I had the weirdest labor ever! Mom and Maegan flew in to NYC on Tuesday June 22nd, my actual due date. When the doctor told me she was already 7lbs 13oz (based on ultrasound), we decided she needed to hurry and make an appearance before she got any bigger. We tried EVERYTHING! We tried accupressure, spicy foods, pineapple, squats, and TONS of walking. Thursday night I started having contractions. They didn't hurt at all but they were coming every 3-4 minutes. I couldn't call my doctor's office because their phone lines were down so I called the labor and delivery floor. I explained that the contractions were not painful but the nurse wanted me to come in anyways. Well, 4 hours later they sent me home. Poor Nathan had to go to work that day with only 1 hour of sleep. My doctor had me come to her office that day to be placed on the monitor. She kept saying she was so confused because the intensity of my contractions on the monitor were like real labor contractions - not Braxton Hicks. She was on call at the hospital so she had me come there to be monitored some more. Once again...sent home!
By my appointment on Monday, I was exhausted. The contractions still didn't hurt but they were making it impossible to sleep and I was exhausted. My doctor decided that I should probably be induced. So, I went for induction Tuesday night at 10pm. I labored through the night with no meds but I was getting tired and my doctor wanted me to rest before the big delivery so I decided that would be a good time to get my epidural. Wow! It was fantastic! I was totally pain free and able to sleep for a couple hours. Then, the pain started to come back...no problem...I just got more anesthesia...wrong! For some reason the anesthesia wasn't helping in one area no matter how much more medication he gave me. So, he decided to re-do the epidural. That one worked much better and I was able to get a little more rest. However, shortly after, Mikayla started to have some decelerations of her heart rate. I couldn't see the monitor but I knew her heart was beating very slowly and I was so afraid. I didn't want Nathan to panic but I guess he could tell what was going on. They rolled me over on my side to see if that would help and all I could do was pray, pray, pray that my sweet little girl would be ok. Around 3pm my Mom and Maegan made it to the hospital but I had to send them out right away because I knew the baby was coming any minute.
Twenty minutes later my sweet little girl was born. When they lifted her up and set her on my stomach, curled up in a little ball, she did the cutest thing. She stretched out her little neck and looked right up at me. It was so precious and something I will never forget. I guess the labor was long and hard for her too because her poor little face was pretty swollen and beat up. She is a PERFECT baby! She is a good sleeper and a great eater! She really only cries when she has a belly ache. I would have never survived those next couple of weeks without my Mom. She did everything - cooking, cleaning, laundry and of course helping with Mikayla.
