She’s here! I’m so in love with this baby girl and so
grateful that she made it here safe. So now to document her birth.
At the beginning of July, I went to an OB/GYN appointment
and expressed my concern about living half an hour away with how fast my labors
have gone with my boys. The nurse practitioner immediately asked if I wanted an
induction and I was on board. Eli was induced after all and that went fairly
well. Other factors that I thought about were the fact that we could work it
around Sam’s schedule and that my parents could be there to help. So by the
next appointment I gave a date I wanted to be induced and was scheduled in,
which was July 27
th.
This is what made the last few weeks of her pregnancy
different that with the boys. With the boys, I didn’t know when they would
arrive so I would try to get labor going on its own and be unsuccessful,
therefore frustrated. This time round I knew a date she would arrive so I just
enjoyed the last few weeks best I could with the boys. I didn’t want to go into
labor before then after all! Sam was on his busiest rotation and my parents
weren’t there to help with Joey and Eli. I kept it real easy.
My parents, Alexis and Kayla rolled into town on the 26th
of July and, after a day of errands and last minute preparations, my mom took
me to the San Antonio Military Medical Center at 7pm to start the induction. My
night nurse, Sarah, was putting in my iv port while my mom waited in the
waiting area. Sarah told another nurse to get her but no one did (whoops!). It
wasn’t until Sam was available to come down from his day at clinic that my mom
came in. We waited for quite a while after that because the triage blew up with
patients and they come first (naturally). Meanwhile, the anesthesiologist came
in with a consent form for an epidural (if I decided I wanted it) and in case I
needed a C-section. Then a doctor came in later to give the very thorough spiel
about induction and other interventions (forceps, vacuum, etc.) I appreciated
that even though I knew mostly everything he talked about.
Then the induction was discussed. They decided they wanted
to start with a Foley balloon to have me dilate more if I wasn’t at a three.
Never heard about this one, but they never used it because I was already at a
three when they finally checked me! Then they decided to start me on Pitocin at
around 11:30ish. I was really hoping they would just break my bag of water like
what happened with Eli, but oh well. However, they started so low that none of
it was that painful. It was enough to keep me from sleeping. My mom and Sam got
some shut eye while I just let the contractions do their thing. For how scared
I was of Pitocin it was surprising how little pain I felt, even as the nurse
kept upping my dose every half hour. During that time, I noticed the beautiful
bright yellow full moon outside. I needed to pee a lot from all the water I was
drinking (since the doctor said I couldn’t eat any more Kit Kats), so it was a
little difficult with the monitors and iv port on me. Other than that, it was a
boring waiting game and talking to our super nice nurse (who manages to work
and home school five kids).
Finally, two doctors came in and checked me. I dilated to a
four during all those hours, but they came to break my water. This was what I
was waiting for. At 4:45am my water was broken and the show was on the road.
This is where it gets fuzzy, but I believe the painful contractions started around
6am. Sadly Sarah the nurse had to end her shift and so we said our goodbyes. I
turned on some calming music I picked beforehand and started holding Sam and my
mom’s hands while I breathed through the contractions. I started crying from
the beautiful music when it hit me that I was going to meet my daughter very
shortly. The poor nurse after Sarah first came in when I started puking, so
that was our introduction. She had a nurse in training with her as well. Kristen
said the Peds people were going to be there because they found meconium in my
water. What? They didn’t tell me that before! The contractions just kept
getting more and more intense and no position gave me relief. Kristen came in
when they were almost unbearable and told me based on the monitors it appears
baby is face up. They tried to position me to help her turn but after one contraction
I hit my threshold and told Sam and my mom that if I wasn’t complete I wanted
an epidural. Then while Sam hit the call light the next contraction I felt that
crazy urge to push at 7:30am.
In no time there were two nurses, my mom, Sam, and three(!)
doctors around the bed side and five or six people around the baby station
waiting for her. It was indescribably painful! She was indeed face up the
stinker so it seemed more painful than the last two births. She did not come
out in three pushes like Eli, sadly. Then baby’s vitals started to look
concerning. Her heart rate was not bouncing back after each push, so they had
to tell this poor mom (me) to push after every other contraction. I’m sure I hyperventilated
and yelled out a couple times. Sam was going to deliver her, but it was looking
like they needed to get little girl out quick, so the doctor started mentioning
the use of forceps. I just said, “Do it!” I didn’t want to prolong the pain,
and I feel bad I thought about that before I thought of baby girl. However, I
don’t know if the baby moved or I gave a good push, but her head was out before
the forceps were in hand and the doctor quickly put Sam in place to catch her.
A gray blob with dark hair was placed on me at 7:43am, but
then she was immediately whisked away to the baby station. I really had no idea
how shocked our poor little girl was. I just laid there drained while an intern
doctor stitched me up (third time I tore in the same spot). It was so mentally
and physically exhausting. Meanwhile, baby girl had a low Apgar scale (6-7 and
above is healthy and she was at a 4). So the Peds team worked vigorously on
getting her to cry, rubbing her, suctioning her lungs, and even using C-pap.
Within five minutes she was at an 8 so the concern was very short. Eventually Eden
Olivia was handed to me for some skin to skin and I could finally cuddle her
and see her sweet face, which reminded me a little bit of Joey. The after-birth
process was extremely painful (manual blood clot removal and a catheter) but I
was quickly on the mend.
I
don’t think I would have done anything differently even if it was the longest
and hardest labor I experienced. We are both healthy, I am mostly recovered,
and baby girl is eating like a champ. And I did it naturally, even when she was
sunny-side up. Eden seems to have a strong personality from the get-go. She’s
perfect!
