Kat's Korner: 30 Day Challenge- Day 17 Baby E's Birth Story

I think I told my OB that I was done being pregnant at the beginning of December. Baby E was taking up every available bit of space within me. I was uncomfortable, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I was just plain tired! My OB explained that the hospital wouldn't allow voluntary inducements until you reached 39 weeks. So, we decided on the first available day which happened to be December 13th. When I told M, he told me "absolutely not". Thankfully we were able to change it to December 15th at 6am. I told M and we were hoping that the timing would be right and he would be back from his mission.
My good Army Wife friend took me to dinner at Olive Garden the night before. It was soooo good! I started to get uncomfortable sitting there. I was feeling pressure in my lower belly and in my back. I didn't really pay any attention to it at the time. I figured I just ate too much. After dinner I went back to my mom's house because she would be driving me to the hospital the next day.
The morning of the 15th I woke up super early, took my shower and got ready for the hospital. I was still feeling uncomfortable, but couldn't really tell if they were contractions or not. As we were walking into the hospital, M called on Skype. :) I told him we just arrived and still needed to check in, he was glad because he still had paperwork left to finish. He said he would call when he was done.
I got all checked in, I filled out more paperwork and answered a TON of questions. They finally got the IVs in and I had to wait for my OB to show up. They informed me it would just be a little bit before he would be here......ummmm yea right! I think I waited about an hour to two hours for him to show up.....a little bit my butt. When the nurses hooked up the baby monitor around my belly they informed me I was actually having contractions on my own! Yea!!! Good news!
M called back before the OB showed up. Doc finally arrived, checked me and told me what would be happening. They would give me the pitocin, then check back on me in an hour or two and break my water and have a baby by dinner time. I was starting to get nervous, but I had M on Skype to talk to me. The connection was really good, I was surprised and very happy. About an hour later I felt a pop and my water broke. I have to tell you, sitting there, it's a weird feeling. I was really glad that it happened on its own, also that I hadn't gone into work because my water would have broken in the middle of class. Yuck! Anywho. The pitocin kicks in and the contractions start getting harder, I asked for the first round of meds and they helped a little. Every time I got checked, I wasn't making much progress. M ended up falling asleep while on Skype. I knew he was tired and I didn't want to hang up, so I just waited until something major happened. Once the first round of meds wore off, I needed my epidural like RIGHT NOW! Oh my goodness!!! I thought I was going to rip in two. I give those moms who have gone through it naturally SOOOO much credit. I don't think I could have done it. I swear it took the anesthesiologist forever to get there. Then I don't think she put it in quite right, because I never lost that feeling of pressure and a little bit of pain. I kept telling the nurses that it still hurt and they kept blowing me off because it would be awhile before the baby would be born. I swear, if you are ever going to be a labor nurse, listen to the mother.....she knows what her body is doing!!!!
Finally I got a nurse to check me again because I was feeling a ton of pressure. And to my dismay and excitement, I was 10 cm and ready to push!!!!
I woke M up and told him it was time. The one great thing these nurses did that my nurses with Little L didn't do was when I was ready to push, they didn't tell me to wait for the doctor. They got me all ready and had me start pushing. Oh my gosh! I knew I swore a couple of times, but I didn't care. It hurt so bad! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it. Throughout the whole thing, all I could hear was M's voice over Skype telling me to push and that I could do it. It was great having him "there" with me and being able to focus on his voice.
After about 20min of pushing my little bundle of joy came out. She was sunny side up, which is what made the labor so hard, but she was healthy. She was born at 1:18pm on December 15th. I was in good labor for about 9 hours and pushed for 20min. I think that's pretty good.
It was rough being in the hospital having our baby without M. I know if it was up to him he would have been there in a heartbeat. But I am so glad I scheduled my induction (even though my labor started on its own) that way we were pretty sure he would be able to be "there" for the birth. It meant a lot to me to have him as close as he could be. He is an amazing husband and father. I just wish he would have been able to hold his baby girl after she was born. She is a very happy and healthy baby. I couldn't ask for a better more "perfect" family than the one I have. I am truly blessed!