I went in with Christopher on Tuesday night at 8pm.
I had a scheduled induction. They wanted to give me some medication to soften my cervix before I was to be induced.
When we went in the receptionist had my paperwork right next to her, all ready for me. She told us to wait in the waiting room for a nurse to come and get us. We waited for what seemed like forever. There were two other groups in the waiting room with us. They were anxiously waiting for loved ones to deliver. It made me excited and anxious about what was to come.
When the nurse came I had butterflies in my stomach. Her name was Erika, and she was one of the prettiest, nicest people I have ever met. She put me right at ease with her smile and wonderful explanations. She walked us down to my delivery room.
Once we were down there I changed into my gown and answered some questions. They hooked up some monitors to watch my contractions compared to Chloe's heart rate and then gave me the first dose of medication to soften my cervix. I was told that it might start contractions. They then told me that I would get the other half in the morning around 1am. At this point I was not dilated at all.
At midnight I started having contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart. When 1 am arrived they decided not to give me the rest of the dose because I was having so many contractions. At 4 am my water broke as I was using the restroom. Let me just say, how disgusting it was! I am so glad I was in the hospital when it happened. Once my water broke they checked my cervix again and I was still not dilated.
At 5 am they started the pitocin (it's what actually induces labor). Once it started, my contractions were every minute, and they were terrible. They were a little worried for awhile because Chloe's heart rate sometimes would drop after I would have a contraction. My nurse told me that if it kept happening that they would have to take me in for a C-section. They watched her heart rate all morning and it seemed to get better.
At noon they checked my cervix again and it was only dilated 2 centimeters. I was so frustrated and in so much pain. I had been having a contraction every other minute for 12 hours. My original plan was to not have an epidural. We didn't really have money for the epidural deposit so we had planned on going without. I told Christopher that I couldn't handle it any longer (especially if I was only 2 centimeters) and he asked the nurse if there was anyway we could still ask for the epidural.
About 10 minutes later I got an epidural and oh my goodness... Not only was I no longer in any pain, it sped labor up so quickly. I know there are strong opinions about epidurals but I just decided that it was what was best for our situation. I absolutely loved my epidural. I took a three hour nap and when I woke up it was time to push.
While I was pushing my doctor told me that she could see her head but that she was having trouble coming out on her own. My doctor had to suction her out. (We later found out that Chloe had her hands in her face and it made it harder for her to come out on her own.)
The moment Chloe came out was so amazing. Seeing her for the first time gave me such a wave of wonderful emotions. She had so much hair and was so beautiful. She made a tiny little cry. She had to be rushed away so they could clear out her throat because she couldn't breathe because she had so much fluid in her throat. Christopher went with her and they brought her back a minute later (it seemed like a lot longer though). While they were cleaning her off all I could do was look at her while the doctor worked on me. They brought her to my chest and it was such a precious moment. I was finally holding my daughter in my arms. I cannot properly describe how amazing it was. She was so beautiful and perfect.
She was born at 5:07 pm and weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. She was healthy and here.
My second favorite moment was when I got to see the love of my life holding our daughter for the first time. His face was so priceless. He was so happy to finally get to feel his daughter in his arms.
We later were moved to a postpartum room and had some family and friends visit.
It's been five days since her birth and as tiring as these days have been I would not trade them for anything. All I can think about is how one day she will be all grown up and I will miss these sweet precious moments with her. I already want her to stay this tiny forever...
"Be still my beating heart..."
James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
These pictures were taken by mdvisuals.
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