Birth Story

At 39 weeks, we went into Harris Methodist Fort Worth to be induced. I had been dilated 2cm and 75% effaced for 2 weeks and the last 4 weeks of pregnancy became incredibly uncomfortable and miserable.

Neil and I arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m. and got settled in to the birthing room. They hooked me up to monitors and I was actually already having contractions 5 minutes apart. They started the Pitocen and the contractions started coming. The doctor checked me around 8 or 9 am and I was at 3cm, fully effaced. I can't remember exactly what time I got the epidural but I think it was around 11. It was very frightening considering the anesthesiologist tried several times and "kept hitting bone" and another doctor had to step in and take over. He got it right away, thank goodness.

Luckily I hadn't been in agony prior to the epidural, but I wanted to keep it that way so the epidural came right in time. They upped the pitocen and broke my water and things started progressing. When they broke my water there was a small amount of meconium in the fluid so we were informed that a NICU would be in the delivery room and I would not get to hold Hadley right away because they would have to ensure she did not breath in any meconium at birth.

My contractions really increased and got uncomfortable. Dr. Epidural came back to visit and upped by dosage. They had me laying on my left side for about an hour or two to try and get Hadley to move down the birth canal. The doctor check shortly after and she had moved down quite a bit. We then moved in to sitting straight up to get her to move down a bit more. The contractions really got strong and I had to see Dr. Epidural again to up the dosage. I was at a 4-5, then a 6-7 during this time. Finally the contractions really started getting serious and I still felt each one with increasing discomfort. I asked for another visit from Dr. Epidural (hey I'm not afraid to admit it - I'm a wimp!). My nurse said it would all depend on how dilated I was. She checked and I was at 9cm so we rushed Dr. Epidural, my new best friend, to get me that final dose.

Thank goodness I got that last hit of medicine because we had quite a big surprise coming for us! We started pushing at around 5:00 pm. The first 15 minutes were just "practice pushes" where we just sort of got the hang of how things would work. Neil did a great job and held my leg back on each push. We kept pushing and Dr. Guerra showed up. They said I was a great pusher and that we were really getting close. At one point I gave a very strong push that surprised Dr. Guerra and they realized the baby would be delivered any minute but the NICU team hadn't been called in because they thought I still had a ways to go. So I basically had to do by best to hold her in for the longest "few" minutes of my life. Just as Dr. Guerra said "We can't wait anymore, this baby is coming out now" the NICU team walked in the door.

The pushing got really serious now and it was the greatest relief when Dr. Guerra said "the head is out". I'm so glad I didn't hear her when Neil says she said she "had to make some room" and perform an episitomy, ouch. After that, the real work began. Hadley's right shoulder was caught on my pelvic bone. My nurse had to climb on top of me and push down her shoulder as I pushed her out. It was the most painful part of the whole day.

At 6:13 pm I felt as Hadley came out and Dr. Guerra said we don't want her to cry so not to worry. They handed her off the NICU team and we finally heard the most amazing and unforgettable sound imaginable, her first cry. Neil and I had a moment, we looked at each other and cried together as we listened to our little girl find her lungs. I wish I could experience that moment over and over again.

We didn't get to hold her for 20 minutes as they sucked all the fluid from her lungs. Everyone in the room kept commenting on what a big baby she was. I heard them say 6 13, I thought they meant her weight as I had lost all sense of time. I couldn't understand what the big deal was. Neil got to go over to her bassinet and video her getting cleaned up. He brought the video over to me so I could see her. She was huge! We finally got to hold her, it was absolutley surreal to hold the child I had been carrying for the last 39 weeks.

They brought the scale in and weighed her. 9 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches. Dr. Guerra thought she'd be about 7 to 71/2 pounds so we were all very surpised. No wonder I was so uncomfortable. Thank goodness I was a week early or this little girl would have come out through a c-section, which was the last thing I wanted.

Well, that's the story of, that's the glory of love!