I figured five months late is better than never.....March 21st was by far the most amazing day of my life. It was the day I welcomed my beautiful daughter into the world.
I was scheduled to be induced on March 21st due to blood pressure, swelling, and the size Georgia was predicted to be. Nobody thought I would actually make it that far! Chris and I would take nightly walks around the neighborhood thinking surely that would be the night! However, Georgia was nice and comfortable in there and didn't want to come out. The night before, Chris and I made sure the house was nice and picked up so we would have a clean house to come home to. I had also procrastinated on getting my papers graded and started around 10 that night. I was up until 1:00 in the morning grading papers. That doesn't seem too late until you consider the fact that my alarm was set for 3:00 to get up and start getting ready to head to the hospital.
As we were anxiously getting ready, we happened to look outside and notice that it was snowing. SNOWING on the first day of Spring. How crazy is that??? We were scheduled to check in at the hospital at 5 am, so at 4:30 we hopped in the car. It was such a strange feeling knowing that the next time we returned home we would be a family of 3. The car ride there was filled with so many different emotions. On the way to the hospital we listened to the Lady Antebellum cd, "American Honey" in particular.
We arrived on time, which is amazing for us, and headed upstairs. The nurses were ready for us and took us directly to our room, room 13! Right after I changed, the lab tech was there to draw blood for the cord blood banking and put in my IV. I had been told that the worst part about labor is the IV, so I was beyond nervous and was sure to tell the lab tech several times. She probably thought I was a nutcase! My dad happened to be on call until 7 am that morning., so he came by my room at 6:15 when they started the pitocin. My mom and stepmom arrived not long after. We were all just sitting around waiting anxiously for something to happen! Around 7:30 Dr. Luck came by and broke my water. We knew all along that my fluid levels were really high, but we had no idea. My nurse Nichole was absolutely amazed by how much fluid I kept losing. She had never seen anything like it! For the next several hours, they continued to increase my pitocin and tried everything to get my labor into a strong pattern. They even put an internal monitor in to track how strong my contractions actually were. Even though I was contracting every couple of minutes they were not that impressive. Throughout the morning and early afternoon I had lots of family stop by. My dad convinced me to go ahead and get the epidural since I knew I was going to get one and it might help push my labor along. I am scared to death of needles let alone the needle that was going to go in my back. Dr. Ahbar did a great job of putting up with me, even though he had to try twice to get it to go in.
I kept waiting for something exciting or major to happen, but each time Dr. Luck would come and check me it would be such a let down. I wasn't making much progress at all, and by 3:00 she decided that I had given labor a fair shot and for some reason Georgia just wasn't dropping. We would soon find out why...Dr. Luck decided to go ahead with a C-section. I always knew this was a possibility, but truly thought I was going to have a normal delivery. Once Dr. Luck made the call, it was like a whirlwind. Dr. Ahbar came in a gave me additional drugs to completely numb me, and everyone got dressed in their scrubs. Since my dad is a doctor at the hospital, he was able to pull some strings and get my mom and stepmom clearance to go in the operating room along with Chris! My dad was assisting Dr. Luck, Nancy was in charge of pictures and my mom was there for support.
The C-Section was such a great experience, minus the whole major surgery part! Dr. Ahbar had the Beatles playing in the background. The whole delivery was so relaxed and laid back. At times it was uncomfortable and I could feel quite a bit of pressure towards the end, but Chris was by my side holding my hand the entire time. Even though Dr. Luck did the C-Section, my dad assisted her and was the one to pull Georgia out! Hearing Georgia cry for the first time was amazing. At 3:28 p.m., Georgia Lyn was born at 7 lbs. 11 oz and 19 inches long.
Come to find out, there were several reasons why Georgia was being stubborn and not coming out. One of the main reasons was her forehead instead of the top of her head was pushing on my cervix, and the cord was wrapped around her neck twice preventing her from dropping. I asked Dr. Luck if there was anyway I would have ever been able to deliver Georgia on my own if we had given her more time. Dr. Luck said there was no way she was coming out on her own, which made me feel better knowing we made the right decision.
Typically they take the baby up to the nursery to be weighed and given a bath, but my dad had them bring everything down to the OR and the delivery room, so she wouldn't have to leave our room. It was so fun getting to watch her get her first bath and experience her first hours of life as a family.
Chris was able to get on web cam 30 minutes after her birth to introduce his family in England to Georgia. It was the next best thing to having them there. Gotta love technology!
The next three days were a whirlwind of visitors and lack of sleep. I will add more pictures when I get them from my dad!
All checked in and ready to go!
Taking a nap after the epidural
All ready to go meet Georgia!
Dr. Luck and my dad ready for surgery
Seconds after birth
Welcome Georgia Lyn
Testing her lungs out
Such a proud daddy!
