Since it's 2 AM and I'm still trying to get Amelia to sleep, I figured now is as good of a time as any to document her birth story! I feel like I could write a book, but I'll skip to the good parts.
I went in Sunday night as planned to begin my induction via an oral medication to help my cervix dilate a bit more and thin out by morning. I expected some cramps, discomfort, etc from the meds. Unfortunately, I had cramps, discomfort, etc due to a bad experience with a nurse. She was sugary sweet, but young and seemigly very new at the job. Everything she did, she had to bring someone else in the room, consult someone else, or just outright give bad advice. I'm pretty sure when you ask for heartburn medication, your medical staff is not supposed to just encourage you to "sneak items from home" because she's unsure of what she can authorize? Maybe I'm wrong? The worst part was that she could not control all of the beeping monitors or malfunctioning parts, so rather than seeking help from others, my husband had to point out the insessant beeping could be because the machine ran out of paper (he was right). And rather than to look into a possible malfunction with my fetal monitors, she restricted me to only laying flat on my back the entire night without even minimal movement. It was the worst night of "sleep" I've had to experience. I slept for 1.5 hours at the absolute max! This just put me in a cranky mood! By morning I was tired and bitter that we came in the previous night rather than getting a good night's sleep at home to come in a bit more refreshed for such an important day.
Nonetheless, I vowed to change my attitude with the arrival new nursing staff. My doctor was great, but it was disheartening to hear that after all the work done overnight, I was just 3 cms and not any more effeaced. I came in at 2 cms. If I had any "do overs" from this experience, I would have just come in Monday morning. But we don't get any such "do overs", only the ability to make different decisions next time and give you all information on my experience!
Even though I had not progressed much overnight, I did experience some cramping and contractions during the night. Pitocin was started at 6:30 AM, and as promised, it started kicking my butt pretty much right away. My doctor broke by water at 7 and by 8, I was thinking about my epidural! lol. I could have gone longer than I did, but I've heard too many horror stories about people waiting hours for anastesiology or waiting for IV fluids before authorized to get the epidural. So by 9 AM, anastesiology was putting that lovely device in my back. After getting the epidural, I was soooo much more comfortable. I could sleep (which I needed to do based on my overnight experience) and I could just relax and let things happen. Unfortunately, not much happened in terms of progress after that.
From 10:40 AM- approximately 4 PM, my body had not made any changes. I remained at 4-5 cms dilated and my doctor began hinting that there were only so many more things she could try before recommending a c-section. By that point, I was thinking that very thought myself so I wasn't too disappointed to hear her say it. Plus, I was just glad I wasn't going to be one of those people that pushed for hours and THEN still needed a c-sectionl. That sounded like pure torture. At least I had been comfortable up until that point. She did try to do some internal monitoring and increased pitocin, but nothing happened after that point. Not that a c-section was welcomed news to me, but I was not horribly upset by it.
I had to wait for two other women to have c-sections ahead of me- one that was 8 cms and then had a prolapsed cord- yikes. I was exhausted by the time we went to the OR, but I was ready to meet my baby.
They got me prepped and had TJ standing by my head. I always thought that they would raise the baby up over the curtain so I got to see him/her before the baby was wisked away. They ddin't do that though! I will never forget the feeling I had when they announces I had a little girl. I will never forget what her first cry sounded like. I will never forget the rush of emotions to watch TJ disappear and hear him tending to our brand new baby. I started crying as soon as she cried. Even though I could not see her for 10-12 minutes, I cried like a baby and listened to TJ announce all of her stats- 7 lbs 13 oz, 20 inches. Born at 7:24 PM. Had lots of dark hair. Etc. She was then brought over to me and it was hard to get a good look at her with the angle, meds, and everything else, but I knew from that moment she and I were going to get along just fine.
By 8 PM, TJ was in the lobby announcing to our families that Amelia Mae had arrived. I was able to do some "skin to skin" contact with her right when we got out of surgery and then she breast fed for 42 minutes! Go girl! By 9 PM, our families were able to come back and meet her. We took tons of pictures and everyone thinks she looks like me. TJ and I both have blonde hair, but I had a mess of dark hair when I was first born that looks just like Amelia's. I think its a huge compliment when people say she looks like me, because I think she's adorable.
She was really peaceful for the first 24-hours of life. She hardly cried. She latched on right away during my breast feeding attempts. She was a pretty easy baby. Since then, she's given us a run for our money! hehe. Hence, it's now 2:45 and I'm literally sitting right next to her isolette tending to her every movement. My milk is obviously not completely in, so I'm not sure how much that is contributing to her crankiness and difficulty feeding and sleeping. She has a great latch, but she gets sort of lazy and sleeps during feeds. She really is a good baby though and I'm so glad she's here! TJ and I are both excited to get her home into our own environment. I'm very sore from the c-section, but I think I'd be more relaxed at home. I'm getting around pretty good, but its hard not to be able to pick her up and move like I normally would. I think we'll be discharged home on Thursday!
