A baby girl please and an epidural on the side. To go.

Yes, I am still alive. I have been wanting to post all week but things kept coming up (like my mom offering to watch the sweetheart while I take a nap- won't turn that down!) and the only time I seemed to have was at night. I would walk towards the computer but always found myself in bed. I finally have a few minutes to post something while Koby and Kanoba are at church and baby girl (I haven't picked out a nickname for her for this blog yet) is fitfully sleeping. So, here are the gory details of two weekends ago....

Friday: Had a morning appointment at the doctor's office. Still dilated to a 2+ and found out I was only 80% effaced. Good, but not much progress. However, Dr. Parker said my cervix was more favorable. He set up a 9 AM induction for the following day. Wahoo! The plan was for him to do a c-section that morning on another lady, run to a Christmas function he and his wife were in charge of, and run back to the hospital to sit while I labored. It is required that a doctor be present at ALL times during a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I then had a non-stress test and things didn't look too good for a bit, but then girlie girl became more active and we passed the "test" and went home. I started having some irregular contractions all day- most likely from the doctor exam. That evening I decided I was having them quite often and started timing them- for 2 1/2 hrs I had contractions consistently 3 min. apart. I took a bath, walked around, rested, ate food, got things together for the hospital and the contractions stayed consistent. They didn't get more intense, however. I gave the doctor a call and figured I would be going to the hospital. Well, Dr. Parker was at a Christmas function and on the phone with another patient so he didn't call me back. While I was waiting for the call back, my contractions slowed down to 5 min. apart, then they got further apart so I didn't call the doctor back. They stayed about 10 min. apart for the rest of the night and I went to bed.

Saturday: Around 3:30 the next morning the contractions woke me up and they hurt. They were about 6-8 min. apart. At 6:30 I couldn't wait any longer and called the doctor- he said there was no sense in me sitting around and I should go to the hospital. I called my dad and he came over to stay with Kanoba and then Koby and I left for the hospital. By then my contractions were getting even closer together. I think I walked into the hospital a little after 7:00 AM. Of course, my contractions suddenly slowed down. :) I swear there must be a medication in the air of the hospital that slows down the contractions so that the nurses think "yeah sure, you were having contractions.. right......" Dr. P came in immediately, broke my water and hooked me up to an internal monitor for the contractions. At this point I was dilated to a 3 and baby had moved down. My contractions immediately started going every 3 min. I started to have HARD contractions and I was in pain. I am curious how the "breaking of the waters" added to the pain factor. Maybe I am just a big wimp. Regardless, I quickly realized that I was not going to be able to labor un-medicated. Only problem was that the anesthesiologist was currently in the c-section with my doctor. That was fine, I could make it an hour. The c-section ended up being a complicated one and I didn't get to see the anesthesiologist until 9:30! It was a LONG 2 hours while having hard contractions every 2-3 min. apart. I think I made it to about 9:00 when the nurse said that it was still going to be awhile before the epidural came so I was given some Demerol. I had put it off because I didn't want a lot of medication and I knew it could make you nauseated. I didn't want to add throwing up to my list of complaints. I honestly didn't feel a whole lot of pain relief from the Demerol, but it sure helped me relax in between the contractions. And, I didn't get queasy. Yay! My mom and Koby's mom were here the whole time to witness the drama.

I was dilated 4 cm. and got my epidural at around 9:30. As much as I have previously wanted to avoid the epidural, I have to honestly say it was heaven. What more can I say. I was so relaxed and I felt like I could pass out/ sleep. Everyone was encouraging me to take a nap. I told the nurse that I really felt I could pass out. She agreed that I should just "rest" but took my blood pressure anyway. It was super low. :) I really was about to pass out. They did some tweaking with things (I have no idea what, I was just floating on clouds) and I started to feel a little more awake. At 10:30 I was dilated to 6 cm. and at 11:20ish Dr. Parker came in and checked me and I was complete! They set the room up and I pushed for 1/2 hr. and our little angel was born at 11:55 AM. She was very healthy and beautiful! She was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 in. long.

(Giving a little wave hello)

I ended up having to have an episiotomy and that has not been pleasant. I didn't sleep much that night since she wanted to eat every 10 min. The nurses at AF Hospital were wonderful and I had a much nicer experience compared to Timp. Hospital (they were in the middle of a remodel at the time). I left Sunday afternoon after missing the whole crazy snow storm/ scary roads thing.

Now I live in a sleep deprived haze. Baby eats-a-lot is an extremely good nurser and I have been screaming in pain every time she eats- which was all the time at first and has thankfully been reduced to about every 3 hours. She is a cutie and we love her!! I can't believe I am a mother of two. I have a lot more things I could write about but this is plenty long enough for now. Several people have asked about the delivery so I am sorry to bore the rest of you. If you have other questions, I'd be happy to answer them! As for your question April, you can do a VBAC after a c-section if you have a low horizontal incision on your uterus and if your doctor is willing to do a VBAC. A lot of doctors want to just do a c-section because it is faster, "easier" and for liability reasons, among other issues. It is based on your medical history too. There are still a lot of doctors that will do VBACs though! I am very glad I did a VBAC although I honestly didn't mind the c-section of recovery at all either. I'm just happy I had a successful VBAC without Pitocin!