My due date was May 31, but that day came and went with absolutely no signs of labor. I had a follow-up doctor's appointment on June 4, and we discussed my options. Because Landrie seemed to be measuring big, my midwife recommended that we induce labor. As discussed in my previous post, reserving a room in labor and delivery is quite the challenge. After a lot of back and forth with the hospital, we finally secured a room for the morning of Wednesday June 5. That completely threw me for a loop! It all became so real, so fast!
I went home that afternoon and finished up a bunch of last minute cleaning and errands. We called our families and let them know the plan, and we went to bed knowing that we would wake up at 6 the next morning to go to the hospital. I was a bundle of emotions....excited, nervous, scared, but most of all happy!
When my phone rang at 5:45 the next morning, I was still in a deep sleep. In fact, I missed the call but noticed a few minutes later that I had a voicemail from the hospital. I called back and they let me know that they didn't have any free rooms, so I couldn't come in that morning. There had been a big rainstorm the night before, and apparently the change in barometric pressure can cause women to go into labor. Of course I wasn't one of those lucky ladies, but a lot of other women were!
I fell back asleep disappointed. I had prepared myself to go the hospital that morning, and I knew how hard it would be to reserve a room at another time. Looking back, God's hand was definitely over the timing of our induction, as it was so much better to go in at night instead of the morning.
When we woke up later that morning, I asked Preston to call the hospital back to see when we would be able to come in. They said they were hoping for early afternoon, but they couldn't guarantee anything. With no set time for us to go in, I started feeling really bummed. Preston's parents flew in late that morning, and my family was just waiting on our call. I got nervous that we wouldn't be able to go in and that I might have to go to my "Plan B" hospital, which I wasn't thrilled about.
My lack of patience ended up in me having Preston call the hospital what seemed like a million times to see if any rooms were free. Finally at 3:30 p.m., they said to come in at 5! I was so relieved!! We packed everything in our car, and we were off to the hospital. The drive there was surreal, as I realized the next time we would get in that car, we'd be parents!
I was admitted to the hospital in just a few minutes and taken to a HUGE labor and delivery room. Everything at the hospital was so nice and luxurious. Preston and I joked that it felt like we were at a resort! It's called Sky Ridge, but a lot of people call it "Spa Ridge." See why I wanted to deliver there?!
My midwife came to check on me and explained how I would be induced. At about 7 p.m. the nurse came in to give me Cervidil. I'm quite the drama queen, and I experienced a lot of pain when she inserted the Cervidil, but after it was done, I was free to relax. My mom and sister came around 8 p.m. and we all just hung out and talked. At about 10 p.m., I had to have the Cervidil re-inserted because it fell out when I went to the bathroom. Cue drama queen again! After some hyperventilating and crying, we were all set...again...
The nurse let my mom and sister know that nothing would happen until early the next morning, so they decided to get a hotel room for the night. Preston slept on the couch (which we didn't realize pulled out until the next day...poor guy), and I tried to get some sleep too.
At about 4 a.m., I started experiencing period-like cramping. My nurse let me know that was a good sign and it meant the cervidil was working. At about 5:00 a.m., I had my first contraction. My contractions for the next half hour were bearable, so I didn't want to wake Preston up. I knew he would need to be rested for the day ahead. My contractions started getting worse at 5:30 a.m., and in the middle of breathing through one, Preston shot off the couch and yelled, "Is it happening?!" I must have been breathing really loud!
We called my mom and sister to let them know I was having contractions, and they arrived at the hospital around 7 a.m. By that time, my contractions were getting pretty bad, but I could still get through them. At around 8:00 a.m., things took a serious turn, and my contractions were horrible. They were so bad, I was throwing up and had to have Zofran inserted into my IV.
My new nurse wasn't exactly what I would call kind, and she informed me that I needed to get an epidural, as I clearly couldn't tolerate the pain anymore. I had quite a few fears associated with getting an epidural, so I was really hesitant to agree. When my nurse informed me that I would have my water broken and Pitocin started, I agreed to the epidural. Within an hour, I was given the epidural (virtually pain free), and I was feeling like a new woman! The nurse that helped with the epidural let me know that I got the "prize" for the day because I waited until I was at dilated to a 7 to get the epidural. She said most women get it at a 2. I was pretty proud of myself!
By 12 p.m. I was dilated to a 10 and fully effaced. Miss Landrie, however, still wasn't ready to come out. She was at a -1 position, and my midwife wanted her at a 2. In order to make sure she was in the right position before I started pushing, my midwife had me labor down until 3 p.m. During that time, my
My mom called her friend who is a labor and delivery nurse, and I texted my sweet friend Emily, who is a NICU nurse, to ask if there was anything else I could do to get her to move down. Both my mom's friend and Emily agreed that I needed to let gravity work to get her down, which meant I should be sitting up, not just be switching from side to side while lying down. My mom's friend gave us a suggestion, which I was hesitant to try...only because I was scared my mean day nurse would walk in and get mad! My mom said we should follow my dad's mantra that it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
I agreed to try, and within minutes of getting me moved from my side-lying position, the baby's vitals were all over the place and actually stopped coming up on the monitor. My sister heard an alarm go off, and we quickly got me back into my original position. This proved to be quite tricky because I could barely feel my legs. My nurse came in and asked if I had thrown up, as the monitors were all over the place. I played dumb and said I had no idea what had happened, but that I felt fine. The nurse then discovered the internal monitor was slipping out. Oops....maybe I moved a bit too much. :)
But guess what?! She checked me after that, and Landrie had moved down to a 1! I'm not sure what did it, but something worked! I then followed my friend Emily's advice to sit up in bed with my legs hanging down. By 3 p.m., Landrie was in the right position, and my midwife let me know it was finally time to push.
Going into pushing, my midwife let me know that it would be an hour or less before our sweet baby girl would be in my arms. That sounded bearable to me. I had a big contraction show up on the monitor, and my midwife told me to give my first push. I took a deep breath and blew it all out my mouth. Everyone in the room started laughing at me. Apparently, I'd never learned how to push! After a few quick tips, I had figured everything out, and pushing (the real kind) finally started.
After an hour of pushing and hearing "you're almost there" what seemed like a million times, I hit a wall. I had an hour timeline in my head, and when that timeline wasn't met, I felt like I couldn't do it anymore. Unfortunately, the clock on the wall was directly in front of me, so I couldn't help but watch the minutes tick away. My epidural was no longer strong enough to take away the pain, and my inner drama queen was really starting to kick in. I really didn't think I could do it anymore, and I actually remember saying that I quit, and they could just leave Landrie in there.
Well after 2 full hours of pushing and crying and screaming....Miss Landrie Kate made her debut. Preston, my mom, and my sister were the world's greatest support team ever! I absolutely could not have done it without each one of them by my side.
Landrie weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. We later found out that her birth weight was wrong, as the next morning she weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and the morning we left the hospital she weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. Who knows what her actual birth weight was, but I guess it doesn't really matter! :)
There are no words to express the love I have for our sweet little Landrie. She is perfect in every way, and I would do anything for her. Seeing Preston with her absolutely melts my heart. He is already wrapped around her little finger! The day we became a family of three will forever be one of my fondest memories. We feel so incredibly blessed to be handpicked by God to be Landrie's parents. Our hearts are full!
