Hi all!
Well, after much waiting little Reese Caroline was born on February 8th at 6:14pm. She was 8lbs 4oz and 20 inches long. The last week before she was born was a little crazy and stressful but worth it.
I was put on bed rest the Thursday before she was born, Feb 3rd because of my blood pressure creeping up and an increase in swelling. That night I had to call the on call doctor because I woke up and my face was huge. I looked like an extra from the Nutty Professor. So that morning I had to go back to see my midwife and they found my blood pressure was higher than the day before so they admitted me to start an induction. I called Carl around 11:30 and said, "don't come home to make me lunch, meet me at the hospital, we're having this baby." Carl went home and grabbed our suitcases and I called our parents. When I got there they hooked me up to a fetal monitor and started taking vital signs and my blood pressure went down. They watched me all afternoon and sent me home around 7pm!!
So, I was on strict bed rest the whole weekend and told to report Sunday afternoon to be admitted and we would be induced Monday am. It was crazy laying on the couch all weekend knowing she would be here in a few days and my to do list wasn't done. That was hard.
My mom came in Sunday afternoon and we all took off for East Cooper. Sunday night was uneventful, Carl watched the Super Bowl from a hospital room and I tried to rest. The next morning there was no progress from the medicine I got Sunday night but they put me on a pitocin drip to start the labor. I had contractions all morning and afternoon and had Carl right there with me to help me with my breathing and relaxation. Around 3pm, I was checked and no progress. I'll spare you all the details but they inserted a foley catheter into my cervix to help it dilate. Way worse pain than the contractions. I got more medicine to help my cervix progress and a dose of pain meds and we waited.
The next morning Carl and I decided if there was no progress we would do a C-Section, I couldn't stand much more pain but we were in luck, I was 4 centimeters! We started the pitocin drip back up and I sat in the chair for a while. My contractions were in my back and it was so sore from the day before, after a few hours I threw in the towel and asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist told me I was in luck, that he liked putting epidurals in tall women and the whole thing went smoothly. I was scared to death of a needle stick in my spine but barely felt anything.
After that I rested and slept a little, my nurse turned me from side to side and put me in funny positions to help me dilate. And I did! We did have some hiccups, I dilated so quickly Reese's heart rate dropped to 62 and my nurse and midwife came running in dropped my head, put me on oxygen, flipped me to my left. I was scared, being a nurse and responding to emergencies I could tell something was wrong. Her heart rate picked back up pretty quickly and didn't drop again. I ended up having the epidural turned down because I was way too numb and shivering like a mad man. I'm glad I did, she was born a little while later and it made pushing much easier. I pushed for about 45 minutes and she was out! They put her to my chest and suctioned her mouth and nose. She didn't cry right away and those first 30 seconds seemed like an eternity.
Also, I heard my midwife tell the nurse under her breath, "oh my gosh, look at this, her cord is tied in a perfect knot." YES, you read that right, a knot! Who knows how long it was like that, she was super active in my belly but how did she do that?? It was pretty tight too, of course not so tight her blood supply was cut off but tight and my heart skipped about 10 beats seeing it.
I still can't wrap my head around everything and will probably edit this post a bunch when I think of things I forgot. Seeing her for the first time was so emotional, it had been a long road and we waited a long time for her. I even had to block everything out, even the baby when I was pushing or I would have lost it. She was so beautiful and of course still is. I knew she would look like Carl and she does! It's ok though, I like the way he looks. She was in the room with us for about and hour and then went for her bath and to be checked out.
I have to stop writing soon, we need to eat dinner but I have to put how great Carl was. He never once left my side. He was so patient and helpful. I feel so lucky to be married to him and to have him as my little girl's dad. He has stayed great too, since we have been home he has helped me with her so much. I was so tired from 2 days of labor and our first night home was sleepless, he had way more patience than me and did so much. He was either with her or with me. My mom was here the whole time too and we would have drowned without her.
