I was dilated to a 3+ cm up until I delivered. My doctor thought for sure he could get me to go on my own by stripping my membranes...3 separate times. Each week I was back in that office getting more and more depressed I was still pregnant and miserable. I even hiked up the mountain behind out house with my friend Julie and on the way down it started pouring on us. I started running, yes, my 9 month pregnant self, was running down a mountain and completely soaked. And guess what, THAT didn't even put me into labor. My doctor only allows induction exactly one week before your due date which for me was Sat, July 27. I was bummed it wasn't sooner but my real concern was having my doctor actually deliver me and not the other doctor he switches on and off with. That day was his last day of being on call 14 straight days and I knew if I didn't get in and started early enough, that I was running the risk of having 4 babies by 4 different doctors.
On Friday evening I got a call from Labor and Delivery and when I saw the number I thought maybe they were calling to tell me when to come in. False alarm. The call hung up before I answered and when I called back the nurse said she mis-dialed and that they were pretty busy and probably wouldn't be calling me in until the following morning. I didn't get much sleep that night and when I woke up and still hadn't received a phone call, I was pretty upset. Curtis called in and they said they had a few unexpected C-sections that morning and it would probably be a couple hrs before they were ready for me. Thankfully, at 10am I got the call and we were off! It was so surreal to finally be at the point and about to have a baby. The nurse had trouble placing my IV and had to redo it a second time...I swear that part always seems so awful! The doctor came in about 10:45 to break my water and then the pitocin was started. An hour later, he came back to check me and I was at a 4 but my bag of water had not completely ruptured so he tried again, this time getting it just right. The contractions starting getting more painful and at 12:15 I requested my epidural. Thankfully, it was the same anesthesiologist that I had with Maddox so I knew he was good.
Once my epidural was in place, I settled in for the long haul. After all, my shortest labor to date was 12 hours so I was really hoping to at least have the baby before shift change at 6. I was really shaky with the epidural which I hadn't experienced with my other babies. At one point, I was getting really nauseous and light headed and after throwing up a couple times the nurse gave me so nausea meds to help out. Things started progressing really fast after that. Curtis was busy watching a show on Netflix and I was breathing through contractions which I seemed to be feeling more and more.
By about 2 pm, I was feeling intense pressure that bordered on pain. Curtis kept asking what he could do to help and I finally had him page the nurse. She came in and checked me and said, "Well, baby is right there and its time to push." I may have panicked a little at that point. She told me she could page the anesthesiologist to come administer more meds but that could take up to 20 min to fully kick in after he came. Or, she said, I could just push through it and have the baby. I was so terrified my epidural would wear off while I was pushing, but I knew I couldn't wait and wanted to move forward. I think my shortest push time to date had been just over an hour long so I was really hoping this one came fast. The anxiety of everything happening so fast made me forget that I still had no idea what gender the baby was! My doc came in and suited up and at 2:37 p.m., after I pushed through 2 contractions, about 4 minutes, our baby was here! The doctor said "Its a girl" and I immediately was so overwhelmed by all emotions going through me. I could not believe that just 4 hours after I walked in the hospital, I was holding our baby girl. She came out screaming just liker her brother Boston and with dark hair!
Side note: Early on in the pregnancy, I had a dream about a baby girl. All it consisted of was me rocking a baby girl in my arms and that she had dark hair. That dream alone wasn't enough to convince me that we were having a girl though. I had always said I just needed to have at least one other child with dark hair so Boston didn't seem like the odd child out in pictures!
They cleaned her off a bit and wrapped her up and the first thing I noticed was what a small head she had...especially because my boys came out with quite the noggins! No wonder she came out so fast;) She nursed right away for me and then we were taken upstairs to our room. The kids couldn't wait to come visit and find out what the baby was, although they said all along it was a girl. I'll never forget the look on Taylor's face when she looked in that bassinet and Curtis told her she had a sister...she was beaming! The kids and my mom stayed for a few minutes and then Curtis left with them to go get dinner and I was left with some alone time with my new girl. My friends and neighbors, Julie, Leanne and Anna, came up to visit and it felt so good to be done being pregnant and to have a sweet baby girl in my arms. Curtis ended up staying the night with me at the hospital and it wasn't until the following morning, right before we were discharged, that we decided on a name.
My top girl name for most of the pregnancy was Elliot Hope but once she was here, Curtis told me he wasn't really in to that name...go figure. I asked him what he liked and he said Piper. I could tell he really liked that name and it seemed to just fit her. Middle names were tossed around and we decided we wanted it to mean something. I came up with Elle. Curtis's mom's first name is Eleanore and his grandma's was Ella and my mom's first name is Elizabeth and my grandma's name is also Eleanore and so we felt Elle was a good representation of all those names and one she would be proud of. And just like that, Piper Elle became part of our forever family.
Breaking in those lungs:)
7lbs 7oz, 19.5 inches long
Perfection and a moment I will not soon forget.
A proud daddy...and a hungry baby.
Taking a look around.
Proof she has and came out with dark hair!! Hopefully it stays that way.
All bundled up and ready for transport.
Meeting the kids for the first time! They were over the moon in love with her from the start. To this day, they still fight and argue over who get to hold her.
The best helpers around.
I was curious of how Maddox would take to her and how he would react...here is proof that he loves his baby sister and cannot get enough of her.
All dressed and ready to go home...exactly 24hrs after I walked in pregnant, I was now walking out with a beautiful baby girl:)
No comments:
Post a Comment