And so, after not feeling good about this Dr, I switched to a practice that had midwives. Around 32 weeks along, one of my Drs also mentioned that it was their practice to always induce Moms who were 42 years old at 39 weeks. I did not want to get induced. I didn't like the idea of using drugs to get labor started and I knew that it would make it ten times harder for me to go natural. I knew that I could just stay at home and not go in for my induction date but I did not feel good about that.
I prayed about it and got a clear answer that if we went ahead with the induction, everything would be okay. At that point all my fears and worries melted away and I was ready for this little baby girl to come!
We had an induction date set for Friday, March 6th- five days before a big Conference that Josh was in charge of. They mentioned that the hospital could be full and that we could get turned away but I didn't want to think about that. The morning of the 6th, I got all ready, took Declan to school (who was super excited that his sister was coming that day!) and called the hospital. They were full! No room in the inn. They told me to wait until they called. Josh had taken the day off work and when I told him the news he was disappointed! He didn't like to be left with no certain plans.
We decided to go about our day as usual and when I went to pick Declan up from school, he was surprised that it was me picking him up and not my neighbor like we had planned. No call from the hospital. My friend mentioned that they called her at 2 in the morning 3 weeks later. I didn't want that to happen so I quietly resolved to go in whenever they called. We decided to go on our weekly date- after calling the hospital to make sure they had the right number and even seeing if we could possibly switch to another hospital that had an open bed (we couldn't really). As we picked up cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (one of my favorite places) and took it to the local Riparian Preserve, we had just taken a bite when the hospital called. They had an extra nurse and did we want to come in. I looked at Josh and we both said "yes!" Even though we would be going into labor after a full day of activities and no rest. We told them we would be there in a half an hour and put our mostly uneaten cheesecake away and hurried home to grab our bags and tell the kids. Before heading over, Josh gave me a sweet blessing and I have no idea what it said. I'm pretty sure he said that everything would go perfectly fine.
We drove around the hospital- not remembering where the entrance was- and it felt a bit strange to not be in labor. Also, it was 8 o'clock at night and I felt a little nervousness of having to go into labor after a full day of activities. We checked in and were brought into a small delivery room with a bathroom, a couch and a bed with a bassinet for the baby! Things were about to get real! We answered a lot of questions from a nice nurse who had three kids of her owns and who mentioned she had small hands- not really good for checking labor progress.
I was given a dose of something to start dilating since I was only at a 1 1/2. They were to give me three 4 hour doses- 12 hours! Oh, boy! The nurse hoped it wouldn't take that much. Right away I began to listen to my hyno cds although I was worried that I wouldn't have 12 hours of listening material. That was just a thought.
I changed into the cute robe I bought for the occasion but it was too cold in the hospital and soon changed out of it. I had to be on the monitor for twenty minutes so I spent 40 minutes on the birthing ball and twenty minutes in bed being monitored. Josh helped by putting his hand on my head and saying relax. Labor started at 9 pm and being a 4-5, at around 4 am I asked them to break my water. After 7 hours of labor and breaking my water I was now at a 3 instead of a 4 or 5. I knew I couldn't go for much longer and so I tried for another hour. When I was still only at a 4, I knew that I needed pain relief. I looked at Josh and he agreed.
The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the dreaded but welcome epidural. After a half an hour I was still feeling really strong contractions. The nurse Tami called the anesthesiologist and he said that he had done it right. She was awesome and told him that he hadn't, because I had no relief. She called his supervisor and she came in to give me a second epidural! That was such a challenge! But I did it! Right after that I said that I needed to push. It had only been an hour from when I was at a 5! The epidural still hadn't kicked in and I was at the point that I couldn't do it. Tami was calm and strong and said that I could. I felt the burning ring of fire for the first time but said a prayer and pushed through it. Out she came! Josh said "She's coming!" "Your baby is coming!" and I reached my hands down to feel her head and instead grabbed a slippery, wet body and pulled her to me. The Dr (who was an on call Dr for the weekend) said that I mostly did all the work! The epidural kicked in at that moment and my legs felt a little numb while she did a little repair work.
She was here! Our precious little baby- at 7 lbs 6 ounces 21 inches- a week early. We named her Rosalind Grace and she had strawberry blonde hair and a sweet, sweet disposition. My labor and delivery didn't go like I had planned, but it was even better. I got to help bring her to my chest, I had the help of a saving angel nurse- Tami-and Josh comforted me with the fact that he knew I was doing everything right. She was here and we are all in love!
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