Hello everyone! Gabrielle Rose Green (Gabby) is 4 weeks old today so I thought it would be a good idea to finally update this thing. This post is about the labor and delivery. I will post more later about our first month with her as well as her newborn photos. Enjoy!
Most of you know that I was scheduled to be induced on April 19. Gabby's due date was April 13 but I guess she just didn't want to come out yet, even though I was sooo ready for her to come. So the induction was scheduled for April 19 at 6am-the butt crack of dawn in my opinion. I decided the night before that I wanted to go in looking my best so I set my alarm for 4:45am to do my hair and makeup. My body woke me up at 4:27am. Even though it was a little early, I decided to go ahead and get up. So I sat up in bed...
"Wait, did I just wet myself? I just went to the bathroom a couple hours ago. Surely I didn't have to go that bad..."
So I got out of bed and smelled the sheets just to be safe. I DEFINITELY did not wet myself...my water broke. I was really stunned, but of course my water would break the same morning I was scheduled to be induced. Why would it break before then? Tony was already up getting ready in the bathroom. I went in and said,
"Um, we need to go to the hospital now."
"Why?"
"Because my water just broke."
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure I didn't pee my pants hun. Hurry because we need to go now."
So he finished getting his stuff together and we went to the hospital a little early.
Even though my water broke, Dr. White told the nurse to go ahead and give me pitocin (the drug they use to induce labor). I didn't really agree with that decision because it meant I couldn't leave my room, but I had to follow doctor's orders. As you may know, I made the decision to have a natural labor. After we were admitted and in the room the anesthesiologist came in and I pretty much told him he was wasting his time with me and he needed to leave. He suggested I go ahead and sign the release form to receive an epidural just in case I chose to get one because it had to be signed before he can administer it and I may not be in the mood to sign it in the moment. I confidently told him,
"I'm not getting an epidural so there's no need for me to sign it."
He kinda laughed it off, wished me luck and left the room.
When we were admitted I was only dilated 1cm, which came as no surprise because I had been 1cm for over a month at that point. I had some contractions before Dr. White got there at 8am to check me. They were painful, but nothing I couldn't handle. Then after the doctor exahmined me, I immediately jumped to 5cm-I guess he has magic hands or something. Almost instantly the contractions got way worse. They were so intense and lasted a lot longer than the previous ones. I was crying they hurt so bad. Dr. White offered the option of an epidural, but I was still against it. He then offered IV pain medication-demoral. He said it would help take the edge off. I was concerned it still wouldn't be considered a natural birth with IV meds. Dr. White said it was completely up to me. I really like that he didn't pressure me into anything. He was always willing to do what I wanted. I decided to go ahead with the IV medication. In my head, it was still a natural labor as long as I didn't have the epidural. So as I said, Dr. White said the demoral would take the edge off. HA! What a crock! What a waste of money! That thing did jack squat! No edge was taken off there!
So after a few hours of labor, I think it was around 9am or so, Tony finally suggested again that I ge the epidural. I was in so much pain and I think it hurt him to see me like that. I finally agreed. Women who have had children say there is no way to describe the pain of a contraction. Dr. White said they would feel like menstrual cramps, but intensified. I guess that's true but he neglected to say they would be intensified by a million! I am disappointed in myself that I didn't have a natural labor, but now I know my pain tolerance isn't as high as I thought it was. So I told the nurse I wanted the epidural and she said,
"Well, you need to sign the paperwork for it."
"I'll sign whatever you want. Give me the dang paper and get that doctor back in here!"
I couldn't even sign my name straight on the line I was in so much pain. It was a VERY crooked signature LOL. Then of course the anesthesigiolost took his sweet and precious time coming to my rescue. It took him at least 20 minutes to get there. I swear he did that to pay me back for the way I treated him before. When he finally got there he told me to lean over and stay perfectly still so he could insert the IV in my back. My first thought was,
"This guy is nuts! I am in probably the most intense pain anyone has ever felt and he wants me to stay STILL?"
Somehow I sucked it up and he said I did great. Tony let me squeeze his hand and he said he didn't know I could squeeze that hard. LOL. I FINALLY got some relief!
By the time my mother got to the hospital I had already had the epidural. I was passed out, so she didn't get to see any of the action. She got to see me look like this:
Dr. White came back probably around 11:15 or so, did his exam and said,
"Ok, it's time to push."
"Wait, it's time???"
"Yep. It's time."
Then the guy left! He told the nurse to call him when I got close. I didn't know the doctor doesn't stay there the entire time of pushing. They do in the movies! So I pushed and pushed and pushed. I used the mirror so I could see her come out. I know some people think that's gross, but it was so cool and it really motivated me to push hard. I think I pushed for about 20 minutes or so and then the nurse tells me to stop pushing!
"Stop pushing? I can see my daughter's head and you want to me STOP pushing?"
"We need to wait for Dr. White now for the rest."
Somehow I fought the urge to push-miraculously. It probably took Dr. White a good 15-20 minutes to get up to the roomand then it was maybe 5-10 more minutes of pushing and she was here! The nurse said I did really well for my first baby. I only pushed for a total of 35 minutes and I could actually feel Dr. White pull her out of me and that was really cool. I wasn't expecting to feel anything because of the epidural, but I am so glad I did.
Gabrielle Rose Green was born on April 19, 2001 at 12:09pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces and was 19 inches long. She has long fingers and toes-compliments of her daddy.
The hospital stay was more exhausting than I thought it would be. I felt like our room had a revolving door because so many people come in and out from visitors to nurses to technicians to check my blood pressure and temperature.
All in all I think we got pretty darn lucky having such a beautiful baby girl. She is our pride and joy and I just can't get enough of her. We love her so much and we feel truly blessed the Lord has entrusted us with such a sweet spirit.
All of the photos we took right after she was born are either on my phone or Tony's phone, so here is one we took in the post partum room:
And here are 2 the day we went home:
She HATED not being wrapped in a blanket
passed out in the car seat...
