My daughter, Paisley, was born in the winter. We had a warm winter here in GA except for the weekend Paisley was born. We were in the hospital through it all and missed it. The weather had no effect on us getting to the hospital. My family also made it from LA.
I was due Saturday 2/11/12. I went in the night before, the 10th, to start induction. I was one day late because I delivered on Sunday 2/12/12. I was worried about not being able to deliver her vaginally due to her size. I was becoming anxious until the doctor and I set a date for an induction. I was very much ready to have paisley. It was nice having a set day to have her. My family was able to come and be with us.
John, my husband, was with me all four days. He was great. We took a class together so we were prepared. I was very grateful he was there. My parents and sister made it also. I invited my sister to stay in the room for the labor as well. She was a big help also. My parents helped by keeping John company and going to the store for us. Other than immediate family I didn't want a lot of visitors and didn't want a crowded room. I said this often during pregnancy. My husband said it would be whatever I wanted it to be. While in the hospital, he realized why I felt the way I did and he shut off his phone. There is just a lot going on and though people mean well you just want to sleep and get home as soon as possible. We had very few visitors and it was nice.
My contractions were rough at first. I was handling them very well. It was not until the pitocin kicked in that things got really bad. The contractions were slightly what I expected. I didn't handle the pitocin contractions well but hung in there until I went from 1cm to 4cm. The nurse tried morphine for my pain but I got very ill and threw up.
She had to give me something for the vomiting so I just was absolutely miserable. I needed more fluids to get an epidural. My husband and nurse pumped two bags of fluids in me in fifteen minutes. This caused me to convulse and shake. I finally got an epidural at 4cm. It was not long after that when my water broke.
My labor and delivery were a lot of work. For my first time it only took two hours to deliver. I remained calm and I didn't scream or cry. The first hour was nice and we all could talk and it felt like we were just hanging out. I was in labor the same time as three other women so our doctor was running around. I almost had to pause for 15 minutes after my first hour. The nurse wanted my doctor to come check my status. I just did small pushes instead. Everything looked great and the doctor left the room. I was nearing the end and my nurse paged the doctor to come but she was catching another baby. My body could not stop pushing. I tried but it was not happening. The nurse said she was ready if the doctor couldn't make it. The doctor came in and barely had her scrubs on and caught my baby. She almost missed it by seconds. I was all right with everything. I was happy it was over and I had my Paisley.
I pushed for two hours. The only complication that almost occurred was the doctor missing catching her. Our bodies know what to do so I was not nervous. I knew my baby would be all right no matter who caught her.
I don't know if I said anything. I smiled though and was very happy. She could hold her head up and for a long time. She was very beautiful with a whole head of hair. I was happy, relieved and was no longer sleepy. I wanted to share her with my and my husband's parents and our siblings.
I remember getting to hold her. My stitches felt worse than delivery. I had to get wiped down and then had to have someone walk me naked with a towel and a pad from my bed to the bathroom to get cleaned and learn how to care for my stitches. After that I realized there is no need to be modest anymore. Ha!
Then my mom, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and a family friend came in to see Paisley. My husband and sister cried after Paisley was born. That really melted my heart. They were so happy. They were able to take post birth pictures of her.