At long last, our baby girl was born Monday, August 2nd at 4:20 p.m. She is the light of both our lives, and we could not be happier with our new little family.
We went into the hospital at midnight Sunday, August 1st to begin induction, but after being checked by the nurses, we learned I was already too far dilated to be given the gel that starts the induction, so we waited {somewhat} patiently for 4 a.m. to roll around, until I could be given Pitocin. At that time, I was contracting on my own, but very mildly and irregularly, just as I had been for the past week or so.
At around 4:30 a.m., my Pitocin drip was started. At this time, I started having stronger contractions, but they were still not unbearable. I laid in bed, watched tv, and tried to rest. Thank goodness we brought our Friends DVDs so I had something to watch to pass the time.
My water broke on its own at 6:10 a.m. I was afraid I would not notice it breaking, but it was very obvious! I was glad that labor seemed to be progressing, and I was dilating more as well. Since I was not going to be able to leave the hospital bed due to the IV and the internal monitoring of the baby that comes with Pitocin, I opted to go ahead and get an epidural around 6:30 a.m.
My doctor came in shortly after to check on me, and I was still progressing well at that point. The rest of the day was for sleeping, watching TV, and general waiting around. I did not have much pain due to the epidural, so the contractions were easy to get through. Happily, I progressed fairly quickly, and by late afternoon I started to feel hot, tired, and a little sick, all good signs that I was ready to push. My labor nurse was fabulous, and got everything set up so we could start pushing while we waited on the doctor. If nothing else, I am very glad I took Lamaze, just for the pushing breathing. I was able to use that during pushing, and it helped me not to do the "purple-faced" pushing from holding a breath for 10 seconds.
I pushed for about 35 minutes, but according to my doctor and nurses did a pretty fabulous job, since Delaney was very high and turned face up when I started pushing. By her birth, she was face down. She was born with the cord around her neck, but it was unwound quickly and she was able to stay with us and not go into the NICU. Andrew was with me the entire time, and got to cut the cord and hold Delaney right away.
We spent the first hour of her life cuddling her close and working on nursing, and then Andrew went with Delaney down to the nursery to be bathed, tested, etc. while I was able to get cleaned up.
We were so blessed to have so many loved ones bring flowers, gifts, and visits to hold Delaney during our stay at the hospital. Delaney's birth was a very special experience for our family, one that we will never forget. She is an amazing little girl and nothing could be better than having her as our own.
Our Family
First Cuddle with Daddy
Our Beautiful Girl
