Rayleigh was due on March 28, 2010. I was induced on March 26th because my mom, who lives out of state, would be in town the 27-30th. We wanted to make sure that she would get to see her grandbaby!
My husband and I arrived at the hospital at 8p and talked to my OB for a minute before beginning the induction. He asked when the last time I ate was and I told him it was 6p and he said we could do a c-section in the middle of the night if I wanted. He was joking... I think! We began the petocin on drip at 9p on March 26. By 10p I was already beginning to have contractions. I was only 2 1/2 cm dialated when I arrived and still not really effaced at all, and Rayleigh was pretty high up in my belly for someone who was about to make an appearence in the world! But the petocin got to work quickly and though I was able to sleep through the contractions for a few hours they began to get more and more painful. I wanted to tough it out and put off the epidural as long as possible so when the nurse asked at 4am if I wanted it I told her I'd like to wait. Well, that changed in just 2 short hours. The contractions were INTENSE so I asked the nurse to check how far along I was and I was 5-6 cm dialated and 80% effaced so I asked for the epidural! Oh, and did I mention that the nurse broke my water when checking!?! On "accident". haha! After the water broke, the hour I waited for the anethesiologist felt like days! He was worth the wait. The epidural hurt much much worse than I was expecting and I felt sooo much better after having it that I was able to sleep for another hour or so.
At 9a they inserted the cervadil and family started arriving, anxiously awaiting their first grandbaby. Suddenly I began to feel the contractions again, bad, so the nurse called the anethesiologist back in to top off my epidural and I had to keep changing the side I was laying on because it would go numb from the epidural! Having our family there was wonderful. It kept us from looking at the clock every 5 seconds and was just nice to have those we love with us.
Then between 11a-noon the nurse said "lets start pushing" so everyone except Michael left the room and we began pushing. I'd bear down and push for 10 count then breathe in and do it again, 3 times then break until the next contraction. We did this a few times and then I heard "Oh! I see a lot of dark hair!" After a few more sets of pushing the nurse decided that our baby girl would get to a certain point and then go right back up when I would breathe. Awesome. Oh, and she was upside down - a "stargazer" as Dr. Goff would call it. So the nurse had me lay in this wierd position on my side with my top leg up in a brace for an hour because I suppose it helps flip the baby over. So family got to come in and see this attractive position for the hour and help the time pass!
The nurse comes back in, family goes out and it's game time. We do a few more sets to get Rayleigh closer, she's trying to flip her over gently (I have no idea what's going on down there thanks to the magic of the epidural!) and then the doctor comes in... but not just the doctor, a whole slew of people! People are getting the baby table ready, blue sheets of paper going everywhere, a lady throwing a swaddle blanket on me, people putting more stuff on this tiny table for the doctor than I can register and another nurse. I have my husband on one side of me encouraging me and feeding me ice-chips and my nurse on the other olding my foot and encouraging me. Then I have my doctor, Dr. Goff is awesome. He really pushes you to push! He had to use the "kiwi" vacuum to get her past the point that she kept going back up at and then I pushed her. At one time I remember him saying something about getting her out past her ears... then Michael looks down and sees the beginning of his baby girl for the first time! I was exhausted and felt like giving up, or taking a break, or trying again later but I knew that was soo not an option so I pushed through... literally. In the longest minutes of my life, we got the head out and I was able to breathe for a minute and then POP, the whole baby is out. "IT'S A GIRL!!" "CONGRATULATIONS!!" is going on but all I can focus on is this amazingly beautiful baby girl on my chest.
Perfectly colored, full head of hair, the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Mine. We created her. She is ours. Instant love. Michael cut the cord and family came back in to meet the newest addition to the family.
Rayleigh was a little hesitant to come out, and a bit stubbon... probably gets that from her dad. But we are so happy and blessed to have her here and can't imagine our lives without her now.
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