[Birth] Story Time!

Okay so warning... this will probably be long. Because I like to babble...

So... where do we start? We were finally called to go into the hospital for induction on Wednesday evening, Dec 15th. We got there at 5PM and they took blood, started IV's, pelvic exam, etc. I was still only 1cm dilated and about 60% effaced. The started me on gels to soften my cervix. We did 4 cycles of the gels every three hours. They would insert it, I'd lay down for an hour, then walk for the next hour, then chill for another hour, and repeat. I had a bit of contractions with the gels. They hurt but were tolerable. Actually the last gel was a higher dose and my contractions were hurting more with that last one. I wasn't able to sleep. A lot of back pain.

At 5AM they came in and started me on Pitocin.


I was still only 1cm dilated. Apparently there's a scar in my cervix from a surgery I had back when I was 18 that was keeping my cervix from dilating.

At somewhere between 8:30 and 9AM the doctor came in and broke my water. Oh my God. Grossest. Feeling. EVER. Seriously. I even said "ewww that is SO gross!" out loud. I won't go into detail. If you've experienced it you know what I'm talking about. I let the nurse know that as soon as they broke my water I wanted that epidural, so they had already called the anesthesiologist and he was there as soon as the doctor was done breaking my water. Literally as soon as the doctor left they came in to give me my epidural. After he left I started feeling very overwhelmed. A lot had just happened at once, so I started crying.

Then we waited some more...

The epidural is the best thing ever. I highly recommend it. ;p

A DPS officer came in... no joke. I thought they were joking when they said it was the DPS. Apparently around Christmas they go to the hospitals or something? He gave me a teddy bear.

My baby was in a posterior position, meaning she was facing upwards towards my belly instead of towards my bottom like she should be. The nurse said she could tell from my contractions that she was positioned this way. So she would come in and help me turn from side to side every hour or so, to try to get her to turn around.

A couple hours later the nurse came in and checked my cervix. When they broke my water I was 2cm dilated. At this time I was about 4. She came back another 2 hours later, said I was still about a 4 or 5. Then she broke that scar I was talking about and then she said, "okay now you're between 7 and 8."

Another couple hours later she came in and said, "okay are you ready to have a baby?" WHAT?! Um... okay. At this point I really got emotional. It was just everything we've been through to get here and now it was finally happening. It was just sooo surreal. I was anxious, I was scared, and I was happy. I had to try hard to get control of my emotions at this point. I cry just thinking about that moment.

I started pushing at 3:00PM. Pushing is HARD. I'm out of shape as it is(hadn't worked out at all this whole pregnancy), and then the whole holding your breath thing is really hard for me. But I did it.  She was still posterior and had the cord around her neck as she came down, so the doctor used the vacuum to help get her out at the end. Poor thing.

Cailin Paige was born Thursday December 16th at 3:43PM! She was 7lbs 10oz and 19 1/2 in. When she came out he put her right on top of me (at my request). It was the best moment of my life. Then they took her away and everyone else in the room (besides my doctor to deliver the placenta and stitch me up of course) left my side. My baby did not scream. I was freaking out, "Why isn't she crying? Is she okay? How's her breathing? Is she breathing? OMG. Does she have a fevor?" Yeah I was freaking out a little. I just wanted to know she was healthy. Yes she was just fine, just not a screamer. She was making these little squeeking sounds that were super cute though. This girl never gave me a cry when she came out. Daddy was in instantly in love. He did not leave her side. He went with her to the nursery and from what everyone has told me had a grin from ear to ear the whole time.

I had a 3rd degree tear, but Cailin got a clean bill of health, although she was a little jaundice. We stayed in the hospital until Saturday to help with breastfeeding and to watch her jaundice. Breastfeeding isn't happening, but more on that later....

Motherhood has been AMAZING so far. I feel like I've been doing this forever and it's only been a week. She's a good baby, only fusses when she's hungry. Sleep is good. She sleeps for 3 hours, wakes up, eats, goes back to sleep for another 3 hours. I'm surprisingly not exhausted, although I may still be running on adrenaline. I'm hoping she stays chill. And I think she will. Both mommy and daddy are really laid back. So let's hope. I can't wait to see her real features. To see who she really looks like. Everyone says me so far. She gets cuter every day though. :) We are SO happy and SO in love!