Marley's Birth.

My due date was January 19, 2009. I had an appt on January 15th & was already having some small contractions.. So, they hooked me up to a monitor for like an hour & a half to see what was going on. I was having a lot of small contractions, most of which i didn't even notice, but nothing very consistent or strong. I was still only dialated to a one, though, so they obviously weren't doing much! My midwife, Starla, measured my belly & i was a centimeter smaller than i had been the week before! She said that it could be because she was so far down, but still thought it was a good idea to go ahead & get her out because she didn't seem to be doing as well as she should've been. So, she said that if i didn't go into labor on my own over the weekend, then come in that Monday - my due date! - & we'd check & see what's going on, & induce on Tuesday if we wanted. Only problem was, if i went into labor that weekend, neither Starla, or my backup doc, would've been in town. A doctor i'd never met before would've delivered me! Yeah, i'm good.. lol.
So, we go in Monday & she says that i MIGHT be at a 2, but not really..but, i was effaced more. She tells me "be at the hospital at 6am."
We get there & get up to our room, where a nurse gives me an iv - *** was rough! - & gets the saline & pitocin started. By 730-8, i started really feeling the contractions more.. They didn't hurt, but i knew they were happening! It wasn't until about 9-930 that i really started having to breath & concentrate through them. By 10, they were coming like 2 minutes apart & so strong that i was shaking & feeling like i was gonna get sick. So, i got some nubain, which made me sooo loopy & out of it between contractions, but didn't help AT ALL through them. At about 1145, i had the nurse check me, & i was still only at a 3! I cried.. lol. About 1, i finally make it to a 4, & they let me get the epidural. I let Kory go get some food around 130 or so, & while he was gone, my nurse suddenly comes in & says "i need you to turn onto your side, because the babys heartbeat keeps dropping with your contractions." Her heartbeat was around 140 average - it dropped to 102 with one of my contractions! So, she has me turning all over the place, trying to get her heartbeat to stabilize, then finally puts an internal monitor in. She tells me "you're at a 5, almost 6" while she's doing this. This is around 2pm.
Finally, Kory gets back, & 5 minutes later, Starla comes in to see what's going on. She checks me & says "wow, you're at a 9! give me a push & we'll see what happens." So, i push really hard & she says "stop! that got you to a 10. let's go have a baby!" Needless to say, Kory & i were totally unprepared, lol. I pushed for about 15 minutes, & i felt a "pop" when her head came out & another one when her shoulder came off my pelvic bone.. the next thing i know, Starla's laying this slimy, screaming baby on my chest.. It was the most amazing thing ever, for sure. =]