My labor started out scary, but turned out very easy (relatively speaking... Men, don't ever think that labor is easy). On Friday, July 31st I went to the midwife for a check-up. I was measuring small, so she ordered an ultrasound. The baby wasn't as active as they liked, and I had noticed a decrease in activity for the last 24 hours or so, so they sent me over to the hospital to moniter the baby. I stayed at the hospital until about midnight... all of the monitering they did looked fine, but they still gave me the option of either being induced or repeating the monitering at the hospital every 48 hours. It was a tough decision (I was nervous that the induction wouldn't be successful and would lead to a c-section), but I finally decided to be induced. Minor problem... the baby (who we think had been head down for months) turned 1/2 turn (oblique, they called it, I think) sometime on Friday. They told me to come back on Saturday night, they would soften my cervix overnight, then try to turn the baby (shouldn't be too difficult since she was only a little ways away from head down) and start the induction on Sunday morning. I told Greg to stay home with Clara on Saturday night and meet me at the hospital in the morning when the turning and induction would begin. BUT when I got there they informed me that they had to turn the baby before they gave me any medication to soften the cervix- and the Dr. was coming right away to turn the baby. Also, they found out that the baby had turned more and was now completely breech, and they had me in the room closest to the OR because there were several things that could go wrong and require an immediate c-section. They said "call your husband because if we have to take this baby out he is going to want to be here." Yikes! Greg found someone to take Clara (thank-you Sweats), but by the time he made it to the hospital the baby was safely turned (the Dr, midwife, and nurse pushed and twisted on my stomach to coax the baby around... ouch, but, hooray it worked)! He went back home and I spent the night at the hospital, feeling some contractions throughout the night. By the morning I was dilated to 3cm. They started pitocin to induce labor at 9am and I got an epidural around 10am and when it kicked in I felt more comfortable than I had in weeks! I used to think I wanted natural childbirth, but- man- that epidural is a great invention! My water broke and the nurse told me we'd have a baby in a couple of hours. I thought- yeah, right, you don't know how long my labor was with my first child.
I slept until about noon, when I woke up feeling some pressure. The nurse checked and I was dilated to 9 and 1/2 cm. She told me she bet I'd just have to push a couple of times and the baby would be out. Once again, I thought- yeah, right, you don't know how hard it was to push out my first child. But the nurse was right, again. The midwife came in to check my progress and by then the pressure was pretty intense and I wanted to push. But what I did wasn't really even pushing... the baby just eased her way out. I loved that I wasn't exhausted or in pain and could really be aware of everything going on. I watched as Sarah-Jane twisted her little head out and worked her way into the world. - So amazing and miraculous and wonderful. She was born just before 1:00 in the afternoon, only 4 hours after the start of the induction. I am grateful for the great midwives, doctors, and nurses who helped with the delivery process, and especially grateful for a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
Nurse Donna
