Gracie Lynn

I was going back and forth with whether I really wanted to be induced or not.  I guess I felt weird at first about forcing something to happen instead of waiting for it but in the end, I decided having a chance to plan and make arrangements was totally worth it.  So glad I did.

So June 13th was the big day!  I hardly slept the night before and was up and ready to go at 6:00 am.  I waited and waited and kept checking my phone to make sure I hadn't missed the call from the hospital.  My mom came out and they finally called about 9:45 asking if we could be there in 30 minutes.  I was so nervous but so excited also.  

We calmly walked in and checked in to Labor and Delivery and made ourselves comfortable.  A far cry from Jackson's birth...let me tell you.  

Much happier this time!

My doctor was the doctor on call that day so I knew we'd have to be patient and would not get things going as soon as we walked in.  The nurses were great and started me on a very low dose of pitocin.  They didn't want me to start anything serious because the anesthesiologist was busy with two back to back c-sections and I was VERY clear that I wanted an epidural before the pain kicked in.  We hung out like that for a couple of hours.  The anesthesiologist came down and got my epidural in before any real pain started.  But after he left and the numbness started to spread, I noticed it was much stronger on my left side than my right.  I didn't think it was a problem until my doctor broke my water and the intense contractions started.  My blood pressure was dropping and the alarm kept going off on the machine (which happens every time I have a baby) so they had me turn on my side to help with that.  I was feeling serious pain from the contractions and was not happy about it.  AHH!  Finally, they had me turn onto the opposite side just as they were becoming unbearable and that helped the epidural work better on the other side and then I was a happy camper.  

They kept losing the baby's heartbeat with the monitor because she was moving so much.  Finally, the nurse was searching and searching and couldn't believe how low the baby was when she finally found the heartbeat again.  She asked me when I was checked last and I said when the doctor broke my water an hour ago and I was still at 3 cm.  She checked again and said I was a 10.  Let's have a baby!  She paged my doctor and we were ready to go.  Apparently once that water breaks, I dilate pretty dang fast. 

They got the room ready and my doctor came right down.  I pushed about 4 1/2 times and she was out!  I couldn't believe how easy it was.  She arrived beautifully - crying, peeing, and had a head full of dark hair.  She's perfect.

8 pounds 1 ounce, 21 inches, 4:01 pm.

My recovery has been amazing.  I guess over a pound less and a few centimeters smaller of a head make that big of a difference.  They needed the baby to stay at the hospital at least 48 hours since I was GBS positive and they wanted to make sure she was okay.  She was doing great so we got out of there as soon as we could on Saturday.

It has been really special having a newborn again.  There is nothing like snuggling and loving a new baby.  It's been a long time.  None of us can get enough of her.  

Feeling extremely blessed!