To start off, I went to my 39 week doctor appt on Tues, Dec 16th. Cooper was at Mother's Day Out and Justin was off work and finished with grad school so he came with me. At 38 weeks, I was barely dilated and I was hoping so badly that there was some improvement. I was starting to have some small contractions, which I never had with Cooper so that was encouraging. Thankfully, I was dilated and effaced more and she had also dropped down low. So, my doctor said that I could get induced the next day (wed, the 17th) if there was an opening at the hospital, which she wasn't too hopeful since it was the end of the year. Justin and I decided to talk it over and pray about it and then let her know that afternoon. So we went out to lunch and talked it over and decided to go ahead and get induced if the hospital did have an opening. If not, then we would just wait for her to come on her own. Since I had to be induced with Cooper past his due date because he was in distress and had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, we would rather have her come if my body was ready than wait past my due date again. Since this was my 2nd pregnancy and Cooper's induction went very smoothly and fast, I wasn't worried about being induced again, especially after having some contractions.
So we went home that afternoon and busily got everything ready and packed to go to the hospital the next day just in case there was an opening. It was a crazy day, packing and getting all Cooper's stuff ready since he would be staying with my parents while we were at the hospital. We finally went to sleep that night and I kept waking up to contractions. I was starting to get very excited. They weren't super strong but they continued to wake me up throughout the night. Finally it was 5am and time to call the hospital to check the status, and I was expecting them to say that the hospital was full. They then told me that they had me on hold and would call me back within 2 hours to let me know when and if to come in. I was still thinking that I would probably be going into labor sometime that day anyway, but it would be so nice to go ahead and get in. About an hour later, they called and said to come! I really couldn't believe it! We hopped out of bed, I called my parents to come over, and we got the car packed and ready. I was so excited to meet our precious girl soon!
6:45am
My parents arrived at our house and Cooper is already awake! He must have woken up to us loading up the car or something because he usually sleeps until 8am. We got to say goodbye to our only child and we were on our way to the hospital!
7:15am
Arrive at the hospital and get checked into our room, fill out some paper work etc…
8:30am
Starting to get regular contractions
9:30am
Start potocin
10:00am
Water Broke
Over the next couple of hours, things are really slow. I was having regular contractions, but they weren't strong enough to get the epidural yet. I start to get a little worried as it was going slower than I expected.
12:30pm
Contractions are getting stronger and they check me and I'm only 3cm! I couldn't believe it. I got to 7cm with Cooper before getting an epidural, and I was trying to wait as long as possible for the epidural since 3cm just made me feel like a wuss. BAD IDEA! Any pregnant women who like epidurals, DON'T DO THAT! Suck up your pride and get the epidural when the pain is very bad, because…well, you will see….
Somewhere between 12:30 and 3:46 (when Callie was born) is a complete blur and I stopped documenting things like I had before since I was in so much pain. So these times are just estimates…
Around 1pm
Somewhere around this point, the pain was unbearable and I didn't care if I was only 4cm, I wanted the epidural. So I ask for it and the nurse says he will be here in 10 minutes…famous last words. She gets me all set up for the epidural and I'm sitting up on the edge of the bed, booty hanging out, trying to breath through insanely painful contractions. And we wait, and wait, and wait. I finally ask when he is coming. The nurse calls and basically there was a miscommunication because it will be another 45 minutes or so. Well, that would have been nice to know earlier. I get to lay back down on the bed and just wait for him to come as the contractions get stronger and stronger.
Around 3:00ish (really no idea)
As I wait for the epidural, I am going through some crazy, no break, out of this world painful contractions. I was not prepared for this, since I was planning to have an epidural, and my contractions were not near this strong before my epidural with Cooper. My nurse was getting concerned thinking that Callie might be coming by the way the contractions were coming. I then have a small panic attack telling her that I am not prepared to have a natural childbirth and did not want one. She basically told me that I may have to do this natural and that I can do it. Fun times…
No idea what time:
The anesthesiologist is here! The anesthesiologist is here! I am having excruciatingly painful contractions and he is asking me all these questions….I cannot talk! Why, oh why, are you asking me all these questions when it is impossible to even speak at this point. Basically the nurse was answering all the questions for me. He finally gives me the epidural of course right when I was having a contraction..could he not wait until it was over?! I may or may not have let him know I was not happy at this point. Was he not used to women having this severe of contractions before? I guess not. So then I wait for the epidural to kick in…and wait….and wait. I finally feel some relief only on the right side of my body. I still felt EVERYTHING on my left side. The nurse had me lay on my side so the epidural would fall to my left side but nothing worked. She couldn't even check me because of the pain I was in and laying on my side. I ask for the anesthesiologist again since it's just not working and I could not relax. At this point I am also extremely nauseous and am holding a vomit bag the whole time. I then feel this crazy pressure on my bottom and was incredibly uncomfortable. The pain just seemed unbearable at this point.
3:35ish
A different anesthesiologist comes in and gives me another dose and it finally kicks in! The nurse is able to check me and after she checks me, she has this look on her face and immediately goes to the phone. I then say "how many CM am I?" And she says very stone faced "oh, you're a 10". WHAT?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No wonder I was in so much darn pain! The epidural literally kicked in minutes before I was 10cm or I was probably actually already at 10cm when it kicked in. And all that pressure on my bottom…oh that was the baby! Why didn't I think of that? I just didn't think I could go from 4cm to 10 cm that quickly. We were all in such shock. Though I did feel a little justified for being in so much pain.
The downfall is because of the strong epidural, my blood pressure dropped to 67 which freaked Justin out and they had to give me medication. Everything was happening so fast as the nurse was rushing and trying to get the doctor in ASAP…
3:40ish (minutes before Callie is born)
In all the craziness somehow Justin and I were left in the room by ourselves as our nurse was trying to get everyone in our room. I all of a sudden feel Callie coming and a need to push! I tell Justin to call the nurse because she is coming!! I did not feel this at all with Cooper since my epidural had been working for a long time before I pushed. We both start to freak out a little waiting for the doctor and nurse to get back in here. I'm sure it was just a few minutes but it felt like eternity. I tell Justin to please call the nurse again and that the baby is coming! Finally all of a sudden 20 people come rushing in my room. It was probably only 5 people, but it felt like 20. The doctor is here and tells me to push immediately. No small talk here, just push. I push maybe 4 times and out she comes!!!
It was such a surreal and amazing feeling. I cried and cried when I saw her…she was beautiful! You'd think that your first childbirth experience is simply magical and exciting and emotional and that you wouldn't feel that again. Well, you definitely do! I had the same emotions and amazed feeling I had when I first saw Cooper. I was in love and just couldn't believe she was my daughter!
And it's just like all those natural childbirth people tell you….once your little one is here, you completely forget about the pain and misery you were just in. They immediately put her on my chest and she stays with me for a full hour before they weigh her or clean her or anything. It was very special to have that time with her and I was able to breastfeed her right away. After about an hour of having skin to skin with her and nursing, they weighed her and gave her her first bath. She weight 7 pounds 13 oz which was less than everyone thought she would weigh. She had the sweetest cubby cheeks and everyone thought she would weigh 8 pounds, including me! She weighed a little more than Cooper but I think most of the weight was in her cheeks :)
After her bath, they swaddled her up and my family was able to come in and meet her with Cooper. I wish I could say there was this special moment of Cooper meeting his sister for the first time, but he pretty much didn't want anything to do with her. I think he knew what was going on and it was just a strange atmosphere with us being in the hospital etc.
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| First time to see his sister…he held on to daddy for dear life :) |
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| I bought Cooper a train and a book to give to him at the hospital from Callie, but he wasn't too interested in that. As you can see he is still overwhelmed by the entire situation... |
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| First family pic…the best we could do |
Thankfully Cooper has adjusted better than expected and he is such a good big brother to Callie now. He loves to give her kisses and pats her head very soft every time she cries.
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| Granna and Callie |
We spent 2 nights in the hospital, though my doctor would have allowed us to leave after one night, Callie wasn't nursing well so we decided to stay one more night. Thankfully she caught on quickly and started nursing much better by the 2nd day so we were definitely ready to get home the next morning.
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| "Mom, I can't believe you put that ridiculous bow on my head" -teenager Callie "but you are sooooo cute" -me |
We are so blessed and thankful for our precious Callie Grace! Even though the birth was a bit traumatic, it was still such a sweet and special day and I'm thankful to have a place to write it out to remember it by.
