On Tuesday March 11, I went in for my 39 week appointment at 3:00. I was still just one centimeter, but Dr. Oster said that she would induce me on my due date that Sunday (3/16). I asked if she would do it sooner, expecting her to say no, but she said she could do it Thursday the 13th or we could do it that evening. At first I told her Thursday, but then I called Matthew and we decided why not just do it today?! Donna was in town, everything was as ready as it was going to be, it was snowing outside and the L&D was empty, so the doctor said I would get great attention. I must have had some premonition because before I left for the doctor I put everything in my bag and left it all together in my room. I had never done that before, but it worked out great because all Matthew had to do was run home pack his bag and pick up all my stuff.
I headed straight to admissions and they got me set up in a room. About this time, Donna, Matthew, and the kids came up so I could tell the kids goodnight. They weren't too sure what was going on but were excited. Evie had a hard time leaving mommy and daddy, but did okay once they left.
At 6:15, Dr. Oster came in to break my water and I was about 2cm. They decided to put me on the lowest dose of pitocin to get things moving. I never even needed more because the contractions started coming fast once my water was broken.
The contractions started coming just a couple of minutes apart and were getting painful by around 9:00. I went ahead and asked for the epidural because I wanted some relief from the pain and I thought we might get a few hours sleep. I got the epidural at 9:15 and I was 5cm.
Matthew pulled out his bed and we were getting ready to try to sleep. Well, around 11:00 I started to feel a pressure/tingling feeling down low. (My epidural helped with the level of pain, but I could still feel everything on my right side.) I was about to say something, but the nurse came in at that time and said she saw something on the screen and she wanted to check me. (I was having a VBAC, so they were watching me more closely) She checked me and I was 7cm. She told me that I could be ready in 20 minutes or 4 hours. She left and about five minutes later, I felt strong contractions and felt like I needed to push right that second. We called the nurse, and she checked me again at 11:08 and I was fully dilated! The doctor lived twenty minutes away so she immediately called her to come to the hospital. The next twenty minutes felt like an hour, and was the worst pain of my life. My whole body was shaking as I was trying my hardest not to push.
The doctor came in at 11:30 and I immediately started pushing. The baby decided to make me suffer just a little bit more and I kept pushing for the next thirty minutes. The last two pushes were incredibly painful and I really didn't think I could push anymore. The pressure was so intense. At 12:02 am on March 12, Matthew said "it's a girl!" and I was in shock! We were convinced it was a boy, and were so surprised. (we were right with our guesses for Mason and Evie, so why would we be wrong this time? ha!)
Miss Charlotte was 8 pounds 4 ounces (my biggest baby) and was 20.5 inches long. (She didn't get her middle name until the day we left hospital because we had never decided on one since we thought it was a Miller James). She looked exactly like Evie with some big chubby cheeks and head full of hair. They put her immediately on my chest and it was love at first sight. The nurse checked her out while the doctor stitched me up and then we were moved to the recovery room around 4am. We didn't sleep at all that night and just loved looking at our sweet baby girl.
I feel so blessed to have three precious miracles in our life. I am so grateful to have moved somewhere where VBAC's can be performed successfully. This was my easiest recovery by far.
I still can't believe we have THREE kids! Let the good times begin…
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