I went in two Mondays before she was born to be checked. My doctor had been out of town so I went in at 39 weeks to be checked for the first time to see if any activity was going on down there. I was so excited thinking that they would strip my membranes and I would have a baby within a few days. But of course, my luck wasn't so great and she told me that my cervix naturally sat high so it was hard to tell if I had dilated or not. This meant no stripping of the membranes as well :( She said we would wait another week and see if my cervix would drop lower so she could check without me having the intense pain I had felt at this appt. That next week I was excited because I could tell the baby was getting lower and lower and I could hardly walk without feeling pain. So week 40 I went back in only to be told that my cervix was still really high but I was dilated to a 2. I was actually at 40 weeks and 3 days so we decided to just set an induction date. for later that week on Thursday. She got my hopes high by saying that I could spontaneously go into labor between now and my induction date so the next few days I kept thinking that every little painful contraction was the beginning of the end! But... it never was. I was so nervous to be induced because I had heard more bad stories than good ones. The only thing I liked about setting a date was that we could plan on where Carter would be while I was in the hospital.
Wednesday night Grandpa Scholes came and picked up Carter for their two night slumber party and Kaleb and I went out for our last night as a semi-free couple (Carter is a pretty easy kid to kart around with us). We went to be super early so that we could make it to the hospital by 5 am! I don't think either of us slept very well that night since we were so nervous and I was so stinkin uncomfortable. But we left our house bright and early and made it to the hospital (EIRMC) by about 5:15 (one of us got a late start that morning and it was not me:) and it took us another 15 minutes to find where we were supposed to be. I got in my lovely hospital gown and I was ecstatic to learn that I could keep my bra on this time because when I had Carter at Madison Memorial they wouldn't let me wear one. You have to count the little things as great successes right? Who knew that wearing a bra while in labor would actually make things MORE comfortable! After finally getting all the technical stuff done with information and paperwork they finally started me on the pitocin at 7am. Kaleb was already bored and I was already sick of water and ice chips. But it is amazing how awesome it is at the hospital that early in the morning. We were really the only ones there so we had amazing internet speed and a lot of attention from the nurses.
I started having small contractions not too long after starting the pit but the really painful ones didn't start until just before 9am after my doctor came and broke my water to move things along. I was only dilated to about a 4. I had talked to the nurse about my different pain medicine options and I thought I might try not getting the epidural this time. The contractions were painful, but I thought I could breath through them and that I could do it with just a little pain relief. Well... that was a dumb assumption of me to make! My contractions started getting really bad and I jumped to a 5 and then a 6. The contractions were every minute or so and would last a couple of minutes. I never felt that with Carter since they gave me the epidural right off the bat when I got there. I told the nurse I was ready for some relief and she put the pain medicine in my I.V. and told me it would take a few minutes to kick in and I would feel a little light headed. That was the understatement of the year! All of a sudden I felt so dizzy I couldnt open my eyes because the room was spinning so much. I also thought I would puke all over everyone if it didn't stop spinning. She told me that it would wear off soon but it never did. And the pain never went away or even lessened like she had told me it would. So now I was puking and holding onto the side of the bed for dear life during each horrible contraction. I was crying and didn't even want Kaleb to touch me because it hurt so bad. I asked her why the medicine never took the edge off like she had said it would and she told me that my reaction wasn't normal and that with a minority of people it doesn't actually work. I was kind of upset (not at her of course) that now I was going to have to give birth feeling this dizzy and sick. I literally felt like I was high. I wasn't in my own body anymore, but above it in the clouds somewhere. She finally brought in the guy to do the epidural after I begged her to (while still clinging to the bedside) just before noon. He told me it would take about 20 minutes for it to kick in, but at least he put in the epidural in one shot this time and it didn't feel nearly as bad as the pain I felt with the contractions. Has anyone else thought it is stupid that they tell you to stay completely still while you are in the worst pain of your life?! That is so hard to do!
After it was obvious that the pain was subsiding and I was finally going to get to sleep a little bit Kaleb decided to go and get a burger because he was just STARVING (yeah so was I... those strawberry flavored ice chips just don't cut it!). It was about 12:15 and I got a good 15 minute nap before the nurse came in to check me. That was the most glorious 15 minutes of my life. I even got to check my make-up that I had applied at 4:30 that morning and fix all the mascara that had smeared all over my face while I had been sobbing like a baby earlier. She had checked me before Kaleb left and I was at a 7, but now I was at a 9. I asked how long it would take until I was at a 10 and she said it would probably be another hour or so, so I was thinking I would get a lot of good sleep. Kaleb came back a few minutes later, his tummy satisfied. Kaleb and I talked to the nurse for a while about her family and her kids and grandkids. She was so nice. She was my favorite nurse of them all because I literally felt like my mom was there with me the whole time. She decided to check me one more time before she went out my door and I was at a 10! She was really surprised and told me not to do anything! She said not to even laugh because the baby would probably pop right out. She went and called my doctor and she arrived a few minutes later. This was the easiest part of the whole day. After my legs got up in the stirrups and she told me it was time to push, I pushed through two contractions and out popped little Mila. I actually only felt a little bit of pressure and so I thought only her head was out. But Kaleb had to reassure me a few times that her whole body was out. With Carter I pushed for two hours and even with the epidural I felt everything. It was super painful.
They put Mila up on my chest and through my foggy haze I thought she was the most beautiful baby ever. I wish I could say that about Carter too when he made his debut, but because I had pushed for so long he looked like a cone headed alien and he had finger shaped bruises on his head from the doctor trying to pull him out. Mila had a round head and no bruises and was so pretty. After cleaning her off a bit they brought her back and put her under my gown on my chest and I got to hold her for a while. It was very emotional, even for Kaleb. I got a great picture of him crying which I will always cherish because he doesn't show his tender side that often. She was born at 1:13pm and weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. She did so great in the hospital and slept like a champ and even put on weight which most babies don't do. Once the active labor started at around 9am it only took 4 hours to have her! I was pretty impressed. I was in labor for 12 hours with Carter! I was so sick of the hospital because I was so bored most of the time, so we took Mila home the first chance we could the very next day on Friday.
My mom came into town that night and it was so great to have her! The few days she was there she graciously took Mila at night so that I could sleep and she would come in and get me when it was time to feed her. The first night home was the hardest because Mila seemed to have a lot of gas and stayed up most of the night. But once I gave her some gripe water she was able to relieve the gas and hasn't stopped sleeping since. She seriously wouldnt wake up to eat at night if I didn't have to wake her up myself. During the day she at least wakes herself up to eat and then goes right back to bed. This is the complete opposite of Carter who would sleep very little and was awake all the time. Her schedule seems so far to be waking up about every 2 hours during the day to eat and then going back to sleep. At night she sleeps from about 9 or 10 pm until 5 am when I can no longer stand it and have to wake her up to feed her and then she goes back to sleep until about 10 or 11 am when I wake her up to feed her again. She is a great baby. We love her so so much. We have already noticed her difference in our house as a girl. She is definitely mommy's baby and I can't get enough cuddles. Carter just adores her and does everything he can to help us out. I think Kaleb likes the baby stage only a little bit and can't wait for her to interact with him like his best buddy Carter does. We are all so grateful to have our new baby in our family! And I have so much more respect for those women who give birth naturally with no pain relief. I have to give you all props! And especially my best friend who just gave birth in her home! I rely to heavily on the comfort of the hospital. She is amazing! As well as my mother and sister who have been able to have babies without epidurals. They are inspiring! I love you all!!!
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