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| Charlotte Karen September 18 - 6:24pm 8 pounds 9.9 ounces - 20 inches |
Since my due date was just two days away at my last prenatal appointment the midwife decided to schedule an induction for the following week. However, my body was already progressing well on it's own at my appointment - I was almost 3cm dilated and 80% effaced at my appointment. My midwife really expected to get a call over the weekend that I'd gone into labor naturally.
Each day came and went though. A few contractions here and there, but no labor. Finally Monday night came and I was to be induced the next morning. I kept wondering if I was still going to go into labor naturally during the night, but it didn't happen - just a lot of snuggles with the dogs. So, on Tuesday morning we got ready, packed up the car, said goodbye to my parents (who were sweet enough to drive in the Sunday before my induction) and the dogs, got in the car and headed to the hospital. It was really a surreal feeling driving to the hospital knowing we would be coming back with a baby. It was also a little crazy to realize we were driving to the hospital and I was knowingly going to be inducing pain on myself with the induction. At least with labor occurring naturally it isn't as planned. I was very excited, though. Not really anxious or worried. Really just excited - and quite exhausted as I had barely slept the night before.
My induction was scheduled for 10:00am. We had to be at the hospital at 9:30. We got there, went straight to our room, and waited for the nurse. I had to answer a lot of medical questions, have my IV started, and have other random things done before the induction process began including being checked to see where we were starting from. I was actually already at 4cm and the nurse was quite impressed. But at 11:00 the pitocin was started - and the contractions were quick to follow. I was having some mild contractions that I was barely feeling when they initially put me on the monitor but not long after the pitocin was started my contractions came on strong, quick, and regular. Within an hour I had to ask Bryan if it was lame that I already felt like I needed the epidural. Now, the epidural was something I knew I was probably going to get so that wasn't the issue. The nurse had said to let her know when my pain was about a 5 on a scale of 1-10 so she could call anesthesia. The fact that I went from about a 1 to a 5 in an hour made me wonder if I was a wimp, but apparently my contractions had become so regular and strong that the nurse didn't blame me for already wanting it. By the time Bryan told her I wanted the epidural I was pretty uncomfortable. I was keeping it together, but couldn't do anything during a contraction. I wasn't able to text my sister (who I kept in constant contact with all day). I wasn't able to even chew ice during a contraction. This became old fast considering my contractions were a minute and a half apart. Then the nurse came in and told me it was time to up my pitocin and that it would be a little longer for the epidural as anesthesia was called into an emergency. I just thought well that's nice - more pain and have to wait longer for relief! Finally the anesthesiologist came in and got the epidural in quickly. Honestly, I think he ran in before tending to the emergency c-section so that I didn't have to wait for who knows how long. Within 15 minutes I was pain free. I could feel a little bit of pressure but that was about it. Life was good again. Bryan and I were joking around. Watching tv. Visiting with my parents and his mom and stepdad who were hanging out around the hospital.
Shortly after receiving my epidural my midwife came to check my progress (she came in and checked before the epidural too but I don't really remember if she actually "checked" me or just came in to talk). I was between 5-6 cm at this point and completely thinned out. They decided to not up my pictocin anymore because I was progressing well with the small amount I had received (it was supposed to be upped every 1/2 hour throughout my labor - they only upped it four times). She also decided to break my water at that point. Apparently that did the trick, because in the matter of an hour I went from 5-6cm to 9cm. Then very quickly made it to 10cm. I wasn't feeling the urge to push yet, though, so instead of making me do extra work and push just because I was 10cm they told Bryan and I to take a nap and they'd check back in an hour unless I started to feel the urge to push. Of course, Bryan napped. At that point I was anxious (in a good way) and there was no way I was going to sleep so I just rested. Finally the hour passed and right around the same time I started to feel the urge to push.
Everyone started getting their things together. The baby nurses had all of the baby stuff ready. They wheeled in the big table of things the midwife needed. Before I knew it they were telling me to try and push. I felt like I got the hang of it pretty early on thanks to my sister's advice on where to focus my energy when pushing. I even got to the point I added an extra push during my contractions because I was doing well. (I do have to add that Bryan was amazing during my pushing. I never had to tell him to do or not to do something. He was just the right amount of supportive. He touched just the right amount without annoying me.) Then 43 minutes after my very first push and just 6 minutes short of being in labor for 7.5 hours, Charlotte Karen made her way into the world at 6:24pm (just four minutes short of my guess of when she'd arrive). She weighed in at 8 pounds 9.9 ounces (much bigger than everyone guessed she was going to be) and measured 20 inches long.
I felt such a rush of emotions. I was so happy she had arrived. I was so in love with her already. And I was proud of myself for having done everything I did. Basically it was the most amazing feeling in the world.
I will update more on our hospital stay and first week of parenthood soon, but for now enjoy some pictures. :)
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| So happy to finally get to hold her! |
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| Proud daddy. |
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| First family picture (not the most flattering of me though). |
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| We all made guesses on when Charlotte would arrive. I got the closest - only off by 4 minutes. |
