Her birth story was completely different than Micah's (my son). With my son, I went into labor naturally and labored at home for 14 hours. By the time I went to the hospital, I was 7 centimeters dilated. With Nailah, I was induced at 39 weeks and 1 day because I was already 3 cm dilated and from what the ultrasound tech could tell, she was already over 8 pounds. I was already contracting so my doctor, Dr. Jones, decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and induce me. I was at the hospital for 12 hours before anything remotely interesting happened.
I went to the hospital for my scheduled induction at 10:00 a.m. Because this was my first time at this particular hospital, the registration process was pretty lengthy. I had pre-registered which, to my understanding was supposed to cut down on the time it takes to officially register, but it didn't seem to help. While I was settling in to my room, I was answering what seemed like a thousand registration questions from religion to the acceptance of blood in case a transfusion was needed.
They hooked me up to the monitors, started and IV, and got the Pitocin going. I was still having the same contractions I'd been having for the last five days. They hadn't become more intense, but they were more frequent and more consistent. I got my epidural while I had the chance...just in case I was going to be there a while and the anesthesiologist got swept away before I could catch him.
The nurse checked me every couple of hours. If you could have seen the look on my face when at 9:00 p.m. I was still 4 cm and little Nailah was still a +4 station (how far down into your cervix the baby has moved...the goal is a -1), you would have seen the look of utter disappointment.
My doctor, Dr. Jones, came in and I remember him saying, "Ok sweetheart, I'm going to break your water now. Meosha is going to check you in another hour. If you haven't made any progress, we're going to take the baby via c-section." He broke my water and placed an internal heart monitor on my baby's head.
You guys, I didn't want a c-section to happen. I really wanted to deliver vaginally. Plain and simple, I was scared.
At about 9:45 p.m., Meosha (the nurse) checked me and said I was 5 cm! I was so happy to have made progress. This meant I was moving in the right direction and wouldn't need a c-section. God answered my prayers.
At around 10:10 or so, the nurse came back in because the baby's heart beat was going down. She called Dr. Jones and he ordered her to prepare me for an amnioinfusion (where fluid is added back into the uterus to reduce pressure). She had me turn onto my left side. As soon as I did that, I felt a lot of pressure down in the "nether regions."
I said, "Meosha, I'm feeling some pressure girl." She decided to check me and I could tell from the look on her face that she had good news. "Mylah, you're complete!" I went from 5 cm to 10 cm dilated with a -2 station in 12 minutes! She called Dr. Jones and the next thing I know the bright lights are on, the baby warmer is on, my legs are in the mile-high stirrups, and I'm ready to push.
Two pushes and Nailah was here!
She was beautiful and petite and looked just like her brother.
Enjoy the pictures!
P.S. Here is a side-by-side photo of Micah (left) and Nailah (right). They look so much alike don't they?
BEAUTIFUL! CONGRATULATIONS!
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much!
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