Lily's Birth Story

This is going to be a very long post so consider yourself warned.  I tried to document things as I went once I got to the hospital so I wouldn't forget.  I figured it would be a long, hard process (especially since the pregnancy went so well) and I knew I wouldn't remember things after she was born.  This documentation is as much for me in the future as it is to share with you so that's why all the details....  Feel free to skim or skip through to the parts that interest you. 

We were scheduled to check in at the hospital at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, January 19th.  Mother Nature decided it would be a great time to dump about 8 inches of snow on us so we left the house around 5 pm so we would have time to drop the pups at 'camp' and grab something to eat before going to the hospital.  A normally 20 minute trip to doggie camp took us about an hour, fortunately we took back roads because the highway was closer to a parking lot and would have taken even longer.  After dropping the girls off we headed toward the hospital (which was very close) to get something to eat.  There is a large shopping area right across the street from the hospital so we thought we'd have a lot of options.  Turns out almost everything was closed early due to the storm so we ended up at Pan.era.  Soup definitely hit the spot in that weather though.... 

Below are a couple of pictures we took right before leaving for the hospital (finally a belly shot... :). 

After eating we went to the hospital to check in with Labor and Delivery.  Turns out the lobby where we were supposed to check in was also closed and the volunteers that usually guide you around had been sent home too.  Eventually we found where we were supposed to be and got checked in and shown to our room.  The birthing suites at this hospital are amazing!  You stay in the same room from the time you check in, through the birth until it's time to move to the postpartum room.  We were lucky enough to be able to stay in our suite for an extra night because the postpartum area was full.  It was great to have such a huge room when family visited because they all tended to show up in groups of five or more at a time....

Once we were settled in our room the nurse put an IV in my wrist and just locked it so I wasn't attached to the IV pole that night.  She did a great job and got it right on the first try but it hurt a lot because the giant needle was right on my wrist bone.  I'm still a bit bruiesd on my wrist.  At 9 pm the nurse inserted the Cerva.dil and ordered me to stay in bed for the next two hours to let the meds do their thing.  The nurse called the 'applicator' of the med similar to a flat tampon but I'd more liken it to someone shoving some dry sandpaper up your hoo-ha, it was painful!  Once it was in there it was fine but it was so dry and stiff going in it was not fun.  After resting for a couple of hours I got up and had a snack and something to drink.  Around the same time I took the Am.bien the doctor prescribed for me so I could get some sleep.  I think I fell asleep sometime around 11:30.

I woke up around 4 am and couldn't seem to get back to sleep, way too anxious and excited.  At 5 am the nurse came in and removed the Cerva.dil then at 5:15 my OB came in and broke my water.  At that check I was having contractions every 2-3 min, was 1 cm dialated and the baby was at -2 station.  I figured at that point I was in for a long day!  The nurse came in and hooked up the Pito.cin around 6:20 am.  At my 7:30 am check I was 2 cm dialated and having much stronger contractions.  The anesthesiologist came in around 9 am and gave me my epidural.  She was great, I only felt a sharp pinch in my back and the meds took affect pretty quickly from there.  It wasn't perfect however, I experienced a big drop in blood pressure and almost passed out (or did according to Hubs and he'd know bettter than me I guess).  The nurses were very concerned and called the doctor back in who gave me some epiniphren in my IV.  Once that was in I was none the worse for wear.  After the epidural took affect I was so much more relaxed and way happier.  More power to those who chose to have a natural childbirth experience but for my money the epidural was the best, even with the 'glitch'.  Hooray drugs!  : )  They checked me again at 9:45 and I was 6 cm, guess the epidural really did relax me!

Around 10:30 or 10:45 am we let visitors in the room with us.  My parents, Hub's mom and step-dad and one of his uncles stopped by to check on us.  I was in a pretty good mood because I was feeling no pain after the epidural so I was even able to joke around a bit.  At 11 am the nurse came in to check me again so the family stepped out but left their stuff in the room because we figured it would still be a while.  Turns out I was already at 9 cm so while the nurse went to call the OB, Hubs basically told the family to come back and get their stuff and get out because we were having a baby.  I told them to take their time and go get some lunch because it would probably be a while. 

The OB showed up within the next five or ten minutes and the pushing began.  I pushed a couple of times then the baby's heartrate dropped so they put some oxygen on me.  The cord ended up being wrapped around the baby's neck but the doctor calmly took control of the situation and got the cord out of the way.  After another push or two they determined that she was facing the side and the doctor needed to turn her.  I sustained a first degree tear during that process but didn't know that until I was being sewn up afterward.  All it took after that was a couple more pushes and Lily joined us at 11:33 am. 

Hubby was so great through everything, encouraging and supportive.  He was a fantastic coach and is just amazing with Lily.  I truly can't believe how lucky I was, overall it was a great birth experience.  It was fast, there was no pain and everyone came out healthy!  We had some family bonding time with just the three of us then surprised the rest of the family by telling them she was already here. 

I'll describe the rest (naming, recovery, breast-feeding, etc.) in another post.  Without further ado, here is our little bundle of joy....