Birth Story

Our journey began at 7:00pm, Tuesday night as we checked into Clear Lake Regional. Honestly, I wasn’t nervous at all—maybe it just hadn’t hit me that I was actually going to be able to finally meet this little thing that had been with me for 9 months. Or maybe I was just trying to avoid thinking about all the pain I was about to be put through…who knows.

The nurse started my IV, inserted the Cervidil, and gave me 2 Ambien to sleep—ask Adam and I about that story! Ramie and Ambien do not mix! Too long to type about!

At 6:00am, Dr. Taylor came in to see how things were going. She broke my water and they started the Pitocin about an hour later. I started having really light contractions….nothing that was even remotely painful. By 9:00am, I was having stronger contractions, but I was fine—they weren’t bad at all, I was breathing through them, laughing and taking to everyone…it didn’t seem like labor to me. I was dilated to 4cm by 9:30, so they suggested I take the epidural—and I did! Why suffer if I don’t have to, right?!

I LOVED the anesthesiologist! He was so adorable and sweet and made the process so easy for me. They made Adam leave the room (safety thing at the hospital, they ALWAYS have the dad’s leave) and my nurse, Marye, told me I would feel a small sting and then a rush of fluids….I didn’t even feel THAT! I had psyched myself up so much that this damn needle in my back was going to be so incredibly awful, and in actuality, it felt like a small bee sting, and couple of little bubbles floating down my spine, and then that was it! Unbelievable! Once it was in, I felt fantastic. I was laughing and happy and excited…all of our family was there and I think my mom was amazed how good of a patient I was being (I am an awful patient normally!) Then it became a waiting game…but I never did dilated more than 4cm.

Dr. Taylor came back to check on me at 5:00pm. When she did my pelvic exam to see how far along I was, she predicted a 9 pound baby. At the same time, she said since I hadn’t progressed in over 7 hours, she didn’t think I was going to make it any further. If we waited it out, we might be able to get his head out, but the rest of him could get stuck and that would cause problems. Basically, I was scared something would go wrong, and she was strongly suggesting just going in and getting him. So Adam and I talked about it and as much as I DID NOT want the C-section, it was the best thing for the baby.

About an hour later, I was laying on the table, babbling like chatty Cathy, and 15 minutes later…..I heard him cry. It seemed so surreal. Here was this baby that was crying, but it didn’t seem like he was really mine, like I was going to be taking him home with me. But then Adam brought him over for me to see and when I looked at him, I knew he was mine. He looked just like me when I was a baby. He was so perfect. I just started bawling.

We stayed in the hospital for 3 days and got to come home on Saturday!