Monday, March 31, 2008

Her coming-out story

March 3rd, 10PM: We brought on contractions using nipple stimulation while watching American Gangster.
March 4th, 4AM: My water broke. (Or so I thought.)
11:30AM: Contractions stalled.
1:30PM: Arrived at the hospital to find I was only 1 cm dilated and that I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid.
3:30PM: Headed home after deciding to give my body another chance to bring labor on naturally.
5PM: Swallowed 2 oz of castor oil mixed 4 oz orange juice. It wasn't bad. Tasted like greasy orange juice.
6PM: Contractions started.
10PM: Admitted to hospital and given Pitocin to strengthen contractions.
March 5th, 2:30AM: Made it to 5cm dilated. Decided hypnobirthing was for the birds and asked for an epi. Epidurals ROCK. They should be called YIPPEEEEE-durals.
3AM - 3:30AM: Had 7 contractions while Dr. Vlad administered the epi and chided me to relax. (HAH!) It was the perfect amount of epi. I could feel all the pressure with none of the pain.
7AM: Was 9cm dilated. Got a top-off from Dr. Vlad just as I was about to feel some pain. Sigh, I love Dr. Vlad.
10AM: Made it to 10cm.
10AM - 11:03AM: I pushed. And pushed. No idea why I thought this part was only supposed to take 10 mins. HAH! I've never sweat or grunted so much in my life or spread my legs that wide. Holy moly! But I managed NOT TO TEAR AT ALL. Much of that was due to my John's perineal massages and the midwife's skills. This is also when we found out my sac had just leaked, not broken. It broke just before I started pushing and splashed everywhere.
11:04AM: Chiara (pronounced key-ARE-a) arrived weighing in 8 lbs 3 oz and measuring 20 inches. She lifted her head just hours after birth.