Here's the Scoop...

I am so happy to have this sweet little girl here! I apologize that this post might be a little long...I had originally planned to post an update last week, but didn't get a chance.

Last Wednesday night, I noticed that I hadn't been feeling the baby move as much as normal. I could still feel her, but it just felt kind of sluggish. DH and I were eventually able to get her a little more active, so we decided to go to bed and see how things were in the morning. On Thursday morning, I still felt like she wasn't as active as she should've been, so I called my doctor's office and they got me in for a non-stress test. Fortunately, everything looked perfect, and it was good to have another u/s of Jumper and hear her little heartbeat.

On Friday, I was officially 40 weeks and had a doctor's appointment. At that point, I was dilated to a 'tight 2' and 80% effaced. She said that it was their policy not to induce first-time moms until 1 week after their due date, which would have met being induced on September 9th. However, she wasn't going to be in that day, so she said if I hadn't had the baby, they would induce me on September 11th. However, she was really doubtful that I would make it that long without going into labor on my own. For the meanwhile, I was supposed to have two more non-stress tests and I also had another appointment scheduled with her. I figured that if I did have to wait until the 11th to be induced, I could handle it because I was feeling pretty good overall.

Before I left my appointment, I was told that I would have a lot more cramping and contractions, and that definitely proved to be true! I expected them to kind of fade away like they had the week before, but they never did. I typically had one contraction every hour or so, but sometimes they would start to build up and happen more frequently, while other times they weren't strong and hardly noticeable. On Saturday, we went to a couple of different family activities, and while I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, it wasn't like I was miserable. Overall, I just felt really tired.

On Sunday, I noticed that I was feeling my contractions in my lower back/tailbone area, and they were getting to be really painful. The problem was that they were still pretty irregular. They would start to get closer together until they were 6 minutes apart, and then they would start to fade again. By this point, I was pretty miserable. We went to a family dinner, and I pretty much just laid on my mom's sofa for most of the time. I remember commenting to DH and my sister that I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it another week if this is how I was going to have to be feeling.

As we were getting ready for bed Sunday night, I was feeling more and more miserable, but my contractions were still so irregular. Finally, around midnight, they got to where they were 3-4 minutes a part and I could hardly talk through them. At that point, DH and I decided it was time to head to the hospital. We arrived about 1:00 Monday morning, and when they did my initial assessment, I was dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced. They decided to admit me, and during my next check, I was dilated to a 4.

After I got admitted, I got an epidural and they broke my water. They ended up giving me a little bit of Pitocin, and that definitely worked...I went from a 4 to an 8 by the next check. I felt really comfortable and it was nice to be able to just rest while I let me body keep getting ready for the delivery. I started pushing at around 9:15, and I think that at that point, it really sank in that this was happening and I was in the middle of giving birth. The whole experience seemed a little surreal. I pushed for about two hours, which wasn't too bad. I was able to feel my contractions enough to know when to push without being in pain. Our little Baby A was born at 11:25...they had to have the NICU nurses there to suction her because she aspirated so much meconium, but after a little work, she pinked right up and has been healthy. She is such a sweet little girl, and DH and I are so in love with her. We can't imagine not having her in our family.

I know I need to post some more pictures and give some more updates about having her home from the hospital, so I will try to get to those within the next few days or so. Right now I am just enjoying the time I have being home with my family. :)