Birth recap

Happy Mother's Day! And what a day it is -- my first celebration as a mother of two. I can't believe it's already been two weeks. I'm feeling tired and happy, as most new moms usually do, I suppose. Before I forget all the details, I want to write down a few things about Lindsay's labor & delivery.

I started having contractions on April 12. (Yep, a week and a half before Lindsay was born.) Five minutes apart for 8+ hours. I went to bed -- then nothing. I saw my midwife the following day and I was only dilated two centimeters. And for the next 10 days, that's how my days would go pretty much. What a roller coaster! Finally, they scheduled me for an induction on Friday, April 22. I was pretty nervous to be induced. And it felt strange to wake up the morning of the induction knowing "today's the day." I even did my hair before I went to the hospital.

When I got to SSH I was 3 centimeters and my body was already getting ready. I was given some medication to get things started around noon. It was just a pill. (Can't remember the name.)  It worked really well and within half an hour, I was having contractions every 2-4 minutes. They monitored me for 2 hours, then I walked around for another hour. Usually they give multiple doses of the pill, but it worked so well they didn't have to. I was now 4 centimeters. Next, around 4:00, the midwife broke my water and hooked me up to an IV for some pitocin. This is when I really felt like I was in labor. So, I just hung out, did my thing, and tried to stay comfortable. I wanted to hold out on the epidural for as long as possible.

But things got really painful, really fast. I was surprised -- it was all so different from my experience with Emma. By the time I asked for the epidural, I was in "transition." And as the anesthesiologist was placing the tube in, I was ready to push. Andrew had left the room at this point and I was seriously afraid he wasn't going to make it back in time. After the epidural was in, I was 9+ centimeters and 15 minutes later -- just as the drugs kicked in, thank God -- I started pushing. Less than 10 minutes later, at 8:20 p.m., Lindsay arrived. 

It was pretty much my ideal labor & delivery. The midwife on call (Julie) was one of my favorites. She really listened to me and was a super coach. I felt so much more in control than with Emma's delivery. And I was so much less drugged that I was much more present. It was really awesome. And no complications with the baby -- Emma had the cord wrapped around her neck and I had a fever, so I wasn't able to hold her right away. Lindsay was passed right to me and it was incredible. 

Anyway, that's my story -- my labor of love. More baby posts to come eventually. But for now, I'm going to go enjoy my two girls for the rest of this very special day.