I had a doctor's appointment first thing that Thursday morning, whereupon my doctor stretched me to 5 cm and wanted me to go on ahead to the hospital. Having tested positive for group B strep bacteria, I had to have antibiotics for 4 hours prior to delivery, and he wanted to ensure that I had enough time to have those in me. Given how far I was progressed and how quickly she probably would come, he felt it was best to have labor happen in the more controlled circumstances. And needless to say, I was ready and didn't argue!!
We got to the hospital around noon, and contractions actually started about then (from the cervical stretching). I didn't realize that they wouldn't break my water until I had antibiotics for 4 hours, so things ended up happening much more slowly than I thought. I was pretty comfy for the early part of the afternoon and decided to go ahead with the epidural around 3:00.
The floor doctor came at 4:30 to break my water, and at that point I was 6 cm and she was still a little high up. I was checked again at 6:00 and progressed to 8 cm. About an hour later, contractions kicked in pretty darn good, and I realized my epidural wore off on my left side. The anesthesiologist came back and upped the dose, and while it numbed most of that side again, we realized that there was a "window" in the left side of my abdomen, straight through to my back, where the meds just weren't reaching. The only solution was redoing it, but it was apparent that we were just too close to the end for it to even kick in. BUT, the most important part to me was that every other inch of my lower half WAS covered by the epidural, and that's all that mattered to me!! I was having to do "real" breathing through each contraction and they were hard and coming about every minute and a half. I have never had a desire to have a natural childbirth, and this was just a tiny taste of it. I salute you ladies who have done it... you are amazing!!!!!!!
Even though I was numb I could feel pressure, so the nurse checked me again at 8:00 and I was complete... Hannah was just a little high still... and we had to wait for my doctor while he drove over to our hospital from another delivery at St. John's, 20 minutes away. It was a pretty long wait but the rapid fire contractions did help the time pass, and about the last 5 minutes I could tell I was getting close to having to push. He got in at 8:30, they spent a handful of minutes getting me and the bed prepped, and started pushing at 8:45. She was out within 5 minutes!!
While they were suctioning her, before she was placed on my belly, the doc and nurses were saying that we had another big baby on our hands. Dr. Puckett had been telling me she thought she was smaller... 7 1/2 pound range perhaps... and he said I hide babies from him well (he also told me 9-pound Joey would be 8 pounds)!!
My recovery from this birth was amazing. When the nurses came in a couple hours later to walk me to the bathroom, I was pretty much doing it by myself. The boys were both born with a hand and a head at the same time, but that didn't happen with Hannah. I think that she just did less damage on the way out. Since she was born so late that evening, I was not ready to give that girl up, so she just slept in my arms swaddled up. Friday night, she needed to have her PKU and other assessments, so we just sent her to the nursery for the whole night and I asked for an Ambien! I slept HARD from 10 pm - 7 am and woke in the same position I fell asleep in - it was gloooorious!!!
Our hospital stay was great. We had fantastic nurses, and since there were only one or two other families on the floor during our stay, we got to know these gals well. We've had 3 out of 3 wonderful experiences at Barnes St. Peters, so if you are local, have your babies there!!!
Since we've been home, we've adjusted pretty well. Grandma and Grandpa Scott left on Sunday and we've been a Party of 5 all by ourselves. Hannah is a sleeper for sure!! She obviously loves being held and pretty much conks out as soon as she finds herself in our arms. We did go ahead with bottle feeding from the get-go. It was the best decision for our family, hands-down. She's eating well but we have to stay on her to stay awake. The overnights have been good because we'll just sleep on the couch with her if she isn't wanting to lay alone. In these early days, lots of snuggles are necessary! Ben and Joey are doing so well. Ben LOOOOVES this little girl and kisses her all the time. He also loves holding her. It took Joey a little more time to come around, but he likes her a lot and likes to get toys out for her to look at. He's held her hand and touched her several times, but doesn't want to hold her just yet. Joey has been a little more demanding with his behavior, which we are not surprised by.
Andrew is home all this week and will go back to school mid-week next week. It's definitely a good thing, as I still am a bit sore and getting up and down especially has been a slow process. Plus, Hannah's bilirubin levels have been a bit elevated so we've had to have trips to the hosptial's lab to have her blood checked. We saw the doctor yesterday for her first appointment, and he thinks it'll go down soon - we just need to keep an eye on it. It's definitely not to the point where we need a bili-bed (WHEW). We're thankful he's been so cautious.
Ok, this has turned into a LONG post, so that is the wrap up from the last week's excitement! Just have to give a huge thank you to the Lord for giving us this wonderful blessing and for giving us such a wonderful little family. He is so so so good.
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