Emilia's Birth Story

I've been too busy spoiling my baby to post!! :)

I went in on Wednesday, May 16th to start the induction process. It was a great feeling knowing that when I left the hospital this time, it would be with a baby! Around 7, the nurse inserted the cervadil and I started contracting pretty much right away. It was like a really bad crampy feeling, and it kept getting worse and worse. My mom and dh were there and they tried to keep my mind off the pain, but it was pretty intense. When my doctor came to check up on me, she said I might go into labor with the cervadil alone and not need the Pitocin. She told dh to stay the night, and said I would probably have the baby by 3 or 4 in the morning! YAHOO!! She also ordered Stadol for me so I could sleep. It helped so much! I felt relief immediatedly.

I woke up sporadically in the middle of the night, kind of nervous, kind of from pain... I got some more stadol and the nurse checked me again. I had gone from a 2 to a 3. At about 6, I woke up and threw up. So attractive! Poor dh had to clean me up and listen to me gagging. At 7, they started the Pitocin.

After the Pitocin, things started to happen fast. I had major contractions, and don't really remember much. I know the doctor broke my water and said it was like an ocean of amniotic fluid. Shortly after that, I went to a 5 and got my epidural. That was a lot less painful than I thought it would be. About an hour later, I was a 9, and 15 minutes later, the nurse was in a panic, calling the doctor, telling her I was going to have this baby in about 10 minutes. That was at 1. I pushed and pushed, and actually fell asleep between contractions. I was so out of it. I remember thinking, "why don't they just pull her out?" After about an hour and 45 minutes, Emilia arrived, crying and perfect. They put her on my chest, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!

While the nurse was assessing the baby, the doctor was concerned about my placenta, which had stuck inside of me. I wasn't worried, until about 10 minutes later when she was still working on me and they wouldn't let me hold the baby. By this time, I was again falling asleep and really feeling strange. The doctor said they would have to take me to the OR and possible do a D&C. I thought, whatever, just do what you have to do and let me back here. I figured I'd be gone an hour or so. Not so... I lost about a liter of blood and had to have a blood transfusion. To be "safe" I had to spend the night at the ICU. My whole family was with my baby, and I was down in the bowels of the hospital.

A L&D nurse brought me some pictures, and I just sobbed. I had waited so long, and it would be another night before I could see her. They finally let dh come and see me, and then they let my family stop by. I tried not to cry, even though I really wanted to...

FINALLY at 11:30 the next morning, I got to hold my little girl. I checked out her fingers and toes and her adorable face. She looks just like dh! I tried to nurse, but since I had the transfusion, I was about a day behind in my milk. The nurse had me bf, but also put a feeding tube in her mouth so I could supplement with formula.

She is doing really great now. She bfs like a champ, and has already smiled at me and dh. She wakes up twice at night, but otherwise sleeps pretty well.

Everyone has been asking me if it was worth all of the shots and worry... without hesitation, I tell them YES!