The time is flying by and I have yet to write down anything about Leila’s birth. She is a month old now!
So here is Leila’s birth story.
My due date (September 4th/5th) came and went with no baby. This was a surprise because Tanner was born 9 days early, so I expected something along the same lines. My Doctors had offered months before to have a scheduled induction date (after 39 weeks) and I filed it in the back of my mind as a possibility. I decided on September 6th to go in to the Dr to ask about being induced; after all I had been dilated to 3cm for over a week and had false labor contractions a couple days before that led me to the hospital to see if I was going into labor. I was confident that they would say at the Dr’s that I was a favorable candidate to be induced.
And I was right! I was still 3cm dilated and %70 effaced. We marked our calendars for September 8th, 6:00am!
My friend Tisha (bless her) came over to our house at 5:40am so Tanner could keep sleeping while we went to the hospital. When he woke up he was happy as a clam to see her and go back to her house and hang out. The combined efforts of the Gibby’s and the Salomons’ took care of Tanner for the morning while Lincoln and I were at the hospital. We were relaxed and able to enjoy our experience knowing Tanner was well cared for!
Back to the hospital. We got checked in and up to our room at 6:30am and the nurses got me all set up, put in an IV and filled out paper work etc. We hung out and waited for Dr. Rodriguez. 8:30am the Dr comes. She says I have not progressed any further from the previous visit and breaks my water. Turns out Leila had passed meconium (her first bowel movement). So the Dr used a catheter and some saline solution to try to clean it up and prevent complications at birth. And as an added measure of precaution she set up a neonatal specialist to attend the birth. Contractions progress a little bit after that, but at 9:15am I receive a low dose of pitocin. Contractions get more intense so I order the epidural. After a few zaps down my left inner thigh (ouch, but Lincoln is there to help distract me) epidural is done and it is 10:00am. Bliss. I just doze, so relaxed and happy for the next hour. At 11:00am when the nurse checks me I am 10cm dilated and ready to go.
The troops were rallied, which took 30 minutes and eventually we started pushing. I had a mirror this time to watch- so cool! I definitely recommend it. I push (feels like doing a few crunches), and she is born at 11:50am. The Dr quickly cuts the chord and they make sure Leila does not aspirate fluid. She looks great and checks out just fine! She has dark hair! 8lbs 1 oz, 21 inches long. We are so happy and blessed!
Lincoln skyped the immediate post birth happenings with his parents. So they got to see Leila get cleaned and checked out. Yep, he has brilliant ideas every day. How cool.