Birth Story

This time last week, we had been told I would be induced! I was exactly at 39 weeks and the baby was nice and big. We were to call in at 5 AM and find out if the hospital had room. Well, I made the call and was told to call back at 8 AM. At 8 AM they told me to go ahead and come in. We were finally on our way! So we packed up and took off for the hospital.

When we got there, we were checked in and they put me in a robe and set me up in a room... just in time for them to tell me that there was a time mix-up! My doctor was out of town until that night, and so they gave us the option of coming again that night or waiting until the following day. Considering we didn't really have any plans for the day, we opted to go back again at 8 PM.

So 8 PM rolls around, and we drive to the hospital. After a while, they finally get me started on Pitocin around 10:30 PM. My doctor stops by the hospital on her way through town at around 11:15 and breaks my water. Apparently when we checked in, I was already having contractions around 5 - 7 minutes apart, and I was at 4 cm dilated. I only felt light twinges at this time.

They had me on my back in the bed and Jeremy and I were just waiting for things to get rolling. We were watching the Stanley Cup finals and Deadliest Catch, and then trying to get some sleep.

Around 1:30 AM, they had me roll to my side to try and speed things up. This definitely worked! I had to wake Jeremy up around 2 AM because I was starting to feel the contractions pretty often and they hurt. I called the nurse in and they checked me - I was at 5 cm - so they said that we could talk about pain medicine. I opted for the epidural. I didn't see the needle - Jeremy assures me it was HUGE - but trying to stay in one position for them to get everything just right while having contractions was very hard.

The epidural lessened the pain of the contractions quite a bit. They checked me after they had completed this, and I was at 9 1/2 cm already! I was asked to try and relax and doze off for a while so that I could save my strength for later.

About 30 minutes later, a few nurses came rushing in - apparently the baby had dropped quickly and the fetal monitors had lost contact. They decided to have me start pushing! By this time, it was about 4 AM.

The baby was born at 5:08 AM and despite the epidural, it still HURT! They say that the medicine takes the pain away, but not the pressure. Regardless, he was a very healthy baby boy - scored two nines on his APGARs. He started crying immediately after they suctioned him. After they cleaned him off and brought him back to lay him on my chest, he stopped crying immediately. That was the coolest thing!

Jeremy got to hold him while they were finishing up with me, and the nurses got some very good pictures of the two of them. We love this little guy!