Coming to the end of our first week of Emily Ann's life, I really want to document her birth. It was such an incredible day and I don't want to forget a bit of it!
I had been going to weekly appointments since June and had been checking for progression since 36 weeks. Things were progressing very slowly. Brian went with me to my 39 week appointment with the hope that we would have more... and better... news. My doctor did what she does and said that I was maybe 1 cm dilated. Okay. As we continued to talk, she mentioned that because of my gestational diabetes, we needed to consider our options. We made plans to go to the doctor on Wednesday, August 31 to determine what to do next.
Wednesday afternoon, Brian and I went to the hospital and determined that we would do a procedure that help with the progression. The doctor completed the procedure, then we spent the night in the labor and delivery room, allowing it to do it's job. Though a c-section was an option, we definitely wanted to see what my body would do if it had a chance for a more natural labor.
Thursday morning, after a pretty lame night's sleep, my doctor came in, checked my progression from the procedure (which was successful! 4 cm!), then began the process of inducing. They inserted my IV and started pitocin at about 8:00 am. By 9:00 I was having pretty consistent, though bearable contractions. By 9:30, they were getting rough. I was nervous about taking the epidural too early for fear that it would #1- wear off or #2- slow the process so I tried to hang on. By 10:45, I couldn't handle it any longer, asked my nurse to talk to the anesthesiologist, and got the shot. Wow. One of the best decisions of my life- just saying.
By 11:20, my contractions were still regular and fairly strong, but I could still feel them a bit (not nearly as bad though) which was certainly not a side effect of an epidural. Because of this the nurse decided to check my dilation and discovered I was 7 cm. The nurse checked again at 12:20 and found that I was 9.5 cm.
Things were progressing super quickly and we were thrilled! Our nurse Beth was amazing. She said that she would check again in 30 minutes. At 1:45 I was just shy of 10 cm. and began pushing! I pushed through several rounds of contractions. When she began crowning, Beth called our doctor. After a few more contractions, Emily Ann was ready to come... but our doctor wasn't there. A final contraction sealed the deal and Emily Ann joined our family at 2:21 pm! My doctor walked into the room about 5 minutes after she was born.
The rest of the time in the hospital was a bit of a whirl wind of events. We had so many wonderful family and friends come visit us, great nurses and lactation consultants, and an overall good experience. We headed home on Saturday ready to be full time parents!
Wednesday afternoon, Brian and I went to the hospital and determined that we would do a procedure that help with the progression. The doctor completed the procedure, then we spent the night in the labor and delivery room, allowing it to do it's job. Though a c-section was an option, we definitely wanted to see what my body would do if it had a chance for a more natural labor.
Thursday morning, after a pretty lame night's sleep, my doctor came in, checked my progression from the procedure (which was successful! 4 cm!), then began the process of inducing. They inserted my IV and started pitocin at about 8:00 am. By 9:00 I was having pretty consistent, though bearable contractions. By 9:30, they were getting rough. I was nervous about taking the epidural too early for fear that it would #1- wear off or #2- slow the process so I tried to hang on. By 10:45, I couldn't handle it any longer, asked my nurse to talk to the anesthesiologist, and got the shot. Wow. One of the best decisions of my life- just saying.
By 11:20, my contractions were still regular and fairly strong, but I could still feel them a bit (not nearly as bad though) which was certainly not a side effect of an epidural. Because of this the nurse decided to check my dilation and discovered I was 7 cm. The nurse checked again at 12:20 and found that I was 9.5 cm.
Things were progressing super quickly and we were thrilled! Our nurse Beth was amazing. She said that she would check again in 30 minutes. At 1:45 I was just shy of 10 cm. and began pushing! I pushed through several rounds of contractions. When she began crowning, Beth called our doctor. After a few more contractions, Emily Ann was ready to come... but our doctor wasn't there. A final contraction sealed the deal and Emily Ann joined our family at 2:21 pm! My doctor walked into the room about 5 minutes after she was born.
We were so blessed to have a fabulous nurse. Beth was with us every step of the way- including the actual birth! She was wonderful.
The rest of the time in the hospital was a bit of a whirl wind of events. We had so many wonderful family and friends come visit us, great nurses and lactation consultants, and an overall good experience. We headed home on Saturday ready to be full time parents!
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