November 2005

11/3/05 Appointment with Dr. Damrich. Gained 25lbs total. +1 Swelling.

11/10/05 Appointment with Dr. McKee. Gained 32lbs. 2cm dilated. Hopes that I will last 10 more days! +2 swelling. Ordered to only work 1/2 days.

11/14/05 Appointment 3cm dilated 70% effaced. +1 swelling Gained total of 30lbs. Emma's head is down. If by Thurs I'm 5cm he will induce Friday. Thinks she could be b/t 7-10 lbs!

11/24/05 Turkey Day! Phillip and I spent a quiet Thanksgiving together. It was so nice to be together and spend our last days together before becoming parents. We have a lot to be thankful for. We walked and walked and walked some more hoping we could walk this baby right out of me.

11/27 I was sitting on the couch and Phillip was in the other room on the phone and I felt tightening in my abdomen but it didn't hurt. It was very persistant and didn't let up. I started timing whatever it was that was going on. I figured if I was having real contractions that they would be really painful and I would know what was happening. They were 3 minutes apart. I called Phillip in the room and made him get a notepad and write out when they started, stopped and the time in between each. We decided to call the Doctor and they told us that we need to come in! Woo Hoo!!! This is it. It's so calm. My bags had been packed and in the car since the day I found out I was starting to dilate but we ran through everything again just to make sure. On the way we called our parents to let them know that we were headed to the hospital. We got there around 9ish and they hooked me up to monitor me. I was contracting. They finally admitted me around 11pm. I called my parents back and told them to pack their bags and head on up! We also called my sister and they were going to let the kids sleep a few more hours and then head up early in the morning.

11/28/05 5:30am we were awakened by the nurse who was armed with a bag of Pitocin ready to start my induction. (My contractions slowed down over the night so they had to jump start me again.) 6:30am my Mom and Dad arrived and were excited to be there for the big day. 7:30am the Dr came in and said that he was ready to break my water! It was the wildest sensation because when he broke the water it was a warm gush of water and it didn't hurt. But boy was I in for the shock of my life. The breaking of the water didn't hurt but not even 30 seconds after, I felt the worst contraction come over me. Luckily, the wonderful epidural man was only in the room next door so we had to wait for him for about 5 minutes. I was so scared of getting the epidural because it goes through your spinal column and could paralize you if it goes in the wrong spot. When they put the needle in they do it while you are experiencing a contraction and I had a hard time sitting still so they had to stick me 3 times to finally get it in. I highly recommend an epidural! It is the most wonderful invention ever. It doesn't make your legs feel paralized like I thought it would but it did make them heavy enough that I couldn't feel the pain but I could feel pressure. At 9:45 the Dr came back into my room and said that I had completly dilated and was 100% effaced so it was time to start pushing. Once they got everything ready I started to push and 30 minutes later at 10:19am Emma was born. I got to hold her for a few minutes before they took her for her measurements and bath which they did right there in the room. We both got to watch everything that they did with her. Emma came in weighing 8lbs 2oz and 20 1/2 inches and healthy as can be. Shortly after birth I started feeling sick to my stomach and not feeling so good. Phillip rushed over to my beside and before I know it I was laying flat on my back in the bed and they were rushing to get my blood pressure up. I had lost a lot of blood and fluid during delivery which caused my blood pressure to fall but once they got me stablized everything was ok again. My parents were waiting in the waiting room and were able to come in and see Emma laying in the warmer and they were so excited to be the first to greet their new Granddaughter.

We feel so blessed to have had me go through such a great labor.