Special Delivery

GRATEFUL: In all the excitement I have forgotten to post my grateful thoughts but hope it is pretty obvious that I am most grateful right now for my beautiful family of four.....oh, and that the labor part of this experience is over and I can focus on just being anxious about the next 18 years.



This is one of those posts that is purely for my own records so feel no obligation to read.



We went into the hospital Thursday morning at 6:45 after dropping Noah off at his friends house to play(Thank you Jennifer Tatton for taking good care of our little one so we were not worried!) I was a wreck dropping him off and very emotional. For weeks now we have been praying for good nurses and a good anesthesiologist. When we arrived we had an AMAZING nurse named Jane. She was so kind and thoughtful and chatted away with us which was very comforting. We also has a cute student nurse assisting Jane and this was to be her first vaginal delivery. No one asked if I was ok with this but I figure all modesty is out the door when having a baby right? Jane placed my IV which was a little tender and made a small air pocket in my wrist. By 8 she started me on a very low dose of pitocin. Within five minutes I started contracting really long and hard and all of a sudden several nurses were there, my Dr. arrived and we were told her heart rate had dropped from 140 bpm to 80! They gave me a quick shot to relax all my muscles, turned off the pitocin and the Dr. Announced that if this didn't help we would have to rush for a c-section. I was terrified and so shocked. Luckily the shot rapidly helped and her heart rate went back up. We now know that the cord was a round her little head and pushing up against my stomach while I was contracting cutting off her oxygen. They decided to just break my water and let me progress naturally. I immediately asked for an epidural knowing I wanted one. Remember we had been praying for a good anesthesiologist? Well, we will be more specific next time and clarify on the first try rather than the third! Dr. Patel came in and proceeded to give me an epidural that took Forever to get in. Every anesthesiologist I have seen (4 now) has commented on how compact my spine is and difficult it is to find a space in it. I felt this epidural a lot compared to Noah but assumed I was in more pain with Noah when I got it before. From the beginning I told them my right side was much less numb than the left but not painful. After a few hours the while right side was very painful and I asked for the Dr. to come back. A new one came and experimented a little with my dosage and said it should take and not wear off. Well, about 45 minutes later I was in excruciating pain and begging for the Dr. again. At this point I was dilated to a 7 and they said the baby would come in the next 2-3 hours. The third Dr. came in a re did the entire epidural and announced that the other one was not inserted! Meanwhile he is giving me my epidural while I was transitioning to push.....not good timing! I had gone from a 7 to a 10 in about 30 minutes. However I was so relaxed after the epidural and felt no pain at all so I really enjoyed the actual delivery. My amazing Dr. came in and walked me through a few pushes. I could feel no contractions so Jane helped my timing . They offered for me to have a mirror to watch the progression and I thought that would be pretty cool. It was totally motivating to be able to see her cute little head! Dr. Benezra was so relaxed and as I was pushing would get really excited and shout isn't this amazing! I loved that because he sees it every day but was still sharing in our personal little miracle. After her head was out he commented that he would tell a joke and see of we could get this baby out and I chuckled and out she came! I was so happy that I was able to be so clear, pain free and calm through the 35 minuted process. With Noah the delivery was so not at all that pleasant! I am so grateful for a good experience and to have been surrounded by positive people as we made our transition to a family of four. She is simply amazing and we are truly blessed in every way!