My Labor Story

I know I haven't really posted on here before, but I figured I'd share my story anyways! People like labor stories, right? They're always filled with surprises and each one is different!   Here it is!


It all started on a Monday (October 29th at 9:30 AM) when I had my appointment for my non-stress test on the baby to see why she hadn’t been making any progress at all, me being exactly a week late. My mom and sister had come with me while Tim (my husband) was working from home. They ran the stress test and the results came back perfect; meaning they were thinking she wasn’t going anywhere for a while. But just to be sure (following my ultrasound they wanted to run after the stress test), they wanted me checked out in labor and delivery. So we walked down the hall and they admitted me to a room.
Shortly after, they inserted an I.V. and the doctor came in to check me. I was a measly centimeter and a half dilated and 75% effaced. He gave me options: one was to just go home and wait it out; another was they could induce me with pitocin and I would have her within a day or so; and the final was where they would try this drug that was less intense than pitocin and not as effective and wait to see if I had dilated any after that (I think it may have been Cervadil?) I went with the third.
About three hours later the doctor finally came back with the drug, but checked me again just to make sure. I was dilated an extra two centimeters. I was going into labor on my own and I was already in the hospital; what luck! I didn’t need the drug and I let my body do what it was supposed to do. And by what luck, I don't just mean about me going into labor right as I got to the hospital; the week I was there was also the week that hurricane Sandy hit the east coast.
The contractions started to kick in, I think, around six or seven in the afternoon. I can’t explain how they felt. I guess the best way is to compare it to a lot of pressure and cramping. The nurse came in soon after and asked if I’d like pitocin and/or an epidural. I had only dilated an extra centimeter. I voted yes on both. “Pitocin first or epidural?” she’d asked. Now, I’d seen enough episodes of A Baby Story on TLC to know exactly want I wanted. “Epidural first,” I’d said.
She was soon back with both and my contractions were less intense in feeling afterwards; the only feeling I had was from my waste up. My toes were tingling, I couldn’t feel my legs, much less move them. And, though I couldn’t feel the pain from my contractions, I was still able to experience the pressure that came with them. It was such an odd feeling. They had to insert a catheter which was an odd sensation as well… But the strangest sensation was when my water had broken on it’s own. I couldn’t feel it come out of me, but it felt like a hose on my leg. I was freaking out. I basically screamed for them to get me out of the bed. I told them more was coming out and I almost started crying. I think the epidural did something funny to me… The nurse came back an hour later and found that I was six centimeters.
Soon I was able to go to sleep for an hour or so.
Untilllll… Five or six nurses came rushing into the room and woke me from my peaceful slumber. Apparently my blood pressure had dropped a lot and so had the baby’s heart beat. They had me roll onto my side (I can’t remember why) and they checked my progress. I had gone from being six centimeters dilated to all the way dilated in under an hour. It was time to push.
I started out pushing on my back for a couple minutes, then they had me turn around, my face facing the head of the bed with my knees supporting my body. I have no idea how I did it with my legs being numb and all. I gripped the handles on the top of the bed and bared down as hard as I could for ten seconds, three times in a row with short breaths in between. My mom held my hand nearly the whole time; I have no idea how she still has feeling in her fingers. She kept telling me how good I was doing, and that I was doing so much better than her when she was in labor with me. I think I may have said, “You didn’t have an epidural!”
Meanwhile, Tim is sitting on the couch a couple feet from me with his hands folded, kind of spacing out. I heard the nurse ask him if he was okay and if he needed a drink (he had turned pale, apparently). He said he was fine and that was that.
They had me turn back over onto my back to finish pushing. While I was waiting for the next contraction, the nurse who was delivering my baby asked me if I’d like a mirror. I said yes. They rolled it over and I could see my baby’s head! It was amazing. I was so enamored by the sight I didn’t realize I was contracting and the girls had to remind me to keep pushing. I pushed with my eyes open and watched as my baby slowly came down farther. Eventually I had to ask them to take the mirror away because it was breaking my concentration. I needed her out; I wanted her out; I wanted to hold my baby.
I pushed maybe five more times and I heard the sweet sound of her crying. They asked if I wanted to hold her right then and there and I immediately held my arms out. “Yes, give her to me,” I said. It was just me and her in the room until they had to take her to clean her up.
I only pushed (and had her out) for a half an hour. It was the best delivery experience I could have ever asked for. The nurses were wonderful and helpful and not at all annoyed with me. In fact, at one point, when I had forgotten to push while I was watching, the nurse reminded me to keep pushing and I’d apologized. She laughed and said that it was okay.
My mom went over to see them clean Sophia up and she took pictures. She has two where it’s Sophia on her back and then another of three seconds later with her on her side. My baby already knows how to halfway roll over… She’s gonna be a troublemaker, I can tell.
After they had her cleaned up, they took her over to Tim and he held her for a long while. I watched as he talked to her and I smiled, even though I was being stitched up for some tearing. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen. Apparently he was asking her if she wanted to go to Disney World instead of Hawaii this next year and he said she’d picked Disney. Likely story.
But that’s pretty much it… The total labor time, I’m guessing, lasted from when I entered the hospital that morning until 12:13 AM when she was born. She weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces; an ounce shy of nine. She was 21 inches long. She’s got legs like her daddy and his eyes too. She’s got my feet, my nose, my chin and my lips. Not sure who’s hands she’s got quite yet, though. Oh, and she’s beautiful. She’s got those cheeks you could just chew on. Hardly any hair, but it’s still noticeable. And it’s okay, it makes the top of her head that much more kissable.
I love her so much; she’s my world and I can’t wait to see how she grows and matures into a beautiful young woman.

Here are some pictures:

http://tinypic.com/r/28ajpq8/6
http://tinypic.com/r/sy9em0/6

Congratulations  

Congratulations.   She is adorable.  

Thanks, guys.   She's my little princess.