Charlotte's Birth Story

I was scheduled to go in for my second induction on Thursday, August 23rd at 5pm.  The hospital called and postponed my induction because they were booked.  I guess all those Thanksgiving babies decided to make their appearance that same weekend.  I sat by the phone all weekend waiting to get rescheduled - literally jumping every time my phone rang.  We finally received the call Sunday at 5pm to head in for a 7pm induction.  I was so excited!  I hopped in the shower and got ready to head to the hospital.  I probably should have used that time napping but oh well.  We arrived at the hospital and they said all they had available was a triage bed.  I was not too happy to spend the next zillion hours being induced in triage but what can you do - They got me set up and checked out.  At this point I was 80% effaced and almost 3 cm dilated.  The OB started me on miso.  A pill taken orally to help move things along.  I was only in triage for an hour or two.  They were thankfully able to get me into a labor room.  I took the first pill around 9pm - they told me it could take up to four pills every 6 hours apart to get things going.  I was ready to be in there for the long haul.  I didn't feel like the pill was doing much.  We actually chilled and watched Breaking Bad and then I fell asleep for an hour or so.  Just after midnight I felt this pop and a gush...my water broke.  That really got things moving.  The contractions started in full force and I was progressing quickly.  At 3:30am I was begging for an epidural.  At that point I was 5 cm dilated and in a the epidural was wonderful!  I didn't even notice it being placed - I was concentrating on my contractions too much to notice.  The epidural seemed to slow things down a bit but I didn't mind. 

I ended up throwing up a few times and each time I did it would push Charlotte further down but she did not react well at all to it. The first time I threw up we lost her heart beat on the monitor.  All the nurses came running into the room and scared the hell out of me.  They flipped me from side to side and put oxygen on me to get Charlotte's heart rate back up. Apparently the action of throwing up was causing Charlotte to shift and pinch her cord. Each time this happened she would bounced back once they repositioned me.  As I would lay on one side my epidural wouldn't be effective on the other side so I would feel my contractions in half my body.  I would ask to be repositioned but Charlotte was only liking me laying on one side.  I kept hitting my button to get more of the epidural but it was only making the one side extra numb. 

Around 2:00pm the nurse had me start pushing.  I never felt that urge to push but once I started she was happy with my progress.  I pushed for half and hour and Charlotte was born!  The nurses kept telling me that I was an expert pusher...I'm sure they say that to all the ladies!  My epidural had worn off enough that I could move my legs and feel a bit of what was going on.  It was an amazing experience.  They laid her on my chest when she came out an I was able to spend 10 minutes or so with her.  Hubby got to cut the cord!  Charlotte received an 8 and then a 9 on her apgar score and took to breast feeding immediately. 

We were on cloud nine.  All her grandparents were in the waiting room.  They came in and got to meet our angel!  Sorry this post is so choppy  -  I need sleep!  More pictures soon!