Sallie Cate's Birth Story

I love reading this kind of thing on other blogs, but if isn't your cup of tea, please feel free to skip. :)

I checked in for my induction at 5am last Monday. I had a lot of pain/pressure on Sunday and had a fair amount of contractions through the night, so I was anxious for the nurse to check me to see if I had made any progress from the week before at my 39 week check. It seemed like it took forever to get things started- the computers were acting up so she couldn't do a lot of the 'paperwork' she needed to, and she had trouble getting my IV and drawing blood {and I'm the easiest stick}, so that was frustrating and I hoped didn't set a precedent for the day.

Feeling pretty good before everything got started.

Finally around 7:00am the on-call doctor {who was actually my OB for years and delivered Curran} came to break my water. Well, she had a lot of trouble, much like with Curran, and couldn't do it. She did insert an internal monitor {but that somehow didn't cause the bag to break anymore??}, so she was hoping that would help my water to break on its own later. She checked me at that time and I was 4cm and 60% effaced! Which leads me to believe that even if I wasn't induced, I likely would have had the baby on Monday, or maybe early Tuesday, anyway, especially with all the contractions I was having, although they weren't regular at that point. Dr. L predicted that I would have the baby by mid-morning. However, they didn't start my pitocin right away because they had started antibiotics that needed to be in for 4 hours before the baby was born, so the nurse didn't want me to deliver before 10am.

By 8:00 or so, my contractions were getting pretty painful. They went ahead and called anesthesia and I got the epidural around 8:30. Even though I was in pain, it was nothing compared to what I had with Curran prior to receiving the epidural. The nurse checked me and I was still 4cm, which bummed me out a little, but I was 90% effaced. At some point during all this they started the pitocin at the lowest rate.

I felt pretty good for a while, but then started to get a "hot spot" in my abdomen where I could feel all my contractions. It hurt, but I thought I could put up with it if I didn't have too much longer to go. I was hesitant to ask for them to give me more pain meds because with C I was so completely numb that it frustrated me. The nurse decided to check me because she says sometimes an increase in pain can mean that the baby has moved down some. However, I was only 5cm and the baby was still high {very typical for second pregnancies}. I was bummed about that because I felt like it should be moving a little faster. Since it was close to 10:00 at this point, they went ahead and turned the pitocin up some. At that point the "hot spot" got worse and I could basically feel pain across my entire abdomen. It felt like I didn't have an epidural at all, but had just gotten something to take the edge off. I was still trying to stick it out, but I was hurting so bad that it brought tears to my eyes. I finally decided to ask them to call the anesthesiologist who gave me something else for pain, and I'm so glad I did! I felt like I was experiencing "natural" labor, and that ain't what I signed up for. :) {I am completely supportive and totally impressed by people who can go the au naturale route, but that's not something I care to experience.} At some point in there, my nurse tried to break my water and still could not. I still don't know what's up with that?! I'm not sure why I have umbilical sacs made of steel, but I think it's safe to say that if I have another pregnancy, I can pretty much guarantee I will not be one of the 20% of people whose water breaks on its own to start labor. :)

At this point I was not feeling so hot.

With my mom and sister, feeling pretty rough.

Anyway, the nurse checked me around 11:00 and I was 9 cm! I had gone from 5 to 9 in an hour, so I knew it wouldn't be too much longer until it was time to push. That was the part I was most anxious about. With C, even though I only pushed for 40 minutes {which I wouldn't consider all that bad for a first baby}, it was still incredibly frustrating for me and it also caused a lot of post-delivery pain. I just didn't like not feeling any pressure or anything to help me know I was pushing well. So this time I was relieved to feel some pressure and alerted the nurse that I thought it might be time to push. She checked me and said I was a full 10 cm and ready to go. Of course we had to wait a while for them to get the room set up and call the doctor. They had 7 C sections, so he rushed in in between surgeries. I pushed through one set of pushes and they told me to stop while the doctor finished getting ready. I pushed once to get the head out and another time for her shoulders, and that was it! I was so shocked and couldn't believe how much easier and faster it was this time!

They put her on my chest while they cleaned her up, and I got to have that special moment I always wanted. C swallowed so much fluid they immediately had to take her away to suction her, so I was really hopeful that this time I would get to see the baby for a minute or two before they took her away. And it was every bit as wonderful as I imagined! She looked SO tiny to me! I thought that she was going to weigh 6 lbs. She ended up weighing the exact same thing as Curran- 7 lbs 6 oz- I guess you just forget how tiny they are! I didn't think she looked like C at all except for her nose, but my sister thought they looked just alike at first. This is kinda funny, but at one point when they first pulled her out and were cleaning her off, the nurse said "OH we lost a leg!" So I frantically looked down and pulled those blue drapes off SC because I thought they had meant her leg, and I was freaking out! Oh no, they meant my leg- it had fallen out of the stirrup and I guess was hanging at an awkward angle. Of course I couldn't feel it because of the epidural. When I told the nurses later what I had thought they got tickled. :)

My mom and sister ended up being in the room for the delivery. My sister had mentioned several times that she would stay in there to take pictures if I wanted her to {because I constantly complain that we have none from C's birth b/c John was so in and overwhelmed by the moment- and I don't blame him- to be able to have gotten good pics}, but I couldn't decide if I wanted anyone else in there besides John and me. It's just such a sacred and special time, and I loved it being just the two of us with C. So I told Chris it would just have to be a game-time decision. She and my mom ended up being in the room for most of my labor, and everything happened so fast prior to delivery that I told them they could stay if they wanted. And I'm glad I did because, besides sharing such a special moment with them, we also have some good pictures! :)

Happy birth day, sweet girl!

sweet Daddy

holding Daddy's finger

first time holding my sweet girl

in come the grandparents

sweet hugs from Uncle Craig

It was a wonderful day and I really can't put into words all of the emotions I felt. I am just so incredibly grateful for a safe delivery and a healthy baby girl! More posts to come with hospital pics, sisters meeting, our first days at home, etc.