Has it really been 10 days? I suppose it's finally time I get this birth story written and recorded for posterity before I start forgetting the details.
On March 19th, my due date, I went to my doctor's appointment very nervous and anxious that my body was still not interested in going into labor and that my doctor would not be willing to give me an induction date. I was really hoping to talk him into inducing me on Monday the 24th, and wasn't very hopeful that I would have this baby anytime before then. So I was totally unprepared when he checked my cervix, told me I was dilated 1-2 centimeters, and asked if I wanted to be induced the next day (Thursday) or Monday. Even though I probably could have used a few extra days to get ready, I chose Thursday because I was just too impatient to wait. Also, I figured there was no better day to have a baby than the on first day of spring! Of course, now a part of me wishes I had waited until the 24th because then Claire would only be six days old instead of a ten days old. It sounds crazy, but keep in mind that I also cried as we were bringing Ella home from the hospital because it was all just going too fast...after only two days. I had to work so long and hard to get my babies here that I would really appreciate if they would be kind enough to stay tiny for just a little bit longer than the average newborn!
Anyway, back to the story. I arrived at the hospital at 8 on Thursday morning, and they started the Pitocin right at 9. From there, it was slow going. I dilated to a three and I stayed there for what seemed like forever. A little after noon, I felt like I might actually be starting to get somewhere so I asked for an epidural, which I got around 1 pm. Still, for the next four hours I barely made any progress. At a little after 5 pm, my doctor arrived at the hospital, checked me, and told me I was at a 5 and should expect to dilate 1-2 centimeters per hour from that point forward. Matt estimated a delivery time of 10 pm. I gave a slightly more optimistic estimate of 8 or 8:30 pm. My labor nurse, who had been with me all day, was disappointed that she wouldn't be here for the birth since her shift ended at 7.
At a little after 6, I started to feel some pressure. I was hopeful that this meant I was dilated to at least a 7. I told the nurse about this new development and she had the doctor come in and check me one more time. I was shocked when he announced that there was a good reason I was feeling pressure. I was fully dilated! I had gone from a 5 to ready to push in only an hour. At 6:35 my doctor said I could try a practice push with the nurses before we started the "real" pushing.
Now, ever since Ella was born I have been convinced that I am a horrible pusher. I pushed for an hour and a half with her, and by the end my doctor told me I had three more tries to push her out and then I would need to get a c-section because her heart rate kept dropping with each push. On my very last push and with the help of a vacuum, Ella was finally born with the cord wrapped tightly around her neck. In reality, the resistance from the cord around Ella's neck probably had something to do with my pushes not being very productive, but for the past three years I have just been convinced that I was a terrible pusher. So when my nurse asked me if I remembered how to push, I just mumbled a bunch of excuses trying to prepare her for my inadequacy.
Much to everyone's surprise, on my first practice push the top of the baby's head was already showing. So after that first push my doctor got all suited up and ready for the birth. I wanted to tell him this was probably going to take a while and he didn't need to get ready quite so quickly, but just two pushes later the head was out. One more push and Claire Sophia came out perfect and crying with a full head of dark hair at 6:47 pm. She was so alert, and we spent the first hour or two after her birth just staring at each other.
I'll follow up in another post with more on life at home with Claire, and I'll try really hard not to take 10 whole days doing it.
P.S. Many of you were nice enough to say that I looked somewhat better than death warmed over post-delivery. Let me share my secret with you, aside from only having to push for 12 minutes as opposed to 90 minutes (I don't dare show you what I looked like after having Ella). The night before I went to the hospital, I had my hair cut and styled. Now, this won't work if you are someone who goes into labor on their own two weeks early, but since I was induced I was able to time it perfectly. It was a bit risky since I wasn't able to get an appointment with my normal stylist on such short notice, but even though the lady who did cut my hair apparently heard "three inches" when I told her to trim my hair one inch, it still ended up looking decent. And there is something about having your hair professionally blown dry that somehow manages to make you look somewhat presentable even after labor and delivery. So if you're having a baby anytime soon, that's my tip for the day.
