We arrived at the hospital at 10 pm on Sunday for what we thought would be a long induction process into the following day, but Natalie had other ideas.
Apparently, the reason for coming in at 10 pm was that the initial induction medication, which is given every 4 hours, usually takes between 2-4 rounds before thinning occurs in the cervix. In doing the math, this would take us into the usual business hours of the following day for convenience of scheduling, doctor availability, etc. I was mentally prepared for a loooong night and morning.
11 pm: Let the games begin. The pill was inserted up near my cervix. Just doing that hurt like heck, and I was reminded how much of a wuss I am! IV antibiotics were also administered since I am positive for Group B strep. (It's some random bacteria that no one knows why or how you get, but you need meds to prevent it from being passed to the baby with delivery?!)
1 - 1:15 am: I had been resting (trying to sleep but couldn't) in the hospital bed while David was snoring in the chair next to me. Contractions had been subtle for a little while, but this was the point in time that I remember thinking that my pain tolerance must be horrible. How could I be struggling already after just 2 hours?! I became very uncomfortable to the point of having to purposely work on my breathing with each contraction. I never timed them but they seemed 4-5 min apart in my mind. I woke up David at this point, since I was starting to worry and didn't know what else to do, plus I needed him to unhook my cords so I could go to the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet provided some relief, so I stayed in there for a little while. I called the nurse afterwards and asked her if it was possible that these contractions were enough warranting an epidural, because I wasn't feeling too good. I was hoping that she would be able to tell from the monitor that things were truly progressing. She said that the medication causes contractions, and that it doesn't necessarily mean that labor has begun or my cervix has changed at all. This sounded discouraging. I figured that it was unlikely that anything was already occurring down there, so I decided to hold off on pursuing the epidural. It had only been a couple of hours, and surely I could just deal with this until I am certain that I need help with the pain, right?! I hated the idea of having it too early, because it surely can't be good for me or the baby to have all these meds pumped into me all night and morning long.
1:45 am: Change of plans. I decided that I desperately needed this epidural!!! The pain had continued to steadily get worse to the point that I didn't really know how to handle it. I tried to sit different ways, to stand, to lean over the bed, and to work on breathing through it. I basically had no clue what I was doing. I remember I kept repeating to David, "This is bad. This is really bad." The nurse checked my cervix. With a shocked look on her face, she told me that I was completely thinned and 4 cm and that now would be the time to get that epidural after all. She said that we would likely be having this baby tonight!
1:50 am: Nurse returned with frustrating news. I would have to have another lab draw to test my abnormally low platelet count of only 86 (normal range is 150-450). The anesthesiologist realized that I have chronically low platelet counts, but he wanted to ensure that the count hadn't dropped any more in the few hours that I was there. I had my first fearful thoughts that this epidural might not be happening for that reason.
2 am: My lab was redrawn, and now it was a waiting game. With each contraction, I remember bargaining with myself, "I only have to get through a few more of these, and I can have relief..." I kept breathing forcefully through the pain. I will never forget how miserable and helpless I felt in these moments.
2:20 am: I got out of bed again out of desperation to do something differently. My water broke...all over the floor. I sat down, and the gushing continued all over the bed. I then had to ask for a vomit bag, because I was certain that I was going to throw up. It ended up only being a lot of spitting. Good news though- my labs were fine and the epidural was on its way!!!
2:30 am: The anesthesiologist showed up. It took him what seemed like eternity to set up his equipment. In slow motion, he explained the reason why he was going to go through with this despite my low platelet count, along with other side effects and information. In my mind, I was so angry and cursing him over how slowly he was talking and moving. I kept thinking that if he was the one in this pain, he wouldn't be operating this way. The pressure seemed to be getting lower as if I could really sense that this baby was going to come out soon. I remember having this same feeling with Nico just before he arrived.
2:35 - 2:40 am: I was literally in a flexed position and holding a pillow with the nurse in front of me. Slow motion man was behind me cleaning off my back and ready to get this epidural going. All of a sudden, my body literally started pushing on its own and against my control. I felt that I had to push her out. Right this second. The nurse quickly helped me back down on my back and said that she could check me again. I was 9 cm dilated! She said there would still be time to get this done if we did it right then. The sole agenda on my "birth plan" was to get that epidural, so of course I tried to sit back up. That lasted for all of 2 seconds before I realized that I had no choice but to push instead. Sh*t!
David had left the room to avoid seeing the giant needle, and when he got about 50 ft down the hallway, he heard a nurse yelling to the doctor to get in the room and that we're having this baby now! He was shocked to see her enter our room. He claims that as he walked by to get on the right side of my bed, he saw the head coming out. He didn't want to look and may still be traumatized over this, ha!
2:41 - 2:46: It was go time. I think the absolute most fearful moment of my life thus far is the moment that I realized I was at the point of no return and going to have to push her out without the darn epidural. In no way was I prepared for this. I remember the pain getting so bad that I literally was in a state of panic. The nurse forcefully told me to look into her eyes, and she instructed me how to breathe and how I was going to push. The doctor came in, and as my legs and feet were set up, she told me that I should push now. Holy sh*t, this was really happening. I knew that I had to give it my all and be strong through this, for no other reason than out of fear of creating any complications by not doing a good enough job of pushing. David was SO perfectly there for me, holding my hand with his face down by mine. (I guess I can't continue to give him grief for being on the other side of the room and behind the curtain with Nico.) My first push produced a giant splash of fluid all over the place, as if a water balloon had popped. Surprising and so gross! It was the remainder of the amniotic fluid. Push #2 was less eventful. And push #3 at 2:46 resulted in our beautiful baby girl entering our world. I will always remember how cool of a feeling that was.
The nurses immediately put her on my chest for some skin-to-skin cuddling and nursing while they cleaned her off and did their testing. David and I just kept starring at her and couldn't believe that she was sooo identical to Nico! The whole experience happened so fast, and I think it took a while to sink in that I was finally in the moment that I had been dreaming about. I was holding our perfect little girl. And she was worth the wait.
She was so pretty from the very beginning. Because she basically fell out of me, she didn't have the cone shaped head or any other goofy temporary post labor features. I remember thinking how big she seemed to me and how crazy to think that she fit in my belly. She weighed 7 lbs, 13 oz and was 20.5 inches tall. Besides not being able to believe how identical to Nico she was, we particularly noticed how much dark hair she had, her nice coloring, and long fingernails. David pointed out that she must be his, because she's got his nose.
We cuddled for about an hour and a half before we were taken to our more permanent room. She was so content, nursed well, and even opened her eyes some. David and I then passed out from about 6-7 a.m. before the day started with frequent visits from the hospital staff and pediatrician.
Big brother Nico couldn't wait to meet his little sister. I couldn't wait to be a part of this moment either. It was another one of those big moments that I looked forward to and thought about often throughout the whole pregnancy. He walked in with a big grin on his face and immediately asked, "Can I pet her?!"
He chose to wear this shirt today, and he definitely wore it proudly! He was pumped.
Proud grandparents.
We got Nico a few big brother gifts from Natalie to open here at the hospital. We wouldn't want him to feel too deprived for even a few minutes, right?! He had been talking about wanting this particular monster truck for weeks.
The proud, big brother held her multiple times and was so gentle. He kissed her forehead and talked to her in his sweet little voice calling her words like cute and adorable. At one point, he wanted to look at her boobs (random?!) and giggled about how little they were.
Our first pic as a family of FOUR! Our family is complete :)
When everything calmed down, and it was just David and I left for the evening, the events of the day all finally hit me. What a day. My heart was and is so incredibly full. I'm not sure life can get much better than this.
We had such a great first day and night. I'm so in love. She pretty much slept non-stop, other than when she tried to eat her hand to signal that she was hungry. In the middle of the night, she finally had an extended period of time when she was so wide eyed and alert. One of my favorite moments to date. It was so hard to put her back in her little crib. I could have just held her all night! And how cute does she look in her little sister pajamas?
Day 2 in the hospital went smoothly as well, and we were cleared to go home later that afternoon! My parents and Nico came to visit again (thanks to Mom and Dad for watching Nico for a few days), and the day flew by with plenty of baby snuggles.
Sweet Natalie did a good job of nursing and only lost 5% of her weight. (Goal under 10%). She gave me some early reassurance that she was, in fact, getting plenty of milk, because she had SIX dirty diapers! She seems to love to be swaddled and is a big fan of sleep.
All ready to head home!
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