November 2, 2011

I better type this out before I forget it! Wednesday morning we called Labor and Delivery at 5am to find out what time we were supposed to go into the hospital. The two days before I spent pretty much freaking out about changing everything for Ruthie and trying to soak up every second I had with Joel and Ruthie.I'm going to call it like it was, I was a basket case.

By Wednesday morning, I finally got it together and got my game face on and was ready to go. I didn't want to wait around and was thankful when they told us to come in between 7am-8am. We left the house around 6:30am, made a very important stop for Chic-fil-a, then headed to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, it seemed very strange to walk into the hospital pretty much feeling great. They put us in a waiting room and we joked it was the closest thing we'd had to a date in quite a while! They took us back to the room and got my iv started then around 9:30 started the first round of the antibiotics for group b strep (which if you're unfamiliar can be dangerous to newborns but is something most everyone has at one time or another in their life, as it comes and goes). After the first round of meds, I took a short nap, then we started walking around the floor just to get out of the room (Joel and I have a slight problem going stir crazy when we're confined).

Let me take a minute to say that whomever decided that one size fits all in a hospital gown was sorely mistaken (among other major flaws). Joel pointed out that the size they've crafted does not fit any size. They are horrible. Here is my fashion statement, it was so ridiculous we had to take a picture. I think the crocs and socks make it, but when you're about to have a baby, I think you can wear whatever you want ;-). Don't I look happy, that was about to change very quickly.

Back to the story, we walk and walk. I've been having pretty regular contractions for about 4 weeks, so we weren't really walking for any reason other than to be moving and getting out of the room. Fast forward to 1:30pm and they started the second dose of the meds (you need 2 doses 4 hours apart to be most effective).

Our doctor was in a surgery after the second dose was done, but came to see us at 3:30, which is when they broke my water. I think I mentioned this was not a normal pitocin induction (I didn't have pitocin). It was really more a controlled day to ensure I got the antibiotics. About 10 minutes after she broke my water, things started to change.

I went from feeling great to really, really not.

Really not.

I was having contractions but they were about 6-8 minutes apart. They were very strong, but the harder part was in between them I felt like I was getting electrocuted the entire time because of her position (I have no idea how else to describe it). It was not cool.

This lasted about 40 minutes and just after 4pm, I called the nurse to find out when I could get the epidural. As soon as I dialed her number, the contraction ended and I hung up thinking I was being a total wuss and needed to get over. Thank the good Lord she called me back and told me she would come and check me and talk. By the time she got there (about 3 minutes later), the contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart and I was saying some very inappropriate things and trying to break Joel's hand. At that point, I was at 6cm, 0 station and fully effaced. She put a rush on the epidural and later told me she was worried I wouldn't be able to get it, and had I not called her and hung up when I did, I wouldn't have gotten it in time.

About 25 minutes later, the anesthesiologist arrived and everyone was prepping the room for delivery. It took him about 15 minutes to get the epidural in (which seemed like an eternity and a lot longer than the last time).

The doctor was nice, but kept trying to distract me during contractions with things like what do you weigh, how tall are you. Sorry buddy but there is no distracting from that pain, although I did appreciate the effort.

After I laid back down, I felt about 3 contractions then felt like she was starting to come. We were all trying to wait as long as possible to get any bit of the epidural I could. The nurse stayed through those three to see if it was going to work, told us she was going to run and grab something and to call her immediately if the baby was coming. By the time she walked out the door, I screamed (for lack of a better word) at Joel to get her back in here and tell her she's coming. He couldn't find the call button for a few seconds, but then she came running (as did the doctor). I pushed through 4 contractions and at 5:50pm she was here (I was wrong when I put 5:51pm, oops!)! It was fast!

Its incredible to me how immediately I felt better (which is something I distinctly remember with Ruthie also). I held her for about 30 minutes before they took her and weighed her. She weighed in at 7 pounds (a chunk! Ruthie was 6lbs 9oz) and 19 inches long (Ruthie was 19 1/2, so pretty close). Joel was finally able to hold her, and I know he was really glad I wasn't hogging her anymore! At our hospital they don't bathe the baby's immediately, so that was done in the middle of the night. We took lots of pictures and spent most of the night holding her and just amazed and so thankful that we have two perfect girls!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am we decided to go the route we did and schedule getting the medicine and breaking my water. Joel works one hour from our home and the hospital is one hour the other way. Had we waited until my water had broken, we would not have made it in time for any medicine and there is a pretty good chance she would've tried to come in the car. I spent days stressing about if we were doing the right thing and now we both are so thankful we made the decision we did.

We cannot figure out who she looks like. I was sure she was going to look just like Joel and Ruthie but I don't think she does. I don't think she looks like me either, so we'll see! She has been so sweet and making the cutest noises. We are about to go crazy to see Ruthie and see how she reacts to Lainie. Gigi and Papa are planning to bring her later today so we'll have pictures up of that soon. I think thats most of the details of the birth story. It was fast and intense but then it was over and she was here! I'm very thankful for quick delivery's and healthy babies. Thanks for reading and being so excited with us! We're very thankful for each of you!