Emma Louise

Since about 24 weeks in this pregnancy I've had the pleasure of going to the doctor's office every week or two due to some placenta issues. I had an ultrasound every two weeks and visited my regular doctor just as often. Soooooo much fun. Starting at 32 weeks I went in and had a non stress test done weekly and still had my biweekly ultrasounds to make sure Baby Girl was still growing. At week 36 my amniotic fluid was pretty low, so I was told to drink a bunch of water and come back in a few days to check again. If it was still low they were going to induce me. Thankfully my levels were back up to normal, but Andrew and I made sure all the important things were taken care of in case we had to suddenly go to the hospital. At 38 weeks my levels were low AGAIN so my doctor told us to go home, get our things, and head to the hospital.

 Like I would go to the hospital before eating. I'm no fool. Taco Bell seemed like the best choice (isn't it always?). 

 

 We got to the hospital....and waited. And waited and waited and waited. They wanted to start me on Cervidil, which doesn't necessarily induce labor, it just prepares your body for it, before getting the pitocin going. But the nurses couldn't insert it, the doctor had to, and the doctor was busy with other emergencies for like 5 hours after we got there. So we were just chillin in the hospital room.

 After a certain amount of time on Cervidil I was allowed to eat. (This may be the most flattering pic of me EVER.) I still wasn't in labor, so I was a happy camper. I slept all night with the Cervidil in, then they removed it, I showered and got pretty again (there's no reason to start out looking haggard when that's most definitely how it was going to end), and then they got the pitocin going. Andrew and I played games, watched some movies, and chatted to friends and family on the phone. Everyone kept telling me to get the epidural ASAP because the anesthesiologist always took forever to get down there and administer it. So once the contractions started hurting I called him down there. The epidural RULES. Sure, my legs were tingly, I couldn't get out of bed, I had no control over my right leg and had to ask people around me to move it, but I sure couldn't feel the pain. And that was worth it. 

The labor was real slow going and I didn't fully dilate until 2 in the morning. Mind you, labor started 7 am the previous morning. Best part about pushing: Andrew almost passed out. SO funny. Although I wasn't into him trying to steal my thunder. Since I wasn't really in pain, and I was slightly delirious due to lack of sleep (it's impossible to sleep in the hospital), I just kept talking and saying nonsense to all the nurses. Thankfully they were amused and thought I was funny.

 At 4:23 AM on April 13th, this little thing was born! And isn't it a lovely picture? I'll admit, after she was out and they laid her on me, I thought oh thank goodness she's out! And then thought, please take this thing off me she's real dirty. I was much more willing to hold her once she'd been cleaned up a bit. She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19.5 in long.

After trying out a few names on her, we decided she was an Emma Louise. Both of us went to the hospital thinking she would have a different name, but it didn't feel right. Both of our great grandmothers' names were Emma, so I love that it's a family name. Louise is my mother's middle name.

The best part about being induced early was that my dad happened to be in town that week! He wasn't planning on coming out when Emma was born, just my mom was, so it was incredible that he was able to stay an extra day and see his granddaughter. My mom flew out the morning I was induced. I can't believe it's been a month already (more like how on earth has it ONLY been a month?!)!