Charlotte's Birth (For those who missed it)

I'm not planning on sweetening this up or condensing so consider yourself warned...

I dropped Robert off at the airport at 11am and ran some errands. My mom got to my house a little after I did. I realized that I seemed to be leaking. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination but decided to call my nurse. She said to go get checked at labor and delivery (at IMC). I didn't really think anything of it but grabbed my purse and decided to run over since my mom was there with the girls.

As I sat on the table waiting for the nurse I was soaking the table and I knew my water was broken. This was about 1pm. The nurse double checked to be sure it was amnionic fluid under the microscope and confirmed and she told me she'd put me in my delivery room. Wait, I can't leave? I would have at least eaten lunch. And finished packing my hospital bag.

At this point I thought they would have to start me on pitocin because my contractions weren't any different than usual. I knew Robert didn't have his layover until 3:50pm so I had to wait to tell him what was going on. The nurses were all great about trying to delay things so I could try to have my husband there. I had to have 4 hours of antibiotic because of a + group B strep test before they would want to start me. So they got started on that but after a couple of hours, around 4pm my contractions were strong enough that I knew they would not have to use pitocin and the baby would come when she wanted- dad or no dad.

I have been planning on having a natural delivery this time but I started to question whether I would be able to. I thought I was going to do most of my laboring at home and things just were not going as I had planned! I got our trusty babysitter Whitney to come take over with the kids so my mom was with me and my nephew stopped by which was a great distraction. I was able to go through a lot of contractions while we were visiting. After Kevin left, the nurse checked me and I had gone from a 3 when I came in to a 6. I think this was around 6pm. Things were getting more painful but I just tried to relax by body as much as I could. Finding out that I had progressed to a 6, I had more confidence that I could go without the epidural. I loved being able to get up and move around or go to the bathroom if I wanted to. Although because I had the i.v. for the antibiotic I still had to deal with that.

I made it to an 8 and then I got in the shower. The nurse just told me not to stay in too long. The shower was so helpful for me. I lied down on my left side and did my rainbow visualizations while my mom rubbed my back until it was time to push. The nurses pretty much had me decide if it was time to call the Dr. because he needed 10 minutes to get there and then I had to tell them when it was time to push. That part was new for me because the 2 times before I couldn't feel the pressure of the contractions telling me it was time.

I pushed for 10 minutes, through 5 contractions. I only know this because I asked the nurse afterwards and she looked on the monitor to tell me exactly how long. If I were guessing I would have said I pushed for an hour- the hardest hour of my life. Seriously, I didn't think I was going to be able to push this baby out. I didn't foresee pushing being the absolute most difficult part for some reason. Maybe because I've heard people say that you want to push when you feel all the pressure. Just before 9pm, Charlotte finally came out they laid her down on me. I could not have been happier. What a miracle! Then the Dr. told Grandma Jill to cut the cord. Way to go Grandma! I thought the hard part was over but delivering the placenta was very intense. The Dr. had to push on my abdomen and the darn thing just seemed to be stuck. They gave Charlotte a quick rinse and did her evaluation while I worked on afterbirthing and getting stitched up (which I didn't even feel with a little local numbing stuff). I was a little worried because she was so quiet but her APGAR scores were 9 and 9 so she was great.

Then it was time for skin to skin for the first feeding. I loved this moment because I felt like she knew I am her mom and I love her. Charlotte was honored then with a special guest...her dad! He thought it was a miracle and he probably thought it was a breeze. We were so grateful for our new, sweet, healthy baby.