I had my weekly OBGYN appointment on Friday, March 1st. I was seeing Dr. Williams that day. The first thing she asked me was, "So, how long are you going to keep this baby in there?" She's a pretty funny lady :) I told her that I really was hoping he'd be born in the next couple of days. The appointment continued and later on she asked how Kaylee was doing. That's when I spoke up and shared with her why I was hoping that Jeremiah would be born that weekend. It was because Kaylee was due to have a long day at Riley the following Monday with an 8 hour chemo infusion. When I told Dr. Williams this, she frowned. She then proceeded to tell me that she was the Dr. on call that weekend and if I wanted to, she could see if she could get me in for an induction the next morning. I told her that I thought that was a good idea and she began the process. Luckily the hospital (IU West) was not very busy that weekend and I was scheduled for an induction at 8:00 AM Saturday, March 2nd! Of course there is never a guarantee that the induction will be successful, so there was still a chance that Jeremiah would not be born.
So, Saturday morning, Ryan and I headed to the hospital and checked in to the maternity unit. Our wonderful nurse was Jenn. She asked me a bunch of questions and eventually we started the pitocin drip around 9:05. I believe she started me off at 4 mL per minute and immediately my contractions were more regular (I had been having them since about 18-20 weeks in my pregnancy) at every 3 minutes. Though they were not any stronger than I had been having. Jenn came in every 1/2 hour to an hour to up my dosage of pitocin, eventually getting up to 8 mL per minute. At 7 mL per minute my contractions basically stopped. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to have a baby that day. It was around 11:30-12:00 and I could tell that no progress had been made. Jenn shared that she was also getting concerned. However, once she upped my dosage to 8 mL I could definitely tell a difference. My contractions had definitely gotten stronger...not so much more regular though. So, as I had done several times that morning (and throughout my pregnancy) I got up to use the bathroom. I did that because often times, a full bladder was the cause of increased contractions for me and I just wanted to see if I really was making progress. As I was washing my hands I felt a pop and then there was a big gush of fluid hitting the bathroom floor. My water broke! I called out to Ryan to have him let Jenn know my water broke. I had previously told her that I progress really quickly when my water is broken (never had it break on its own before) and that I would like to have an epidural before that happened.
So, my water broke around 12:30. I got my epidural, enduring several contractions while I was waiting for that, and Jenn checked my progress around 1 PM. I was already at 8-9 cm (having been 3-4 when she checked me on admission). I know for sure I went from 4 to almost 9 in half an hour! I'm so glad she believed me when I told her I would be fast. As my contractions continued, Jeremiah's heart beat would drop. At times his heart rate was as low as mine, which is too low for a baby. I was worried about him, for sure! Jenn's best guess at the cause was the pressure of the contractions on his head as he was making his way down the birth canal. I just knew I didn't like his heart rate dropping. He eventually stabilized to my relief.
Right as my water broke, Dr. Williams showed up at the hospital. She had just enough time to get changed and check me around 1:30 and I was complete and ready to push. We had Dr. Williams and 3 nurses in the room with us. Jenn, of course, Mindy was ready to take care of Jeremiah, and Nicky, the surgical assistant, was ready to help collect the cord blood.
I began pushing right around 1:30. I must say that this was probably the most physically taxing delivery on me. I would make a lot of progress with him, but then he would slip back. I had to have oxygen between pushes and I was beginning to get really tired and I was beginning to doubt my ability to deliver him this way. Everyone was really encouraging, but I was almost done.
At about 1:45-1:50, I began to pray, "Lord, please help me have the strength to get this baby out." And I prayed while I was pushing. Three more contractions and Jeremiah was born! The doctor even commented, "I don't know what you did those last three contractions, but it definitely made all the difference." Jeremiah was born at 1:56 (or 1:57, or 1:58...there was some issues with the exact time) with his hand up by his face.
He came out with a very pouty look on his face and then began crying...with a very strong cry. Finally seeing him brought tears to my eyes. They placed him on my chest and we looked into each others eyes. I finally got to see and hold my baby boy!
