Happy Birthday!

After the weekend of my 39 weeks had passed I was ready to be induced! I called first thing Monday morning when the office opened and asked about being scheduled for an induction. Emily, Dr. Bartley’s nurse, called me back and said that I had been scheduled for Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m. I just giggled. I was so excited and a little nervous. I really didn’t want to be induced, because I have heard how hard it can make labor and I wanted Aria to come on her own. After I got off the phone I called everyone to let them know that we would be having a baby come Thursday morning! I then realized that we had planned to go to the hospital on the worse day possible. Augusta was forecasted to receive one of the biggest winter/ice storms in our history. After I thought of that I called the office back to see if I could reschedule the induction date. They told me no, because it takes so much coordination that it is hard to move the dates and it could be into next week if we tried to change it. I told them that that was fine and we would keep Wednesday. The next thing I knew Dr. Bartley called me directly and said that there was an opening for Thursday and asked if wanted to move it and I said yes. I told everyone at work that I was going to go ahead and start my maternity leave so I would have a few days of rest before I went to the hospital. So Tuesday I slept all day and tried to be lazy as possible. That night I told Andrew that I wanted to eat light for every meal up to Thursday. So that night we had Wendy’s and all I ate were nuggets. We went to bed around 11:00 that night. At 3:08 a.m. I was woken up by a pretty bad menstrual cramp. I laid there about 5 minutes to see if I cramped up again. Once I felt it again I went to the bathroom thinking I just had to pass a blood clot or something. I went to the bathroom and kept having cramps. I went back to bed and laid there awake for about 10 minutes. I noticed that I would cramp up every 2 minutes and the cramp would last about 10-12 seconds. I went back to the bathroom and “went to the bathroom.” When I wiped I noticed that I had some blood. I went back to bed and leaned over to Andrew and said “baby I think I am having contractions.” He sat up and said ok, let’s time them. I told him that I had been timing them and they were all over the place. At this point it was 3:45. I called the hospital to ask about the random bleeding and she told me that they like for us to wait until the contractions are 5 minutes apart for 2 hours. Once I got off the phone I told Andrew that I wanted to go ahead and go in since I was bleeding. I wanted to just be safe. We loaded up the car and headed out.

By the time we got to the hospital triage I was at 4 cm and started having contractions 4 minutes apart. They told us that they were 90% sure that they would keep me and not send us home. I told the nurse that I was just happy that I wasn’t losing my mind and that I was actually in labor! They took me to my labor room and gave me my IV at 7:00. They asked me if I wanted an epidural and I said yes. Looking back I probably could have gone a little longer without it, but I didn’t want to wait until I was in so much pain that I would have to wait hours for the anesthesiologist to show up. I told them to go ahead and line me up for one. By 9:00 the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. By 9:30 I was completely numb from my belly button down. They gave me the lowest dose of Pitocin and broke my water by 10:00. At 11:00 they checked me again and I was at 8 cm!!! I couldn’t believe it! She said that she would be back in about an hour to check me again. At 12:30 she came in and checked and I was at 10!!!!!! She looked at our parents and said “ok, grandparents, time for yall to leave!” Everyone just laughed and clapped and I started crying! The nurse left to get things ready and to call Dr. Bartley. With it just being me and Andrew we had our last moments together just as a family of 2 (3 with Teddy :)) I told him that I was scared, because all I wanted was a healthy baby. He told me not to worry that God would bless us with a perfect baby and that I had done so good taking care of myself that there was no reason to worry. The nurse came back in and she held one leg and Andrew held the other. I started pushing and after 3 or 4 pushes she said ok, let me go get Dr. Bartley. Dr. Bartley came in with another nurse and I was so relieved to see her. Because of the ice storm we weren’t sure if I would have to use on call doctor to deliver. Dr. Bartley said that a little ice wouldn’t keep her away! I love her!! I started pushing again and they kept saying that she was stuck on my pubic bone. With every push I gave it all I had because I refused to be the reason they would have to use forceps or a suction to get her out. They ended up draining my bladder and having to push my stomach to get her past my bone. Next thing I knew they pulled her out! I started bawling!! My baby was here! I never knew I would love someone so much in my life! I looked at Andrew and feel even more in love with him. He was so proud and had been such a huge help during my labor. Once Andrew cut her cord they laid her on my chest and she just looked at me. I was hooked! I didn’t want them to take her away ever. While they were delivering my placenta they took her and bathed her and took her stats. Healthy baby girl 7 lbs. 11 oz. 20 3/4 inches long born February 12th at 2:06 p.m! I couldn’t believe that she had weighted that much. The whole time I just knew that I would have 6 pounder. I was taken to my post-partum room and we called in the grandparents. They were so excited to see her and fell in love like we did. After they left Andrew got to have skin to skin time with her too. While he was holding her I got this feeling of complete happiness. I have never felt so happy in my life. I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who gave me the most precious beautiful healthy daughter. We are truly blessed!

39 Weeks

At my 39 week appointment I was hoping that I would have dilated to 4cm since I had been progressing each week. Before we started the exam I asked her about stripping my membranes and what her opinion is on that. She told me that she could do it at this exam since I am pretty much at my due date and it would take about 30 seconds. She said sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I told her that we would see how much I have dilated then we will decide. She did my exam and said that I was at 3.5cm (which, is still an improvement) she said “ok, you want me to do it?” I said sure! It didn’t hurt as much as it was just tender. It isn’t much worse than the exam itself. It didn’t take long either. After that she said that we would make another appointment for the next week and check on all of the baby’s vitals. She will check her heart, positioning, and water level in the bag. If everything looks good then I will just keep on trucking and won’t have to be induced. Once I left the office I started having the menstrual cramping again. It keep getting worse as I got home. Andrew went and got us subs and we had an early dinner just in case we had to run to the hospital. After about 3 hours the cramping stopped all together. We went to sleep about 9:00 and I said a little prayer that I would wake up in the middle of the night in labor. When I woke up this morning to the alarm I was so disappointed. We went ahead and got ready for work this morning and I have noticed that I am having the menstrual cramping again so I have been writing it down just in case it turns into something else. I kinda figure why bother. Compared to the cramping I had last night I know this isn’t anything. I am praying that she will come this weekend. I will do anything to keep from being induced. I want her to come out on her own.

38 Weeks

The countdown continues. Everyone around me have been telling me that I wouldn’t make it to 39 weeks by the way I look. I think I have been taking those comments to heart. At my weekly appointment she started my exam and said “oh wow! She is low! She said her head is right there and you are at 3 CM” I couldn’t help but get excited. I thought to myself “maybe she will come this weekend!” So over the weekend I tried all of the home remedies; walking (a little), spicy food, sex…nothing has changed. I am starting to have a hard time sleeping. She is pressing down so much that I just feel a burning sensation almost every night right when I am trying to get to sleep, I have to get up at least twice a night to pee, and she likes to practice rolling over when it’s time to sleep. I am so ready to meet her and I know that a lot of first time mothers deliver past their due date, so I have a while to go still. Dr. Bartley told me that I can keep coming every week or I can schedule an induction whenever I want. She said that she doesn’t like to do them, but it is always the patients’ choice. I am just going to try to be patient and just go with the flow.