Madison's Birth Story

Let me just say, I have been working on this post for a week...in between nursing, changing diapers, trying to catch up on sleep, and occasionally checking email or calling a friend.  Life of a new mom! :-)

On Tuesday night, September 11th, I had what I considered my first real labor contraction at 9:34 p.m. while on the phone with Nanny.  That evening, I had about 6 contractions before we went to bed around 11:00 p.m..  Figuring it was not real labor but just my body getting ready for it, I took a Benedryl and went to sleep.  Poor Bryce did not sleep much.  He woke up every hour to make sure I was okay and still sleeping.

On Wednesday, I wrote down the times of my contractions.  They were pretty regular, about 4 contractions every hour throughout the day, but they were not consistent and weren't getting any stronger.  I even went for a 4 mile walk, but they stayed about the same, which showed me it wasn't real labor that was progressing.

On Thursday morning, I lost my mucus plug so I now could be confident that my body was at least doing something to get ready for real labor.

On Thursday night around 10:00 p.m., I started having regular, pretty painful contractions.  We stayed up all night with contractions anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes apart lasting up to a minute long.

Note: Our plan was to go all natural without medication unless one of two things happened:  1) Progression stalled and they had to start pitocin, or 2) A long labor...like 24+ hours and exhaustion

By Friday morning, we decided to go to the hospital.  We had already scheduled a weekly check up and ultrasound, so we just went in early to get checked.  Around 8:30 am, we went right to the triage room and I was between 2-3 cm dilated.  I got hooked up to the monitor to watch my contractions and the baby's heart rate.  After about an hour, we went for a long walk (about another hour).  Every hour, we had to keep deciding whether we would go back home or stay in the triage room and wait for progress.  Around 11:00 am, the doctor "broke my membranes."  When she came back around noon, I was around 4 cm dilated.  We STILL didn't know what to do, go home or stay, so we just stayed and waited for progress.  All day, we were in that triage room watching contractions and waiting.

One thing I didn't expect was the hunger.  I assumed that when I was in labor, I wouldn't have much of an appetite.  WRONG.  I was starving all day.  I felt like I could eat a cow.  I wasn't technically allowed to eat, but Bryce snuck in gatorade and crackers for me.  Around 4:30 p.m., we went in for an ultrasound to check on the baby.  While we were waiting in the hallway, I broke down in tears.  I was hungry, tired, and discouraged.  I remember saying to Bryce, "I just want to make the right decision."  He was so encouraging.  He reminded me that every person is different and we need to think about what is best for us, whether it's medication or no medication.  The ultrasound showed that my water had actually broken at some point during the day and the baby was fine.

We returned to the triage room and quickly decided to be admitted to the hospital.  Finally, we were put into a nice room.  We had been keeping in touch with family and trying to update them as much as possible.  Emily arrived around 5:00 p.m..  Our parents would be on their way after dinner.

Around 7:00 p.m., going on about 20 hours of labor, the doctor came and checked me.  Right before she came in, I looked at Bryce and said, "If I'm at 7 or 8 cm, let's do this.  If I'm any less, I want the epidural."  She told me I was only 4.5 cm!  Essentially, I hadn't changed since 12:00 p.m. earlier that day.  My biggest fear was exhaustion and the possibility of not having energy to push which would result in a c-section.  We gave them the go-ahead to give me a mild pain medication.  It only lasted about 45 minutes, made me feel really drunk, but didn't take the pain of contractions away at all.  I just cared less about the pain since I felt really buzzed.  When it wore off, I just asked for the epidural.

My sweet sister supporting me...and me smiling (after epidural)

It may sound crazy, but I had 3 fears going into labor:
1. C-section.  I've never had surgery.  I've never even broken a bone.
2. Epidural.  I can't stand shots and needles.  The thought of a huge needle going into my spinal area really is too much.  I kept thinking, if this goes bad, I could be paralyzed from the waist down...
3. Tearing.  Pain. Enough said.

The anesthesiologist came in around 9:00 p.m. and I was terrified.  Once he poked and prodded and got it done, I started feeling great.  I was able to smile and talk again.  Our parents showed up and they came in to say hello.  From then on, I dilated about 1 cm per hour.  Around 2:00 a.m., I started pushing.  I pushed for about 50 minutes and then it was the most amazing moment of our lives.

Our little girl arrived and we couldn't stop crying.  We were overjoyed and simply amazed at what a gift God gave us.  When they placed her on my chest and she heard my voice, she started reaching out for my face.  It was precious.

She weighed 6 lb. 3 oz.  She was 20 in. long.  She came out crying and wide eyed.  We were amazed at how aware she seemed to be.

I wouldn't change a thing about that day.  I feel like we made the right decisions for what we knew at the time.  I tried my best to go all natural and in the end, it didn't happen, and I was fine with that.  I'm so thankful for epidurals, great doctors, sweet nurses, and most importantly, a healthy baby girl.

The sweet grandparents were up almost all night anxiously awaiting their new granddaughter.  They finally got to meet her.

The next day, Madison met some of her cousins.

Cousin Luke on the Whited side

Uncle Brett and Aunt Rachel

Cousins Abby and Aaron on the Adams side.  Aaron was so curious to see the baby.

Abby was in love.

We had a lot of sweet friends visit us in the hospital.  Madison is already so loved.

Meredith and Addison (her new best friend)

Jeff and Kate

Javier and Rebekah

Pastor Chris and Geneva

Katherine and Bynum

Even after delivery, while at the hospital, it was so surreal.  We still couldn't believe that she was OUR daughter that WE would get to take home with us.  It was just crazy.

Love.

Emily was such a huge help during the first few days.

Here we are about to head home!