Well,
SHE'S here! Yep, that's right, this baby that we waited a long 9 months to meet is a sweet precious little girl!
I can't even begin to describe how much we love her. I want to write her story out before too much time passes and I start to forget the details...
We were supposed to check-in at the hospital at 7:00pm Thursday night. That afternoon, the nurse called and asked us to come at 8:00pm because they still didn't have our room ready.
What's one more hour when you've waited 9 months? It actually worked out fine. That day was Scott's birthday, so we were able to meet them, along with Pappy and Annie, for dinner at The Rails. The nurse had told me to eat a big dinner so I'd have energy, but to be honest, food was the last thing on my mind at that point. I managed to eat a baked potato, then after supper, Drew and I ran by Wal-Mart because we were out of cat food (of all things?!) We swung by the house, picked up Zoe, and took her to Pappy and Annie's. We said a quick goodbye to our Livy Lou, and we were on our way!
We checked in to our room, I changed in to the ever fashionable hospital gown, they hooked me up to the monitors, and I settled in to my bed for the long haul! Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. There were 2 other women being induced so the nurses were super busy. I finally got an IV around 10:30pm.
Since we were following the same plan as we did with Olivia and she was born around noon, we were figuring this baby would come about mid-morning. So we had told our family to expect a call sometime the next morning. Well, when I was just getting an IV at 10:30pm, I started thinking it may be more like noon or afternoon before the baby is born. I was starting to get frustrated because I was so ready to get the show on the road. When I had Olivia, I was so naive, because I had no idea what labor would be like. But with Charlotte, I knew exactly what was coming, and I was extremely nervous. I was just ready for it to be over! I was thinking I would be in labor all night and well on into the morning... but thankfully, God had a different plan...
11:30pm... The nurse finally came in and gave me the Cytotec pill. She also checked me and I was still 2cm dilated and about 70% effaced. I had already been having contractions on my own, and every time one started up, I'd get Drew to tell me what the machines said. Since I was laying in bed, I couldn't see it myself and I was curious to know how "strong" they were on a chart. The nurses were busy and didn't come in our room very often, so I wasn't getting a play-by-play of what was going on. That meant Drew and I were left to come up with the scenarios on our own. Scary, right?! Ha! We noticed the contraction machine was called TOCO,
which we referred to as "TACO". We were trying to Google how to read the machine correctly, and every time I would have a contraction I'd ask him, "So what does
"TACO" say about this one?" Probably not as funny as we thought it was at the time, but it was a good distraction!
12:00am... I noticed my contractions began to pick up within 30 minutes of taking the Cytotec. They were getting stronger and much closer together! The nurse came in to check on me and I asked her what exactly Cytotec was supposed to do. She said it's mainly used to ripen the cervix to prepare your body for labor. Sometimes it puts women into labor and sometimes it doesn't; it's different for everyone. I told her I could already tell a big difference, so we started getting excited! Not long after the nurse left, Drew came over to the bed, kissed me, and said the sweetest prayer for us and the baby.
Just another reason why I love him so! Then we both tried to get a little rest. He was much more successful than I was, but he didn't get to sleep much either.
2:00am... I hung in there for a couple hours and the contractions were really getting stronger. They were leaving the uncomfortable stage and heading right towards painful. I asked Drew if he would go get the nurse because I wanted her to check me to see if I had progressed any. She said I was now 3cm dilated... not exactly what I wanted to hear! She asked what my pain level was on a scale from 1-10. Boy, do I hate answering that question! I don't want to sound like a pansy, but at the same time... I'm in pain! I slighted myself a little and said about a 4 or 5, but really I was feeling worse than that. She let me go to the bathroom while she went to get me some Demoral so I could get some rest. As soon as the Demoral went through my IV, my words started to slur and I could barely keep my eyes open! That stuff works! If only the contractions wouldn't have been so strong, I might would've been able to get some sleep. The nurse told me to rest and she probably wouldn't check me again until about 6:00am when they would give me the Pitocin.
3:30am... Somehow I managed to doze off in between contractions, and I woke up suddenly to my water breaking! Drew was asleep, and I told him to go get the nurse, STAT! For real, I knew it was about to be go time. I was feeling so much pressure! The nurse came in, checked me, and said I was 5cm dilated now. She called the anesthesiologist (who was at home) to come in for my epidural. Right after my water broke, things just got intense. Contractions were super painful, long, and very close together. Poor Drew tried to help the situation by stroking my hair and saying, "Just think of the beach..." to which I kindly responded, "Please don't talk." I really wasn't trying to be mean, but when you're about to push a baby out,
thinking of the beach does you no good.
3:45am... About 15 minutes went by and I could tell something was happening. The pressure I was feeling was so extreme! Again, I made Drew go get the nurse. She came in, checked me, and said, "Ok, sweetie, you're a 9cm... I'm gonna lay you down and let's try not to push, Ok?" At this point, some things are a blur to me. When you're in so much pain, you don't always realize what's going on around you. They called Dr. Watson (who was also at home) to come immediately! Between contractions, I was begging for that epidural. I was so scared I was about to have this baby with no pain medication!
4:15am... Finally, the anesthesiologist showed up. I was still begging for the epidural. Actually, I think I remember saying, "Just give me anything!" Haha! I couldn't see this, but Drew said the anesthesiologist looked at the nurse, the nurse looked at her, and they both shook their heads like... there's no way... there's not enough time. But obviously they didn't want to tell me that so they tried their best to satisfy my mind. There was no way I could even sit up for an epidural, so they layed me on my side and rubbed some of that stuff on my back (I have no idea what it's called).
It wasn't long before I felt the most extreme pain I have ever felt before in my life. That baby was coming out whether we were ready or not. I told my nurse, "It's coming out!!!" I remember looking up at Drew, who was right by my head, and he had this look of terror on his face. I was scaring him. Afterwards, he said he just felt helpless. There was nothing he could do and he was so scared for me. I was scared because I had no idea how bad this was about to hurt! All of a sudden I felt another contraction coming, I told my nurse, and she told me not to push. She tried getting me to pant through it, but it was no use. The baby was coming! It was like I had no control over my body, and I didn't need to. My body knew exactly what it was doing. The baby was seriously coming out. They rolled me onto my back and
literally, in 2 pushes, she was out at 4:22am.
It was instant relief for me. I immediately said, "What is it? What is it?" And my nurse said, "It's your baby!" Haha! We have laughed and laughed about that moment!
The anesthesiologist and the nurse delivered my sweet baby. Dr. Watson came in not long after and Charlotte was already laying on the table getting cleaned up. Looking back, as painful and as scary as it was, it is so amazing to be able to say I gave birth to my daughter all natural. Without any pain medication. Just more proof to how amazing God is. He designed us in a way that our bodies know exactly what to do. Even though it didn't go according to
my plan, it did go according to
His. And for that I am thankful.
Charlotte Emily Baker was born at 4:22am. She weighted 9 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 21 inches long.
