July 5, 2011
Day 7 of being "past due." I was an emotional wreck during that 7 days of waiting and wishing. I tried every type of induction technique recommended by friends and Google. Nothing had worked yet. My favorite one was the day spent with my mom mall walking, eating SINFUL cheesecake, and getting a relaxing Chinese foot massage while my mom was seriously tortured by the guy doing her massage. That was hilarious, and I still LAUGH OUT LOUD when I think of the look on her face. It's also funny to think about trying to explain with motions and simple words (our masseuses did not speak English) that we wanted the baby to COME OUT. I guess you had to be there.
This particular day's induction methods included ice cream and beer delivered by the dear Meissner family. I did not partake of the beer, that was for Jeremy. My friend, Wendi, kept insisting that I try strong coffee, so she brought me an iced coffee (yum) that I took to the pool and enjoyed while watching Jeremy wrangle Norah and Ivy in the water.
My mom and I went on a walk again that night. We had been walking for 30-45 minutes every evening, but this particular night I did a "gutter walk" walking with one foot on the road, and the other up on the sidewalk. Nice mental picture, right?? I looked even more dorky than usual. Ask any past due preggo if they care about looking dorky.
At this point, my mom had been at our house for a week just waiting for Sunshine to get a move on. She was so sweet to make that sacrifice for us. She gave up her traditional Fourth of July festivities (meaning, activities she has participated in for 20-30 years...that's how we roll in a small town) to be with us for that last minute dash to the hospital that I was certain was going to happen any minute.
11:00 p.m.
I started feeling contractions. Sure sign of labor, right? Well, you may remember that I had two false labor starts leading up to July 5, so I was not going to get excited. I went to bed.
3:30 a.m.
The contractions were strong enough to wake me up by now, but I remember lying in bed thinking "is this really it?" I got up to use the restroom, and YUP- these were real. Woke Jeremy up, woke my mom up, and we hit the road. I was certain there would be a baby within the hour given how quickly Ivy came into the world.
4:00 a.m.
We were admitted to the hospital. I was dilated to a 4.5. I wanted to have another birth with no medical interventions. We did not hire a doula this time around since we had just gone through labor a little over a year prior! I felt like it was still pretty fresh in my memory. This time I was more prepared with music and written scriptures/notes to recite to get through contractions.
4:00-9:05 a.m.
This period of time is not clear to me. It's a blur of contractions, breathing, frustration, and panic. So I will just list an order of events.
- We made it to the delivery room. I had to have two rounds of antibiotics because I tested positive for Strep B (another first with Sunshine!). I wasn't crazy about having the antibiotic, but we went ahead with it because there was time.
- My labor was much different this time around. My contractions were very intense and I was feeling a lot of pressure in my back. We decided that I was experiencing back labor. This led to my labor being slowed down significantly. I am not sure what the reason for this is, but I stopped dilating after making it to 7.
- I spent some time in the tub which was another first for me. It was different than any other bath I've ever taken!! I also spent much of my time on the birthing ball (another first).
- Towards the end, I had to have Jeremy push on my low back with every contraction. That back labor business sucked. I remember thinking I couldn't do it anymore. Epidural never entered my mind because I have fears related to that, but I just wanted to give up somehow...as if that could really happen!
- The sun coming up was very discouraging. I had been certain that we would be holding our baby by then.
- Around 8:30 a.m. my wonderful doctor told me I needed to consider having him break my water. My body wasn't dilating anymore, and the baby wasn't turning into position. He thought that breaking my water would cause the baby to shift. I was very afraid of this because I knew once my water broke, things would get crazy. I asked him to pray before (love that man). I am not sure what the nurse thought by this point, but we prayed and he then broke my water.
- I spent the rest of the time in bed on my side (Jeremy pushing on my lower back with each contraction...he may have actually broken a sweat this time!).
9:05 a.m.
Caroline June entered the world at a whopping 9 pounds 5 ounces, 21 inches long, and with the longest fingernails the nurse had ever seen on a newborn! Apparently you can grow some fierce nails in those 8 days past 40 weeks.
My first thoughts were THANK GOD and SHE'S HUGE!! Jeremy announced that it was a girl. We asked for advice between the names Iris and Caroline to the delivery room audience, and our doctor suggested Caroline because "my mom named my brother and me Tim and Tom and was always getting us mixed up." Ivy and Iris would have been very similar. I love the name Caroline paired with June, so we definitely made the right choice.
3 girls. Oh my. We love her.
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