Tuesday May 5th, happy Cinco De Mayo, would turn out to be an eventful day! I had a scheduled 38-39 week appointment with my doctor for 4 in the afternoon. But my doctor was going to have to leave early and wanted to see me before she left so I got a call to come in at 9am that morning. I got to my doctors appointment were we found out I had lost another 2lbs and my belly was starting to measure a teeny bit on the small side. I had asked her if there was anything we could do to help the contractions I had been having for about a week get more regular and start doing something. Since I had made change from a "tight" 3cm to a very "loose"3cm and was 70% effaced she decided to try and strip my membranes in hopes of starting labor. She also wanted to get a bio-physical ultrasound done on baby just to make sure everything was OK!
So Nick and I left and returned at 11:30 for our ultrasound. After the scan we went back downstairs and saw my doctor were she said baby looked good, fluid was good, and baby was measuring in the 7-7.5lb range!
Around 4pm my mom called and asked if we wanted to meet her for dinner at La Siesta for a Cinco De-Mayo dinner, yummy! At the restaurant I started noticing the back pain was getting alittle more ouchie and that the contractions were coming every 5-7 minutes, but didn't hurt really and were not lasting but 20-30 seconds. So we ate dinner and went home, got the boys ready for bed. Joe went and laid down about 9pm, by this time my back was killing me and I didn't feel like laying down so I washed some clothes, laid the boys stuff out for the next day and got on the computer.
Around 11pm the contractions were coming every 7-8 minutes and lasting longer so I called my doctor and woke Joe up. They said because I was having so much back pain and the ultrasound from earlier had shown Emily was facing up, that it would be best to come in and get checked! So we called my dad to come stay with the boys and headed to the hospital.
We arrived around midnight and I was checked. I had no change in dilation, but the contractions were showing up on the monitor. So they pulled a cot out for Joe to sleep on and gave us 2 hours to see if we had any change before deciding what to do. So I was checked around 1:30 again and no change. I knew I was in labor, but that my contractions were so sporadic and not coming close enough it wasn't doing anything. The sweet L&D nurse could tell I was in pain and later told me she just had a feeling. So instead of sending us home because at the time a bad storm was moving in she called my OB and asked if they could just give me an ambien and monitor me till morning before sending us home. I kinda reluctantly agreed to stay because I felt bad about everyone missing sleep and this being a false alarm. Joe on the other hand did not want to leave.
So around 2am they gave me the amibien and I asked to go potty before trying to get some sleep. Now I'm not kidding I literally went to the bathroom and on the way back to the bed had one of those "holy crap" contractions. I sat down on the side of the bed and not 2 minutes later another. Within 10 minutes I yelled for Joe to wake up that I needed help. So he came over and over the next I would say 30-45 minutes they got so painful I couldn't stand to sit down on the bed, so Joe literally held me up and I held onto his shoulders. When I got to the point I was telling him I couldn't do it anymore he started pushing that nurse button. She came in and checked me and literally said "your 5cm and fully effaced, I'm calling for your epidural", she was an angel have I said that yet. She came back in and said she had to get 1 of 2 bags of fluids in and that Randy the epidural guy was on his way.
Well Randy arrived a short time later, and gave me my epidural. Now I had two failed epidurals with Justin and Nick was a natural birth and let me tell you after I got the epidural I was in heaven. I felt no pain and even though I was numb I could feel my legs and feet, they just felt like your jaw does when you get Novocaine. Once I got the epidural the nurse checked me again and I was 8-9cm, woohoo! About this time my mom and sister arrived and the nurse started preparing the room.
At 6am I was checked and only had a rim of cervix left. Doctor Jones was the doctor coming on-call at 7 and I love her so we decided to wait for her. She got their around a quarter till 7 and came in and broke my water and told me I could start trying to push. So they set the bed up and at 7:05am I pushed a set of three in one contraction. The nurse said stop and buzzed for Dr. Jones to come back in for delivery. Once she got her gloves on I pushed 2 times in one contraction and with the help of the mirrors watched Miss Emilys head come out. She had a complete double loop around her neck and Dr. Jones told me to stop at one point, but couldn't get the cord off so told me to push one last time and out she came. Emily had the cord twice around her neck lopped down around her belly and in between her legs. I tell you the girl was doing flips inside.
At 7:20Am on Wednesday May 6th Miss Emily Grace entered the world screaming her head off, and weighing in at 6lbs 1oz and 19 inches long. With apgar scores of 8 and 9, my little cheesy girl went straight to Mommy's tummy. Something I had dreamed of, since both boys were taken from me moments after their births and taken to the NICU. Joe and I got to gaze at her and daddy cut her cord. They took her to the warmer and then gave her back and within 30 minutes of her birth another one of my dreams came true and I got to breastfeed my baby girl for the first time. She spent an hour and a half with us before daddy took her down to the nursery.
She has been doing amazing. She is a wonderful feeder and so alert and quiet. Her brothers are absolutely in love with her and don't let a moment go by without kissing her or asking to hold her. I have never been so more in love with my kids and my husband. I could not have asked for a better and easier birth. I had no tearing and no stitches. The epidural was wonderful and I had the best nurses and doctor possible with me.
Here are some pictures of our labor and delivery story!
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