Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Anna's birth story

Jesse and I left at 8:30pm on Sunday night (12th) to head to the hospital. I was hoping for some contractions or something that weekend, but nothing at all! We had a nice weekend visiting with Jesse's brother and family who were down from South Dakota and I felt really good, especially for being 41 weeks. Apart from the bad morning sickness the first 16 weeks of pg, this has been a great pregnancy.

We arrived at the little hospital (about 20 miles from home) at 9 and got checked in. At 10pm they hooked me up to the pit and checked me for dilation...I was still 2cm. The contractions started coming slowly and I tried to rest. We watched t.v. including the movie "Cool Hand Luke" with Paul Newman on TCM. The contractions kept on picking up through the night and despite being given a dose of benydryl to sleep, I wasn't able to. Jesse got a couple of hours later on but when the contractions started getting really strong I had him help me by applying counter pressure to my back and holding my hand. By about 4AM I asked for some help with the pain as I was having hard time managing the contractions. With the pit I wasn't able to leave the bed and had to use a toilet that they rolled right up to the bed. They had to monitor the baby constantly. She seemed to be tolerating everything okay so far, but I was feeling pretty miserable. They called the anestheiologist (this is a small town hospital so not one on staff at all times) and he arrived about 5am. At this time they checked me again and I was a good 6-7 cm and could tell I was going to be entering transition. I was getting very shaky. He put in the cath and applied the medicine and it slowly began to take effect. The baby seemed to be troubled by the meds and the doctor applied a monitor to her head and broke my water at the same time. Her heartrate stabilized.

I felt better for a couple of hours but about 7 the epi began to wear off and I started to feel the intense contractions and pressure. They decided to let it be so I could feel to push...I sure hoped it would be soon. They checked me and I was 9cm with a lip but feeling an extreme need to push. I was told to breathe through them and they would get the doctor. The pressure would come and go with the contractions and I was having a very hard time. I laid on my side and as soon as the doctor showed up I started to push while she was setting up the stirrups on my bed. One big push later and out came baby's head....she had the cord around her neck so the doctor told me not to push while she cut it. One more push and she was out! I was so thrilled to see that little head and pink face. They took her to clean her up and I finished delivering the placenta. They gave her to me right away after that. I had one small tear that didn't need any stitches but overall felt really good. I am so happy to be holding little Anna and praise God for this new miracle in our family!

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