I had an appointment with Dr. Esch on Monday, August 15th, the day before my due date. He checked me and said I was nearly 5 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced. He asked me if I wanted him to strip my membranes to see if that would give the baby a little nudge, and I agreed. We scheduled an appointment for the following Monday, “ just in case”. I had some mild cramping on my way home and noticed blood in my underwear after my exam and membrane stripping. I thought maybe it was promising, but remembered hearing and reading of that happening a lot after a vaginal exam.
I had mild contractions from about 4:00PM to 9:00PM and went to bed. I woke up around 1:00AM to use the bathroom. Kevin {DH} woke up and asked me if I was still having contractions, and I told him they had stopped. I decided to take 2 tablespoons of castor oil mixed w/ root beer to see if that could get things moving again. I went back to bed and woke up around 6:00AM with diarrhea. By 6:30 I was having pretty decent contractions, but I could still walk and talk through them. They were 3 minutes apart, lasting 45 seconds. At 7:00 I got into the bathtub while Kevin got breakfast ready for Gabriel. I yelled for him to bring me the phone so I could call my mom to come over and watch Gabriel. I told her not to hurry and that if she arrived within the next hour or so we should be fine. WRONG! After I got out of the tub my contractions were a lot more intense and I really had to concentrate and breathe through them. I yelled for Kevin and told him to call my mom and tell her to hurry up. I got myself dressed and double checked to make sure everything was packed in my hospital bag. I came out to the living room, sat on my birth ball, and logged onto the computer for a few minutes.
My mom arrived around 8:00, Kevin and I kissed Gabriel goodbye and I started crying b/c I was going to miss him. Kevin reminded me that it would only be a few hours before I would see him again. I think I was already thinking about having to spend the night way from him. The ride to the hospital was do-able. It took us about 20-30 minutes to get there. My contractions were lasting longer, almost a minute, and were 2.5 minutes apart.
We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before 9:00AM and were crossing the parking lot when I had to stop and lean on Kevin to get through a contraction. We finally made it to the elevator and up to the birth center. I immediately asked if I could use the bathroom, and could hear Kevin answering questions outside at the desk. I came out of the bathroom greeted by two of the best L&D nurses anyone could ask for. Janice was a veteran and Rachel was the new girl. They had me lay on the bed, took my bp, monitored the baby’s heartrate, and checked me. Janice checked me first, and then Rachel had to {since she was still learning}. Janice told Rachel to call Dr. Esch and tell him that I was 7-8 centimeters with a bugling bag of water. I looked up at Kevin and said “ALL RIGHT!” We moved to a regular room, I used the bathroom again, and asked for a birth ball. They set me up at the end of the bed on the ball, Kevin held my hand and Janice applied pressure to my back through the contractions. The nurses kept saying that I was in too good of a mood—too talkative and cheerful in between the contractions. I was just so excited about the upcoming birth of our baby and felt like I knew what to expect since I had done this once before. They asked us if we knew what we were having, we said no, and I told Kevin I seriously thought it was a girl for some reason. Most of my pregnancy I thought it was a boy b/c my pregnancy was identical to Gabriel’s.
Dr. Esch arrived and asked me what I thought about having him break my water. I said “well, it will make these contractions hurt a lot more!” And he said it would, but it would also help move things along, so I agreed. I got up into the bed and Dr. Shefali {a resident who had worked under/with Dr. Esch throughout my pregnancy} arrived. She broke my water and all we got was a little trickle. My contractions got a lot stronger after that. They asked me if I wanted to move back to the birth ball after they monitored the baby’s heart rate, and I said no. I didn’t want to get out of bed and then have to climb back in. Janice lowered the foot of the bed and sat me up in a pretty comfortable position. I told her I was feeling a lot of pressure like I had to poop. She said that’s good, the baby is pushing down. I continued to breathe through my contractions, but got to the point where I started moaning and groaning. I looked to Kevin for encouragement and he kept telling me how great I was doing. Rachel asked if I felt pushy and I said yes. They checked me again and said I had a little bit of a lip left, but said I could push if I wanted too. I declined. I started pushing too soon w/ Gabriel and pushed for 1.5 hours and that was not something I wanted to repeat.
Janice and Rachel coached me to blow through the peak of the contractions when I felt the most pressure/need to push. I continued to breathe the baby down for about 10 minutes then declared I HAVE TO PUSH! I pushed through the next few contractions, breathing deeply until the pressure was too much and then pushed with all my might. Janice said she wanted to check and see how far I had brought the baby’s head down, she did, and it was nearly crowning. I could feel the pressure of the baby’s head on my perineum. Dr. Esch and Dr. Shefali came in, the end of the bed was taken off, and we were ready for take off. Janice and Rachel held my legs back for me while Kevin stood beside me. I pushed with each contraction, and rested between, feeling the baby’s head stretch all my tissues as it rested between pushes. I pushed again and the head was out! They told me to wait, stop, don’t push…the cord is around the neck…3 times!!! It was so hard not to push, and Dr. Shefali had to quickly get the last part of the cord over the head b/c my body started involuntarily pushing the baby out. I watched Dr. Shefali bring the baby up between my legs and I yelled “IT’S A GIRL!!!” before anyone could say anything! Kevin and I were laughing and crying. They put her on my belly almost immediately and we were instantly in love.
Sophia Elizabeth was born at 11:12AM on her due date, August 16th. {That was a 4 hour labor w/ 30 minutes of pushing.}
9 pounds, 5 ounces, 21 inches long with a head full of thick black hair. She’s nursing really well and all the time. Gabriel absolutely loves her, calls her "Fuh" since he can’t say Sophia, and calls her sister. I’m so in love with both of my children.
Here are a few pictures: {hopefully these work...}
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...iel_Sophia.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ay/Sophia2.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../familyof4.png
I had mild contractions from about 4:00PM to 9:00PM and went to bed. I woke up around 1:00AM to use the bathroom. Kevin {DH} woke up and asked me if I was still having contractions, and I told him they had stopped. I decided to take 2 tablespoons of castor oil mixed w/ root beer to see if that could get things moving again. I went back to bed and woke up around 6:00AM with diarrhea. By 6:30 I was having pretty decent contractions, but I could still walk and talk through them. They were 3 minutes apart, lasting 45 seconds. At 7:00 I got into the bathtub while Kevin got breakfast ready for Gabriel. I yelled for him to bring me the phone so I could call my mom to come over and watch Gabriel. I told her not to hurry and that if she arrived within the next hour or so we should be fine. WRONG! After I got out of the tub my contractions were a lot more intense and I really had to concentrate and breathe through them. I yelled for Kevin and told him to call my mom and tell her to hurry up. I got myself dressed and double checked to make sure everything was packed in my hospital bag. I came out to the living room, sat on my birth ball, and logged onto the computer for a few minutes.
My mom arrived around 8:00, Kevin and I kissed Gabriel goodbye and I started crying b/c I was going to miss him. Kevin reminded me that it would only be a few hours before I would see him again. I think I was already thinking about having to spend the night way from him. The ride to the hospital was do-able. It took us about 20-30 minutes to get there. My contractions were lasting longer, almost a minute, and were 2.5 minutes apart.
We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before 9:00AM and were crossing the parking lot when I had to stop and lean on Kevin to get through a contraction. We finally made it to the elevator and up to the birth center. I immediately asked if I could use the bathroom, and could hear Kevin answering questions outside at the desk. I came out of the bathroom greeted by two of the best L&D nurses anyone could ask for. Janice was a veteran and Rachel was the new girl. They had me lay on the bed, took my bp, monitored the baby’s heartrate, and checked me. Janice checked me first, and then Rachel had to {since she was still learning}. Janice told Rachel to call Dr. Esch and tell him that I was 7-8 centimeters with a bugling bag of water. I looked up at Kevin and said “ALL RIGHT!” We moved to a regular room, I used the bathroom again, and asked for a birth ball. They set me up at the end of the bed on the ball, Kevin held my hand and Janice applied pressure to my back through the contractions. The nurses kept saying that I was in too good of a mood—too talkative and cheerful in between the contractions. I was just so excited about the upcoming birth of our baby and felt like I knew what to expect since I had done this once before. They asked us if we knew what we were having, we said no, and I told Kevin I seriously thought it was a girl for some reason. Most of my pregnancy I thought it was a boy b/c my pregnancy was identical to Gabriel’s.
Dr. Esch arrived and asked me what I thought about having him break my water. I said “well, it will make these contractions hurt a lot more!” And he said it would, but it would also help move things along, so I agreed. I got up into the bed and Dr. Shefali {a resident who had worked under/with Dr. Esch throughout my pregnancy} arrived. She broke my water and all we got was a little trickle. My contractions got a lot stronger after that. They asked me if I wanted to move back to the birth ball after they monitored the baby’s heart rate, and I said no. I didn’t want to get out of bed and then have to climb back in. Janice lowered the foot of the bed and sat me up in a pretty comfortable position. I told her I was feeling a lot of pressure like I had to poop. She said that’s good, the baby is pushing down. I continued to breathe through my contractions, but got to the point where I started moaning and groaning. I looked to Kevin for encouragement and he kept telling me how great I was doing. Rachel asked if I felt pushy and I said yes. They checked me again and said I had a little bit of a lip left, but said I could push if I wanted too. I declined. I started pushing too soon w/ Gabriel and pushed for 1.5 hours and that was not something I wanted to repeat.
Janice and Rachel coached me to blow through the peak of the contractions when I felt the most pressure/need to push. I continued to breathe the baby down for about 10 minutes then declared I HAVE TO PUSH! I pushed through the next few contractions, breathing deeply until the pressure was too much and then pushed with all my might. Janice said she wanted to check and see how far I had brought the baby’s head down, she did, and it was nearly crowning. I could feel the pressure of the baby’s head on my perineum. Dr. Esch and Dr. Shefali came in, the end of the bed was taken off, and we were ready for take off. Janice and Rachel held my legs back for me while Kevin stood beside me. I pushed with each contraction, and rested between, feeling the baby’s head stretch all my tissues as it rested between pushes. I pushed again and the head was out! They told me to wait, stop, don’t push…the cord is around the neck…3 times!!! It was so hard not to push, and Dr. Shefali had to quickly get the last part of the cord over the head b/c my body started involuntarily pushing the baby out. I watched Dr. Shefali bring the baby up between my legs and I yelled “IT’S A GIRL!!!” before anyone could say anything! Kevin and I were laughing and crying. They put her on my belly almost immediately and we were instantly in love.
Sophia Elizabeth was born at 11:12AM on her due date, August 16th. {That was a 4 hour labor w/ 30 minutes of pushing.}
9 pounds, 5 ounces, 21 inches long with a head full of thick black hair. She’s nursing really well and all the time. Gabriel absolutely loves her, calls her "Fuh" since he can’t say Sophia, and calls her sister. I’m so in love with both of my children.
Here are a few pictures: {hopefully these work...}
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...iel_Sophia.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ay/Sophia2.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../familyof4.png
Congrats!
you have one beautiful family!
Great job mommy!
Enjoy your expanded family...
