So...after two weeks of daily contractions, I was dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced. Ugh. My body was starting to ache from the contractions and I was swollen beyond belief. My feet, ankles, legs, hands, arms, and face - all swollen. I went to my regularly scheduled doctor appointment and my blood pressure had gone up significantly since the week before. My doctor, being well-aware of my plan to have as natural of a birth as possible, approached the idea of an induction cautiously. After talking it over with him, we agreed that inducing me would be best at that point for both me and Joelle. I was headed towards preeclampsia, and that was no something I wanted.
Saturday night, October 12, I was admitted into labor and delivery and we got the party started around midnight! I didn't get much sleep. I was SO EXCITED.
My contractions continued and by 11am I was dilated to a 5+ and I was definitely feeling the pain! But I had been stuck at 5 for a few hours already. I had been managing the pain, but when my nurse let me know that I still had another 5 or more hours ahead of me, I decided on an epidural.
At 5pm I was dilated to 7cm, and by 5:45 I had moved to 9cm! Fast forward nearly three hours later....STILL stuck at a 9. My dr was starting to talk about a c-section. My nurse was amazing, and she put me in a couple of weird positions and all of a sudden I was ready to push!
I pushed for 2 hours, and then....she was here! 23 hours of labor. She was everything I had ever imagined. Born on October 13, 2013 at 10:58pm.
