Birth Story

So the last that I had left you, I had thought that I may have broken my water on Friday afternoon. I wasn't really sure, as is was more like a trickle than a gush. But it was something. I was either becoming incontinent, or my water had broken.

Dh came home and we called the OB. He was already at the hospital with two other patients, so he had us come on in. I was really expecting him to send us home and tell me that I'm crazy, but after an exam, he confirmed my suspicions. However, I was only dilated a fingertip and barely effaced. It looked like it was going to be a long night and then some.

After a few hours, it was obvious that I was not laboring, and I was only dilated to 2 cm, so my doc ordered Pitocin to start contractions. The nursing staff was busy, and didn't get around to my Pit until 3 am (4 hours after the OB ordered it!). Needless to say, I was uncomfortable and getting grumpier by the minute! Fortunately, I was able to have an epidural started at the same time as the Pit, so I never actually felt contractions.

I slept for a while, as much as I could with the nurse coming in for vitals every 15 -30 minutes.

9 am the next morning, my doc came in to check me again. I was only dilated 4 cm. I was bummed that this was going so slowly, but as long as the epidural was there, I was a pretty good sport. (I highly recommend epidurals!!)

My doc hung out in our room for a while, and he and my dh chatted away about many things that they have in common, med school, NY neighborhoods, etc.

After about an hour, I was feeling some serious pressure during the contractions (not feeling the contractions, seeing them on the monitor). I mentioned this to my doc, and he suspected that the epidural was wearing down. So he thought he'd check me to see what was going on and then call in the anesthesiologist to "top me off." We were surprised to find that I was feeling pressure because I was 9 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Maura was making her way down!

They topped off my epi anyway, waited 30 minutes when I was really feeling pressure, and found I was 10 cm and ready to go!

My doc had been encouraging my dh this entire time to be the one to deliver the baby. My dh declined, as I expect that he was a little nervous and overwhelmed.

So I began pushing with the coaching of my wonderful nurse, Jen, and the encouragement from dh. Halfway through pushing, my dh whispered in my ear that this baby had a full head of dark hair. Tears came to my eyes as everything suddenly became so real. I continued to push for a total of 40 minutes.

We were ready to deliver with the last contraction, and my OB suggested again that dh gown up. Dh gave in! He decided to deliver her after all! With the last few pushes, my OB got her head out, and then coached dh through the rest. He was amazing!

The rest is sort of a big blur to me. I experienced it all through tears. The memories that I have include dh showing me the baby's footprints inked on his scrub shirt, Maura's quivering lip as she cried on my chest, and the overwhelming sense of love for my new family.