Her birth story begins Wednesday morning, Feb. 6th, at 930am when the doctors first induced me with a pitocin tablet. Over the next few hours labor slowly progressed. Around 2pm the doctors said I had progressed to 2cm (I guess I wasn't already a 2 as one doctor had predicted weeks ago...) and was fully effaced. At this point the contractions were about 10-12 minutes apart and uncomfortable, but not strong. Hot showers, walking, and rocking on the large exercise ball helped a lot. I also played angry birds with Josh and listened to some music he prepared for me. :) By 5 pm I hadn't changed any further, but the contractions were stronger and about 5-6 minutes apart. They decided not to give me any more medicine but to let the labor continue as it was. More walking, rocking, waiting... It all gets a little fuzzy after this point so you'll have to forgive me for not remembering all of the details. I bet my Mom, Josh, and his Mom remember them much better than I do! I'm thankful they were all able to be there with me despite the ban on visitors due to the flu. I had some amazing nurses who were very, very kind! So, somewhere around 10pm the doctor decided to break my water and take it all out at once. That helped labor progress very quickly after that. By midnight I was 10cm and ready to push. By this time the contractions were 30 seconds apart and lasting about one minute. It was intense but Josh and my Mom let me break their fingers through each one. ;) I felt very quiet, very focused, and ready for her to come out and give me some relief! I also felt mean a few times when they were coaching me through them and I felt like I was already doing everything they said. I guess that's how it goes. :) They said I was actually polite and said "I'm sorry" a lot after I told them I was already doing all they asked. I guess that's good. I don't remember. So, the nurse told me I was a 10 and I could start pushing if I wanted, and then she left...
I was a little shocked and just looked to my Mom for guidance since she's a labor and delivery nurse herself. She and Josh talked me through the pushing and we went for it. With each push they saw progress which encouraged me to keep going knowing Sofia would soon be here. The nurse came back in a bit with a full support staff ready to deliver Sofia. With some help she came out crying and beautiful at 104am and I immediately was able to hold her and be with her. That was an amazing moment I will never forget. They let Josh cut the cord, which is not something they typically do here. I'm so thankful he could be there for her birth since our story with Jakub's birth and the c-section is completely different. For the next 2 hours we were able to stay in the room all together and spend time with Sofia and each other before they moved me to my recovery room. The following week is another story for another time.
At her birth I remember thinking:
- She's crying! Yeah! She can breathe!
- She's beautiful!
- She looks like Jakub.
- She has a lot of dark brown hair (which I thought she would have).
- She has the longest, skinniest, feet, toes, and fingers I've ever seen.
- She's already calm, sweet, and gentle as she just laid on me so peacefully.
- She's big - how much will she weigh?? (8 lbs 5 oz, 20.5 inches)
- I can't believe it's over and she's here. What a long day and night. I can't believe we did it. :)
Ok, that's all for now. She's about to wake up. She's so, so sweet. Thanks for all of your prayers, well wishes, and messages. Love you all!
