Lillians Birth Story

I figured I better get this written down now, before I'm at home and things get crazy.  It's been nice being in the hospital since Lillians birth actually - no cooking meals, no laundry, no dishes, no nothing except spending time with our new little princess.

Anyway, her birth story goes like this:

We were scheduled to be induced the evening of Wednesday, August 1 at 38 weeks.  So... we decided we'd cater to the Loganator that day and let him choose what he wanted to do that morning.  His choice: the Mall of America.  So, we went to the MOA and rode whatever rides he wanted, then played at Legoland before heading home.  I was incredibly tired that day and left feeling like it was more of a daddy and Logan day and I just trailed along.  No matter where we went, I was constantly searching out the nearest bench to sit on while Randy and Logan played.  Anyway, after the MOA we headed to General Mills headquarters so Randy could attend a quick  meeting while we ran a few errands.  Logan and I finished our errands early so we were just sitting and waiting for him to return.  I had been quite worried that morning, as Lilly was quite quiet that whole morning.  I was constantly trying to pay attention to kicks while telling myself it was just my nerves and to relax, thinking that we were going to be going in to the hospital in just a few hours anyway.  Well, while we were sitting waiting, I decided to do official kick counts thru an app on our ipod.  As I was paying such close attention to kicks (which she passed just fine), I noticed that I was also contracting.  At 4:00 (when Randy's meeting was officially over), I texted Randy inside to tell him that contractions were 2 mins apart and fairly uncomfortable!  He was quite surprised and rushed out so we could rush home, drop of Logan, grab our things, and head back to the hospital.  On the way home, I called the hospital, who told me to come in as soon as we could get there.  I was SO relieved to think we were actually going in on our own, and might not need to be induced after all!

Luckily, when we got home, my mom was already there waiting, so we grabbed our things, kissed Logan goodbye and rushed back into the hospital.  We thought it would be no problem living so far away from the hospital, but it's EVEN FARTHER when you're in Plymouth, have to go home, then back to Edina!

When we got in, they got us hooked up to the monitor.  Sure enough, contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.  I was SO happy too to FINALLY be on a monitor and know that she was doing ok.  They then ordered an ultrasound to see if she was still positioned head down.... and she WAS!!  I literally wanted to hug the sonographer after that news!  We stayed on the NST monitor for awhile and then they told us that they were going to get the delivery cart "just in case", thinking that we might go really quickly, considering that I had already dilated to 3cm.  I was almost giddy thinking that this could really go quickly and the contractions weren't even really bothering me yet.  So we walked, and walked, and walked.  I sat on the birthing ball too, then finally decided to try and take a rest.  Taking a rest wasn't exactly the best idea ever.... when I woke up at 3am, and turned over to look at the monitor, I realized the contractions had become less intense, and became irregular and closer to 5 mins apart.  So we walked, and walked and walked some more as we waited for the next step - Dr. Brown's visit at 7am.  I became cranky, as now I felt that we were starting over, needing pitocin to regulate the contractions and eventually, an epidural. When Dr. Brown came, she broke my water and we started the pitocin.  Not long after, I agreed to the epidural and we stayed at 4 cm FOREVER!  I hadn't eaten in 24 hours and between that and the epidural, I didn't feel so well.  So, I really tried to rest as much as I could. At one point, they woke me and told me that baby's heartrate was dropping with the contractions, and they were going to give me a boost of oxygen....not necessarily what I wanted to hear, but I kept telling myself that if something should happen, we are definitely in the right place.  As a bonus, the oxygen helped with my nausea! 

Anyway, like I said, I was stuck at 4 cm forever!  I was feeling some pressure down low and noted it to the nurse, but thought it was just pressing on some nerves that weren't numbed by the epidural (or so she told me).  Around 10:15, I told the nurse that it was becoming more painful but when she checked me, she said baby's head was still pretty far back and we were still only 4-5 cm.  She said she thought that maybe baby was ready to drop, but just needed to get into the right position so she could drop.  I just kept thinking about the cord and what if it was what was keeping her from dropping.  I started to worry that she was stuck and the only way we'd get her out would be to go in for a c-section.  Around 10:45, Randy had gone to grab a quick early lunch.  The pressure was now pretty intense pain and it felt so much like baby descending.  I waited through some, then called the nurse back telling her that either it's baby or I was going to need some additional pain meds for the pain. She checked and sure enough... we were FINALLY almost fully dilated!!!  We went from 4 cm to 10 cm in maybe a half hour.  I was SO HAPPY!  We were almost there, and the risk of a c-section was now unlikely.  Dr. Brown was called and so we waited until she arrived around 12:00 to get started pushing. 

Two or three pushes later and she was here!!!  Born with the cord loosely around her neck, but born alive!  Seeing (literally - with my eyes) her crying and moving about, was the best feeling in the entire world.  WE did it!!!  I was no longer pregnant!  I could just feel all the worry and anxiety melt away in that moment.