The past couple of weeks have been really difficult. Most days were full of painful contractions that I could do nothing about. After I went off of procardia, the contractions got worse and worse. We had endless days wondering if that day would be the day we would welcome our sweet Abby. I spent most of my time cuddling with my sweet Katey, cleaning, or resting. My contractions were so irregular it was hard to know if it was time to go in. Most of the time they were at night so I could just take an ambien and go to bed. Saturday night at around 7 pm the contractions got worse. I was in so much pain most of the contractions brought me to tears. That's when I decided we were really going to try some natural self inducing methods. We tried a massage, pushing pressure points, spicy food, and a few other things I'm sure you can use your imagination ;). At around 11 my contractions went from every 6 minutes back up to 10-13 minutes apart. So I gave up and took an ambien and got a good 8 hours of sleep. The next morning , St. Patricks day, I lost the rest of my mucus plug and this time it had more blood in it. It kind of freaked me out so I called my midwife, who told me it was normal. Right after I got off the phone with her I started to keep track of my contractions. They were just as painful as the night before but still inconsistent. When Ben woke up I told him we were not going to church, but that he had to take me somewhere so I could walk this kid out of me. I was so ready to be done. Laying down, changing positions, drinking water, walking, nothing would change how painful the contractions were. Katey has been so sweet in the past two months. She always could tell when I was having a contraction and she would try to kiss my belly to make it all better. She really was a big supporter of helping mommy feel better. Anyways ben took me to the mall and we walked through only stopping every few steps to breathe through contractions. By the time we got home, I was contracting every 3 and a half to 7 minutes. Still inconsistent but I was either in tears or screaming. Ben kept saying that it was time to go, but I didn't believe him. I was being stubborn because I didn't want to come to the hospital and then have them send me home with no baby. So we came to a compromise that I would call my midwife again. She told me to come down and get checked out. So, expecting to be sent home I had my sweet friend Elaine meet us at labor and deliver to take Katey home with them after church. Ben and I came in and they got me hooked up to the monitors. The nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 5 and 80% effaced. This was around 3 pm. She kept me on the monitors for an hour and then checked me again. I was then dilated to a 6 and 98% effaced. The words lets have a baby really gave me some relief. Even though by this point I was in so much pain I was ready to punch something. They asked if I wanted an epidural and I said as soon as possible. After 2 months of pain and suffering I wanted the drugs! It took another hour and a half to get the anesthesiologist into our room, and it took 2 try's to get the epidural in right. Ben helped me so much to get through the contractions, and the epidural. I don't think I could have gone through all of this with out him. When I told the nurse I could still feel the contractions at 545 she seemed to be a little surprised. She wasn't sure if the epidural was working. She decided to check my cervix. By then I was dilated to an 8 and a half and 100% effaced. And Abby's head was in position so that is why I still felt so much pain. I basically went through my whole labor naturally. The epidural only kicked in only for my delivery.
By the time my midwife for here my water had still not broke and I was dilated to a 9 and a half. I still didn't have a catheter and they didn't even have to use pitocin because I had progressed so much and so quickly on my own. Since it was during the day I feel like I was so much more aware this time and able to enjoy some of the good things about labor. I had them put a mirror up so I could watch the baby come out. To my amazement all of the sudden we saw a head with so much dark hair! I only pushed through a few contractions and she was out! She decided to turn from face down to face up in the birth canal so her little face got more bruised then normal. But she was here! And they laid her right on my chest. She calmed down to the sound of my voice and this bonding experience was magical. We are so in love with her.
With in the next half hour we were both cleaned up and everyone left the room to let ben and I have some special time with our new baby. I started to breast feed her and I am so amazed at what a natural thing it can be. With Katey the nurses didn't let me feed her until the next day and they started her on a bottle and binkies with out my permission. This time I have had some great nurses and they have been awesome at respecting my wishes to help get breast feeding established.
I haven't had much sleep, but this has been a great experience!
Ben went to pick Katey up this morning and brought her here. When she walked in she saw my grandma, my sister in law Julie and her two cousins Madison and bailey. I think she was more excited about that than seeing a brand new baby in my arms. When we tried to get her to meet her sister she said no and pushed her away. My sister did that with me too and now we are great friends. So we aren't losing hope yet!
Today Ben went home and got a lot of homework done so I've been at the hospital by myself spending time with my new baby. I have loved it! I've had a couple of visitors and lots of phone calls! I'm really tired but its been a good day.
I do have some pain from the epidural and labor as well as some cramps from my uterus going down. But I didn't tear at all so my pain down there has been bearable. I think my recovery should be fairly easy.
You sure make some beautiful babies! Congratulations!! We miss you!! I hope we'll get to see you guys in the near future:)
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