Hope's Birth Story

Hope's Birth Story

This is going to be a 2 parter. I am going to give the narrative version now & then give the tweets & facebook statuses from our family & friends for the day. I loved being able to share it all so instantaneously. There are some drawbacks to technology, but on Hope's birthday I was very thankful for it.

But I digress....

On Friday, October 8, I went for what was my last routine OB appt. 1st- my blood pressure was way high- 135/92 when I am always a solid 120/80. I had only progressed to 4 with 80% effacement, but my cervix was ripe for delivery. So my doctor & I decided to go ahead & strip my membranes ( don't google if you don't wanna know, men) as a natural way to stimulate my labor. When she did this I had an unusually large amount of bleeding, so my doctor sent me to labor & delivery to be monitored. After my visit to the hospital 5 days earlier, I was sure we'd be leaving with a baby. 3 hours later I was discharged, again. But with orders to return Tuesday morning to be induced.

So, on Tuesday, October 12, we checked in at 5:30am to get the party started. We got there, got me hooked up to my pitocin drip & watched Law & Order SVU. All in all it was a very uneventful early morning. By 6:30, iv drips were in, vitals taken, etc etc. Dilated to 4, 80% effaced, no real contractions to speak of yet.

At 8:30ish my wonderful little doctor showed up. She checked me over & eventually broke my water. My cervix is really high so doctors always seem to have a hard time doing this.
Things progressed pretty quickly from here. My contractions got more regular & more painful. Since I was having a cyst removed from my old scar tissue immediately after delivery I had already planned to have an epidural. My nurse saw that my extremely painful contractions were 2 minutes apart, she checked me & noticed that i was 7cm dilated & 100% effaced. She told me that I was close to transitioning & that if I wanted an epidural it was now or never.

My anesthesiologist came in about 11:00 and started getting ready to use a huge needle to insert a catheter into my spine. He was a wonderfully nice man, but my contractions were so strong that I kept moving & he had to start 3 times. Ryland had to leave the room so my 90 pound labor & delivery nurse had me put my head on her shoulder and hold her arms. The poor girl had a sweat puddle on her shoulder where I had cried and sweated on her. But when that medicine kicked in life was happy and blissful.

About 12:15, my nurse checked and determined that we needed to page my doctor. It was push time. My doctor arrived at 12:45 and we got down to business. I used a mirror to watch the birth, and my epidural was light enough that I was able to feel when to push. I pushed for about 10 minutes and at 1:08 Hope arrived.

I can't quite put into words the mix of adrenaline, euphoria, and love that you feel when you see your baby for the first time. That moment is a precious gift from God, the sweetest reward for the hard work of labor. The doctor handed me my goo covered little girl. She cried a good healthy cry and all I could think was how much she looked like her brother. Beautiful was an understatement.

I had minimal 2nd degree tearing. It didn't stop me from texting my family when she arrived & twittering her birth stats while being stitched up. My recovery has been easy so far. So different from her fat headed brother.

Speaking of her brother, I also cannot describe how awful it was to be away from him, and how guilty I STILL feel that I have shattered his world with this new baby. In reality, he loves Hope. From the moment he met her, he has only tried to hug, kiss, and snuggle her- when he's not ignoring her that is. It's me that has changed to him. Sadly, he's not the center of my universe. The spotlight is now shared with a tiny, needy, helpless, person, who sometimes causes him to have to wait, which is a great life lesson for a kid, but he doesn't understand yet- so it makes him upset with me. I know it is all part of the journey, I don't know what I'm doing as far as acclimating new siblings goes- I just pray God gives me wisdom & gives Isaac security & understanding that he is no less loved, just that there is less mommy than there used to be.

Back to the story- we stayed in the hospital for 1 night and checked out the next day. Hope is the picture of health- 7lbs, 1oz, 21 inches, no jaundice, APGAR of 9.9- praise God, He does all things well, especially sweet baby girls.

Thank you God for one of the best days of my life. Looking forward to many more.