Her Birth Story

It started at my 36 week OB checkup when we discovered I was measuring small and it turned out we were low on amniotic fluid and as a bonus baby had the cord around her neck too. We went from thinking the baby would be late again to planning an early induction to keep her out of stress and danger. What a change! After seeing the fluid continue to decrease over the next two weeks, we decided, with the doctor, to induce on Tuesday, January 3rd, the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (38 wks 3 days). However, the hospital was booked that morning. We went for a checkup Tuesday morning, and the doctor called to see if there was any room for us to go ahead. There was, so we headed on over around 11am. I was positive for Group B Strep, which was new for us, so we began the slow process of getting checked in and on antibiotics. I finally received a sublingual (under tongue) dose of Cytotec to start contractions at 1pm. It worked quickly but the contractions stayed fairly easy, so at 4pm they broke the bag of water (what was left!). That started harder contractions, so we labored for a few hours until baby started looking stressed. They gave me oxygen, put in internal monitors (another new experience) and had me lay on my left side to improve circulation. She perked up, and we headed toward birth rapidly. Just after 8pm, the nurse checked me at 9 1/2cm and told me to make it through a couple more contractions before pushing, but baby had other plans! On the next contraction she started crowning despite my weak attempt to resist pushing. So they let me push, and out she popped two pushes later! Boy is it different birthing a baby 2 lbs less (Stephen was 9lb). The doctor carefully removed the cord as soon as her head was out, and she cried right away. What a great sound! She seems SO tiny and fragile compared to my 8 and 9 lbers! She is well adored already of course. :) Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for us. It really couldn't have gone better!