Harrison's Birth Night

On the day that Harrison was born I had a doctor's appointment at 11:30. When we got there we saw the nurse practitioner who broke the news that I still hadn't dilated any more and we would have to schedule an induction for the end of the week (actually on Thanksgiving night). I was so frustrated because I had wanted to have the baby and be home by Thanksgiving. I knew that my exam was horribly painful, but I didn't realize that she had stripped my membranes which would later cause my water to break.

That afternoon I was still hurting from my exam and I laid down on the couch as Ava watched An American Tail. After the movie was over she woke me up and all of a sudden I had a horrible hot flash. I sat up, ripped off my shirt, and then my water broke. At first I wasn't sure what had happened and I called Bradley who had me call the doctor's office. They had all left for the day, but the lady on the phone told me if I suspected my water had broke, then I needed to get to the hospital. I called Bradley back, told him to get home, and then I called my mom. I was panicking because even though I was upset, I was mentally prepared to be induced on Thanksgiving night so now I wasn't ready. I then called Anne who rushed over to get Ava. By this time I knew beyond a doubt that my water had broken. I was starting to have contractions and I knew that I had to get ready.

We arrived at the hospital and were admitted at about 6. I was having contractions, but not regular ones. When the doctor arrived he confirmed that my cervix still wasn't ready, so at 9:15 they started a pitocin drip. Right after that, my contractions started to come more frequently and more painfully. At around 10:00 I did some walking to move a bit and right after that my mom and dad arrived. We knew that the doctor would want to deliver within 12-18 hours of my water breaking so they had come to make sure they didn't miss it. Since we figured it would be the middle of the night, we asked Anne and Joe to just keep Ava through the night and come to the hospital in the morning.

My contractions were getting so intense that they went ahead and gave me something for the pain and to relax me. And I do have to say that it went by in a blur. I was kind of asleep and groggy between contractions and just remember waking at various moments. Bradley twittered what was happening so I have some idea of the time frames. So from that I know that I got an epidural at 4 cm. At 1:15 I was 5 cm. At 2:05 I was 9 cm. I know that I started pushing at around 2:40 and Harrison was born at 2:59 am.

Altogether it was a much easier labor than with Ava and my recovery has been going well. I am feeling much better at this point than I did after Ava. I am so grateful for the wonderful nurses who took care of Harrison and myself because they all did a fantastic job. Here are a few photos of Harrison's "birth night."