Anna Lynn's birth story :) PIP

I'll try to keep it short and sweet

I went in for my scheduled induction at 4 on the 22nd. They started pitocin around 5:30 and DANG! They weren't kidding when they said pitocin induced contractions hurt! I barely made it a half hour before I asked for pain reliever. They gave me a shot of nubain, which definitely took the edge off. They put a foley in my cervix (balloon type thing) and filled it with fluid - it was about 4 cm wide. That way when the contractions pushed it out I would be dilated to a 4 and they could break my water (and start the epidural if I wanted). By 8 the foley had fallen out, which meant I was at a 4.

I progressed relatively slowly for a while. They increased pitocin every half hour or so, and by 1 I was asking for the epidural. My back is extremely ticklish. When the anesthesiologist poked along my spine it all but sent my poor back into convulsions that I couldn't stop! After about 5 minutes I calmed down enough for her to give me the shot of numbing medicine and I was fine. Around 2:30 I rolled over and the nurse noticed my epidural wasn't actually hooked up! The anesthesiologist had given me an initial shot of it but didn't hook me up to the pump! I thanked the nurse like 5 times for noticing. THEN around 6:30 the epi decided it didn't want to work right around my vaginal opening. The nurse gave me an extra boost of the epi medicine but it didn't work. At 8:30 the anesthesiologist gave me a different shot of something that worked so well I was just about able to sleep lol. (which was funny because about 15 minutes after I got it the doc came in and said "no more meds" haha. Got it just in time!)

So from 5-8 I was stuck at 8cm. Around 8:30 the doc said that they were gonna check me again at 9, and if I still was stuck at 8cm then we would consider my options (aka talk about a c-section). I wasn't too worried because he had prepared me for the possibility of a c-section due to failed induction. However they checked at 9 and I had made it to 10cm! She was still at 0 station so I wasn't completely out of the woods. They checked every 15 minutes and she was slowly moving down. The nurse at one point said "I think the reason she's moving slow is because she's looking slightly "up". yep, my babies head was trying to come out at its widest point.

a little before 10 pm - time to push! I pushed for 2 hours and just couldn't do it anymore. I started to feel defeated and then the doctor said "if her head was positioned the right way she'd be out by now." That was the justification I needed in asking for help. Doc got out the forceps, and 3 contractions later (7 biiiiig pushes) she was out! 12:23 am on 2/23/12 (a palindrome!) Anna Lynn made her appearance! 8lbs 1oz, 20.5 in. long.

I had a 4th degree tear and he had to do an episiotomy. Being stitched up was more painful than the birth itself! I was so proud of DH. I guess the sight of the doc using the forceps was just about all he could handle. Once they took her away to get cleaned up he had to sneak to the bathroom to splash water on his face, and he was looking pretty pale - but he didn't pass out! He even cut the cord!

Anna is absolutely perfect She scored 8/9 on the apgar tests, and has latched on perfectly. I'm sitting on the couch and she's snuggled up on my chest as I'm typing this. DH just looked over all tearey eyed and said "it still gets me a little more and more every time I look over at you". We are so in love with her and her little blonde fuzzy head it's crazy!