I Did This

As you know, I was supposed to be induced on the 30th of September.

Supposed to be.

Matt and I got up early and all ready to go, called the hospital as instructed and was told we were being rescheduled to the 3rd of October due to too many emergencies. The doctor had warned us that though its rare, it happens sometimes. Matt was mad, I was disappointed but ok.

October 3rd, we started all over again. I entered the hospital at 7:30am and was hooked up via IV to Pitocin by 8:00am. This is where the torturous part begins. Waiting. Waiting. Waaaaaaiting. Not a whole lot happened until noon when the doctor decided to break my water. Then, guess what we did - we waited. I didn't expect this to happen quickly but from the time we got started to about 6pm, nothing was happening. I wasn't progressing at all. At 6pm, I finally began to feel some discomfort and asked for an Epidural, thinking this was it.

Nope.

By 7pm the doctor decided to stop the Pitocin drip for half an hour in hopes that the break then restart would trick my body into getting serious about this birth thing. (HA!) He also mentioned "plan B", which Matt and I figured was doctor-speak for C-Section. (We're smart that way, you know).

7:30pm, we were restarted and hopeful this show would start kicking into high gear. (HA!) Yep, a whole lot of nothing was happening at my 9pm check and the doctor threw out the "plan B" option again.

At 10pm, the doctor checked the readings from my contraction monitor, our other vitals and sat down with us to seriously discuss "plan B". Basically, and obviously, the attempt to push me into labor was going nowhere. I was not responding to the Pitocin and "failing to progress" into active labor. My contractions were spaced about 2 minutes apart, but they were not becoming consistently stronger, and my cervix was showing little progression. Finally, he said my body and the baby was telling him to call it quits. My temperature was rising, her heart rate was rising and the Pitocin levels in my system were too high. We were having a C-Section.

Fine.

He had to take care of a couple of emergencies first then I would be moved into the operating room. In the meantime, Matt was gowned up and I was prepped. At 12:45am, October 4th, I was wheeled into the O.R. and the final prep went into full swing. Shortly after, with Matt at my head, it began. At 1:08am, almost 18 hours after this adventure began, a beautiful baby girl was pulled into this world. I didn't hear the typical screaming baby, I heard a whimper, then a small cry and more whimpering. She was here. I was happy - exhausted and doped up - but happy.

(Stella, 10/4/2009, 1:08am, 21.5" long, 9.0 lbs)

Matt was the first to hold her while I was still being tended to and one of the very first things I remember him saying to her is "You may not remember this, but I will never forget it." It didn't hit me at the time exactly how sweet that was - I was kind of out of it - but I hope I remember to tell her about it when she is older.

The hospital stay was a looooooooong 4 nights, and we were ready to go home. Very ready. Looking back, I find it funny now - not so much at the time - that there were 800+ nurses coming and going constantly - all saying "get some rest" as they walked out. About 2 minutes before the next person walked in.

We are now home, happy, healthy and settling in - we even have a semblance of a schedule. Here is a picture of Miss Stella just a few moments before leaving the hospital. I leave you with this beautiful face.

(Stella, 3 days old, leaving the hospital)