A little late, I admit...but I finally feel ready to write my birth story for any who wish to read it. Nothing gross, just the experience.
The best place to start would probably be Friday, September 12th. I emailed my boss, who was away from his desk, asking him if the following week could be my last week of work since I was getting pretty tired pretty fast, and the trek to and from the parking garage at work was taking it's toll. After work I went to my prenatal appointment, where my doctor checked me for progress. She said I was about 1cm dialated, which was good. She also said we would talk about possible induction at my next appointment if I made it that far.
My due date was September 22nd.
Saturday the 13th, I started having contractions, just mild, and I assumed they were braxton-hicks contractions, basically the wannabe contractions that help get your body ready for the real thing. They typically happen any time after 12 weeks of pregnancy, and a lot of times you just don't feel them until you're farther along. So no big deal, didn't cause any concern. They got stronger throughout the day, but didn't hurt, and were very infrequent. We did our normal weekend stuff, and headed home. Just in case, I packed my hospital bag.
About 5:00 Sunday morning, the contractions started to hurt. They got closer together as well, but not close enough to call the doctor. I timed them off and on all morning, and when they finally got close enough to call the doctor, I called, and they told me to come on in to get checked. I called my parents to let them know we probably wouldn't be making it out to their house for dinner as planned, as we were headed to the hospital.
We checked in around 2:00, hooked up to all of the monitors, and the nurse was in and out checking on me. We got to hear Savannah's heartbeat the whole time we were there, and the computer was monitoring my contractions. When the doctor came in to check me, I was 5 cm dilated, and they admitted me and took me to the labor and delivery room, and sent for the anestesiologist for the epidural.
The on call doctor was in and out to check on me, and then the epidural was put in. It was amazing...I couldn't feel the contractions any more, and my butt was numb, hehe. My parents, Peter's parents, and Kris and Spring all came to see us, starting around 5:00 I think. I wasn't dilating very fast, so the nurse gave me some pitocin to help speed up the process, and had also given me fentanyl for the pain before the epidural kicked in, and the fentanyl made me throw up, yuck. The on call doc came back around 9 and said she was going home for a while, but lived close by and would be back as soon as the nurses let her know I was fully dilated.
At that point, the nurses were estimating I'd deliver in the early hours of Monday morning, maybe 2 or 3 AM, and they told me to expect to push for 2-3 hours. Around 9:15, everyone went out to the waiting room for a bit while they checked me again. I was able to feel the contractions again. They didn't hurt, but the pressure was very intense, almost worse than the pain had been. I was fully dilated by that point.
About 9:30, my parents came in to say they were going to head home, and that they would be back the next day to see how we were doing. I told them to hold on, because if they waited a little bit, their granddaughter would be here. They went back out to wait with Bruce and Ann in the waiting room. Kris and Spring had already taken off for the evening, and Peter sent them a text message letting them know the baby was coming.
The nurses came back in and got everything ready to go. One of them told me to try not to push, because they were waiting for the on call doc, she was on her way back to the hospital. I tried, but it was virtually impossible. My body wanted to push no matter what. They finally grabbed another doctor from down the hall to come in and help deliver the baby, because she was coming fast.
After 14 minutes of pushing, at 9:54PM 9/14/08, Savannah was born. She had a double umbilical cord, and it was wrapped loosely around her neck, which was very scary. They cleaned her up, and laid heron my chest. It was the happiest moment of my life. She was so tiny, and rather purple. Her face had some bruising from the delivery, but she was prefectly healthy. She weighed in at 7lbs 11oz, and was 19.5" long.
Peter promptly texted her picture and all of her stats to everyone in his phone book. As soon as they were given the okay, all of our parents, and Kris and Spring, came in to see us. It was so wonderful to have them all there to share such a special moment in our lives. Once everything was cleaned up and settled, and everyone else had gone home for the night, the nurses took Peter, Savannah, and I to our post-delivery room for our first night as parents. Peter was great and did all of the diaper changes for those first couple of days so I could rest. At one point the first night, apparently someone came and drew blood from me, and I have no memory of it. Given my aversion to needles, I am amazed I could sleep through that, but go figure.
Over the next couple of days, everyone came to see us. Kris and Spring, my parents, Peter's parents and 4 of his little sisters, Matt and Shelley...it was great to have them all there.
Now, our baby girl is 5 and a half months old...time has flown! She's getting big fast, and she's the light of our lives. I can't imagine life without her.
Our parents are all ecstatic. She's the first grandchild on both sides, and they couldn't be happier. My mom babysits for us while we work, and she loves being a stay-at-home grandma to Savannah.
I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life...I have a wonderful, loving husband who is my best friend, and the most beautiful baby girl in the world. They are the best things to ever happen to me.
