The past 2 nights it seems like she is trying to get herself on a schedule! Hooray for Pratt and I because that means we get a few more uninterrupted hours of sleep! Unfortunately it means though that she stock piles feedings right before she sleeps for the first part of the night. She is feeding at 8pm, 9pm, and then 10pm. There are a few feedings in between there also, so usually over the span of 2 hours she is eating 3-6 times! The great news is she then sleeps from 10pm/10:30pm until 2am/2:30am. She then feeds again and then wakes up at 5am/5:30am. What a glorious schedule! I am so grateful that she is trying to get on this schedule herself and I don't have to push her onto one!
She is also now holding her head up for about 5 minutes at a time and is pushing herself up! I am so proud of the awesome steps she is taking and all the steps she is going to take!
I was told that I should write down the story of her birth, so I don't forget it...Here goes!
Around 4:20pm on August 25th, I was at work and felt like I either peed my pants or my water broke...I went to the restroom and figured out that I hadn't peed my pants, so at 4:29pm I called my doctor and they told me to go to Labor and Delivery. I questioned if I should go because I wasn't having contractions, but they insisted I go! I picked up some work from my desk and told everyone I would see them on Friday and that I had a feeling it was all false! I left work and called Pratt at 4:41pm and told him to cancel the massage I had bought for him to have because I needed him to meet me at Parkview! Luckily he was prepared and had his bag in the car, just in case!
To get from my work to Parkview, I had to take Coliseum Blvd to Clinton and then Clinton to Diebold. I was over halfway to Parview, on Clinton - just past the firestation, through the light, when I started to have a contraction! Boy did it hurt - no one prepared me for the pain! Unfortunately I was behind a guy who was letting everyone pass him and he was driving 10 miles under the speed limit! I honked and honked but all he did was wave to me like I was being a jerk...Little did he know I was in labor! I called Pratt at 4:50pm to talk to him to help take my mind off of being behind the bad driver and to keep my mind off the pains of the contractions. I got to the hospital at 5:09pm and all of their triage rooms were full, so they had to take me back to a regular delivery room. The triage rooms are to check to see if the water had broken and to assess the patient. Good thing they took me straight to a room, because they had me change and then checked how far along I was dialated and I was at 4cm!
At this point my water had broken on its own and I was progressing without any assistance! I begged and begged to take a shower to help relax myself, because I find showers extremely comforting. The 1st nurse tried to start my IV while I was in the shower, but she put the needle in and it started bleeding very bad. She got the 2nd nurse and she tried to also start it, but the other area did the same thing. They called the floor nurse then to start the IV and they were successful! Turns out I have more valves than veins so it was hard for them to get the IV started! I am grateful they didn't keep sticking me, but instead they did the right thing and got help!
At around 6pm my doctor came in to check me and reaffirmed that I was at 4cm still and that usually patients progress 1cm per hour, so we anticipated that if everything went okay Lilly would make her debut early Friday morning. The contractions at this point were so painful the nurse asked me if I wanted some medicine to take the edge off, so they gave me nubain to help. Unfortunately it didn't help with the contraction pain, instead it helped me sleep in between contractions! Around 6:30pm or so the contractions were so painful I requested to have an epidural. The doctor who performed it was extremely nice, especially since I kept calling him Mr. Doctor, instead of his real name! I am petrified of needles so for me to get the epidural was a big deal - thankfully the nubain helped me not feel any of the epidural pain!
Pratt's work called him a couple of times before the epidural and he wasn't able to help them, but it was really funny to see him have his co-workers hold on so he could walk me through contractions!
After having it my pain was minimal and I was still able to feel the contractions (barely) and my legs! Around 8pm Pratt ordered dinner because he was so hungry and he was still in his work clothes from his long day! Around 8:15pm he waited until a contraction was over and then went to use the restroom and change clothes...while he was in the bathroom I started having another contraction so I called the nurse. Pratt heard me push the call button, so he hurried and got done. As he came out of the bathroom the nurse came in the room. I apologized to her and explained I only called so someone could walk me through the contraction I had. While the nurse was still there I had another contraction, so she decided to check all my vitals to see how I was. When she checked me, she looked at Pratt and I and asked us if we were ready to have a baby! It was around 8:30pm at this point! She said I was at 10cm and she could see Lilly's hair!
I didn't feel the urge to push, so she had me do a couple of practice pushes so I could see what I needed to do. I pushed a couple of times and then I needed to stop because my doctor was helping another patient in the ER. They didn't have a plan B so they called my doctor to ask her what they should do and luckily she was on her way down the hallway to help Lilly enter the world!
Dr. Mills had me push a couple of times and Lilly wouldn't progress and her heart rate would drop down to 90 beats per minute when I was pushing. To make sure nothing would happen my doctor performed an episiotomy and within 2 or 3 pushes Lilly made her debut at 9:24pm!
5 hours from the time my water broke until Lilly was here! It all happened so fast, but it was so easy! I am so grateful to have an easy labor and pregnancy! I was able to walk that night and I was able to walk with Lilly the next day.
Congrats to both of you on Lilly! She is so sweet, baby girls have a way of melting your heart :)Hope you're doing well.
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