was supposed to be a july mom (birth story, PIP)

kateland3 · June 2012

may i join y'all?

last sunday, the 10th, i started having small gushes of very watery discharge. it crossed my mind that it might've been amniotic fluid, but i was at least slightly in denial... i had a licensing exam on thursday that had already been paid for ($500) and i was to be a bridesmaid in VA on saturday. since i was over a week overdue with henry, i didn't expect this to be a problem.

i had planned to ask the midwife to check the fluid on wednesday morning at my appointment, but alas, at 3 am wednesday morning, my water officially broke. contractions started around 5 am, but we waited until henry's school opened to drop him off at 7:30 and then went to the hospital.

they confirmed my water had broken, and i was contracting every 4 minutes, but they weren't really painful. since my water had been leaking for a few days, they decided to start pitocin around noon to get things moving more quickly. i couldn't get checked b/c of ruptured membranes, but i don't think i was really dilated.

got the epi at 2:30 and got checked: 3-4 cm. boo. started feeling pressure around 4:25, but was only dilated to a 6, so that was disappointing. my parents were in my room at 4:54, when i told them to get out and call the nurse and midwife. i pushed for 3 contractions and less than 8 minutes, and audrey elizabeth was born at 5:02 pm on june 13th. she was 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 19.25 inches long, born at 37 weeks 3 days. she has a full head of dark hair and is the most beautiful baby.

recovery has been a piece of cake compared to the first time, and i even managed to be a bridesmaid on saturday. we did end up back in the hospital overnight for jaundice, but she's over the hump now.