Sophia Jayne, 7lbs 1oz

On the morning of May 31st I woke up at about 3 am with a very bad back ache. So bad that I wasn't able to get back to sleep. I walked around our bedroom, leaned over the bed, swayed, etc...pretty much everything I could think of to get the baby to turn. I figured she was facing the wrong way and I was having contractions - both together causing my back pain. After about an hour she did seem to settle into a better position and I started having regular contractions anywhere from 4 to 12 mins apart. None of them were bad but I couldn't get back to sleep either. Around 6 the entire family got up for the day. We finished some last minute prep as I figured our little girl would be coming today. I headed out for my midwife appointment at 8.

At my appointment I was checked and found to be 3 cm dilated. Since I had been contracting all morning Fern (my midwife) offered to hook me up to the monitors and see about breaking my water to get things going. I agreed and called home so Shaun could get the kids dropped off with my sister and meet me at the hospital. Around 9 am Fern broke my water. Unfortunately, my contractions just about stopped at this point. After about an hour and a half they started up again. We walked the halls, rocked in the chair, bounced a bit on the yoga ball, etc. Closer to noon my contractions started picking up in intensity. I shoo'd everyone (Shaun, my mom and my MIL) out the door to grab some lunch while Fern came back to check my progress. Sadly, I was only at 4 cm! The rest of the afternoon the contractions continued on anywhere from 2-6 mins apart, increasing slowly in intensity. As 3 pm, and shift change, approached I requested to be checked again (I wanted my current nurse to place an IV if I needed one since everyone said she was the IV guru and the last time I have an IV it took 5 tries). I was only at 5 cm. At this point Fern suggested a small dose of pitocin. She figured I'd go from 5 to complete in about an hour with the pitocin. I said sure, but I was definitely getting the epidural first.

Que the the IV fluid push for an hour. Then the Dr showed up to start the epidural. Not going to lie, the experience getting an epidural was worse than the contractions. He tried numbing my back first but I felt everything as he had to try twice to get the dang thing placed. By 4:30 the epidural was in place and only slightly working. It took a minimal edge off the contractions on one side of my body. Seriously, I should have just continued it all natural because then I could have at least been out of bed. The pit was started at 4:45 and by 5:15 I sent everyone off for some dinner so I could try to relax a bit. The atmosphere in the room was just a little too intense for me to handle and I wanted everyone gone. Considering I also started to get the shakes, I should have noticed that I was hitting transition. By 5:30 the contractions were back to above pre-epidural pain, I was shaking uncontrollably through each contraction, and I felt "gassy". Letting my body push a bit felt good during the contractions. I didn't actively push, since I was completely alone in the room, but I didn't stop the slight pushes my body was doing either. After the water birth I had with my last baby I was afraid of the pushing phase with this one. I wanted to labor down as much as possible so I was in a bit of denial that I should probably call for a nurse.

At 5:45 Fern showed up anyways and said "I think you're ready to push, let me check." Sure enough, I was about 9.5 cm with a little lip. Now I freaked because everyone had just left for dinner! As they were getting the room prepped for delivery Shaun, my mom and my MIL returned. Go time! Two contractions into pushing Fern had me reach down and feel the baby crowning (I had asked her to tell me when - so cool!) and on the third contraction I got to reach down and lift her up onto my belly! Sophia Jayne was born at 6:15 pm May 31, weighing in at 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. It was my longest labor, shortest delivery and smallest baby. Her cord was short so she stayed on my belly until Shaun cut the cord. We took a few pictures and cuddled while waiting for the placenta. It finally delivered and was so tiny, about the size of Fern's hand with her fingers extended. It had also started to calcify. Fern said she was glad we had decided to break my water that day. Shaun took Sophia to cuddle a bit while Fern repaired a very minor tear that I had at the sight of my previous tears. Afterwards Sophia came back to me and nursed for an hour straight. We're in love.