The plan -
Be induced on the morning of April 4, 2014.
Woke up early on the morning of the 4th with contractions - strong and fairly consistent!
We dropped Isaac off with Shelly Brockhaus (fellow teacher) at 6:30. We had to check in at the hospital at 7:00.
*** side story - Had to call the hospital at 6:15 to see if we were "able" to come in and be induced - i.e. if there was a room for us. We got the go ahead, and I was glad since we were already having steady contractions.
Upon arriving at the hospital, we were admitted. There was another couple there too (more on them later). They were being induced as well.
I was having steady contractions about 2 - 4 minutes apart. They decided to start Pitocin anyway to get the process rolling. My nurse (who was the parent of a student in my school - awkward!) was determined to have her delivered before she left at noon.
We were already dilated to a 3 and the Pitocin took me to a 4 maybe a 5 by the time noon rolled around. Daphne was comfortably situated on my left pelvic bone. I had told the nurses the I wanted an epidural before my water got broken.... didn't happen. They decided to break my water and about 30 minutes later I got an epidural - shortly before my parents arrived around noon. She was not making much progress, but I was finally able to get some rest. I was still not much beyond a 5 when my parents left to go pick up the big kids from school(around 3:00). I took a short nap until about 4:30
Around 4:30, the nurses decided to have me begin laying on my sides to help move Daphne into the right position for delivery. We knew it would go fast once she decided to move. The nurse checked me and I was still at a 5 but now fully effaced at this point. I laid on my right side for approximately 30 minutes. The nurse came back into the room and did a check around 5:00. I was sitting at a solid 7 now. We flipped over so I was laying on my left side. Shortly after the nurse left, I began feeling intense pain. I felt like my epidural had worn off or needed adjusting as it got so intense so quickly. At about the same time, our contraction machine ran out of paper. It was beeping. It was annoying. Now it is about 5:15. I tell Chad that I think he needs to get a nurse. If nothing else, I needed the beeping to stop.
The nurse comes in and I tell her how uncomfortable I am. She starts to rotate me back to my right side and decides (at the last minute) to check me. I was fully dilated (from 7 - 10 in about 15 minutes!) and ready to have a baby. I remember the nurse saying "We are ready to have a baby!" I immediately started crying and looked over at Chad. He was intently looking at his phone, responding to a call or text .... He said "What?" and I couldn't speak. He asked the nurse what was going on... and she told him it was baby time. Then he understood and got right over to my side. Thankfully the Doctor was already en route to the hospital. They did call him at this point to let him know we were ready. As the room became a rush of activity, By 5:45 everyone was in my room. We were ready to start the "process" at 5:59. After the 2nd set of pushes (only 2 minutes in)... Dr. Stearnes mentions getting the forceps. Chad leans in to my ear and says, "come on babe, make it a go on this one. We don't want the forceps!" I gave another solid push and she was here! 6:03 - and she was big!
Daphne Marie Thomson
