Well...she's here! Nick and I have waited for so long and Josephine finally made her appearance on Friday, October 5th at 7:24 am....Life as we know it has officially changed and we couldn't be happier.
So most of you know that I was scheduled to be induced last Thursday at 8am. I was really hoping that she would come before that or at least my water would break but no such luck. So on our last day of "freedom" our anniversary, we just hung out, enjoyed each others company and prepared ourselves for the following day. I actually did get a few hours of sleep, but we woke up early the next morning, showered, boarded the dogs and started to head to the hospital.
We were heading down 23 and I got a call from the hospital asking if I was on my way and would I be OK with waiting because they have had a huge surge of women come in that morning and during the evening and they were full! I couldn't believe it. I am a very nervous and anxious person and psyched myself up on the way there only to be let down. I asked the nurse if she thought I would even go in that day and she said, "I hope so". I HOPE SO, what the hell do you mean...I literally started to cry and she said that they had a few c-sections scheduled and will give me a call an hour before we need to be there. As soon as we got back home I went back upstairs to lay down and try to relax. I got a call at 9 saying we needed to be there at 10- no going back now.
Now, I HATE doctors and all things medical. I've never even been in the hospital before (as a patient) so I would say all things considered I did pretty well. Of course we had to do paperwork, check vitals, get an IV going, and set up on the fetal heart monitors. Things didn't really begin until 11:45-12pm. I will spare everyone the gory details, but let me tell you..if your doctor is recommending a induction with a balloon tell her to jump off a bridge because that was the worst thing EVER! The midwife obviously didn't care that I would like to have a working vagina after everything was said and done, I literally thought she was going to rip my insides out. Once the balloon is inserted they started me on a pitocin drip and started to inflate the balloon every hour. I needed to to get at least 4cm and then they said it will fall out.
I did pretty well with this all things considered, but my contractions started right away and were uncomfortable but not unbearable. They said it could take up to 12 hours for the balloon to fall out- I thought they were nuts, I was wrong. I was allowed to eat popsicles, drink water, eat Italian ice and that was it. I don't remember what time it was but I knew my contractions were starting to make me really uncomfortable and I needed to get some rest, so they gave me a shot of Nubian in my drip. I wasn't allowed to get an epidural until the balloon fell out, so this would at least take some of the edge off. Well, let me tell you, it did. I rarely take a Tylenol let alone pain medication so needless to say it completely knocked me out and I felt drunk and slept most of the day. The nurse said I needed to change positions because it will help things "move along" so as soon as I rolled to my right side I threw up all over the place..well not all over the place in the proper container but still. Nick and I would just watch the monitor and see when a contraction was coming and try to get through it.
From this point its kind of a blur...my mom and sister were going to come down and I told them not to bother, this baby isn't coming until tomorrow. Finally at 11:30pm they decided to take the balloon out and see how far along I was- I was 6cm, THANK YOU GOD! I ordered the epidural right away and I was set by midnight. The epidural was interesting, it didn't hurt a bit, and my left leg was completely numb but not my right...I tried laying there, flipping to my sides, but I could still feel the contractions really sharply in my right hip. Granted it wasn't as bad as it would have been, but still.
Every hour after this the nurse would come in and check my cervix and roll me from side to side. Around 3-3:30am I told her that I felt different and pressure in my butt. She said I was at 9 and to let her know if the pressure gets worse. Then at 4am I started to push. I really didn't know what to expect, I just thought, oh I'd be here maybe an hour, hour and a half tops...wrong again. This was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. Our nurse was amazing, she would tell me when I was pushing well and when I needed to do better. I don't remember what time Dr. Charles came in, maybe 5:30-6am. I thought, sweet must not be too much longer. They kept telling me, I see her head, she has hair, but she just wouldn't come out! Just because you have an epidural doesn't mean you don't feel whats going on down there- you do and its not pleasant. I was so exhausted at this point and I couldn't have done it without Nick. He was with me the whole time, pushing and counting and coaching me along. Half way through I needed supplemental oxygen because I was so tired and having a hard time breathing. FINALLY 3 hours later she decided to come out and meet the world. 8lb 12.6 oz and 21in long! We couldn't believe how big she was!
She is absolutely perfect and beautiful. She has Nicks dark coloring and lips, and my dimples and ears. Of course we'll have to wait a little bit more to see who she really looks like, but shes perfect in every way.
checking in- holy big belly
anxiously waiting
her poor head was so misshapen because of
all the pushing
she came out screaming and pooped all over me
one of my meals
I told you I'd get my McDonald's!
