Well, needless to say I have been fairly busy these last 6 days! But for good reason. We are all so excited that Friday, July 19th, went so incredibly well and that baby girl is finally here!
It went so fast! I cannot believe how quickly it went! The doctor decided it was considered more an augmentation of labor rather than an induction of labor because my natural hormones kicked in, and that makes me feel so excited too! But of course there are other reasons too! I wanted it to be as natural as possible, just like when Nikolai was born. You can read the story of his birth here. I don't think this story will be as long because the labor was not as long... But then again, sometimes I can become long winded. ;)
So here I go...
We were, once again, supposed to go into the hospital at 5am. We were actually on time with her. I had awoken at 2 am and could not fall back asleep. When the alarm went off around 3/3:30 (we hit the snooze a few times), I was pretty much awake but tired.
We got to the hospital around 4:50 and started the paperwork.
I think we got into the room around 6-ish. They did not check to see if there was any further progression of labor, just established baseline of my blood pressure and heart rate, and Samara's heart rate. Pitocin started around 7 am.
By 8:30 am my doctor arrived with the UofA med students. They checked to see what the progression of labor was (by this time I was getting 8 mu/min of pitocin. So much less than with Nikolai! I was 6 cm (up from 4 at the dr appointment) and still 80% effaced. They broke my water. Eww... Much less of a gush than Nikolai and more of a trickle that continued until transition at least. Well, that was as long as I noticed it for.
The doctor said he was expecting it to be around 1-3 hours when Samara was going to arrive. I figured that sounded a bit right since Nikolai was 3 hours from them breaking my water.
I ended up laboring for a bit sitting on the edge of the bed until I felt the need to use the bathroom. Once I get to the bathroom, I felt horrible. Not incredible excruciating pain or anything, but I would have a contraction, need to use the toilet, get up to clean up, only to have to sit back down because of another contraction. I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to lie down in bed! Poor Brandon was standing right there beside me holding my hands when I needed him to, helping me up only to have to go through the whole process all over again.
I finally made it back to the bed to lie down, have the nurse hook me back up to the monitor and remind me to call if I felt the need to push while she was away only to have the urge to poop come after she left. I ignored the feeling debating if I should go to the bathroom (I had already done that by this point, but I figured I needed to again). Well, a few contractions later and I needed to push!
Brandon asked me if he should call the nurse. My response was an "I don't know, it's too soon!" Well, silly me, I should have known better. After a few more contractions with the uncontrollable urge to push (I felt like I was writhing on the bed to NOT push) and Brandon pushed for the nurse. I can only imagine what I looked like to Brandon at that time or what he was thinking.
The nurse checked me and sure enough, I was fully effaced, fully dilated and you could see Samara's head! But, isn't it my luck that the dr was not at the hospital? Luckily one was coming out of surgery at that time and came into the room to gown up. He sat waiting to catch, but I was not actively pushing, just pushing through the need to make me more comfortable. He was just there if he needed to catch.
I am so proud of my baby girl, and so proud of me!
:)
I think we got into the room around 6-ish. They did not check to see if there was any further progression of labor, just established baseline of my blood pressure and heart rate, and Samara's heart rate. Pitocin started around 7 am.
By 8:30 am my doctor arrived with the UofA med students. They checked to see what the progression of labor was (by this time I was getting 8 mu/min of pitocin. So much less than with Nikolai! I was 6 cm (up from 4 at the dr appointment) and still 80% effaced. They broke my water. Eww... Much less of a gush than Nikolai and more of a trickle that continued until transition at least. Well, that was as long as I noticed it for.
The doctor said he was expecting it to be around 1-3 hours when Samara was going to arrive. I figured that sounded a bit right since Nikolai was 3 hours from them breaking my water.
I ended up laboring for a bit sitting on the edge of the bed until I felt the need to use the bathroom. Once I get to the bathroom, I felt horrible. Not incredible excruciating pain or anything, but I would have a contraction, need to use the toilet, get up to clean up, only to have to sit back down because of another contraction. I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to lie down in bed! Poor Brandon was standing right there beside me holding my hands when I needed him to, helping me up only to have to go through the whole process all over again.
I finally made it back to the bed to lie down, have the nurse hook me back up to the monitor and remind me to call if I felt the need to push while she was away only to have the urge to poop come after she left. I ignored the feeling debating if I should go to the bathroom (I had already done that by this point, but I figured I needed to again). Well, a few contractions later and I needed to push!
Brandon asked me if he should call the nurse. My response was an "I don't know, it's too soon!" Well, silly me, I should have known better. After a few more contractions with the uncontrollable urge to push (I felt like I was writhing on the bed to NOT push) and Brandon pushed for the nurse. I can only imagine what I looked like to Brandon at that time or what he was thinking.
The nurse checked me and sure enough, I was fully effaced, fully dilated and you could see Samara's head! But, isn't it my luck that the dr was not at the hospital? Luckily one was coming out of surgery at that time and came into the room to gown up. He sat waiting to catch, but I was not actively pushing, just pushing through the need to make me more comfortable. He was just there if he needed to catch.
Shortly after, my doctor came in and gowned up. I got ready to really push and then... nothing... I was glad for the chance to breath and relax. Sometime during the first dr and my dr they had turned off the pitocin. Maybe that was what gave me the opportunity to breath! Then a contraction. So I pushed once. I know people where telling me things, but in all honesty I did not hear any of it. The dr tried to do a perineum message. Well, that hurt and I was not prepared for that. If he had told me I would have suffered through, but he stopped instead. We can all guess what resulted from that... Ouch... Oh well...
I pushed a second time and out popped her little head. A third push and she was out! So happy! I heard her cry immediately. The nurse put her in my arms, Brandon came up and talked to her and she looked for him. It was so cute! There are no words to describe the feeling of holding your baby for the first time. I didn't want to let her go, but then I couldn't wait for her big brother to see her!
She was born 10:22am, a little less that 2 hours after they broke my water, 7 pounds 14 ounces and 19.25 inches long with an apgar score of 9/9.
No epidural, they didn't even ask except in the beginning what my pain management goal was. There was really, no time for it, and that is fine with me. I didn't even think about it!
No epidural, they didn't even ask except in the beginning what my pain management goal was. There was really, no time for it, and that is fine with me. I didn't even think about it!
Don't Worry... I will post more pictures later...
I am so proud of my baby girl, and so proud of me!
:)
