The Labor Story

Since many have asked, I thought I'd post about the events leading up to Emma's delivery. I apologize in advance for the length, but since this is for posterity, I'm giving the full account. :) First of all, I stated previously that we decided to induce since it was Kurt's Spring Break. Originally we were going to induce on Monday, the 15th, but due to an epidemic of delivering women, there was no room at the hospital. So my doctor told me to hope for Tuesday. After impatiently waiting Tuesday morning for the call saying they had room for me, I finally called the hospital around noon to see if they'd forgotten about me. The nurse told me they did have room for me and would call "within the hour" for me to come in. Well, she finally called back an entire hour and fifteen minutes later (but hey, who's counting) to tell me to come in. Kurt and I left Naomi in a neighbor's care and we headed off to the hospital. We got there around 1:45 and I was settled into my room by 2 pm. The doctor broke my water and started me on Pitocin. They checked my cervix and told me I was dilated to a 3 1/2 (out of 10), which I found encouraging, since I was only a 2 1/2 the day before. My doctor told me previously that it on average, it takes an hour per centimeter to get fully dilated on Pitocin, so I prepared myself for 8 or so hours of contractions. I decided not to get an epidural right away, but that wasn't a big deal, since my contractions didn't start for half an hour, and when they did start, they didn't really hurt. Kurt and I brought some movies to watch while we waited, but I really wasn't in the mood for watching a movie. I hope Kurt didn't feel too left out because I ended up talking to my labor and delivery nurses pretty much the whole time while he did stuff online (we brought our laptop to the hospital). Two hours of contractions went by before they started to get painful. By this time it was about 4:30. I decided it was time to get my epidural. The resident OB/GYN came in to check how far I was dilated and informed me I was only a 4! I thought, oh, great. I'm going to be here forever. But they still let me get my epidural, thank goodness. I felt a little like a woose for getting an epidural while only dilated to a 4, but hey, why endure pain if you don't have to? The nurse went to get the anesthesiologist, who turned out to be a guy from our ward (church). He asked me if I wanted someone else to do my epidural, but I was in enough pain that I didn't really care. Between all the questions and tests the anesthesiologists have to do, it was nearly 6 before my epidural was in. But after it was in, I felt great. The nurses commented on how it was the perfect epidural. I could still feel the pressure of the contractions and move my legs, but I couldn't feel the pain of the contractions. Around 8 PM the resident OB came in to check how far I was dilated. I figured I was an 8 at best, but to our surprise, I was a 10! I remember thinking how surreal it was that I was about to push my baby out and see her for the first time. It seemed too good to be true. My normal OB doctor wasn't in the room, but they decided I should start pushing to get an idea how long it would take for the baby to come out. But after one push, our little one was already crowning (her head was showing), so they ran to get the OB, telling me to resist the urge to push. After the OB came in, it took about four contractions and little Emma was born! I couldn't help but cry when they put my little baby on my chest for the first time. She was so beautiful and I was so happy she was finally here. Since I pushed her out in only ten minutes, she didn't even have the conehead a lot of newborns get. She was healthy from the very beginning, and Kurt even got to cut her umbilical cord. As for me, the doctor told me I did tear a little, but it was only a first degree tear along my healed episiotomy from when Naomi was born. I've heard people say that second babies come much easier than first, and I have to say I agree. Six and a half hours total with Emma compared to 19 hours with Naomi and out in ten minutes of pushing as opposed to pushing an hour and a half. Much easier the second time around. But we're glad to have both girls in our family and hope they can be good friends. And that's the story of how little Emma came into the world.