I think I have been slacking lately. I just can't bring myself to start really getting ready for this baby to come. We're full-term and baby boy could arrive any day. I am so excited for his arrival, but it's bitter-sweet. No longer is Reegan going to be the baby and now she is going to have to share the attention with someone else. I truly believe that we are giving her a gift by giving her a brother, I see the joy on her face when we see others' new babies and the love she gives her dolls and the dogs, and us. But I sometimes fear that she is going to have to grow up too soon. Oh well, no turning back now :)
With the arrival of this one coming any day and I've been thinking about Reegan's birth. I thought since I've been through this all once before that I wouldn't be nervous, but I was wrong. I think I am more nervous this time around. I did realize that I never posted about Reegan's birth, many of you have heard it, but since I have every intention of one day making this blog a book, so I need to get this written down. I will start by saying, I did have Jason read over this and make necessary changes, his memory of this early morning is much better than mine (you'll be reminded why shortly).
Tuesday, February 9th I went to the doctor for a check-up (due date was Feb 12) and my weekly ultrasound. During the ultrasound they found that the amniotic fluid levels had dropped by 50% since the week before, so they thought it was best to induce. I also was not dilated at all. I went to the hospital on Wednesday, February 10 at 8pm. I was given the first dose of a medication to help my body prepare for the pitocin the next morning around 9 pm. The nurse told me the doctor had prescribed ambien and she recomended taking it so I could get some sleep before my busy morning. At midnight she came in with the second dose and at this time I agreed to take the
TWO ambien she brought me because I had started feeling some contractions. They were very light and not yet painful, so I thought it would be good to get some rest.
This is where everything is fuzzy in my memory. I woke up around 2am to go to the bathroom. I unplugged myself from the monitor (the nurse had shown me how to do this earlier in the evening, so I wasn't breaking any rules :) I have been told that I was in the bathroom for a long time so Jason came to check on me. I guess I told him that when I stand up I pee, so he just told me to sit down until I was done peeing. Makes sense, right? The nurse then came in to check on me since I had been off the monitor for so long and when I told her that I was peeing everytime I stood up, she told us that my water broke. So, I headed back to bed. I don't remember much from the next couple of hours, never again will I take ambien. I do remember my contractions getting stronger and at one point, not sure if I requested the epidural or if Jason did :) they hung some fluids that couldn't run fast enough. Before the epidural they checked me again and I was a 2. I was in a ton of pain and couldn't believe that I was only a 2. I remember asking over and over if we should call our parent. "Oh no, you have hours to go" I was told. I got the epidural at 3:30am. After the epidural for some reason I was checked again and this time was dilated to a 9! So in 20ish minutes I went from a 2 to a 9. The nurse ran off to call the doctor who happened to already be on his way because there was another lady down the hall who was getting close to delivering her baby as well. At some point the doctor stuck his head in the room, said hello and went to deliever the other baby, I was told to hold on and not to push until he returned. No problem, I had the epidural and was feeling good. After delivering the other baby, my Dr. stuck his head in again, asked how I doing, and said "good, I'm going to get a cup of coffee". I had no idea what this meant, where was he going to get a cup of coffee? When was he going to return? They told me I was complete, but now I'm just going to sit here for a while? He actually just grabbed a small cup from the nurse's station and was back in less than a minute. He took a couple sips while he was updated on what had happened with me and then was gowned up and ready to go.
I pushed 3 times and Reegan Noelle was born at 4:21 am. I do not credit myself for being an amazing pusher, it was all her. For most of my ultrasounds, I was told how low she was and how she was in ready position. She was ready to enter the world! The next few hours were wonderful. Our families where both there to share in our joy and we spent the early morning hours just relaxing and celebrating. We were tired and when everyone headed home, we were able to take a nap, all 3 of us.
I talked about it with my doctor this past appointment and he reminded me that once I start having regular contractions that I need to come in right away and not wait too long at home, otherwise I could be the lady on the news who had her baby in the car. I often wonder if this baby has different plans for me. I may fool everyone and end up in labor for 36 hours or something crazy like that.
One thing I know for sure, no ambien for me! I want to remember every detail and not have to rely on Jason to tell me what happened. We will see, I am nervous, but looking forward to it!
