6:30 – I walk to the hospital pushing Mackenzie in the stroller, while my dad tells passerbys I’m about to have a baby.
Scott drives the car to the hospital and walks back to accompany us.
My last-ditch effort to kick start labor on my own fails.
8:15 – Scott leaves to put Mackenzie to bed.
She was so sweet and kissed my belly and gave me lots of hugs before leaving. We’ve never spent more than a few hours apart so this is a big deal to her. I’m glad she came and saw my digs here, because I think it helped.
8:30 – pitocin. They are starting me at a 2 and the plan is to ramp up every 20-30 minutes until my contractions are 2-3 minutes apart.
8:50 – ouch. Scott is on his way back. Doctor is due at 9:30 or 10:00 to break my water.
Pondering starting a movie to distract me.
9:00 – September 12th baby unlikely.
I say 3am. Scott says 3:30am. My dad evidently has learned how to score points and predicts 2:45am.
Stay tuned.
Any guesses on weight or birth time? M was 7lb 14.7oz until she peed on the scale and they docked her a few ozs. 🙂 She cooked exactly a week longer than this baby.
UPDATES
9:45 – My wonderful doctor offered to break my water to speed things along, but my contractions were progressing on their own (well, with pitocin) so I asked to hold off. Dilated to a 4, 80% effaced.
She’s coming back at midnight to check in on me.
10:45 – I just got bumped to an 8 on pitocin and changed nurses. Her parting words? I hope things go fast for you.
Contractions manageable. My dad is doing pushups, texting updates to the left coast and editing photos on his laptop. Scott is reading a book. I’m missing Mackenzie and enjoying each contraction (progress! I’m going to see my baby!)
12:15 – nothing new to report. Same pitocin dosage, nice contractions, waiting for doctor to come check my progress. I’ll go on record predicting I’m a 4 still, maybe a 5. The contractions are so manageable I declined the birthing ball. I need to save something for later, right? 🙂
12:45 – I was a 5 so I opted to have my water broken to speed things up.
It worked.
My contractions became shorter but much more painful. They lasted 30-60 seconds rather than ~90 but I had to stand or be on a birthing ball to cope better.
I kicked my dad to the curb and Scott kept reading for another hour or so.
1:45 – I called Scott into action. I was getting nauseous and felt like there was no break between contractions. I also became super shaky and thought I might be in transition.
2:25 – the nurse checked me and I had decided 7 or below I’d opt for an epidural, 8 and above I’d go for baby.
I was a 7 and was positively begging for a needle in my spine.
3:00 – the official time of the epidural, though it hadn’t kicked in yet.
3:17 – Caitlyn Bean arrived healthy and well.
7:47 – I already feel sooo much better than after M’s birth but I haven’t slept yet. Caitlyn nursed for 45+ minutes around 4 and I cried the whole time. She’ll be back for more shortly and I can’t wait to see her.
Grandpa is home asleep, Scott is here asleep, and all other updates will come after I get my girl to hold again (and maybe some sleep!)
Oh, she is 7lb 3oz and has some hair!
Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement and a special shout out to an amazing husband who saved me when the pain became too much. He’s a fan of epidurals but truly kept his word about supporting me no matter what.