The Birthday Party

I was going to be induced on Wednesday, September 30th, at 6 am. On Tuesday I woke up at 4 am with light but consistent contractions. I couldn't sleep through them so I got up and started cleaning the house, which I had been planning on doing that day anyway to get ready for Lily's arrival the next day. As Tim left for school I asked if he could come home early just in case these contractions turned into labor. He came home around noon; I was starting to have some stronger contractions, but not enough to go to the hospital. We went for a walk, watched some movies, and every so often I would bounce on our exercise/birthing ball or try different positions to get through a contraction. I talked on the phone to Tim's mom and she said she could tell I was having a contraction because it sounded like I was trying to talk while holding my breath.

At 8:30 pm on Tuesday night I called my doctor. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep that night through the contractions but still felt they weren't strong enough to warrant going to the hospital. I wanted to see if I could be induced that night rather than waiting for the following morning. My doctor gives out her home number to her patients and I felt really dumb calling her, but was reassured after talking to my friend Katie - her three children were delivered by the same doctor. My doctor asked what my contractions were like, and I said I could still walk and talk through them, but that they were very consistent, no more than 5 minutes apart or so. She told me to wait until they got more intense and then go to the hospital.

Around 11:30 pm I decided it was time to go. I could still work through the contractions using different laboring positions (all very attractive, I must say - nothing like a 9 months pregnant woman rocking while squatting), but I wanted to see where I was. Tim had already taken Dirk over to our wonderful friends' house, so the pseudo child was taken care of. The cat had food and water. We had a bunch of funny movies borrowed from our friends Tim and Anna. I had eaten as much as possible while at home since I knew they wouldn't let me at the hospital. My house was clean (now it kind of looks like Babies R Us exploded in my living room). We were ready.

I was admitted at 12 am on the dot. They hooked me up to monitors to see how my contractions and baby's heart rate were doing. I did not love having to sit in bed through the contractions - I wanted to keep moving. They had me stay on them for 15 minutes, then let me walk around the unit with Tim. By 1 am the contractions were getting much more intense, and would sometimes come in triples - three strong contractions, right on top of each other. I felt fine in between the contractions as long as I was able to move around, but once I started getting those triples, I was done. "And now I would like my epidural."

Ironically the anesthesiologist was the only person that I had a slightly negative experience with. Mid-contraction he was asking me if I had any history of health problems, and I said, "No", but I guess he couldn't hear me. He then said, "Um, can you listen right now?" Really? I'm having a contraction! Anyway, I was dosed by 2:30 am and much more comfortable. I was checked shortly after and was dilated at 5-6 cm. Labor continued to progress well without me doing much other than watching hilarious movies with Tim (think anything with Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell), sleeping, oh and throwing up all that tasty food I'd eaten before.

By around 6 am I was at 9 1/2 cm, and baby's head was "right there", according to our wonderful delivery nurse. Unfortunately my doctor was not right there as she had a surgery at 8 am and would probably not be there until 8:30 am. Around 7:30 am they broke my water and I was at 10 cm, having some urges to push but trying to hold out for our doc. During this entire time, Lily's heartbeat was very steady and regular - the nurse said her tape looked like it came out of a textbook. This was so reassuring to me - Lily was coming into the world on her own time and wasn't too worried about it.

When my doctor came in at 8:30 my contractions had slowed some and I wasn't having any urges to push, so I was started on some Pitocin. A little after 11 am (and more sleeping, and more puking, and watching Blazing Saddles, and the nurse joking that I was going to "laugh this baby out"), the party started. I pushed for about 25 minutes and got to see my daughter. And she was huge to me! I could not get over her head of brown hair, either. Who would have guessed I would have an 8 lb 3 oz baby. My doc had estimated she was 7 and a quarter the week before.

The recovery was a little more difficult than the labor and delivery, partly because I was RAVENOUS and they wouldn't let me eat until I got to our recovery room, but my blood pressure kept dropping and I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up every time they tried to get me in the wheelchair. Finally they got me on a cart and into the recovery room and I had some bites of my long-awaited breakfast and...I threw up all over myself, AGAIN. That was sad.

The next two days were so sweet and wonderful though - Tim and I were able to focus on this beautiful little baby that had joined us. The whole experience was so incredible - it's difficult for me to sum it up in a word, or even words. We are so grateful that everything happened exactly as it did and that our little Miss Lily is here.