Well, people always ask me about how my pregnancy and labor went. So, here's the story.
I had a very good pregnancy. I was sick for the first 3 months, but after that I was fine. In fact, I loved being pregnant. Just knowing that there was a baby inside of my tummy made me very happy. I loved feeling the little one kick--except when it kept me up at night. I didn't want to find out the sex of the baby. I thought it would kill me to wait that long, but it was so wonderful to be surprised at the delivery.
Anyway, I thought my labor would be as easy as what my mom had. All of her chidlren were early and she had short labor. Boy, was I wrong!
Every time I had a doctor's appointment the last month, he would say, "No progress. We will see you next week." I begged and pleaded with him to induce me, but he said we needed to wait it out since I hadn't dilated at all. So, I waited.
We went back for another doctor's appointment on November 19. By this time, we were 8 days late. I guess God was trying to teach me patience--something I would definetly need in the future. I wasn't in any pain, I just wanted to see my baby. The anticipation was killing me. The doctor said if I hadn't gone into labor by Sunday, November 25, he would induce me. Well, that just made me cry. I wanted to have my little one before Thanksgiving. I think the doctor felt bad for me, so he told me that we could check into the hospital Thanksgiving night. He said he would start me on cervidil that night and induce me on that Friday morning. That made me happier. Travis was a little upset because he would have to watch the Mississipi State/Ole Miss game from the hospital.
Thanksgiving rolled around. I got up that morning about 3:00 having contractions. I laid in bed until about 5:00. They were getting more regular. They were about 10 minutes apart and intense for about 30 seconds. Travis and I decided to go ahead to Grandpa Bert's as planned and have Thanksgiving with his family. I was in pain at Grandpa Bert's house, but it wasn't unbearable.
We left to go to the hospital at 6:00. When we checked in, they didn't have us down to come in that night. So we waited while they called the doctor. When the nurses got the o.k., they inserted the cervidil to help me start dilating. They said with some people, it throse them right into labor. Well, I must be "some people". This made my contractions come back to back with no time to rest in between. By 9:00, I was in major pain. The nurse said she couldn't pick up strong contractions and that it might just be Braxton-Hicks contractions. WRONG!! This was labor, and I knew it. The nurses said they couldn't give me anything for the pain. My mom finally showed up. The nurse came in again and said she could give me some Tylenol and a sleeping pill. It didn't affect me at all. Mom left to get a good night's sleep and get ready for the next day. I cried all night and Travis slept on the couch. The doctor finally came in about midnight and said I could have a shot of Dermerol. It didn't take any edge off. They gave me another shot at 2:00. It didn't do anything either. At 4:00, I asked what my options were. They checked me again and found I had dilated to 4 cm. HALLELUJAH!! The moment I had waited for--The Epidural. I didn't even feel the needle when it went in. After about 10 minutes, I was in heaven. The epidural was wonderful. They started me on Pitocin to try and speed things up. I called my mom and told her to come on back to the hospital after she got ready. When they checked me at 6:30, I was dilated to 7 cm. Things were moving along quickly. My mom arrived at the hospital to see me in much better shape than what I was in the night before. About 8:00, they said I was dilated to 10 cm and it was time to push. I only had to push through 3 contractions and didn't feel a thing. Miranda Laine arrived at 9:01. When the doctor said, "It's a Girl!", we couldn't have been happier. She weighed 7 lb. 1.1oz. and was 20 inches long. She has been a blessing in our lives. She is a very good baby and hardly ever gets fussy. We thank God every day for such a beautiful and healthy baby. |
