So, I never really got around to blogging about our hospital experience, but I always like reading this stories, so this is here for whoever is interested. Although, it was pretty routine and planned so I'm not sure it's too exciting. Good think I have a few things to pull from my journal otherwise I wouldn't have very much to say. Ha. (Also, I just realized she is now 41 weeks and 5 days which is 5 days longer outside the womb than inside the womb.)
Like a lot of women, my due date came and went without a baby. My sister-in-law was scheduled to be in town the day of my due date and stayed the weekend and we unfortunately couldn't coax Molly to come. I had been dilated 2-3 cm for the past few weeks and it was hard for me to wait and wait and not have a baby at 40 weeks! My feet were so swollen and painful and I had terrible itching (not cholestasis), so my doctor said I could be induced if I wanted to.
We called the hospital on her due date, Thursday, May 18, and basically they said, "call back in 2 hours" over and over again and finally there were too many women going into labor naturally that they couldn't fit me in. This happened again on Tuesday but finally on Thursday, May 25, when we called I was higher on the priority list since I was a week overdue and they told us to come on in!
Being induced was interesting. I kind of wanted the movie-like labor experience: "oh my gosh, this is happening!" kind of thing, but it was so weird that it was planned and we woke up without a baby but knew we would most likely have a baby before the day was over. Blake and I woke up at 7:00 AM. We both showered, got dressed, hopped in the car and went to Einstein to get some bagels.
This is the last picture I have pregnant. We checked into the hospital at 8 AM and they started me on pitocin. The contractions weren't really bad until my doctor broke my water at noon. I only experienced a few really intense contractions before I got an epidural. It didn't hurt really and it was amazing how quickly I went numb. By the time I was going to lay back down I needed help because I couldn't move my legs.
Once I had my epidural, my nurse checked me every hour and Blake and I watched the season finale of Survivor, Blake worked on homework and I took a nap. It was quite relaxing. Around 7 PM, my nurse said I was just about ready to go and we would just wait for my doctor to arrive. My doctor arrived around 7:30 PM and gave me some coaching on how to push. I was so numb I couldn't feel a thing so it was hard to tell if what I was doing was pushing, but they said I was doing well so I went with it.
Mushy alert**(from my journal): "I remember Blake looking at me so lovingly and telling me I was doing so good. I want to always remember how he looked at me and how proud he looked." That was a great moment.
I pushed for about 20 minutes and Molly was born at 8:11 PM. I was really shaky and emotional after the delivery. I think I was a little bit in shock of what my body had just done. They placed her on my chest for a couple minutes but then took her to check on her irregular heart beat that she had the last few weeks of my pregnancy. When I held her again I was unsure of who this little human was. I'm not sure what I expected her to look like, but I think I was expecting a lot more hair and maybe a little darker complexion.
But within hours, I had bonded with her and knew she was ours and knew that I loved her more than anything. I think now that I've experienced welcoming a child into our family, I will feel more prepared for when we meet baby #2. Both of Blake's parents visited that night and oohed and aahed over her. She is the first granddaughter on the Day side.
I don't think I realized that they kick you out of the huge delivery room and put you in a tiny recovery room, but I remember being exhausted and feeling like I could sleep for hours on end, except they kept waking me to try and feed Molly. I think I then realized that it'd be a while before I got a good night's sleep. Except the bad sleep really started like 3 months before that when you're just getting huge and can't sleep well. (But these days I'm sleeping great except when I have to wake up early to teach the Chinese children English.)
So anyway, that's the story in a nutshell. I think I'll try and post about our trip to China next. Might not happen till next year, but we'll see.
After her first bath
Lifting her head, one day old. She's been a strong girl since Day one.
Going home.
