I had a feeling that my 38/39 week post would be my last as a preggo. My maternity leave began Monday Feb 27th, which was perfect timing! Monday night/Tuesday morning I woke up to use the bathroom and noticed some blood (sorry if that's too graphic for you). This was obviously pretty alarming for me after having gone over 9 months without bleeding at all. I called the on-call doctor and she said it was probably my "bloody show" or "mucus plug" and to keep an eye out for contractions. I tried to go back to sleep, but I had a feeling this was the real deal, so I stayed up and watched TV for a couple of hours. Around 2:30am I noticed some mild cramping that was irregular at first, but then starting coming about 8 minutes apart. So I called the doctor back (pretty sure I woke her up and she was pissed, but oh well), and she said I could come to the hospital now, or I could wait until the morning and go into the doctor's office. No way was I going to wait until the morning, so off to the hospital we went. I honestly thought they were going to send me home, because I was not 100% convinced I was having contractions, and I had no idea if I was more dilated that I was at my last appointment.
We arrived at Johnston-Willis around 3:30am and when they checked me I was 2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and my contractions were 3 minutes apart! I was shocked. They gave me some pain meds which were great at first, but then I got really sick at my stomach. At 8:30am I was 5 cm dilated, so they broke my water and on came the painful contractions. I received my epidural within about 30 minutes of them breaking my water. The anesthesiologist (sp?) gave me WAY too much medicine, and I was numb up to my chest. VERY SCARY. My blood pressure kept dropping so they had to turn my epidural off for over an hour and give me epinephrin (I think) to regulate my blood pressure. The low blood pressure made me very sick at my stomach, so I felt like I had the stomach flu until they could get it back to normal. Finally they got everything normal, and I went about 2 hours where I was feeling great. Unfortunately, the epidural slowed down my progress, and I went hours without dilating. So then they decided to give me Pitocin, which also made me sick at my stomach. I felt like I couldn't win! But the Pitocin worked, and I dilated 3 more cm in a short amount of time. Before I knew it I was 10 cm and ready to push! I was incredibly numb, but the nurses said I was pushing great. About 30 minutes of pushing and Morgan was here! 8lbs 3 oz (holy crap), 20.5" long, born at 2:31pm. Best moment of my life.
We are definitely settling into our new lives as a family of 3 (well 4 if you count Waylon). Morgan is doing very well. She had dropped some weight (as expected), but has gained a lot of it back. She also had some mild jaundice, but that has resolved itself as well. Breastfeeding is going well. It isn't as difficult as I expected. Brad is doing WONDERFUL as a Daddy. I am so proud of him and feel so blessed to have such a great husband. He is very hands-on with Morgan. He has no problem changing diapers, getting her dressed, or holding her if she is fussy.
Well, I would love to share more but I have a beautiful baby girl who needs my attention. I will try to post often to update on her progress, and of course, share numerous pictures.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support as we start our journey as parents.
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