My birth story

At my 38 week appointment I wasn’t dilated yet- which seemed odd to me since by that point in my last pregnancy I was already 2-3 centimeters. But I didn’t mind too much, since at least I wasn’t having contractions that were sending me to the hospital (only to be sent home- like last time). My doctor and I decided to schedule an induction for the next week. My main reason was to have Megan’s birthday be a little further away from Christmas (her due date), but also because I was uncomfortable & ready to be done, and had already had 2 good-sized babies by 39 weeks.

I came in on 12/16/08 for my 39 week appointment. I was still only a fingertip dilated. The doctor placed a foley catheter in my cervix, which is meant to put pressure on the cervix and encourage it to start dilating. It wasn’t painful, but within about half an hour I started to feel quite a few cramps. I got home from my late doctor’s appointment, had dinner, got the boys in bed, and finished packing my things. We were told to expect a call from the hospital between 4:30 and 6:30 in the morning!

At 4:30 I was woken up by the hospital calling. The lady wanted to know how long it would take us to get there. I told her about half an hour, so she told us to get there at 5:30. When I went to the bathroom I noticed that the catheter was coming out, which meant it did its job and I was dilating! The doctor said it would fall out if & when I got to 3 cm. We drove slowly to the hospital, since it had begun snowing again. The roads were covered in a fresh layer of snow, but at least they weren’t icy yet.

We arrived at the hospital (Good Samaritan) at 5:45 am. We were taken to our room and started to get settled. A nurse examined me and found that I was 3 ½ cm dilated. Hooray! They had me do a little paperwork and got the IV set up. I started the pitocin at 6:50. At that point I was having sporadic contractions, but nothing much yet. My doctor arrived at 7 and said that I was 4 cm dilated, 65% effaced, and the baby was at -2 station (so still kind of high up). He then broke my water. I wasn’t expecting that to happen so early, but was happy he did it! With my last labor I made much more progress once my water had been broken, and I was hopeful the same would be true this time.

Dave & I spent the morning in our room. It began to get light outside, and the snow was beautiful out our window. It looked like a snow globe. A nurse checked me at 9:00 and I was 5 cm dilated, and when she checked me at 10:20 I was 6 ½ to 7. It was such a nice change to actually progress at a decent speed! (unlike my previous two labors) I started getting more bothered by the contractions and talked to the nurse about pain medication. I decided to ask for the epidural. I wanted to try to avoid one (like I did last time), but decided there was no reason to be miserable if I didn’t have to. The anesthesiologist had just gone into surgery though, and was going to be busy for the next 1 ½ hours. So in the meantime, I got nubain in my IV, which helped a decent amount. It made me a little groggy & dizzy, but it did help lessen the pain. During this time I also had an oxygen mask on my face. Megan’s heart rate wasn’t fluctuating as much as they wanted it to (apparently it’s not good if it stays too constant), so the oxygen helped fix that.

The nubain started to wear off after about an hour. Thankfully, by that time, the lovely epidural man was almost ready. He got to my room at about 12:15, at which point I was still 7 cm, but was completely effaced & the baby had lowered. This epidural was so different than the one I had last time. With Daniel’s, I was completely numb from my waist down to my toes. I couldn’t feel pain, pressure, anything. (I also remained numb for 9 hours after he was born- which was why I didn’t want an epidural again.) This time I wasn’t numb at all (I could still move my legs), and I couldn’t feel pain per-se, but I could definitely still feel pressure. It was uncomfortable, but better than I had been feeling.

I told Dave he could go get lunch, as it was 12:45 by that point. I said that I didn’t mind if he brought it back to the room (as opposed to eating it in the cafeteria), because I didn’t mind if he ate in front of me. I wasn’t allowed to eat during labor, but I wasn’t terribly hungry either. He got back at 1:00. I started to feel a TON of pressure. I told him & the nurse that I felt like I was going to go to the bathroom right then & there. The nurse decided to check me again, because even though I was only 7 cm last time she checked, the pressure I was feeling was a good sign that something was happening. Lo and behold, she checked me and I was fully dilated! I went from 7 to 10 in half an hour. I then had to try not to push while they ran and found my doctor. He arrived & got set up, and they told me I could start pushing. After two big pushes, her head was out! I didn’t even have to push after that; the rest of her just came out. Megan Elizabeth was born at 1:18 pm on December 17, 2008. (Daniel and I were both born at 1:02 pm, so she just barely missed that! The three of us were all born on Wednesdays, as well.) When the doctor was holding her, he guessed that her weight would be 8 lb 14 ¾ oz. He was pretty close- she was 8 lb 14 oz! She was 19 ½ inches long. That’s my 3rd good-sized baby born a week early!

I felt very good after her birth. I was a little shaky, but otherwise fine. The first thing I said after she was born was “Is she still a girl?” At first no one answered me! Dave was the only one who heard, and he couldn’t see that part of her at the moment. I asked again, and by then he could tell me that yes, she was! I was so happy. A little girl to complete our family. J Our family came to visit, including the boys, who were very excited to meet her. Jonathan seemed amazed that she was a real person! He kept saying “Megan come out!” and pointing out all her features. He would say “Megan- eyes- like me! eyes" (translated= Megan has eyes, just like I have eyes!) Daniel’s cute comment came as we were unwrapping her to look at her hands & toes. I opened the blanket, and he said “She came with a diaper!”

We transferred to our recovery room about 2 hours after the birth. She and I were both doing very well, so they let us leave the next day without any problems. We left around 1:30 pm (since they need the baby to stay for 24 hours), and rushed out of there to try to beat the snowstorm that was blowing in. It took us an hour to make the normally 20 minute drive home, but we made it. It was my easiest labor & delivery of the three, and so far Megan is the easiest baby of them all. We are so blessed!