My birth story

Every woman has a birth story, they al tell you theirs when you are pregnant and you are at somewhat interested when you are pregnant because you are hoping to happen up on that woman who had the twenty minute labor and in three pushes the baby was born. You always hope in the back of your mind that you could be that woman, but you know it really won't happen to you. So, here is my story. Eric and I went to our dr. appt on wed. and he said that I had made no progress- no dialation no thinning-still looked like I did weeks ago- and that I had a 60% failure rate being that I had not changed any. So, he asked what we wanted to do and I told him that I at least felt like I should try to have her and not just skip and go straight to a section and he said that was fine to show up at labor and delivery around 7:30 and be admitted and we would begin the induction on wed. night. So we are so excited and we show up at the hospital and they don't have a room for us, so we go to a coffee shop and kill and hour and a half and then are admitted and it turns out we are in the same room we were in for my kidney stone. So, they give me the cervadil around midnight and we attempt to sleep. At 7:00 am the dr. came by and checked me and I was at 1 cm and he again asked what we wanted to do and I said to keep going with the induction, so he gave me my epidural then and broke my water. And I just waited. I told the nurse at 11:00 that I was "feeling" something and she checked and I was at 7 cm! we were so excited and felt sure that birth would be soon so all the family was called in and began showing up since we are getting close. Dr. Holland stopped by and we joked and he said he would be by later to check on me and all is well. We continue to wait and it takes until 4:00 to get to complete 10 cm and get ready to push. The baby is fine this whole time and is monitored well. I begin pushing and just make no progress. I am unable to move her at all and after about 2 hours the nurse calls the dr. to come look. He gets there and watches and we push some more and he says that she is crooked and is trying to come in at an angle. So, we sit up in the bed and try to see if she will come on down some on her on but she doesn't. So, at 6:00 he says he feels like we could deliver the head but the shoulders would be tricky or difficult to deliver or get stuck or something.. So at that point we decide to go for a section. I was pretty tired and not encouraged that anything was happening and I was ready to get my baby out. THey prep me and take me in and Eric gets suited up. They bring him in right before she is born-long enough for him to feel a little woozie-glad he was sitting down. but then they say "the head is out and then they suctioned her nose and mouth and it was a few seconds before we heard that first cry and the doctor calls out "6:56" as the time of birth and then they brought her quickly around the tent and said here is your baby and I almost couldn't believe it, she was really here in flesh and bone and weighing in at 8 lbs 20 in. long! Eric went over to the incubator/warmer where they cleaned her up and then they brought her back over to my face for me to see her and then they were off to the nursery and I was staying to be closed up. I asked them how long they were going to be and they said about 20 min. I went ot sleep on the table and woke myself up several times snoring. I then somehow wound up in the recovery room and was still very groggy and had "the shakes" from the anesthesia which is normal and they kept putting warm blankets on me. I was lying flat and had to sit up in very little bits so as not to get nauseated. Then mom and dad were the first ones that I saw and then we had family coming through, I kept falling asleep during the visitng and Eric brought Sophia back to me and i was so sleepy feeling that I was afraid to hold her that I might drop her. I was also on a pain pump which added to the groggyness. So, the whole time during my pregnancy i read that it was improtant to nurse as quickly after birth as possible but I couldn't sit up and could barely keep my eyes open so nursing wasn't happening. We finally got to a room about 11:00, Sophia had stayed with us through all this time-well, at one time i sent her to the nursery but nwo I can't remember why but anyway we got to our room late and I still had not fed her, and I finally got to feed her around midnight and boy did she eat well. I felt terrible that I had had to wait so long but there was nothing else I could do, I didn't sit fully up until around 10:00 so anyway we kept thinking we were going to our room at any minute. OUr care at FGH was wonderful. All the nurses and staff were great and I never felt like they were trying to get me to bottle feed- they were very supportive of breast feeding and actually kept up with her diapers and how long her feedings were and all other sorts of things that had to do with her-she had her own nurse and I had mine- which may be how it is in all hospitals but I was impressed. We then came home on Sat. at lunch. The days in the hospital were nice but we were ready to get home. I was not comfortable for her to sleep in our room without someone watching her-I like to know she is breathing, so when we got home I have had my SIDS/movement monitor to help me to relax-it is problably the best gift we recieved as far as giving you peace of mind. I definately recommend it to anyone!My incision and section recovery has been not as bad as you might think abdominal surgery would be, I have been sore-no doubt about it- but after the first week, I was getting around pretty well. All in all it was worth it-labor and section- to get such a wonderful reward in the end.