 9 months.
Oh, but it was : )
Thirty minutes later we were at the hospital. I was changed into a gown and they were monitoring me. The nurse confirmed that she thought my water had broken. She also decided to see if I was dilated at all. To her surprise and mine she discovered that I was 5-6 cm dilated. In fact, she checked me again just to be sure and then told us that we would be celebrating New Year's Eve at the hospital. Moments later she informed me that she was mistaken and my water had not yet broken... strange... and strange that I was 5-6 cm dilated and literally feeling great... no pain.
They moved us down to the delivery room and the doctor came in to chat and to break my water. Holy Moly I had no idea how much fluid I was actually carrying around inside me... it was like a flood! They also started to give me a small amount of Pitocin to help make my contractions more regular. About an hour or so later the doctor came in and we discovered no progression and I was still feeling great. So, at this point she increased the Pitocin and also gave me something to help my cervix continue to dilate. Moments later, I was dying... dying! Contractions are no joke! I admire and bow before all those who elect to go through labor and childbirth with no meds! I went a good solid hour or so of hard core contractions before I received my epidural. Oh epidural, how I love thee!!! Ooh! I almost forgot to mention that we had a doula with us from about the time I started to feel bad to the time they moved us to our recovery room. She was awesome! I definitely recommend doula's, but understand its not something for everyone.
About 30 minutes or so after the epidural, the nurse informed me that I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push. I pushed on and off for about an hour. A couple of times Emerson's heart rate dropped and at one point the doctor mentioned that a c-section was becoming a possibility if it continued to drop. Thank the Lord her heart stabilized and that I didn't have to have a c-section! They did have to put one of those internal heart rate monitors on her though. It's the strangest device. It is a little cork screw wire that they inserted into her head while she was still inside of me. It just amazes me how many women went through childbirth back in the day without all of these medical procedures and assistance. So, all drama and excitement aside, Emerson finally arrived at 8:08 p.m. She came out screaming and made her presence known. It was such a relief to see her and to hold her and to hear her! After that, the rest of the evening was a bit of a blur... lots of family, lots of pictures, lots of phone calls, and then sleep... but not much of that : )
Shout out to the husband... David was great through the whole process... internally he was freaking out, but he held it together. As someone who has held a baby maybe five times in his life, never changed a diaper, and has little to no experience with taking care of children... he really was amazing and continues to amaze me as we have been settling into life as a family of three. He is a great dad!
And here are a few images from our time in the hospital. I would've loved to have taken more, but I wasn't exactly mobile and full of energy during my hospital stay.
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| Don't you just love those little, wrinkly feet!?! |
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| These two crack me up because she will not let us swaddle her arms... hasn't let us since day one. If we do swaddle them, she finds a way to break free. |
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I love this one of her with her daddy.
~ Lindsey |
