Post by acorn99 on Jun 29, 2016 10:58:26 GMT -5
tl;dr: Anne Virginia was born 6/23/16 at 5:21am 8lbs 4 ozs, 21 inches long. Labor felt like forever, but probably wasn't really.
Soooooooo, I had gone in last Tuesday for my 39 week appointment. I was 2-3cm and my MW and I discussed an elective induction date of 6/27/16. She had offered to set me up for 6/23, but I said no thank you! I will not be ready that soon. Joke's on me, I guess.
Around 3am Wednesday morning, I was having my usual dose of insomnia and I started to feel some new kinds of cramps. I watched the clock and they were coming about every 7 minutes. Wut. I went to the bathroom, and I was losing a ton of my mucus plug and some it is was bloody. Double wut. I went to lie and the couch and see how things went and watch some Entourage. The cramps turned into little contractions that were coming about every 5 minutes, but not lasting very long. But this felt like the real deal. I woke H up around 5:30 and told him he wasn't going to work. Call my OB and she told me to head to Triage if I felt like things were happening. We got J off to DC as usual and headed up to the hospital. Contractions were getting more intense the whole time, but not overly painful. I think we could have waited a while longer, but I was feeling like a nervous FTM. Got to Triage around 8am, got hooked up and I was having contractions. They checked me out and I was a good 3cm. They said they would check me again in an hour to see if we were staying. An hour passes, contractions are getting much more uncomfortable, but no changes to my cervix. They send us home. Boooooooo. The ride home was brutal as contractions were getting really painful. I get home, lie down to try and rest but cant because I am having contractions every 5 minutes and I cant sleep through them. We hang around for a few hours, try to eat some lunch. By about 4pm, I am reaching a point where I am reallllllllllly feeling it. Contractions every 4 minutes lasting almost a minute each. We head back up to Triage, hooked back on the monitors and checked again. 4cm. Okay, progress. Still have to wait another hour to see if they will admit. This time, I made it to 4.5cm when they checked me again and they admitted me. Woohoo!!
We get a room, get settled in. Contractions are becoming really hard to talk through so I take a bath to help. I felt great in the tub, but I am in AGONY as soon as I get out. I get my magical epidural at around 7 or 8 pm (I totally lose track of time around now). I rest for a bit but cant sleep, but I at least am much more comfortable with the epidural. With J, it only gave me so-so coverage. This time it was perfect. Around 10pm, I feel the strangest movement, hear a pop and feel a gush. Water broke! They broke it for me with J, so having it happen naturally was a new and unusual sensation. But I was happy all of this was happening on it's own, without needing help. Contractions are still coming along, and we are just waiting. I think I was around 5cm here. We continue to wait. Everyone keeps telling me how as a STM things will happen so fast. Not so much for me. Around 2ish, epi is wearing off and contractions start driving me bonkers again. Doctor has them come in and dose me up again (I think I am 7cm now). Contractions are still strong but becoming a touch irregular so they give me a little Pitocin. The epi is doing its thing again and I am able to sleep (sort of) for a couple of hours.
By 4 am, I am starting to feel more pressure and like I am getting close to needing to push. We start pushing around 4:30, and she begins to move waaaaaaaay down, just like she is supposed to. At the very end, I asked H is he could see her hair and he said yes, and I started sobbing. I was so tired and so ready to meet her. Next push, her head comes out, then them rest of her and they put her right on my chest. I was just sobbing and sobbing, and SO relieved. She was rooting as soon as she came out and latched on right away once they stitched up a small tear I had. BFing has been going pretty well, she is a champion eater. Sleep has been meh, she likes to be up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night just watching the world around her. But we are home and settling in. J has had some mixed emotions about the whole thing, and it has been emotional for me to watch him try to figure out how to handle things. I am hoping in a couple of weeks, it will just be the new normal.
And now, in appreciation for reading my novel, here is a picture of my girl.
poof!
