Working on a Dream...: The Birth Story

That's right, Dandelion is here!

(And has been for almost a week... what can I say? I'm recovering!)

Here's how it all went down...

On Wednesday, July 21st, I had an OB appointment.

I got there and Dr. A said that she would check my cervix and either A) I would be dilated 4+ cm and she would send me straight to the hospital OR B) I would still "only" be 3cm and we would have to wait til tomorrow for my scheduled induction.

Tory and I were very very very hopeful that the strong contractions I'd been having since Monday had been doing their job and gotten me one tiny centimeter closer to Dandelion!

Dr. A went on with the exam...

We waited impatiently for what seemed like forever, though I'm sure it was only a few seconds. ;)

And announced that I was, in fact, FIVE CENTIMETERS DILATED!!

Off to the hospital we went.

We were checked in and in a room around 1:00pm. I wasn't technically in labor yet, and Dr. A was going to come in a little later to break my water if we hadn't made any progress.

{Me and my favorite guy... soon to be parents of TWO!}

She showed up at 2:30pm and sure enough, still 5cm. She busted that water and said she'd be back soon to check on me.

(Side note: Having your water broken for you doesn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. Or maybe it helps that I'd been told it was extremely painful, so I was expecting the worst. Anyway, it wasn't bad at all.)

{Me and the sisters.}

{The soon to be big brother hanging out in the waiting room with Dada for a while (And G, Gram, Kels, Abba, Mee, and Jeff!)}

That did the trick. I don't remember when I ended up getting the epidural, but it wasn't much later. Some time around 5pm I was told I'd made it to 7cm and Dr. A was heading home for an hour or so.

{This picture was taken when I was in extreme pain. My mother has no mercy. She told me I'd regret it if I didn't let her take pictures. lol}

I was told at that point to call a nurse if I felt the need to push, and otherwise just try to rest up for the big show.

{I told Tory to take this picture... we have one just like it from when I was in labor with Tyler. The only difference is that I had lime green nails with him. lol}

It was 5:45ish when I felt the "urge". I waited a few contractions to make sure, then called the nurse. She checked me out and... voila! 10cm! We were ready to go!

Now all we needed was a doctor!

The nurse said that as long as Dandelion's heartbeat stayed strong through the contractions we could wait for Dr. A. She stayed strong, and at 6:15 or so Dr. A came in, all set to go.

We called my mom, Tory's mom, and Meagan to come on in for the show.

This baby was a bit happier to come out, and I only had to push through 4 contractions. (About 8-10minutes, rather than the 40-something it took with Tyler) Not too shabby!

I do know that about halfway through the pushing Dr. A said something about the cord being around Baby's neck. Tory later told me that I turned white and he'd never seen me so scared. But it turned out to be "nothing"- yes, the cord was around her neck, but Dr. A was very quick and got it off with no issues, and out she came!

Tory cut the cord, and Dr. A put my baby girl in my arms, and I got to hold her for a good 20 minutes after she was born. ♥

{There is no better feeling than holding your baby for the first time.}