I had a doc appt that was supposed to be with Dr. S at 39 weeks 5 days but when I got there he was out doing a delivery so I saw a nurse. I wasn't thrilled with that as I wanted to talk more about induction but I was also thankful that I would be seeing a female for my first internal check since 14 weeks gestation. She checked my cervix and I was 1.5 cm dilated and 60% effaced. I was SHOCKED that I had any progress at all. I thought for sure that I would be 0cm and 0% effaced. At least, that's what I had prepared myself for. I asked her about inducing and she said that she would have someone call me and set up another appt for the next week so I could be "evaluated" (NO clue what that meant) by Dr. K. I was OK with that as I would have been 40 weeks 4 days at that point. (I actually had intentions of writing a blog entry titled "Operation Eviction" about all the things we had tried to get Skittle out. Walking, (including curb walking-walking with one foot on the curb and one foot on the pavement) DTD, (Doing the Deed) nipple stimulation, and bouncing on my birthing ball did NOTHING to bring on contractions.
The next day (39 weeks 6 days) I woke up at 7:30am and felt what I thought was a dull contraction. It was different from the Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been feeling for weeks. It didn't really hurt but I knew something was happening. I laid in bed another 45 minutes and had about 3 more cramp like contractions. Then when I got up to go to the bathroom, there was blood in the toilet. I got freakishly excited and tried calling DH at work to give him a head's up. Of course when I called, he was at the gym. When he called me back I told him what was happening and he basically thought it was no big deal so he was going to stay at work. I was OK with that as I wasn't sure how quickly things would progress or if anything was really happening in the first place. The contractions continued to come but were very sporadic-but more intense if I laid down. I tried timing them and noticed that they were lasting about a minute but anywhere from 10-15 mins apart. At some point they started getting somewhat painful and I got in the tub to labor through them. I called DH at 4:00pm and he was on his way home. I continued to contract and DH still brushed it off-even though I was having to breathe through them and couldn't talk when I had one. At about 9:30pm I told DH that he needed to get ready to go to the hospital as I wanted to get checked out to see if I was progressing any. I again was prepared for them to tell me that I was indeed in early labor but would send me home because I wasn't progressing enough. We left at about 9:45pm and headed to the hospital. At 10pm a nurse checked me and I was 3 cm dilated (contracting every 3-5 minutes) and almost completely thinned out. I was a little disappointed at that as I had been laboring for almost 15 hrs at that point. She said she would check me again in an hour and if I hadn't made any progress they were going to send me home. Well, once she left the room, the pain got CRAZY intense as I had to lie on my left side because Skittle's heart rate was doing funky things. All I wanted to do was NOT be in bed and to get up and move around...but I couldn't and I knew that would happen as soon as I stepped foot in the hospital. At close to 11pm I started throwing up and I swear it was from being stuck in that dang position and not being able to get any relief. The nurse checked me and I was a 5! I was asked if I wanted an epidural and I had to make my decision RIGHT THEN as the anesthesiologist was literally in his car to go home. If I didn't get one now, I wouldn't get one. I agreed to get one.
As they got me out of bed and I walked across the hall to our room, the pain actually got somewhat manageable (POSITION, POSITION, POSITION). An IV was started and I was told I had to go back to being on my side. At midnight she checked me and I was a 7! The anesthesiologist came in and sat me up for the epidural-ahhh, pain once again manageable. The epidural actually seemed to take quite a long time to place but really I didn't care as I didn't have to be on my side. Once the catheter was placed, I could be on my side without any pain and I was thankful for that. At 1am I was checked again and I was a 9. More nurses were coming in and out getting the room ready! It was so surreal! Everything was happening so fast that when DH went downstairs to get a Coke, the entire room was ready when he got back! I began practice pushing at 2:15am and had to stop pushing to wait for the doc (Dr. S was on call that night) to deliver me. I guess at that point I was very thankful to have the epidural as I could feel her head coming out but there wasn't any pain associated with it. DH played a bigger roll in the delivery than he originally thought he would. He held my leg and was a HUGE encouragement. I remember him saying, "OHHH, I can see her head! WOW, I can see her head! Is that her head!?"
At 2:54am on 8/26/2010-MY DUE DATE!!!-Paisley Therese was born! She weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches long. She came out screaming (9/9 apgare!) but went instantly silent when she heard her daddy's voice. She has beautiful brown hair and was much more alert than I thought she would be.
I never thought I'd be a mom. I never thought I'd get to hear MY baby cry. I never knew how much I could love someone.
Every time I look at her I think and say out loud how great our God is. He heard my pleas and my pain and He saw me through it. He had everything perfectly timed-despite my doubts and fears. Paisley is a true testament of God's love and faithfulness. Through my weakness He is made strong.
Throughout the struggles of this pregnancy and post delivery (IM shots in my butt every day for 16 weeks-vomiting all day every day for 22 weeks-kidney stones that landed me in the hospital for 10 days-having wicked rip open my esophagus heartburn-getting hemorrhoids the size of Mt. Everest-getting a 2nd degree tear that required internal and external stitches and having my pelvis separate* because of pushing) when I look at Paisley, she reminds me that all the pain was worth it. And I knew she would.
*more on my pelvis later
Paisley 2 days old:
First time in the swing: (which she really didn't like)
First bath at home:
