TaylorMade: Maris' Birth Day

Baby Girl was due September 21, but I was strongly encouraged to induce a week early. Since I didn't want to have a baby on the side of the road, I agreed. Plus by the end of this pregnancy I was begging them to induce as soon as possible. Monday September 15th was the earliest and I was COUNTING DOWN.

Then came my 36 week ultrasound.

"She's huge" they told me. Maybe not in those exact words, but the doc that day told me to seriously consider a C-section. OK, this was getting out of hand. He then said "Let's do another ultrasound on the 15th to see how big she is so we'll know if we should induce or C-section." Uhh... no. I said "This kid is coming OUT on the 15th, we can do the ultrasound earlier." So it was scheduled to do an ultrasound on September 11th to determine size and next steps.

The ultrasound on the 11th showed her to be about 8lbs. 12oz. That's not even as big as Watson was, and I survived him naturally, so I was good to go with induction. Then the doctor checked and said I went from 0 to 4-5 cm dilated in the last week. Things were looking good for Monday! He then offered to do the deal that can speed things along, and I said "Go for it" thinking that it would make labor shorter on Monday. Then right AFTER he does it, he says "If this is going to work, it'll be in the next 24 hours." My response... "But I have to work tomorrow!"

Of course, it worked.

I went to collect the boys from my mom and went home. It didn't take but a few hours and I was feeling not so great. When I started to notice a pattern to the pain I timed it. 10 minutes apart. This was a whole new labor for me! 10 minutes apart was a luxury. I called Phillip so he had time to get home, I called Beth to come get the boys, and I had time to take a shower. Hallelujah! I also had to pack my hospital bag because I was really banking on having the weekend to get ready. By the time we left for the hospital I could still walk and talk and even sit up like a normal person in the car. I was finally experiencing normal labor and not the super fast forward edition. Not too bad.

Things slowed down at the hospital. No matter how much I urged them to hurry things along, they took their sweet time ("Now where are those bigger IV bags? I thought they were in this cabinet... maybe this one?" AHHHHH!). So the nurses went slow, and my labor quickly sped up. But not too fast that I didn't get the drugs. Once they got that managed, I was good to go. Things were chill and enjoyable, even if I couldn't move my legs. By the time I had to push, I was in labor for about 3 1/2 hours, and she came super quick after that.

6:02 pm, our nameless baby girl was born.