Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Violet Grace is Here! :) :) :)

Our newest arrival, Miss. Violet Grace has made her entrance into this world! :) She was born on April 26th, 2015 at 2:18pm...2 FULL weeks past her due date! And let me be the first to say, as I was by far the most miserable while waiting for her arrival, that she is worth EVERY second of the wait! We went to the hospital on Sunday, April 26th around 8:30am for a scheduled induction. I was trying to avoid an induction like the plague. 5 of my other children had been induced and 2 I've gone into labor naturally with, so I know the difference between an induced labor and a natural labor...natural is much easier, in my opinion. I really wanted to have a medication free delivery, so in order to facilitate that, I did NOT want any unnecessary intervention. Not to mention, my parents had come to visit...and to be here while Violet was being born. They arrived at our home on the 12th of April (her due date) and we waited. We waited and waited and waited...and she did not come. My parents had to go back home and I was very sad. This was my first baby that my mom was not present for...a very sad thing for me, and for her! And here I was, faced with having an induction regardless of my patience and willingness to wait, even through the entire duration of my parents visit. I was a bit down hearted. I was also very anxious. I'm not a big fan of pain (who is?) and the thought of the pain of childbirth makes me more and more anxious with each child I have.

When we got into the Labor and Delivery unit, we were introduced to our nurse. Nurse Tina. Answer to prayer #1. If I could not have my mom there...God assigned the next best thing. She is my mom's age, she's been in the nursing field as long as my mom and had many other similarities to my mom. Answer to prayer #2, NO one else was in labor, so we got SO much attention from all of the nurses. I was sad because Jeremy usually has my mom to talk to once the pain sets in for me and I'm not longer good company, so having the nurses around was a blessing. Jeremy also did SOOOO good with being supportive. He kept telling me what an awesome job I was doing, it was really helpful. Since I was on pitocin, they have to monitor the baby constantly. I had hoped to labor in a different position than usual because being in bed not only makes my hips hurt, but it also doesn't do a whole lot to get the process moving along. My plan was to labor while leaning over a birthing ball on the floor, but no matter what I tried, I could not get into a good position and have the monitor in a good position so that baby was being picked up. I decided to just stand. Yes. I just stood there. Each contraction came and I held onto the IV pole and rocked my hips back and forth. It wasn't the best position for general comfort, by any means, but as far as helping to manage the pain, it was fantastic! Who knew? Not only that, but I think the pull of gravity really helped Violet move down more quickly. Answer to prayer #3: I had had contractions all night the night before my induction, so when I was checked before they started pitocin, I was already at 5cm! The contractions took about 2 hours to start, but once they started, it went really, really fast. Answer to prayer #4: the contractions were TOTALLY manageable. I thought that all contractions with pitocin would be horrible. They didn't give me a very large dose and once the contractions were regular and hard, they didn't increase it at all. They were REALLY good about that. I was able to stand there, breathing and rocking through the contractions. It's funny how you can tell where a woman is in her labor by the noises she makes. I started to moan a little bit and our nurse hopped into action. She went from sitting with us, visiting and doing her job, to full bustle mode. She barely stopped to answer a question...she started the baby warmer, got the tools necessary, etc. I was looking at her thinking, "Wow, she thinks I'm going to deliver soon...that'd sure be nice!". But I had only been in active labor for about an hour and 15 minutes or so, so I didn't want to get my hopes up. However, the pressure was starting to build...I was vocalizing more and more, so I knew SOMETHING was going on. The midwife came in to check me and break my water. Sure enough, she checked and I was at 8cm! Baby was still pretty high, but she was able to break my water--which was nice and clear--kinda a surprise for all of us considering Violet was so late! As soon as she broke my water, I could FEEL her moving down. I started to get shaky, which is always a sign that delivery is near for me. They asked me if I wanted to stand up again, but my legs were shaky and weak, so the midwife asked me if I wanted to lean over the head of the bed. Yes! That sounded wonderful. I got on my knees and leaned on the head of the bed which was raised. They threw a blanket over my back side and I continued to rock and moan through the contractions. The moaning got louder and more frequent...actually, I don't think I stopped, I just got louder and quieter with the intensity of the contraction. The pressure was getting stronger and stronger. All of a sudden I had a contraction and said, "I HAVE to push!". I was in my own zone of animalistic groaning and breathing, so I wasn't really paying attention to how many people were in the room, but it sounded like more than "normal". I think that because it was a quiet day AND most people do not deliver in this position, the nurses were curious! :) I pushed for 3 grueling minutes and OH SWEET RELIEF, Violet was delivered. I picked her up and she was GORGEOUS! A head full of dark, dark hair and a sweet little face! The midwife waited for the cord to stop pulsing and cut it and I was able to move around and hold Violet on my chest. Answer to prayer #5: a quick delivery with no pain meds and little pain, considering. The entire process from first good contraction to delivery was only about 2 hours, if that. I really appreciate all of the prayers that my friends and family sent up to the Lord. Through all of my anxiety and complaining, God was indeed listening (go figure!) and answered all of those prayers. It didn't go the way I had planned or wanted, but it was beautiful. I got to go home after 24 hours and it feels so good to be home again. The hospital is NOT my cup of tea! Everyone is adjusting very nicely to the changes...Liberty even slept through the night last night! :) God is good...all the time.