We met our newest Pensinger family addition on Friday, July 5 at 7:04 pm.
7 lbs, 13 ounces of perfection. Bright eyes and tiny fingers and toes.
Because of my gestational diabetes, I was induced at 38 weeks, 6 days.
We went to the hospital that day at 7. It is such a surreal experience waking up that day, getting a shower, pulling on that black maternity dress. Packing the last minute toiletries in our hospital bags...double checking that we had that tiny blue dress with the flamingos on ready for the wiggly little body that was about to be a part of our world.
Nerves had gotten me, I mean, realizing that I was about to spend the whole day in pain and that at the end of it our lives would never be the same..in a good way of course..but still a big, huge, earth shattering thing.
The blessing of induction is the planning. The curse of induction is being able to think about it.
All week my prayers were for a healthy delivery. My hopes were only that it would be beautiful.
The other two births were traumatic to me...and I suffered for that later. This is the last, all I wanted was to experience a beautiful birth.
Whatever that looks like.
We got there, were registered and received in maternity.
After a failed attempt at water breaking, I was IVed and sent to room 223: the room I would later meet my third daughter.
Pitocin was started at 9:45...and it was a slow morning.
I sat in the bed, watched the clouds in the panoramic window breathing through contractions while Luke sat in the husband chair and read.
It was almost as if it was a normal day. Pretty boring, but painful. We just wanted to get through it.
I knew going in that I wanted an epidural, I had had a failed one with Sophie and was ready to try again. But I told Luke on the bumpy car ride to that hospital that I wanted to feel some contractions. I wanted to breathe through some, knowing that I would never experience this level of pain again, but that it was the good pain that would bring my girl into my arms.
They told me it would be at least an hour from the time I asked for the epi until I had one, so around noon I was ready to start the hour of waiting. They pushed the needed fluids through my IV, and around 1 the doc came in to give me the magic meds through a hole pushed in my spine.
Luke was allowed to stay in the room this time to hold my hand. I'm so squimish with needles, especially this kind, but I knew it was worth it to not have the pain of transition.
This was the worst part of my experience. The anestesiologist tried (and failed) to push that needle into my spine 4 times before he got it. Each time having no numbing because he couldn't quite get it.
And I will tell you friends, I was sobbing. The no-break-pitocin-contractions had nothing on this pain.
The nurse later said that was the worst epidural administration she had ever seen and that it must have been painful if I was crying like I was after breathing through the couple hours of strong contractions like they were nothing (I'm glad I fulled her with the contractions)
The doc then allowed me a very high baseline (possible guilt?), and all the sudden I felt no pain, nor my legs.
It was heaven.
I spent the next couple of hours stuck at 5 centimeters and napping in between nurses poking and prodding me.
Around 6:40, I felt the epi wearing off a bit...the doc came in and I was suddenly at 10 cm...and it was time to get ready to meet our girl...
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