Emily's Birth Day

Emily's due date was February 6th. We had an OB appointment that morning and were very suspicious that the doc would want to induce soon - we just didn't know how soon. I had been trying several tricks to get things rolling myself with no success.

The morning quickly took a turn for the worse however when as I was getting ready for the day I felt my ribs pop out of place. The pain was so bad I was in tears. Even throughout my OB appointment I was crying. The doc did want to induce that night, but was concerned about my pain level. Since Jim was going to drive me to the chiropractor right after this appointment, the OB wanted me to call her with how the chiro went.

I told the chiro that I needed him to work a miracle. He was up for the challenge and more tears were shed as he worked to get my body in line. He was happy to hear that the induction would start in the evening because he wanted me to come back later that afternoon for more treatment. I gave the OB the update and the induction was still on. The afternoon appointment went much better and while still painful, at least I didn't cry this time.

Jim and I stopped off for a treat at Golden Spoon on our way to the hospital for our 8:00pm arrival. At the hospital they got me all checked in and spent about an hour hooking me up to machines and asking tons of questions. Because of my ribs, I said that I just needed a little more caution when changing positions. Once I was settled I was usually fine. So a lot of the time I felt like I was packed for shipping with all the pillows around me. Induction officially began at 9:00pm. I would receive the medication every three hours until things got going.

After the first dose I didn't feel much in the way of contractions. The midnight dose finally brought some more results. At about 2am the nurse offered me some pain medication (not the epidural yet) and I took her up on it. It relieved some of my rib pain and relaxed me enough to be able to get some sleep. I also got a little loopy. My third dose came at 4:00am and soon after we were really on a roll. The nurse said it's usually the third one that makes a big difference.

It wasn't too long before I said that I would probably want the epidural pretty soon. I wasn't ready yet, but knew it wouldn't be too long. The epidural was placed at about 6:00 am, and oh the sweet relief. What I didn't like was that now there is a policy that with an epidural you have to be put on oxygen. The mask was so loud that I had a really hard time hearing what anyone was saying. It was super annoying.

My OB came in around 7:00am to break my water. My contractions were coming so fast it was crazy. I don't remember what time it was, but the last measurement I heard regarding dilation was 4. And I was getting a little irritated that I wasn't being checked because I wanted to know my progress. But I guess the nurses knew things were moving pretty fast because they started prepping the room for delivery. And I don't know exactly what time it was, but I would guess somewhere between 8:15 and 8:30 I told my mom I felt like I needed to push. So she hustled out to tell someone.

The room immediately came alive. I still wasn't being checked for dilation, so I was kind of worried that I wasn't actually at 10 yet. But everyone got in place and told me to push when I felt the next contractions. So I guess I was ready to go. The funny thing was that now that we all were ready, it seemed like I wasn't feeling contractions. I felt a little foolish. But someone watching the monitor clued me in and away we went. I only spent between 5-10 minutes pushing and Emily arrived at 8:49am on February 7.




One of the most amazing things was how quickly she latched on to nurse. She was nursing by 9:00am. And she was an amorous nurser the entire time in the hospital. It was great. I'm sure it helped that it wasn't my first time so I wasn't struggling so much.

The proud Papa!

Family came to visit our newest little bundle.

My mom, Emily and me.

My dad

My Aunt Sharon (dad's sister) was planning a trip to visit us. When she threw out possible dates, we recommended the one that would overlap my due date for a greater chance for her to see the baby. It actually worked out great that she was here when Emily was born.

Great Aunt Sharon

Great Aunt Patti

Jim's parents visited too, but I was not yet in a picture-taking frame of mind.

One amazing blessing was that my ribs weren't even a factor during delivery. I am so thankful for that.

We were disappointed to learn that Josh would not be able to visit in the hospital because it was flu season and no children under 16 were being permitted. I think the staff sort of felt bad for us because of that and actually let Emily and me go home the next day, especially since we were both doing so well.

We are so happy to have our little Emily home with us!