So this post is long overdue, but better late than never right? Our little girl was born on July 10, 2010 at 8:18 am. She came into this world at a very healthy 9 lbs 10 oz and was 22 inches long. My delivery was actually not bad considering her size and I have recovered really well. I even went waterskiing when she was 4 weeks old. She is healthy and strong and has completely changed our lives for the better.
Partially because I enjoy reading others stories and partially so I have it written down for posterity here is my story of how she came into the world.
On Tuesday July 6th I went in for my weekly appointment and a non-stress test since I was over my due date (July 4th). Everything looked fine but I wasn't progressing. My doctor said he would only let me go to 41 weeks and he was going out of town on my 41 week mark. Since I was considered high risk because of my blood clot problems and because I really liked my doctor I REALLY wanted him to deliver my baby so I decided to be induced that Friday the 9th.
So the hospital called me around 6 on Friday morning and told me to come on in. We got to the hospital around 7 and were told that things got really crazy right after they called us and that it would be awhile before anyone could see me. So we got checked into our room and I got changed and waited and waited and waited. I believe it was almost 10 before they finally came in. So I got checked and I wasn't anywhere close to being ready so they wanted to give me a dose of cydutek (sp?) to help things progress before they would even give me the pitocin. Unfortunately, you have to wait for 4 hours to see if the cydutek is doing anything. So I had the cydutek around 10:30 and waited some more. They came and checked me around 2:30 and still no real progress. So they gave me a double dose of the cydutek and we waited some more. They came and checked me around 6:30 and even though I still hadn't progressed a whole lot it was enough that they would give me the pitocin. So I started on the pitocin at 6:30 Friday night...and waited some more. My sister drove up from Moab that morning to help with the process and keep me and Anthony company and my parents came down and spent most of the day hanging out with us. So shortly after they started the pitocin we played a rousing game of Phase 10 to pass the time. Around 8 or 8:30 while playing Phase 10 I started feeling what felt like constant cramping and I just couldn't get comfortable. We had decided to try to go without an epidural, but by about 10 I knew that if I didn't get some sleep that there was no way I would have the energy I needed to do this and I knew I wouldn't get any sleep with this constant pain. So after much debating and discussion I decided to get the epidural. My anesthesiologist was less than compassionate and the only time I felt like crying during my entire labor was because of the way he treated me. The epidural itself wasn't bad and he did a great job as far as the medicine goes, his personality just left much to be desired. All I can say about the actual epidural is SWEET RELIEF! I instantly felt better and fell asleep almost immediately after the epidural. Unfortunately, I only got to sleep in 1 hour increments because they kept coming in to check my progress.
I think it was around 12 that they decided to break my water, I wasn't very conscious of what was going on at this point. Around 2 they came in to check me again and I was still only dilated about 4 cm and hadn't made much progress. As soon as the nurse left I started shaking uncontrollably and started getting really nauseous. I called the nurse back in around 2:30 and she gave me drugs to help with the nausea and said that the shaking may be because my body was working harder than I thought so she checked me again. I had dilated to a 10 in those 30 minutes. So they got everything set up for delivery and had me start pushing. I pushed from about 3:00 to about 4:00, then they had be take an hour break. Then I pushed from 5:00 to 6:00, then I took another hour break. The nurse that was helping me was very sweet and nice, but not extremely motivating. The nurses changed at 7 and when the new nurse came on she was much more motivating. During my last break (from 6 to 7) I started feeling like I actually needed to push. So I started pushing again at 7 and pushed til around 8. At that point the nurse told me to stop and wait for the doctor. He showed up about 15 minutes later, got suited up, I pushed 1 1/2 times more and she came at 8:18. Everyone was quite surprised that she was so huge, including the doctor. She was perfectly healthy and passed all the tests.
She is generally a really good baby and usually sleeps between 6-9 hours straight at night (much to my relief!!!). She is completely and utterly adorable and is one of the most loved babies ever born. We are so happy to have her here!
Waiting and waiting and waiting
Playing Phase 10
Our little piece of heaven in a big package!
Proud and happy daddy!
Very excited grandparents!
All buckled in and ready to go home!
Smiling in her sleep at one week old! Love her!
