Gone Birthin'

I've returned to the world of the walking and living.

 I'm plus one baby. Minus 30 pounds and seriously none the worse for ware.

Birthing Julia was an amazing experience. Vastly different than my first and satsifying in all the ways a mother needs her birthing process to be.

This is where the birth story begins. So if you don't like words like placenta and umbillical cord...I suggest you ooohhh an awww at my beautiful baby and be on your way.

The Birth of Julia Elizabeth - July 10, 2011

Induction day. You would think we would spend the day doting on our first born. Spending time as a family of three for the last time.

But we didn't.

We were waiting for the second moving truck and when it arrived we sweat our way through a truckload of belongings that we didn't really need anyway. We argued about where things were going to go and all the while my belly was humungous, I was DYING of the heat and still pretty sure we were having a boy.

In fact, we didn't prepare ANYTHING for a girl. The ultrasound tech had found the babies gender so quickly during our anatomy scan that we assumed it had to be a boy.

When it was time to leave for the hospital we put dylan down for a nap. I gave him a long, lingering hug and kiss and told him how much I loved him and we went to Atlanta Bread Company for my last meal.

We arrived at the hospital  at 2pm on Saturday  for the "cervical ripening" and got hooked up.

Then they started the Cytotec....and we waited.

I was hooked up with fluids which meant CONSTANT visits to the bathroom. Not so fun when your pubic bones are rubbing together and you've developed sciatic nerve back pain.

And to top it all off I was entering the induction process "unfavorable" at 39 weeks and only 1 cm and 0 effacement.

Contractions started slowly and since we were just sitting around, Craig went home around Dylan's bedtime to put him to sleep.

I watched Teen Mom on MTV to make myself feel better about my life and around 7:30 p.m. I felt my first REAL contraction.

I managed to sleep a couple of hours that night. Despite CONSTANT checkins from the nurse b/c my baby did NOT like being in one position too long. Her heart rate kept dipping after about 2 hours on one side but once I flipped over, she was happy again. We found out why later.

Pitocin was started at 6 am. They even let me shower beforehand. My mom arrived shortly after and we settled in for the "fun to begin"

At 9:00 a.m. I was having to breathe thru the contractions, but I could still laugh and carry on conversation. The doc came in and checked me and I was 1.5 cm and 50% effaced....sooooooo pretty much not very ready to have a baby.

Doc gave me a choice....Break your water now or give Pitocin some time to work and check in later.

I chose to wait. I wanted my body to make it's own decisions, since we were already forcing it to birth a baby too soon.

At 2:30 pm Doc returns. I'm only 2 cm, 70% effaced. She breaks my water and says..."things are going to be intense now."

But I was managing the contractions really well. They were maybe 2-3 mins apart, I had to breathe and focus but I was very on top of them. I told my husband I was imagining a tube of cookie dough being squeezed out....i think I was just hungry, but it worked!

About 30 mins later things got intense. The contractions were seriously painful and felt like my body was exploding from the inside. This is where my husband and mother really stepped up. I felt like I was losing control a bit with each one and they helped me focus on my breathing and get through each and every contraction.

1 hour after she broke my water....I was ready for my epidural. If they had checked me, they would have known I was in transition and almost ready but they didn't and b/c of some missing blood work I didn't get my epidural until about 40 mins later. When it was in and I was feeling more comfortable ( mind you...the epi was JUST starting to work so I could still feel the contractions, just not intensely), they checked me...and I will never forget this b/c the chatty nurse looks me dead and the eye and says...."Oh boy...you're a nine...we need your doctor now"

So frantic calls were made to my doctor and the on call midwife...when I started to feel something different....INTENSE pressure and this primal need to push came over me.

The nurse looked down and said.."Oh my, there's baby" and she calmly  told me to CLOSE MY LEGS and proceeded to tip my bed back so my feet were in the air!!!!

 I had to PANT through those last few contractions to keep from pushing. When my doctor arrived she literally had time to put on her combat gear, open my legs and FOUR MINUTES of pushing later we hear...."It's a girl!"

And I almost passed out from surprise.

Julia was born with the cord wrapped around her neck...two times...hense the heart rate dropping. She needed a little time under the warmer to perk up but within 20 minutes she was nursing and Craig and I were still high on endorphins.

A little girl. 8 pounds 20.5 inches. Born at 5:27 p.m ( just 3 hours after she broke my water)