Paige’s Birth Story

This post is for those of you interested in Paige’s arrival. 

Since Graham and Reed were both big babies, we knew early on in the pregnancy that I would probably be induced around the 39th week.  It’s hard to balance all sides of a decision like this.  I did not want to take her too early but also didn’t want to wait too long and then end up with a baby that was too big to deliver.  In the end, we felt it was the best decision to proceed with the induction at 39 weeks.  Several ultrasounds leading up to this point confirmed that I was carrying another big baby and that she was healthy and ready to be born.  I had been hopeful that her birth would unfold similar to Graham’s (labor started on it’s own 6 hours before his scheduled induction because he was 13 days late), but it never did.  Instead, it was very similar to Reed’s birth (he was induced in the 39th week because of size). 

We left for the hospital on Monday morning around 6:15.  After being admitted my Dr checked me around 8am and said I was almost 5 cm dilated.  I was so excited to be almost half way there without actually being in labor!  I had been having contractions for about 10 days leading up to this, so it was great knowing that they had done something. 

I wavered back and forth between having my water broken or starting with pitocin.  With Reed, it took the pitocin about 4 hours to get labor started, so I decided to have my water broken hoping that it might get things going faster.  Unfortunately, after several attempts my water would not break so we went with the Pitocin. 

Anthony and I watched tv and played on the internet while we waited for labor to begin.  Around 9:30 my water finally broke (it probably had been earlier when she tried, but Paige was keeping it from coming out).  Around 11:00 the contractions were becoming more consistent and slowly increasing in intensity.  I spent time in a rocking chair, rocking through them.  At 12:30 my Dr came back to check on my progress.  After 4 hours nothing had changed.  I was discouraged, but did my best to not let it bother me.  I decided to sit on the birthing ball which was even better than the rocking chair and helped the baby move down.  I focused on getting through the contractions that were now 1-2 minutes apart and primarily in my lower back.  I sat on the birthing ball while Anthony sat behind me and pushed against my lower back to help alleviate some of the pain. 

Around 2:30 the nurse turned the pitocin up to it’s max amount and said she’d be back in about 30 minutes to see if anything had changed.  Before she left, we asked her about our options if nothing had changed.  They weren’t anything we wanted to hear (internal monitoring so pitocin could be increased, c-section).  We prayed that things were progressing and listened to music, while we mentally prepared ourselves that Paige might not be born until late in the evening or that I might need a c-section.  I began thinking about getting an epidural.  I really didn’t want one, but didn’t know if I could continue on with things the way they were if it was going to take hours longer.

Around 3:00 the nurse checked me again and said I was 7cm.  I was so excited!  I decided to move back to the bed lean on the birthing bar (I asked for the bar during all three labors and none of the nurses knew about this option.  Thankfully they all were able to find it).  When the nurse came back in with the bar, I told her that either I needed to push soon or go to the bathroom.  She checked me and I was 10!   The nurses called my doctor and started rushing around to get everything set up for the delivery.  I was caught off guard by how quickly we got to this point and then turned my attention to pushing, starting before my doctor arrived.  I had no idea how close Paige was to being born until they said one shoulder was out and after one more push she was on my stomach!  It was was probably 6-8 pushes total, which was the fastest pushing stage of the 3 kids! 

I was amazed that I went from 7cm to delivered in 45 minutes.  God certainly answered our prayers and allowed most of the desires on my wish list to happen-  I delivered a healthy baby without medication, didn’t need a c-section, labored quickly (once it finally started), had helpful nurses, decided on a name for the baby (a huge struggle for me throughout the entire pregnancy :), and a have had a quick recovery.

We are loving life with our sweet little girl.  The boys have adjusted well and we’re so thankful for the help our family and friends have given to us.             

Birth Pics

     

She looks just like the boys did when they were born so if you want to compare, check out pictures from their births: Graham and Reed