Lilah's Birth Story

Because of all of the health issues with my body this pregnancy, my doctor decided it would be best to induce early. I was excited. I was done being pregnant and ready to meet my little girl. So at 5:00 am, July 6th Tim and I went into the hospital to get the party started. I got all hooked up and they started the pitocin about 6:30 am. I was still just dilated to a 4/5. At about 8:00 am the doctor came in and broke my water, which was quite the flood. The doctor warned the nurse that I had extra fluid, but she wasn't prepared for the amount. I had been having contractions since the pitocin started, but nothing that was unbearable. My nurse said that once they broke my water they would really start to hurt, and she suggested that we get ready for the epidural soon after they broke my water. Well, I am glad I listened to her because they really started to hurt once my water was broken. (Side Note: I had the most awesome nurse! She was excellent throughout the entire process.) So I was all set with a lovely epidural and water broken, bring on Lilah. At 10:30 am they came to check me to see if I had made any progress. None! Darn it. So they decided to sit me up to see if we could get the baby to push down and encourage dilation. I sat up about 5 seconds and they quickly laid me back down and called for help. Four other nurses came in and they quickly started moving me on my sides and gave me oxygen. Let's just say I was pretty scared, but trying not to freak out. I just laid there quietly with tears streaming down my face. After a little while they all left and my nurse explained that Lilah's heart rate had dropped quite a bit, but everything was okay now. She called the doctor and they decided to stop the pitocin. At about 1:15 pm the nurse came in to check again. I was fully expecting no change or barely any change since I was no longer on the pitocin and I had been laying on my right side to make Lilah happy. Well, surprise surprise I was ready to start pushing. She said we were going to call the doctor and prepare for delivery. I was shocked. I kept saying, now? Well, the doctor was in surgery and it ended up turning into and emergency surgery, so I laid there for two hours relaxing thinking about anything but pushing. Finally, at 3:15 pm the doctor came in and it was time to finally push. We get all ready and my contractions completely stopped. It was kind of humorous at this point. Here we were all ready and watching the monitor, waiting, waiting. They decided to start the pitocin back up. Finally, let's push. Well, every time I would push Lilah's heart rate would drop and she was stuck behind a bone. So in comes the vacuum. It took the doctor several tries with the vacuum, because Lilah kept slipping off. Finally at 3:44 pm she made it into this world. She cried immediately, which made me cry tears of joy. She was completely healthy. Her pregnancy was quite a journey, but oh so totally worth it.