I was sent into triage first where they would place a foley balloon catheter to induce labor. At this point I was 1.5cm dilated. My Aunt Chrissy (surprise ha ha) showed up and waited with me until the Dr was ready to have me in a delivery room.
Once I was placed in my room (#8) and my Aunt had left, one of my close friends Rani who also happens to be expecting, stopped by for a visit with her precious twins since she was at the hospital for one of her appts as well.
There was a lot of waiting around at this point. Waiting to see if the balloon would fall out on its own (8cm dilated). Waiting until 11:00pm (12 hours) if it didn't. I was having steady contractions but the were completely manageable. So much so I was able to joke around with everyone. Shane dropped by for a visit, his Aunties cut him out of school early lucky kid. But had to leave for music class around 2pm. Waiting. Walking. Swaying. Waiting. Rocking. Walking...
At 11:30pm they removed the balloon and did a cervix check. 4-5cm dilated. Thank goodness. There was A. Lot. Of pressure with the foley in place. 180cc of saline will do that to a cervix.
They started me on pitocin at 12am along with an antibiotic (which I received 4 doses by the time I delivered) via I.V. which burned like a mother might I add.
I labored on through the night. Daddy rested.
By 6am I had lost my mucus plug and the contractions were strong and on top of each other. My goal was to labor (pain) med-free until at least 6cm and/or my water broke. It was becoming more difficult to relax and keep my body loose through these contractions now. I woke up Nick and had him use all his strength to push on my lower back against each contraction. I had a new goal now. Wait until the new shift rotation of Dr's at 7.
At 7, because I am passionate about my goals, I called for my Nurse Marcella and let her know that I would like an epi. The Anesthesiologist was in my room in minutes, which I was so surprised that she was able to come since I never saw one with Shane because he was born before they arrived.
I received my epi and moments later my water broke! And when the Dr came in and did a cervical check I was at a 6. Which cracked me up.
At this point the Dr's were concerned with baby's heartbeat and that my contractions were not showing much strength via external monitors. They recommended internal. This moment was very difficult for me. Internally monitoring my contractions was not an issue. But monitoring the baby was. I was so upset that my sweet baby was going to and had something on her scalp that she could feel pain already not even being born. It killed me, even as I write this now. Nick spent his time reassuring me that this was best since the baby's heart rate kept dipping and know the Dr's could see clearly that her rate was good and strong. My poor baby.
Eventually I was able to rest for a few hours, up until that point I had been up since Monday at 12:30am unable to sleep. I wanted to have my wits about me to push this baby out. And not in hours.
They checked me at 1pm and I was fully dilated and the baby was ready to go, with lots of hair added the midwife who also mentioned from the baby's heart rate that she enjoyed having her head scratched!
Not feeling the urge to push, I just wasn't ready at that point.
At 2:15pm my Nurse and Midwife started setting up my room for delivery which included a mirror for motivation. We did a few practice pushes to see how close her head was. She definitely has hair! My contractions at this point had slowed down to 5 minutes apart.
At 2:40pm the Dr scrubbed in and it was go time. Throughout this whole affair my Nurse, Nick and myself would joke around, laugh and hold conversations between pushes. After hours of contractions 2 minutes apart, 5 minutes seemed like an eternity. I was able to do 3 pushes per contraction. So 15 minutes later, or 9 pushes, our little girl was born. And a dark haired beauty she was.
At 2:55pm Olivia Blake made her debut. The Dr immediately put her on my chest with an apgar of 8/9.
Her birth was the most relaxed, peaceful and amazing experience. It was invigorating being in control of my thoughts as well as of myself. It was so peaceful having only Nick by my side, it enabled us to bond deeper and love stronger. He was an amazing support, I couldn't have asked for a better partner or Daddy for my children.
My Nurse was kind enough to grab my phone to take a picture of Nick cutting the cord but we didn't get half the pictures we had planned on, being so caught up in living in those precious moments.
And since Miss O was kind enough to be born before big brother was out of school he got to see/meet her as soon as he got out!
The last 24 hours were a huge blur with visits from Dr's, Midwives, Nurses, Lactation Consultants, a Photographer, filling out birth certificate information and a celebration lunch.
We were fortunate enough to
Tuesday's Child is full of Grace.
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