The Real LC: Birth Story

Little Leighton is 2 months today! I have been putting off telling the birth story, but I believe my wounds have healed, the physical memory has faded, and I can tell the story (minus the graphic details). Actually it was not nearly as bad as I had envisioned based on numerous episodes of Baby Story on TLC and some other mommy blogger experiences.

My favorite pictures from the day of her arrival:

On Friday December 9, 3 days before my due date, I was getting a little, shall we say, "over it," so I decided to try a few wives tales to get her moving along. Thursday night I ate chicken with jalapenos from our favorite chinese restaurant. Friday morning I went for a 3 mile run, which I'm sure was just hysterical looking. I had a mommy massage at a local spa, and I specifically instructed the masseuse to work on those special spots for inducing labor, and I may have forced my husband to help a little too. I wasn't feeling any contractions at all, so as far as I was concerned, nothing worked! So I thought.

We went to bed around 10, and around midnight I got up for one of my multiple night time pee breaks. I went back to bed, and at 12:30 I felt like I was peeing in the bed, which was weird because I had just gone, so I got up and went into the bathroom where a little clear fluid started leaking (not gushing) out. I called out to Drew that I thought my water broke. We called the night-time doctor and she told me I should take my time since I wasn't having any contractions, but get my stuff together and come in. I went ahead and took a quick shower and then we got our bags and the puppies and headed to my parents where we were leaving the puppies while LJ made her arrival.

When we got there, my mom, dad and sister were all up excitedly waiting for us. I said my water had broken, and it was kind of a constant trickle of fluid, which was more than I thought it would be based on my friends' experiences who either didn't know their water broke, thought they peed themselves, or it didn't break at all. I however, was not confused...I went to the kitchen to get a water and then the floods released. It seemed like 5 gallons of water flooded the kitchen floor!! So no mistake there, I did not pee myself. Definite water breakage.

I changed clothes and we go to the hospital where the admitting nurse checked us in. She did an initial exam to check my progress and determined I was fully effaced and 1cm dilated. She told the doctor this info and they decided at 7am they'd start me on pitocin (an inducing drug) to get me progressing quicker. The doctor never checked me to verify my dilation progress because they don't like to check you too often at the risk of pushing bacteria up near the baby and the cervix. So we kinda napped, ate a meal and waited to get started. Once they started the IV they told me I could ask for the epidural when I was ready, so around 12pm Saturday, I ordered the epidural, and my doctor decided to check me then to see my progress before giving me the drugs. After an exam, she determined that in fact I was NOT dilated and I was not even fully effaced!!!! Which means we have to stop the pitocin because it has been a complete waste of 12 hours since I was not even to the point where I could be induced. And now since my water has been broken for 12 hours, we have to talk about my options which include a c-section. Fabulous. Definitely not part of my plan, and I really really did not want a c-section on my first baby because of the long recovery time and because it would mean I would probably have to have c-sections on subsequent babies. UGH. My other option was an effacing pill (cervidil), which could take 12-18 hours to work, and then to restart pitocin which could be another 12 hours. Also a not so great option. Ultimately, I decided to give the cervidil a shot, and if it didn't work, then I could go the c-section route. I was given the pill at 2pm and told to just hang out, because it would be at least 12 hours before we'd see any progress, so they would see me at 2am. Well...about 4 hours later, I thought I was going to die. You could have chopped off my arm and I would not have felt it because the contractions were so incredibly awful. Like can't speak, can't see, can't think awful. I called the nurse and said she had to order me the epidural, like NOW. She was reluctant because it had only been a few hours and shouldn't have worked so quickly. I was like, look, I feel like I have a pretty high pain tolerance and I feel like my insides are on fire. My doc checked me then, and was like, WOAH, you're at 2cm, which doesn't sound like much, but it's the biggest jump ever!! So that was pretty amazing. And, luckily my dad's very good friend (and my good friend's dad) is the head of anesthesiology, and he was in charge of my epi, so about 10 minutes after I asked for it, he appeared in my room like my HERO!!! Serious. Life. Saver. There are no words for my love for him at that moment. (I know natural works for some people, and MORE power to them, because there is no way in H**L I would have survived without it!)

Once I got the epidural, it was like my world was rainbows and sunshine! And, things started moving very quickly. The hard part was definitely over. They started checking me regularly, and I went from 2-10 in the next 4 hours. They were amazed at my fast progression, and around 10ish they told me we'd start pushing around 12, and they told me the average first time mom pushes for 2 hours. Well, around 12:30 I said I was feeling "pressure" and the nurse was like, oh yah okay, blah blah. I was like, no, it feels like a baby is coming out, so she went down there and was like, yep that's a head, let's call the doctor. So Dr. Million came in and we started pushing, and 4 pushes and 30 minutes later, my little angel emerged and they placed her on my chest and my world was changed. There is no way to explain that feeling of feeling and seeing your new baby that you created with your best friend. I was transformed. Obviously it was very emotional and exciting for both of us. Our families were both there after to meet her, and we just enjoyed the moment and then got started on our new lives as mom, dad and baby.

Welcome Leighton Jane!! Here are some pictures from Leighton's arrival.

First Breath of Air