As mentioned previously, my due date was May 21. At that point, I was only dilated to 1 cm, so we scheduled my next appointment for May 28 and a tentative date for inducing on May 31. My dr. (Dr. Sodini, who is FANTASTIC!) also scheduled me for a non-stress test and ultrasound on Monday, May 24. Anytime a patient goes past their due date, she does these tests to make sure the baby isn't in distress and the amniotic fluid level is okay.
On Monday morning, Jon and I went to the appointment. The non-stress test was good and showed that the baby was in good shape. The ultrasound, on the other hand, showed that the amniotic fluid level was close to reaching the minimum level that doctors will let it go. The u/s tech told us that she would be surprised if we weren't admitted to the hospital that day... She would be right. After calling Dr Sodini, the decision was made for us to go home and get our stuff and then go back to the hospital to be admitted and induced. So, we went home and got our bags. I put on some makeup and fixed my hair, thinking we would be having a baby that day and I wanted to look decent for the pictures! :) Jon was getting impatient, and I was procrastinating.
Back at the hospital around 1:00pm, we went to Labor Triage and I was hooked up to all of the monitors, etc and my IV was started. They then took me upstairs to the room we would be in for the start of the induction. Since you aren't allowed to eat once you start being induced, they brought me something to eat (Beef Goulash, of all things... not recommended!!) They started me on Cervidil at 5:00pm, and it takes 12 hours to work.
Jon and I just relaxed in the room, watched tv and talked about all that was happening. I finally fell asleep about 1:00am, and woke up at 2:00am having contractions. They were strong, but only 10-20 minutes apart. That gave me time to re-group between each of them. Jon slept through it all, waking up a couple of times to tell me "get the epidural" and go back to sleep. He doesn't remember any of that. :)
Around 5:00 Tuesday morning, I was moved to the labor and delivery room, where I would stay until Olivia was born. I was still only dilated to 1, but because the Cervidil caused strong contractions, I got an epidural at 6:00am. At 6:30am, I was started on Pitocin to help me dilate, as well as a foley balloon. Several hours later, I was dilated to 3, and Dr. Sodini broke my water. After that, the dilation seemed to improve pretty quickly.
At 8:00pm, Dr Sodini checked me and I was dilated to 9. She said she would be back to check on me at 10:00pm. Shortly after that, the contractions became painful for the first time since I had started the epidural (which I had to have re-filled twice). One of the nurses came in and asked if I felt the need to push, but I didn't. She checked me and told me to try pushing anyway. She then went and got Dr. Sodini. She came back in and we began pushing. This was at about 8:45, and Olivia made her debut at 9:12pm!! (Needless to say, after 32 hours of being in bed, my makeup and hair were no longer fixed!) :)
Jon cut the cord, and I immediately held her before the pediatric nurse took her to the other side of the room to check her. Jon went along and once the nurse finished, she handed him to Jon. I'll never forget that moment.... the way he looked at her made me fall in love with him all over again. It was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen.
After a couple of hours of holding and loving on Olivia, along with my mom and Jon's parents, we were moved to the Mother and Baby room, where we stayed until Thursday, when we went home.
Olivia weighed 7lb 13oz and was 21 inches long. She's absolutely beautiful and we couldn't be more excited!!
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