My whole pregnancy I was hoping she would come early since my mom and sister both had their babies come early. As the weeks got closer though, I started getting worried that she would come late. It only worried me because my mom was scheduled to be with us until a week after my due date and then she had to go back to work. I knew I wanted my mom to be here to help us as we transition to having a new baby.
I talked with my doctor about inducing if she hadn't come by my due date. The doctor typically waits until 41 weeks to induce, but after checking and seeing that I was already starting to dilate and progress, he agreed to induce me the day after my due date if I hadn't gone into labor before then. The whole week before that, my sister and her family and my parents were in town and we had a blast (see previous blog post). And like I mentioned there, we were going on walks and doing lunges all week to try and induce labor! Well, the week came and went and everyone had to go home except my mom.
So my due date came...and nothing! The next day we were scheduled to be induced in the evening, so my mom and I spent the day in Park City shopping, eating out and getting pedicures. My doctor explained that they usually start the process with cervical softener in the evening, that way we could rest during the night while my body gets ready for labor, and then they'll start the pitocin (makes you have contractions) in the morning. When we showed up that evening they checked and I was already dilated to a 3, which was great news! I was having some contractions on my own, but they weren't very strong or regular, so they started the Pitocin around 7:30 PM.
Once the Pitocin was started, David and I watched a couple of episodes of Suits and then the contractions started getting painful. I called in my nurse and got an epidural right away, which was the best thing ever! I could still move my legs and wiggle my toes, but didn't feel any pain. They came in a little while later and broke my water and upped the Pitocin to increase my contractions. It was around 1:30 AM at this point, I was dilated to a 5, and I tried to catch a little sleep.
About 45 minutes later my contractions were getting painful again and I was feeling a lot of pressure, so I called to see if I could up the level of my epidural (I was already hitting the button for a redose as often as possible). The anesthesiologist came in and upped it, but the nurse thought she'd check to see if I had progressed at all. She checked and I was dilated to a 9 1/2 and her head was very low...meaning I was just about ready to push!
The doctor was called in and I started pushing around 2:45 AM. Alice was born at 3:29 AM. Even though I asked them to wipe her off before giving her to me, they definitely didn't do that. She was bloody but we were so overwhelmed with emotion it all seemed kind of surreal. Luckily my mom was able to be there during the birth and took some great pictures to capture the experience. Thank you, mom!!
The next few hours were emotionally and physically exhausting as we attempted to figure out the whole breastfeeding thing and how to console our daughter. She screamed for what seemed to be 4 hours after being delivered and I was so exhausted all I could do was sob. I'm pretty sure the nurses thought I was crazy that first little bit. As far as the labor and delivery went, that was the easy part. The most challenging was figuring out how to feed her and keep her happy. The induction ended up being great, it would have just been better if it had started in the morning ;) Luckily, they took her to the nursery for a few hours so we could sleep. It was the best thing ever because we slept, she finally slept, and we all got a fresh start later that morning. Ever since then she has been so easy and sweet (for the most part), but we will never forget those first few hours of being parents. David and I were pretty worried.
The last few weeks of being a parent gives me so much respect for all the parents out there, and especially my own parents- thank you!! It is a lot of work, and very overwhelming at times, but so rewarding! I just love little Alice so much and I can't wait to see how her life unfolds!
