The story...

Since people have been asking to hear "the story" (i.e., the story of Katie's delivery & birth), I thought I'd post it here for all to read. If you don't want to know the gory details - stop reading now! lol

Kevin & I went to the baby doctor Monday, April 28. Since Katie was due April 21, the doctor had told us that if the baby wasn't here by the next Monday, she'd want to induce (and to be honest, I was pretty tired of being pregnant by then too). So April 28 at 1:30 p.m. the doctor told us to come back to the hospital that night at 9 p.m. to begin the process.

We got there around 9:15 p.m. and got checked in. My mom & sister went with us to the room where I'd deliver, so my mom would know where to go the next day. Kevin & I had already decided that Amy would stay with me that evening, so he could get a good night's sleep and be with me the next night, when the baby was here. Kevin & my mom stayed around long enough to watch the nurse hook up all the monitors and start my I.V. (which hurt like you wouldn't believe - and hey, I can take a needle!), then went on home. Around 10 p.m., the nurse came back to start me on the "gel" that would help soften & dilate the cervix. This wasn't TOO painful, other than the fact that the nurse "had a hard time finding the cervix." After that, I was free to try & get some sleep, but it was tough because any moving at all on my part would cause the fetal heart monitor to lose the baby's heartbeat. Poor Amy was probably MORE uncomfortable, trying to sleep on the chair-cot in the room.

Around 2 a.m., the nurse was back to insert more gel. Again, the gel caused less pain than she did inserting it! lol But that was NOTHING compared to the pain I felt when they started the Pitocin around 6:30 the morning of April 29. At first, it wasn't bad - but progressed VERY quickly to pretty intense contractions. I was still only dilated to a 2, which was too early for the epidural, so I asked the nurse about other pain management options. She said I could have Nubain any time I wanted. Kevin came in around 7:15 a.m. so he and Amy got to sit and watch me try to tough it out, which didn't last long. An hour later, I was done being tough, and asked for the pain meds. The Nubain affected me in a way I never dreamed it would. It was like I could feel it flow through my veins, making me weak and unable to hold my eyes open, so I slept - OTHER than when the contractions hit, because I could still feel every bit of that pain. Amy & Kevin were laughing at me because it was like I'd be dead asleep, wake up in intense pain, and fall dead asleep as soon as the contraction was over. I think this went on for about 2 hours (although you'd have to ask Amy, Kevin, or my mom to be sure) when they decided to give me the epidural, because I was finally dilated to a 4. The epidural was like heaven, because then not only was I sleeping, but I was totally pain free. After that, I didn't really wake up until around 1:30 or 2:00 p.m., and was dilated to 8. While I was sleeping, they catheterized me (twice), broke my water, worked on getting the baby to turn, etc. (I should have mentioned - we knew the baby was head down, but face up. They wanted her to be face down before delivery could happen, otherwise my OB wanted to do a c-section). The funny thing was, I woke up to Kevin's snoring, since he was catching a nap on the chair-cot. lol But I had slept SO deeply, I was CONVINCED it was Wednesday.

The next hour wasn't bad - I still wasn't fully dilated, which was frustrating the two nurses in the room. Amy & Kevin left the hospital so Amy could go home & get a shower, and so Kevin could go to our house to let our dogs out. While they were gone, the nurses were having me push to get the baby down, and my mom was the only one in the room with me. We really didn't know what was going on then, so my mom called Kevin to come back quick, thinking he might be about to miss the delivery. When the nurses decided I wasn't dilated enough to deliver, they took a break. So I chatted with my mom, and she sneaked me some Cheez-It's, :) and I saw my grandma & aunt who had been sitting in the waiting area. Kevin & Amy got back, so my mom walked out with my grandma to visit with other family, which left only Kevin in the room with me when the one nurse decided she'd had enough, and it was time to have the baby...only she didn't tell me, so I just assumed they were trying to get the baby down like before, because I STILL wasn't dilated to a 10. It was around this time that I realized I was able to FEEL certain areas, because the nurse was doing UNSPEAKABLE things to me to allow the baby to come out (which probably saved me from having to have an episiotomy, but still). I couldn't feel the contractions, but I could feel what she was doing, and was able to feel my legs again. I was never scared to deliver the baby, until this moment...when I became fully aware that I was about to deliver the baby, and be able to feel it all. Suddenly, I'm a mess - saying over and over to Kevin "I can't do this...I can't do this!" And suddenly, he's super-husband, saying "yes you can, you'll be fine." The next thing I know, they're calling my OB to come down, and asking me if I want my mom in the room. We had already decided that my mom would be in there, thinking that Kevin might not make it through the gross parts of the delivery, but at that moment, I didn't care WHO was in there. lol Finally though, someone got a "yes" out of me - and my mom made it in the room JUST behind my OB, who was barely there in time to catch the baby. Suddenly, I'm a million tears, just because I was SO relived that the baby was delivered (and p.s. it didn't hurt NEARLY as bad as what that nurse had been doing to me earlier). All I heard was Kevin say "Ten fingers and ten toes!" then they put Katie on my chest. I couldn't see her face, but I could see her little feet that she was kicking in the air. When they carried her to the warming table to clean her up, my OB (and all the nurses in the room) said "look at those cheeks!" lol Only 40 minutes of pushing, and Katie made it into the world at 4:03 p.m.

What I didn't realize until much later that evening, when it was just Katie & me in the hospital - she was totally worth it.