Birth Story

As most of you know, Brian and I decided to induce on August 28, 2008. It turns out that we made a great decision because of the hurricane. We decided on Monday the 25th when our doctor said I was ready anytime. At that time, we didn't even know of the pending hurricane. So we were scheduled to arrive at the hospital between 8 and 9 on Wednesday night to start the cervadil. I took a shower and got ready and the hospital called around 6 to tell us not to go in because they had no rooms available. They said they would call by early morning or mid- afternoon. We were a little concerned because it seemed like everyone wanted their babies delivered before the hurricane or at least the doctors wanted them delivered. We had no idea when and if they would call and what the hurricane was going to do. So we go to bed not knowing when they will call us or if they will call us back. As soon as we get in bed, around 10 p.m., my doctor calls and says they have a room available and she asked if we still wanted to go in. I asked her about different scenarios and whether she thought we would be discharged before the hurricane and whether we could evacuate, etc. and we decided to go in. We dropped Maddie off at my parents and got to the hospital around 12 a.m.

Dr. Waters checked me out and said I had thinned a lot more so she was just going to start the pitocin and not the cervadil. So everything started around 2 a.m. or so. I think I slept most of the morning because they gave me a sleeping pill. It took all day Thursday for me to dilate and at some point my cervix had thickened a little but it went back eventually. I was terrified of the epidural but the doctor said I could get it at any time and I didn't know how long I would be in labor so I asked for it sometime in the early afternoon on Thursday. It wasn't so bad. I could move one leg a little more than the other, which was strange to me but they said it was normal.

So the doctor checked on me periodically and we would change positions, etc. Brian's parents and my parents stayed at the hospital all day and we kept updating them. Sometimes I would nap and other times I was bored and awake. At one point, I wanted our family to come in because Brian was sleeping but I couldn't move to reach a phone and Brian was not responding to me calling him :-)

Around 10 p.m., Dr. Waters came in and said I was 9 and 1/2 centimeters and she wanted me to push a little to see if we could get it all the way to 10. The nurse was not with her so she asked dad to help. Poor Brian had no idea what the extent of his participation would be. He was basically one of the nurses. The doctor grabbed one leg and he grabbed the other and she made me start pushing. I had no idea that's how you pushed but I just did what they told me. They said I was doing great and they could see the head but I didn't really feel it and couldn't see anything because I was laying down completely. I also started shaking a lot and couldn't control it. I would go from being hot down by feet to freezing by my head. Around 10:30 or so, the doctor had me take a break and she had to go deliver another baby. This patient had already had 2 kids, so the 3rd was going to come out faster than my 1st. So I got a little break and Brian was relieved of his nursing duties for a few minutes and got to come by my side and talk to me for a while. I was still shaking and the doctor said it was not uncommon. Then the doctor came back and asked if we wanted her to use the forceps to push down on me to allow the baby to pop up and she would be able to come out easier. She could tell I was exhausted. So we decided to do that and it only took about 3 pushes. I just heard everyone telling me I was doing great and all of a sudden I had our baby girl in my arms. It was crazy. My epidural had just run out when the baby was born. I could feel pressure pushing. I know some people said they never felt anything but I did for sure.

They weighed the baby and let her stay in the room with us for a while and our family visited and then Brian went to the nursery with her. They let the epidural wear off completely and then we were sent to a different room with a more comfortable bed for the remainder of our stay. We were discharged Saturday afternoon.