Sweet Gracie

Where to begin?!

Sunday PM - my parents arrived in SC, we made dinner and got them checked in to the hotel on base and said goodnight to Morghan. I managed to get about 3 hours of sleep.

Monday- We woke up to a very rainy, dark morning and made our way to Labor and Delivery. The whole thing seemed surreal. I got checked in, spoke with the Dr. and he started me on Cytotec to help my cervix efface and dilate. The most depressing part of the morning was learning that my cervix actually went from 2cm to 1cm... rare, but not unheard of. One pill, every 4 hours. After 12 hours they checked my cervix and I was so disappointed to hear that there had been no change. Despite painful contractions, I was simply not progressing and she was still VERY high. Dr decided to do one more dose before starting Pitocin. Around 10pm he prescribed me some Ambien so that I could get some rest. I had never taken this before and was not prepared for how I would feel. I managed to fall asleep around 1030-45 and slept until 130am. I was apparently telling Chase I was high, among other things lol. Chase found it funny that I slept through the nurse coming in at midnight to start the pitocin and take my blood pressure three times. (I'd been having problems with my BP dropping low. At one point I was down to 90/47! --my normal throughout pregnancy has been 135/75 ish--

Tuesday
Around 230AM my contractions were getting pretty painful at this point. Much more painful that I had with Morghan. The nurse told me that Pitocin was notorious for causing contractions to be much more intense. She gave me something to help me relax, though I don't remember the name exactly. IT DEFINITLY WORKED to say the LEAST! Apparently I told Chase I felt like a piece of paper and the pain was little black markings. LMAO! I was soo loopy. Basically, I was able to tell him later that in reality the medicine made me feel essentially paralyzed, but I could still feel the pain. It kept me calm so that I could focus through the pain. By 430am it had worn off and they gave me another dose... this time it didn't work as well. By 630 I was in tears and trying so hard to make it through each contraction. Before one could end, another would start up. I did however finally progress to 3cm so I no longer had to be worried about a C-section. On top of that I was exhausted from lack of sleep since Saturday and my body was worn out from all the pain. I told Chase I needed the epidural. I was so disappointed in myself but after 30 hours I just couldn't do it anymore. He just kept telling me that it was okay to get the pain med, no one was going to be upset or disappointed in me. At one point alarms were going off because my pulse was racing at 150+ and they had to track down the anestesioligist quickly because I was starting to hyperventilate. Even after getting the epi I noticed it wasn't quite working right as only the LEFT side of my body was numb. My contractions however were significantly less painful, just minor cramping on the right side. I was now at 9cm but it was another hour before I convinced the nurse to check me again because I felt like pushing with each contraction. Very quickly my epidural began to wear off. I was feeling the contractions enough that I was having to breathe through them. Then it was time to push and I couldn't help but scream as she began to rapidly descend with each push. She was actually stuck at first, sunny side up which made it difficult to push. In the end I would say I got my drug free delivery only because when she was delivered I was out of the epidural! I won't lie... it hurt like hell. I knew that it would and in the end I was glad that the epi wore off so that I could experience it the way I wanted to. Nothing went the way I had wanted to, but it all worked out in the end and I couldn't be happier. Recovery was definitly quicker since I didn't have to wait for the drugs to wear off. The one downside it that I appear to have done something to my tailbone. Nurse says the Dr will examine in the morning and may order an xray to make sure its not fractured. For now I get to sit on pillows and lay on my side. Getting up to use the bathroom is about a 10 minute ordeal because it is so painful.

She was born February 1st, 2011 at 11:49M 9lb 3oz, 20.5 inches long... a big girl, without tearing! Because she had gotten stuck face up in my pelvis her poor face is all bruised up, but she looks better every hour. We are so blessed, and so happy that its all over. Chase was so awesome during the whole thing. He was incredibly supportive when it came time to push. He really helped me keep going to get her out despite my pain. I couldn't have asked for anything more from him. He's been great at taking care of me and coaching me through everything.

Morghan is so in love with Gracie. She is very concerned about every little whimper. She even started crying when she saw that the nurse was about to give Grace her Vitamin K shot. She was so upset that Gracie was going to cry. When it came time for her and my parents to leave she was so upset. She did not want to leave baby Grace's side. She cried for the longest time because she was so upset. She was thrilled when she got to hold her and didn't want to let her go. She is going to be a fantastic big sister... no doubt!

Our family is complete.
I will post pictures soon, as I'm writing this from the hospital on the laptop.
For now I will try to finally get some sleep as I've only had a little over 7 hours since waking up Saturday morning. Luckily Gracie has just been nursed, changed and getting sleepy!

Sorry this was so long! :)