05.22.07

Birth Story

We got called into the hospital for our induction around 12 a.m. Friday morning. After getting settled, they checked me and I was about a 3+ centimeters when they started the pitocin around 1:30. At first my contractions were all over the place and not very strong. I was hardly feeling things and getting really frustrated until around 5 a.m. when the contractions finally started getting strong and regular. I was feeling really optimistic when I had the nurse check me at around 7 a.m. (plus I was ready for my epidural!), but when she did I was only dilated 4 cm and 60% effaced. This is the point where I really got discouraged and was preparing myself mentally for a long labor. I figured I could at least get some sleep now that I had gotten the epidural. My doctor (who rocks) showed up at about 9 a.m. and decided to break my water. Now I knew I had a lot of amniotic fluid from my last ultrasound, but when she broke my waters, there was so much fluid gushing out that it took 2 minutes and 7 towels to empty all out. There was so much that the doctor was afraid my cord might gush out and get prolapsed so she had to keep her hand there the entire time to hold it in. The great thing about that though (besides my enormous belly shrinking immediately by a third) was that the baby�s head immediately dropped and I went from a 4 to a 6 instantly. About an hour later, I was trying to sleep but the epidural had only taken strong effect on one side so I was still kind of feeling the contractions. All of the sudden, I felt the head right in between my legs and the urge to push (something I never felt with Mason). I let the nurse know and she checked me and I was almost a 10. The doctor came in and 15 minutes of pushing later, baby Quinn was here! 8 lbs (7 lbs, 15.8 ozs exactly), 20 inches, he arrived at 10:52 a.m.

The worst part was getting his head out (I had a lot of scar tissue from my first delivery that didn�t stretch so I was terrified of needing another episiotomy). But the doc used lots of mineral oil and I ended up with just a small tear. This delivery was SO MUCH better than the first experience. I was less tired and felt things more so I was much more in the moment (and more emotional).