July 7th, 2011... that was the day I had circled in pink on my calendar for 9 long months, Abigail's due date. Well that day came and went very quickly with no sign of progression. Boy, were we frustrated. We went ahead and scheduled and induction date for the 12th. In the mean time we tried just about everything to induce labor and she just wouldn't budge, until the evening of the 11th, at 11:15pm, right after we laid in bed, POP, my water broke! Brandon immediately hopped up and started getting dressed, putting his shoes on, getting the bags ready to bring down to the car, and I sat in the bathroom, very calm, contemplating everything that was about to change. Brandon, still slightly hysterical, beckoned me to get out of the bathroom and get dressed so he could rush me to the hospital. I very calmly said, "let's wait a few minutes while I call my doctor." Doctor said since I haven't started having contractions yet that I can wait at home for a while until I start feeling strong ones and then I can go to the hospital, or I can go now. Up to me! About 10 minutes later, hello contractions! They were coming on strong and fast. But we were able to wait long enough at home to get admitted after midnight so that Monday did not count as a day. Good timing Abigail!
Contractions are no joke, truly intense pain for a few hours, until about 3am when I got my epidural. All I remember thinking is Dr. Tran, the anesthesiologist, was my hero. Bye bye pain, time for bed. Brandon and I dozed off to sleep most of the morning. So peaceful.
Hours and hours later, the epidural slowed things down, cue the pitocin, it definitely got things moving a lot faster. So fast, that at times Abigail was having a hard time coping with it, cue the oxygen. I was amazed at how smoothly things ran, they had a solution for everything.
There I was 9 and 1/2 centimeters dilated, I asked Brandon to grab Katrina and my mom from the waiting room so we could chat and spend some time together. They gave me tips, took some pictures, and we had a few good laughs. At this time I was thinking, this is great, everything has run so smoothly, I'm excited to get this show on the road.
Finally, it was time for me to push, and I saw the time pass, and pass, and pass, and pass and still no Abigail. Low and behold, she had one more attempt to stay inside my tummy, which she seemed to love, because she was turned the wrong way. It was clear that she was not coming, no matter how hard I tried. 3 looooong pushing hours later, I was exhausted and it was time for my doctor to step in and assist me with the help of forceps. There really is no way to describe the amount energy it took to push for that long, I was simply delirious and slightly hysterical.
One last contraction, one last push, and at 6:07 pm on July 12, 2011, Abigail arrived! All 8 lbs, 2 oz of her, with a beautiful full head of hair, big eyes, a button nose, and pouty lips. She is perfect!
No one tells you how bad the recovery is going to be, this has been the most painful but rewarding week of my life. We are so blessed to have a beautiful baby to enjoy, dozens of pictures to take, lots of love from daddy, and help and well wishes from family and friends. And its good to know that everything will go back to normal in 6 weeks.
