Faith, Trust, & Pixie Dust: Raley's Birth Story

Me, being the OCD person I am, had already packed all our bags like 2 weeks before. The nursery was perfect and everything was EXACTLY where it needed to be. So all I had to do all day was sit back, watch some TV and "relax." I tried. I really did. But I was so ready to meet this little girl I had been perfecting for 9 months that it was all I could think about. It was really weird to think that we had spent our last night at home alone. The next time we came home we would have a tiny little human with us!

Finally it came time to head to the hospital. We checked in and they got me hooked up to the monitor. When I came in I was only 1 cm dilated. They started me on cytotec to help jump start the process. Now, at 9 months pregnant it was difficult enough to sleep in my own comfy bed...it was near impossible to sleep in that tiny hard hospital bed. Especially with monitors attached to your belly all night. And every time you move or get up to go to the bathroom (which is alot) they move and the poor nurse has to come in and fix it. I only got a couple hours sleep all night.

One time early the next morning when I got up to go to the bathroom my water broke. I can't remember if it was before or after the Pitocin was started. But after my water broke (and especially after they started the pitocin) the contractions started getting MUCH worse. And they were radiating into my back. I really think the back pain was worse than the uterine contractions. I didn't really want to take any pain medication before I got my epidural but I ended up getting a dose of Stadol. Which I did not like AT ALL! It instantly made me feel drunk and didn't do anything for the pain. The only good thing it did was make me sleepy so at least I wasn't hurting if I was sleeping. I still think I only slept for like an hour after taking it though.

Around 8 am my doctor came in to make rounds. At that time I was still only 2 cm. Shortly after that I finally got my epidural and I was a happy camper! My sister says I was grumpy before I got my epidural so they were all glad when I finally got it. I didn't know I was being grumpy....but those contractions hurt like heck!

Shortly after I got my epidural they checked again to see how far along I was. I was already 9.5 cm! I was almost there but not quite. So they put a pillow under one side of my back to "wedge" me to try and get her to move downward a little more and finish dilating. I think I stayed like this for about an hour and then it was time to start pushing! The nurse that labored me, Hannah, was so awesome! She made the whole labor process so calm and pleasant. It was nothing like you see on TV! I pushed for almost an hour and finally at 11:35am our sweet little one entered the world!

The first thing they did was lay her on my chest, which was one of the happiest moments of my life. The flood of emotions that comes over you the first time you hold your newborn baby is a feeling like no other. She was so pale and covered in blood and poop but she was already so beautiful. David got to help the nurses give her her first bath. He said that as they were giving her bath he could see her pink up and her head started to take a normal shape (weird!) He took a ton of pictures with my camera but unfortunately, somehow my camera malfunctioned and didn't save any of the pictures of her first bath. So we don't have any of those initial pictures that all parents have of their bloody newborn laying on the scale when they still kinda look funny... I was a little upset about that but what can you do?

We were so blessed to have our whole family there. She was loved by so many people from the moment she took her first breath. And now our perfect little girl will be 1 tomorrow! It's funny how September 24, 2013 feels like yesterday but at the time it felt like it lasted a year!