Yesterday, on June 30th, at 11:38 AM, Grayson Marie came bursting into our world. Like our twisting and turning journey to parenthood, her arrival didn't go exactly as planned either. We were scheduled to begin the induction process on Tuesday, June 29th at 5pm. Throughout the day on Tuesday, I had been having mild contractions, but I still wasn't expecting what they told me at the hospital - we can't induce you because you are too far progressed - it was quite a surprise to find out that I was already close to 3 cm dialated and about 60% effaced. But of course it wasn't quite as easy as just turning around and going back home, because i was having contractions, they wanted me to stick around for monitoring. So we spent about 4 hours at the hospital, my contractions were getting more painful, I was thinking, OK, this is it! They checked me again at about 9:30pm (after about 4 hours) and I hadn't made any progress at all - I was shocked! They said, since I hadn't progressed, I was likely in the very early stages of labor and it would be fine if I wanted to go back home so i would "be more comfortable." I was a little hesitant because some of the contractions were getting pretty intense, but I figured, if I wasn't progressing, they must not really be that bad. Also, there wasn't a pull-out couch or anywhere for Steve to comfortably rest. I figured if labor was going to move this slow, I owed him his rest while he could still get it. So...home we went! Boy was that a mistake! When I got home, the contractions that had been a little painful in the hospital now seemed to be getting worse and worse. They had sent me home with two Ambien, which I took, but that didn't do much beyond force me into a half comotose sleep in between the contractions which were growing progressively stronger. While in early labor, i was able to change positions and easily breathe through the pain, these contractions seemed to be paralyzing, and I couldn't find any relief. I woke up steve several times throughout the night, but he just assumed that i was overreacting and I just needed to try to relax and get some rest. (he feels really bad about that now ;-)) Finally at 3:30, I woke him up and said, i can't do this anymore, we HAVE to go to the hospital now - I needed drugs! He protested slightly, but then gave in. Luckily, when we got back they had a room waiting for me since we were planning on coming back in the AM regardless to have my water broken. They checked me and the nurse said, wow, you have really made alot of progress in the last few hours, you are at 6 cm and and 80% effaced. She then asked if I'd like the epidural - i have to say, i think the fact that I was already at a 6cm made me think twice about not getting it...just four more centimeters I thought. But that thought was quickly thrust out of my mind with the onset of the next contraction. I'm glad I didn't try to tough it out any longer because it still took about an hour to get the epidural since they needed to do the necessary bloodwork, get the doc, etc. The epidural wasn't bad at all, the worst part was needing to hold perfectly still. Luckily, he timed it well between my contractions. Almost instantly, i felt relief and after that, labor and delivery was a breeze. I will say that I do believe the epidural slowed down my labor, but honestly, i welcomed the chance to catch my breath after the 6 hour stretch I had been through. About 7 hours after recieving the epidural, i easily pushed Grayson out into the world. She did great throughout all of labor and delivery, her heart rate never fluctuating much at all. She cried immediately after entering the world - it was the sweetest sound two parents had ever heard. Here is our first family picture taken by my OBGYN who was awesome throughout this whole process for us. We are such happy and proud parents!
