Elizabeth's Delivery

Monday, March 14th started having stronger contractions that were lasting 10 or so minutes apart. I was SO excited because I desired a natural birth and wasn’t looking forward to our induction date that Wednesday. Also as the day progressed I started feeling a lot of pressure in my pelvic area… to where I couldn’t walk around a lot without waddling and stopping when I had a contraction. I thought for sure we’d be in the hospital that evening or the next day. I ate light, went for a walk and did things around the house until bed time. Well, I had contractions through the night but they were further apart. Tuesday morning I called my doctor. They said I had to keep my induction date and to call back when my contractions were 3 to 5 minutes apart. So I continued with my day… I felt even more pressure in my pelvic area and tried to go on a long walk. By the end of the day nothing had changed so we got things ready for Wednesday!

Tuesday evening, enjoying the belly one last time!

Wednesday we were at the hospital by 6:30am. We finished signing in, filled out Elizabeth’s birth information and were taken back to our labor room. By 8am I was hooked up to an IV (after a painful stick and almost throwing up) and was given a very small dosage of Pitocin to start my contractions. Our nurse said she would be giving me a little more every 15 to 30 minutes. By 8:15 I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced! That was the progress I made Monday and Tuesday at home.

Jonathan and I early in the day!

My mom and I

Jonathan and his parents

At 9:30, my doctor broke my water and at 12pm I was 100% effaced, at station -1 and 4 cm dilated. Two hours later I was at 5 cm. At 3pm I was ready for something to take the edge off the contractions. I wanted to go as far as I could naturally but it was really starting to hurt. I immediately felt relief when she gave me a small dose of some narcotic… but shortly after I felt out of control, couldn't stay focused or recover before the next contraction started. At this point I was having “Pitocin contractions” where they would be long, plateau on the monitor, go down a little, then a whole other one would start without ANY break! This time frame is a blur to me- I just remember not getting enough time in between contractions to breathe! I got up to go to the bathroom which helped, but not enough. I had Jonathan remove our moms and said no more visitors. Jonathan was by my side the whole time encouraging me as I breathed through the contractions but at one point he was saying something and I shook my finger at him! So sorry honey- I know you were just trying to help! At about 4pm I asked for an epidural. I was 8 cm dilated and fully effaced but in excruciating pain- the narcotic hadn’t worked like I thought it would. The nurse asked me “are you sure you want one? You’re a poster child for natural childbirth, you’re doing great!” I said I wanted to enjoy this last bit and I want it now! The epidural was complete 40 min later (I just made my window!) and I was 9.5 cm. dilated at 5pm. I could still feel my contractions in my right groin, but it wasn’t horrible- they actually helped tell when to push. Thank God I got the epidural, both doctors from my doctor’s office were held up in an emergency c-section, so we waited for an hour before I really started pushing. After I had the epidural the whole room changed, we sat and talked with the nurse and with my doctor when she came to check on me. We even laughed about how the baby needed to come before the shift change! I pushed in sets of 3 or 4 for 10 seconds each… and did this about 3 or 4 times. And Elizabeth was born at 6:54pm!

Elizabeth all cleaned up!

Jonathan cut the cord and she was wrapped in a blanket and put on my chest. She immediately put both fists in her mouth so our first feeding was shortly after! Jonathan held her for a few minutes then the nurses weighed and measured her, stamped her feet, and gave her her first bath. She came out with bright red hair and deep blue eyes… just like we thought (Jonathan and I were both born with red hair)! We got to spend the next half hour or so just the three of us before we started taking shifts of visitors!

The proud daddy

And the very good looking, young and proud Grandpa!