Here it is! By the end of the day, I get to hold my little baby in my arms instead of in my tummy!!
After a weekend of thinking, I decided I would ask my doctor to go ahead and induce me if I hadn't yet delivered. It just seemed the best choice for me.
It turns out my week of walking, hoeing, and eggplant parmesan did no good at all. When the doctor checked me yesterday, I was basically unchanged from the week before. I asked about induction, and he said he had no one scheduled to be induced today. Did I want to come in? Yes, yes, I thought I did.
Bryan, ever the Daddy, said, "Poor little baby! It has to leave it's cozy nest! The meanest thing we're ever going to do to it is about to happen!"
Bryan and I decided to keep the fact I was being induced a complete secret from everyone except those who absolutely had to know. So as I write this, neither of our families knows I'm in the hospital. Neither of our jobs knew until this morning when we had to notify them we wouldn't be in. There's a baby pool going at work. It's $1 per guess as to date, gender, and weight. As I was leaving last night, I contributed a dollar and wrote today's date. I also guessed a boy weighing 7 lb 12 oz.
Last night, we took Kyla to our wonderful neighbors for the night. I'm proud to say there were no tears on my part as we parted, and Kyla only looked a bit sad. She is in great hands for the duration and is no doubt having more fun right now than I am.
Although my alarm was set for 4am, I woke up at 3:40. I got ready, packed all the last-minute items, and dusted the furniture. Bryan took a picture of me as we were headed out. I told him to take it the long way, and he replied, "Uh, no, I think I'm going to have to take it the wide way!" Funny guy.
Thereafter followed the longest series of questions ever asked of anyone, short of Secret Service applicants. No, I do not have unexplained long-term sadness. No, I do not use recreational drugs...ever....not even recreationally. Yes, I have a house...and a car. My nurse felt my stomach and guessed that the baby will weigh 7 lb 8 oz.
Finally I was released to walk around and eat a purple popsicle. Bryan enjoyed two complimentary cartons of chocolate milk and relaxed in the recliner, which he reports is a big improvement over the chair that was in here two years ago.
I told Bryan I had made up my mind to look cuter during labor this time than I did with Kyla. I thought I was doing ok as I left the house, but apparently there is no such thing as looking cute in a hospital gown for me!
So I resorted to a good book and blogging.
By 11:30, the nurse determined I was definitely in labor. The contractions were coming every 1-2 minutes. I was given a gourmet feast for lunch.
At 12:45, the doctor came and broke my water. By then I was dilated to a 4. No pictures, thankfully.
The contractions increased in intensity almost immediately. By 2:30, I was at the point where I didn't think I could handle it without pain meds anymore. I had tried walking, tried the whirlpool, and just couldn't do it. I was dilated to a 5.
So I gave in and asked for an epidural. I was given IV meds to take the edge off the pain until the anesthesiologist arrived. I was dilated to an 8 by the time he arrived at my room around 3:30. He informed me he'd had the privilege of putting a needle in my back before when I was having Kyla. He looked at his records and noted the difficulty we'd had with that, or I should say those, epidurals. This time he promised to give me what he called a 2-in-1 so that I should have almost immediate pain relief. In went the epidural. By then, the pain was intense. I remember this serious anesthesiologist asking me if I was doing ok. I replied, "No, I'm not doing ok." thinking Seriously, is screaming in pain and puking into a blue bag an anesthesiologist's idea of "doing ok"? Then the funny guy said, "Well, what's wrong?" I didn't answer.
Immediate pain relief was not my due. One contraction came after another with intense pain. After one, the anesthesiologist said, "I'm surprised you felt that contraction at all, let alone with the pain you had!" Oh great! But, at any rate, something eventually worked. I did get pain relief. I still had a good amount of moderate pain with each contraction, but they were nothing like before. The anesthesiologist explained that I must have some anatomical issue that prevents the pain medicine from moving up like it is supposed to.
At any rate, by the time the epidural was in and working, I didn't have long to go. My doctor came in about then. The nurse explained that she had just checked me, and I was an 8 but 100% effaced. He said since he was here, he was just going to check me again. When he did, he looked a bit surprised. "She's a 10, and the head is right there!" Yay! Time to push! The cord was around the baby's neck once, and the doctor said that he was going to negotiate the baby through the cord instead of unwrapping it apparently due to a fairly short cord.
Only about 20 minutes later, the 9-month wait was over! Out into the world came a very cheese-covered healthy baby. The doctor held it up, and we all said, "It's a girl!"
Our precious Kamryn Joy had arrived. I held her close and got all gooey right along with her.
Proud Daddy cut the cord.
She looked a little purple and didn't cry much so had to be given oxygen for a few minutes. Soon she was as pink as the clothes she will be dressed in when she gets home. She was perfectly healthy and whole....and ready to eat!
We posed for our first family photo, less the Big Sister.
I nursed her for about 45 minutes before she was taken away to be weighed, measured, and all that fun stuff. She was a very good little eater.
Her official stats came in at 7 lb, 5 oz and 20.5" long. Preciously perfect.
Once I held that little girl in my arms, the pain of labor was nothing more than a distant memory. Thank you, God, for our precious daughter!
No comments:
Post a Comment