Birth Day

Before it becomes fuzzy...

When I was pregnant with Elli, I read all kinds of different books on childbirth.  I actually took notes to review with Daniel (who was working on his thesis at the time and didn't have time to read them with me) and brought them with me to the hospital.  I had a birth plan and a back-up plan and was as ready as I possibly could be. This time around, I barely thought about it.  The time just went so fast, that I was mere days away from having this baby before I even thought about writing up a birth plan, and I never got beyond thinking about it!  My general attitude could probably best be summed up as, "It'll all come back to me... right?"  

Then the contractions started...

And yes, it began to come back to me.  Unfortunately, what came back was the memories of hours and hours of that pain.  The endless waiting and the bitter disappointment of barely progressing after hours of intense contractions.  I've got to confess, fear kicked into a pretty high gear right from the beginning.  Multiple times throughout the day, I asked Daniel to pray for me because I just felt so mentally weak.  But, praise God, His grace is sufficient for me and my weakness, and this birth story turned out to be quite different from my first.

I began having contractions Tuesday afternoon, not very intense or close together, but they were definitely the real deal!  Even though I didn't think delivery was imminent, the contractions gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get my bags packed and the cameras charged.  My weekly doctor's appointment was Thursday morning, and I was anxious to see if there was any progress from absolutely nothing the week before. 

(Completely aside - my facebook status on Wednesday was "praying for rain... and maybe a little labor too."  Thursday morning it rained for the first time in months, and as you all know, God answered my second prayer as well!)

When the doctor told me I was dilated to two centimeters and almost completely effaced, I was thrilled.  Progress!  After sharing some concerns with him and discussing various options, we set up an appointment to be induced early the next morning.  Dr. L told me that he was betting he'd see me before then, but we all felt better about having a plan in place.  On the car ride home, I called Daniel, who immediately began wrapping things up at work, and my parents, who were already home packing their bags.  :)

Even before Daniel made it home, the contractions were already becoming more intense, although still inconsistent.  This is where the fear really began to set in.  After a few more hours of trying to decide if this was happening or not, I called the doctor.  My contractions were getting really painful, but they would be 4 minutes apart, then 5, then 8, 4, 5, 4, 8, 3, 5, 14, 5, etc.  I didn't want to be in the hospital longer than I needed to be, but I was so confused by the pattern of my contractions, and concerned since this was part of the reason my labor with Elli was so long. 

My doctor told me to go ahead to the hospital, so we dropped Elli off with the P family, and off we went!  (Actually, we first made a pit stop at Chick-Fil-A since neither Daniel or I had remembered to eat lunch and were both starving.  I was gearing up for several more hours of labor and knew I would need to eat something if I was going to make it!)  After checking in at the hospital at 6PM, I was deeply relieved and encouraged to hear the nurse tell me I was already dilated 6cm!  An hour later I was still at a 6 and my contractions were becoming inconsistent again, so we agreed to begin pitocin at the lowest setting.  Even though I couldn't tell a difference in the level of pain, my contractions became more consistent and I was very quickly in transition. Praise God!

During my labor with Elli, I wanted to be on my feet, walking or rocking back and forth, almost the entire time.  With Caroline, I honestly wanted to lay on my back in the hospital bed.  Of course, my arms were incredibly sore the next day from gripping the bars on the side of the bed during contractions, but this seemed to work the best for me!

After the doctor arrived and broke my water, things moved pretty quickly from there.  He checked me at about 8:30PM and I was dilated to 9cm.  Near 10PM, I felt the urge to push, and it was a close call for the doctor to get his gloves on before Caroline's head appeared.  She was ready to meet us, I guess!  

At 10:05 PM on May 12, 2011, after two pushes, Daniel and I once again enjoyed that miraculous, "It's a girl" moment, and I got to hold my sweet little one for the first time!  I couldn't believe how much hair she had or how perfect her little features were.  What a gift from God!

Caroline's official first photo - not too sure about getting weighed!

 

While Mommy looks on... 

I admit, when Daniel took this picture, I was thinking, "What on earth makes him think this is a Kodak moment for me?", but I ended up loving it because, despite my swollen, sweaty, exhausted appearance, I can't hide my happiness.  These were precious moments to me!

Daddy got to swaddle her for the first time.

 First time in Daddy's arms:

And back with Mommy again.