Where do I start? Our family welcomed Elsie and Georgia into the world on Sept. 10th just before 1pm. Both girls managed to be born vaginally, Georgia being a bit of a gymnast with one arm above her head and one leg by her belly creating the splits. Both are doing well and are in the hospital room with us. they weighed in at 4lb 14oz and 4lb 13oz (a tad off the guesstimate from the ultrasound).
Here is how our delivery went.... As you read in Tuesday's entry, I came home from my doctor's appointment with a 50/50 chance of going into labor within 48 hours because of having my membranes stripped. I was dilated to 4cm and effaced. At home I began cramping quite a bit and was having to bend forward a bit to try and relieve the feeling. I joked around with my husband about the 50/50 chance and we decided to get ready to head into Seattle that night. My cramping began to move into patterned contractions about 10 minutes apart. I laid on my side and the contractions went to 4 minutes apart. When we checked the ferry schedule we realized that there was a 9:45pm and an 11:35pm boat (this revelation occurring at 9:30pm). In listening to the words of my doctor we decided to hop onto the 9:45pm so we wouldn't be rushed to get to the hospital in hard labor. Once at the hospital I was checked and my cervix measured 5cm so they decided to move me to a labor room.
Labor.... My contractions changed to minor blips and we started pitocin to get things moving. Well, things didn't get moving. I spent about 12 hours on pitocin and went from 5cm to 7cm. The contractions were constant and close together but didn't hurt. My friends Melinda and Mimi started rubbing my feet and instantly I went into hard labor. This was at about 11ish. It was nice to finally have contractions that meant something, especially after waiting and waiting for "real" contractions. The active labor hit fast and we got started on the epidural. The epidural took forever to put in and I was sitting on the side of the bed trying to curl myself around my belly to create an open space in my back AND have very strong contractions. The contractions were pretty much constant and it was hard to go through this with a needle in your back. By the time I was done getting the epidural I was trying really hard to not push! The epidural was complete at 12:16pm and they checked me and I was 8-9cm dilated. They broke my bag of waters and instantly I was totally dilated and the first baby's head was coming - QUICKLY. They rushed me out of my room and told me to not push or the baby would come in the hallway. I got into the OR and everyone was rushing around getting ready for baby #1. It was amazing to watch all the people (our guess is 15 people in there) and thankfully with the epidural I wasn't feeling any pain. Two pushes and little Elizabeth Marie popped out. They then grabbed the ultrasound and searched for baby #2. She wasn't really head down and not really sideways. The doctor had to go up inside and grab for her legs. Thankfully at that time she dropped head down and we were able to deliver her within a push or two.
Both girls were born healthy. Georgia spent one day in the NICU with some breathing issues but was doing well hours after birth. Elsie was able to stay with us for a good portion of the time but did visit the nursery so that she could be monitored for temperature control. We have been very blessed with two beautiful (and very different looking) girls AND and super experience with delivering them. UW Rocks!
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