my baby story

A week ago today (9.30.09) I woke up at 5 am to call the hospital to get instructions for coming in for my induction. My previous labor was very complicated and both my son and I ended up with some medical complications which were most likely from his large size (8 lbs. 14 oz.). So this time we scheduled an induction 1 week early (39 weeks) to avoid the complications and have my doctor on hand if any problems were to arise.

The labor and delivery nurse told me to come on in at 7 am and so we all got dressed and headed to the hospital. My mom and son hung around for a little while but they ended up leaving early because my son was having a hard time seeing his mommy hooked up to all the machines. He was getting worried about me so we decided to not let him come back until it was time for baby.

I was so fortunate to have a fabulous nurse and doctors. They really make all the difference. I went in at 2-3 cm dilated and so they started the pitocin and kept upping the dose to get me contracting and dilating. Around 4 centimeters I was ready for the epidural. I held out as long as I could and originally considered going natural but that changed quickly. The pitocin induced contractions weren't like the ones I had with my son when I went into labor on my own. The pitocin ones were awful.

After the epidural I took a nap and watched some tv with my husband. Our goal was to get the baby delivered that evening to avoid any complications and I was dilating a cm/hr so that would put me delivering around 8pm or so. The epidural worked so well that we decided it was safe to let my son come back and see us. When my mom and son got back my husband decided to run across the street and get something to eat. I was 6 cm dilated so we were certain he wouldn't miss anything if he hurried.

About 10 minutes later I started feeling a lot of pressure and noticed that the baby's heartbeat was dropping so I called the nurse who came in and assured me that it was all normal. So I rested and just a few minutes later the doctors came in to check me. It turns out all I needed was to have my husband leave because I was 9 cm dilated and about ready to start pushing. I was in complete shock that it happened so quickly. They came in a set up for the delivery and my mom called my husband who was in the elevator heading back up to my room. Less than 20 minutes later I was pushing. And about 20 minutes after that my daughter was born. My husband says I did five cycles of 3 pushes. At 5:29pm I delivered a 7 lb. 4 oz. and 20 in. long healthy baby girl.

We stayed the night and both baby and I were healthy and on our way to recovery so we went home the next day. We had the option to stay the night again but really just wanted to get home to our son. Our daughter has brought so much joy to our family and we are so blessed. I thank God every day (even at 3 am when I can hardly stay awake) for this precious miracle he has blessed us with.