I have been wanting to share our little girl's birth story for about a week now. I have to admit I read a lot of articles about what to expect during labor and delivery, and how to prepare. Matt and I even took a childbirth preparedness class. But, nothing really prepared us for what was about to happen when the time came for our baby to be born. First, let me say that the record breaking heat here in Nebraska at the beginning of July was taking its toll on my body. And for me to say I was uncomfortable would be an understatement. I was downright miserable. Baby had dropped at 36 weeks, and it literally felt like I was walking with a bowling ball between my legs! Couple that with the heat, and I was more than ready to be done. We went in for my final ob appointment on Monday morning. Dr. Evans asked how I was feeling, and I explained to her how uncomfortable I was feeling. She said that we could look at inducing the next day, since I was so close to my due date, and I looked at Matt and back at dr. Evans and said, let's do it. Something you should know at this point was that I really wanted to go into labor on my own and swore I would not have an induction, but the hormones and my level of discomfort made me choose otherwise. The nurse called labor and delivery and got us all setup for the induction. We would need to be at the hospital that evening so they could start the induction process using a drug called Cytotec. Cytotec is used to help ripen the cervix and help it to dilate. Some women start having contractions on their own, but most need the help of Pitocin to get things started. Leaving my appointment that morning and coming home was a surreal experience for me. For weeks I had been walking around excited and anxious about when baby would come, and knowing that in the next 36 hours I would probably deliver was hard for me to wrap my head around. Matt went into work that afternoon to tie up loose ends at work, while I stayed home and cleaned, did some laundry, and tried to take a nap. After Matt got home from work, we finished packing and got ready to head to the hospital. As we were pulling into the hospital parking lot I started to feel more anxious. This was really happening. God gave me a moment of comfort and peace though using the song by David Barnes, God Gave Me You. At that moment I knew Matt was going to be by my side and was going to support me through whatever was going to happen in the next 24 hours. We walked up to labor and delivery looking like we were moving in. Not only did we have my hospital bag, but my pillows from home, our DVD player, and a bag of snacks for Matt and Anna to munch on during the labor. Our dear friend Anna met us at the hospital. I had decided after our childbirth class that I wanted to have another person with us in the room, and decided I wanted Anna to be a part of our life changing day. She did a great job helping us out, and I am so thankful I asked her to be there with us. After getting all situated in our room, our nurse Michelle came in and got my IV started and checked my cervix. I was still only dilated to 1 cm and was 90% effaced with head at 0 station. She hooked me up to the monitors and we discovered I was having regular contractions already on my own. She put the pill in around 9 and I took an Ambien to help me sleep. In the meantime Matt ran out to get me sushi for supper, since I was too nervous to eat before we left home. We sat around and talked for a while and watched friends, before getting situated for the night and trying to catch some sleep. At some point during the night, I am not quite sure what time, Michelle came into the room and had me put oxygen on. She explained to me baby was having D-cells and needed oxygen. She also had me change my sleeping position to help baby out. This happened at least 3-4 more times during the night. Needless to say, none of the three of us got much sleep that night. 7 am brought a shift change for the nurses, and we got this rockstar ob nurse Gwen. She was awesome!!! She explained to me since baby had a hard time tolerating contractions the night before, she was going to wait to start the Pitocin until Dr. Evans had a chance to round on me. In the meantime she ran a jacuzzi tub for me and had me relax until Evans had a chance to come by. Around 8 Evans dropped by to see how I was doing, check me, and break my water. Because baby's head was so low, she wasn't able to break my water using the stick. She instead had to put on a glove with a special pin on one of the fingers to break my bag. After breaking my water, she noticed there was meconium in the fluid, so she had Gwen put a NICU nurse on standby for the delivery, and she explained to me that they would not stimulate baby to cry until they had a chance to suction her lungs to prevent infection. In the meantime Gwen started the Pitocin and I noticed the pressure of my contraction intensify since my water had been broken. Matt ran home to shower and grab a few things, so Anna and I sat and talked for a bit. About every 15 Gwen came in and kept upping the Pitocin. Matt returned shortly after 9, and we decided to go ahead with the epidural. Originally when I put together my birth plan, the epidural was something that I wanted to try and go without, for a few reasons, but mainly because I wanted to be up and moving around. Because of the distress baby had the night before, I was not able to get up and move around. While we were waiting for anesthesiology to come up and administer the epidural, I tried to breathe and focus through contractions. During this time my dear hubby, bless his heart, was trying to crack jokes and make me laugh. I just looked at him and bluntly told him to stop, he wasn't helping and I needed quiet to breathe through the contractions. About this time Matt's mom brought Noah up to see me. He refused to come near me, probably due to all of the machines that were going and the IVs I had attached to me as well. It was about this time too that Gwen gave me some Phentnol to help tide me over until I was able to get the epidural. Once the epidural was in and took effect, I dozed on and off for an hour. It was during that time Matt and Anna ran to grab a bite to eat. Around 11 was when Gwen decided to check me again and she told me I was already to 7 cm. she told me by 3 I would be holding my baby. She ran down the hall to grab Matt and let him know how far I was. About 15 minutes later she checked me again and I was dilated to 8. She called my ob to let her know my progress and was charting, when I told her I was feeling quite a bit of pressure and wanted to push. She checked me again and I was fully dilated. She started moving things around and got me all ready to push. At 11:45 I started pushing. Right before I began to push I got all emotional and began to cry. I couldn't believe that my baby was so close to being born. I had imagined what it would feel like to give birth, but never imagined the emotions that would flood me once I began pushing. I was thankful I could still feel the pressure when it came time to push. As soon as I began to feel the pressure, Gwen would hold one leg, Anna had the other, and Matt supported my head and neck as I brought my neck down to my chest and pushed. Around 12:30 baby's head began to crown and I was told to stop pushing until Dr. Evans was ready for me. A few minutes later and two final pushes and at 12:36 my beautiful Elena was born. She came out with the cord around her neck, but as soon as the cord was clamped she began to cry and became the most beautiful shade of pink. I began to cry, sob actually, overwhelmed by the joy of being a mother and holding my precious baby for the first time. And there you have it, the story of how Elena was born :) Although it wasn't the way I had planned for it to go, I wouldn't change a thing about how we chose to bring her into this world.
Getting ready to push
My first look at my daughter
Our family
Proud Daddy
Getting to hold her first
My birth coach Anna holding sweet baby Elena :)
