The Thomas Fam: Long awaited arrival!

Long story short... I was induced. It happened really fast. I gave birth naturally. I felt all of it. She was perfect in every way! Now you can skip over all the gory details and look at the pictures. Or feel free to continue reading.

At my 37 week appointment, Dr. J told me that he wouldn't be surprised if my little girl decided to make her grand entrance at any time. Scott and I were a little nervous but mostly excited. However, by the time my due date rolled around and I hadn't progressed any more, I was starting to get anxious and irritated. Dr. J told me that he would induce me whenever I wanted. However, I really wanted to try and give birth naturally and I knew that would be almost impossible if I was induced. So I told him that I would like to wait as long as he would let me in order to give Hadley the opportunity to come out on her own. He didn't mind me waiting but did want me to go twice a week to get an NST (non-stress test) done to make sure that everything was still ok with her. She aced every NST but by a week and a half after my due date I was DONE! I was ready for her to be here and I was tired of hearing everyone say "You're still pregnant?!" or "You haven't had that baby yet?" If they were surprised... imagine how I felt.

I was scheduled to be induced on November 26 at night. That day was filled with many mixed emotions. That day was also my Grandma's funeral. It was a beautiful service and as soon as I got home it was time to get everything ready to go to the hospital. I had a whole bag packed with different things to help me give birth naturally, which I ended up not using any of it because everything happened so fast. I got to shower and get ready before we had to leave. On our way down to LDS Hospital, Scott and I talked about how nervous and excited we were to FINALLY get to meet this little girl that we had spent so many nights talking and wondering about. I had butterflies the whole way there. We checked in at 9:00pm and were shown to our room. We got all settled and I was still dilated to a 2+ and 80% effaced. I was given the first dose of Cytotec, which is a chalk-like pill to be dissolved between gum and cheek. Scott and I put in a movie and got ready for bed. Every 3 hours I got another dose. Meanwhile the contractions were getting slightly stronger but it was all very manageable.

In the morning my nurse was supposed to check and see how much I had dilated. However, Dr. J was on his way to break my water and keep my labor going. She decided not to check me since Dr. J would check my progress when he got there and she didn't want to cause me any unnecessary discomfort. About a half hour after my night nurse gave report to my new nurse (around 7:30am) I got up to go to the bathroom and when I returned to my bed I had a pretty strong contraction. My contractions were getting closer and closer to each other and stronger and stronger. Scott was so supportive and tried to get me to get up and moving and try different positions to relieve some of the pain but standing up was too hard and it hurt more than lying down so I returned to my bed. After half an hour of having contractions coming on top of each other and not even giving me a chance to take a breath in between them, I started doubting my ability to do this naturally for several more hours. Little did I know that I had been in transition and I didn't have even one hour left. I finally gave in and said my code word for an epidural to Scott. We called for my nurse and she came in to hook up my IV and said the anesthesiologist was placing an epidural in someone else and would be there in ten minutes. After seeing how bad I was hurting my nurse decided to check me, I was dilated to an 8 and fully effaced. Surprised, she decided to get the room ready because she thought I would be delivering soon. After hearing I was at an 8 and my doctor still wasn't there yet, I started to get nervous. They told me he was on his way and would be there soon.
As I was screaming my head off, apologizing for saying bad words, and biting my husband's hand (a few times) the nurse asked if I wanted some fentanyl IV to take the edge of. This was the one thing that I absolutely didn't want to do because of potential effects on the baby. However, after denying it a couple times, and in the middle of a really bad contraction she told me it would take the edge off enough so that I would be able to hold still to get an epidural. Needless to say I was vulnerable and agreed to it. As the anesthesiologist, Dr. R, came running in the room and got verbal consent from me to give an epidural (around 8:30am) I started feeling a lot of pressure. I told my nurse that I didn't care what she said I was going to push because that's the only thing that felt good. Dr. R suggested that she check me again because it would change what he would be doing. She checked me again and I was at a 10 and ready to push. After hearing this I asked where Dr. J was because my biggest fear was that he wouldn't be the one to deliver my baby. Luckily he was in the Aves and on his way in. Dr. R gave me a little numbing medicine, but it didn't work! I felt everything and could move my legs. As Dr. J walked in my room I had delivered an intact bag of water which he ended up breaking to control the spray. As I started pushing I wasn't able to breathe very well and Hadley's heart rate spiked. They flipped me on my side and put an oxygen mask on me. I pushed for about 20 minutes during maybe ten contractions and she was here! The cord was wrapped around her neck tight enough that he couldn't slip it over her head. Dr. J shimmied it down her body and flipped her up on my tummy.
There are no words to describe the instant relief I felt and the excitement as I looked at and held my baby for the first time. It's unlike anything I've ever felt before. Dr. J said that I could totally count it as natural birth! So I am!