Genevieve's Birth Story

I wanted to document Genevieve's birth before I forget too much more. I've gotten so I forget more and more quickly with each child I have so I wanted to get it down faster this time. :) Here goes my birth story.

The weeks leading up to her birth were not easy ones for me. I was in a lot of discomfort and was anxious to give birth. I really thought she'd be coming rather early so each day that ticked by seemed so very long. I knew rationally that I was being a nut but I couldn't seem to help myself. I would go to bed often crying because I was so sad I hadn't had her that day. At my 38th week appointment my doctor agreed to induce me on the 20th since it was my fourth child with no complications before. Plus Stewart's mother was flying in that day and I really wanted to be sure that she wasn't born on Angeli's birthday. So after I received the doctor's okay I was excited to know there was an end in sight.

The morning of her induction I received a call from the hospital telling me that there was a scheduling problem and that I needed to call back later to see if I could come in. I was bummed. After calling three more times to see if there was room for me I got the head nurse's approval to come in and we excitedly headed to hospital. It actually worked out perfectly because we were all able to pick up Stewart's mother from the airport and get the kids settled in at home with her and then go to the hospital.
After the initial signing in and stuff I was finally hooked up to pitocin by 12:00 pm. I hoped I wouldn't go longer then my other kid's noon start time inductions of about 8pm births. I asked my nurse when I would be able to get an epidural she told I could when my contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart. That is when I remembered that epidural or not labor was a painful process.

I was only dilated to a one and was 60% effaced when my doctor came to check in with me. She broke my water, though it didn't do much to speed things up. The hours ticked by as my pain grew and my contractions got closer and closer together. Finally at 6:00 pm my contractions were extremely painful and 2 to 3 minutes apart. I was so relieved I could finally ask for my epidural. In the thirty minutes it took to get my epidural my contractions began to increase in pain and began to cluster. I would have two or three contractions back to back and then have a two or three minute break. It was a long thirty minutes! :O)

After it started to work I was able to relax and get a little more rest. I was feeling really exhausted. I felt rather discouraged that I was only four centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. When the nurse told me she'd be back at 8pm to check on me I hoped it wouldn't really be that long. My epidural set in more and I realized it was really weird, not like any I had before. There was a large spot on the right side of my abdomen that never went numb and it felt really rather spotty. Some spots were super numb and other spots not very numb at all. It was fine at first but as my labor went on it bothered me more and more. Around 7:00 I started to feel ill. I was so light headed and my head throbbed. I began to get really agitated and basically grumpy. The pain from my spot that didn't go numb got very painful and I started to have to breath through the pain that was breaking through. I felt so weird. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't feel any pressure but I paged my nurse and she assured me that my blood pressure was fine. She said she'd get me some Tylenol for my head ache. But by the time she returned I was getting a bit panicky. She ask how I was doing as I was trying not to cry and breathing through my contractions in that one spot. When I replied that I felt really really weird and really grumpy she laughed at my reply and suggested that she check me. It took her about half a second to say, "Her head is right there we better hurry." and that was it. I was so relieved to realized that I felt so weird because I was laying there with a baby pushing herself out of me as I was completely unaware and not that I was about to pass out or have a seizure or something scary. At last I was going to have my baby. I waited for some adrenalin to kick in but I was tired and calm. I was a bit nervous that I would not have enough energy to push.

It was 7:50 when she checked me and at 8:09 little Genevieve was born. It went fast. The nurses rushed in the room and set things up while the on call doctor arrived. Stewart was going to deliver the baby but in the end I asked him to stay by my side. I felt like I needed him next to me, he was sweet about it. It was strange though because although it went very quickly I felt very calm and not rushed at all. In the end I was very grateful I was not completely numb and that I had a big spot that had full feeling because without any sense of pressure or urge to push I would have been completely unaware of when to push or have anything to push through. I could understand why those who have had bad or odd epidurals don't want to have them again - it was really a weird thing to have a bad epidural. I guess before I had been fortunate to have such mild epidurals.But when she was born it was wonderful. She was beautiful and everyone was happy. She was so healthy with her big red cheeks. I could hardly believe she was actually born. Like always I was tired beyond belief and likewise as happy. Everyone was surprised she was under 8 lbs. She looked so big. When I held her for the first time she felt so heavy I think because my arms were so weak. I nursed right away and she was a little champ. I could tell she would be an easy baby to nurse.

We had her to ourselves for over two hours, it was lovely. Stewart called family to tell them the happy news while I nursed Genevieve and I ate some food for the first time that day. Stewart was beaming and I felt so grateful. We were very happy.Our nurse came in and told us she had pulled some strings and got us the huge suite in the mother and baby floor. We loved both the nurses that helped me through my labor. They were kind, very attentive, and communicated to me very well everything that was going on. It was so nice. Our stay in the hospital was perfect. I felt wonderful and I got to keep little Genevieve the entire time. When the kids visited our room was so big they could actually stay for enough time for us to enjoy each other.On Saturday we came home and Mom Ras had helped the kids decorate the house to welcome Genevieve and Me home. It was so sweet of her. I was so grateful for my time in the hospital where I could rest and bond with Genevieve without all the stress and commotion of being at home. Once I was home and well rested it felt nice to be there and be all together again. The kids loved her and we settled into life at home quickly with the help of Mom Ras there to keep the house going and everyone fed and happy. My recovery has certainly been the easiest I have had - though it is still happening. :) Besides being extremely tired I feel really really good. Genevieve is beautiful and sweet. We are all loving falling more and more in love with her. She really is an angel from Heaven. We adore her.