Okay, so I figure I better post my birth experience before I forget to!
So on March 8th I had my 38 week appointment. My doctor gave me an internal exam and told me that I was 4cm dilated, she didn't say how effaced, but at my last week's appointment I was 60% effaced, so I knew it had to at least be that. We talked about stripping my membranes (sounds fun, huh?) at my next appointment to get things moving, because as she said, "Your cervix is ready, but your uterus needs to get going." Well, I went home from my appointment, took a walk, and started to feel crampy. I was so excited because it was the first sign I'd had that labor might be on it's way. So I decided to start timing the contractions, and they were already 5-6 minutes apart. So I timed them for an hour, and by that time they were every 3-4 minutes apart, so I told Trevor that we should probably go to the hospital (since my doctor had warned me that labor might move quickly for me).
When I got to the hospital at 7pm, contractions were about every 2 1/2 minutes, and they told me I was 5cm dilated. An hour and half later, I was at a 6, and so they broke my water and started putting in an IV so I could have my epidural. It took them almost a half an hour to place the IV, and I'm not very good with needles, so this was one of the worst parts of labor for me. After they gave me my epidural, the pain receded and Trevor and I spent a few hours watching TV until they came to check me. I was only at 6 1/2 cm! I was so disappointed, and they told me that if I hadn't made much progress when they checked me next time, they might start pitocin to get things moving. So an hour and a half went by, and I was at a 9! Shortly after that, I was at a 10, but they decided to let me rest while the baby descended a little, because she obviously wasn't too excited to leave the womb. At 3:30am they had me start pushing and Alia wasn't born until 6:38, so there was a
lot of pushing and it was pretty exhausting. They ended up giving my an episiotomy (they didn't ask if I wanted one, but at that point I really didn't care, I just wanted to get her out!). They told me that they would have to look after the baby as soon as she was born, so they wouldn't be able to place her on my chest, and my husband couldn't cut the cord, because she had meconium in her amniotic fluid and because I'd had a fever during the last few hours of labor. So that was sad. However, my mind was taken off of it pretty quickly because they had a hard time getting the placenta to detach, so they were kneading my stomach pretty hard which hurt like crazy because the epidural was wearing off. After that, they stitched me up, which
really hurt because at that point I was feeling everything. But it was all worth it, and aside from the placenta, the stitches, and the IV, labor really wasn't that bad, just tiring.
She was 5lbs, 7oz and 17in long, and the doctor said that my placenta might have been wearing out, and that's why she was so small. The funny thing is, the doctor also said that she had a lot of the characteristics of a baby who has gone overdue, like the meconium in the waters, and really wrinkly skin, especially on her hands and feet. But she is healthy, and breastfeeding really well. They had to test her for jaundice, and although she was high risk for a few days, she never got it, and now is just fine.
Trevor and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful little girl. She might not let us sleep much, but we wouldn't trade her for anything!
