E's birth story

E is 3 months old, but here is her birth story.

We had to go in at 5 am on Friday for the induction.  My mom had come to town the night before so she could watch K for us.  Neither my husband or I got very much sleep that night.  We got up to the hospital and got checked in.  It ended up that we were actually in the exact same room as we had with K when she was born.  As they were getting me prepped for the IV and stuff, I actually started feeling like I would pass out, but thankfully didn't actually do so.  I had actually passed out while riding in the car over Memorial Day weekend and had to go to the hospital then.   Because they were in a hurry to get my IV started, they didn't get my blood work from the IV access and so they did another spot on my arm.  For some reason, they always try to do a weird vein when I'm giving birth or after, so I have a big bruise even through I have great veins.

When they checked me before starting the Pitocin, I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  I had noticed some contractions the afternoon and evening before, but they weren't regular.  They started the pitocin and eventually I started having regular contractions although they didn't feel too intense for a while.  My husband and I watched a few shows on the internet for a while.  The first time they checked after the pitocin, I was still at 3 cm.  They turned up the pitocin and checked me a few more times over the next few hours.  When my doctor came at 4 pm, I was between 3 and 4 cm still.  She asked to break my water and I said it was fine.  After my water was broken, things got way more intense quickly.  I remember thinking that I hoped this was transition, because I didn't know how long I could handle this intensity.  The doctor came back about 30 minutes after breaking my water and I was at 9 cm.  I had been in transition when I was thinking that.  The doctor went out to get things prepared for delivery.  I told my husband that he needed to go get the doctor.  He saw the baby's head crowning as he walked out so he told the doctor to hurry up and come back in.  The doctor and nurses came in and started preparing but the baby was not waiting for them to get ready before coming out and I was not actively pushing.  One of the nurses even told me not to push.  They didn't even have a chance to break the bed down for delivery.  E was born around 4:45 without an epidural.