So I married a Preacher

Tuesday Nov 14

THE BABY HAS ARRIVED. Lydia Catherine Melton arrived Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 8:04am, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and measuring 19 inches.
She is completely healthy and beautiful. :)
Last Monday I went to the OBGYN for an exam and to talk about possibly being induced. I was dilated 1 cm and she scheduled me for an induction on Monday, November 13 (yesterday). We left the dr's office and went to eat Mexican food (my husband and mom wanted to try anything to naturally induce labor). Monday night my stomach cramped all night...I stayed up most of the night on the couch. Tuesday morning by 9am, the 'cramping' seemed pretty regular but not really painful. When my mom got up, she timed the 'cramps/contractions and they were about 6-7 minutes apart for 3 hours. I called the dr and they said for me to just go on to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 1 or 2 pm and the Labor and Delivery nurse in the triage examined me. She said I was still 1 cm, and that it was false labor since there was no change in my cervix since Monday. I told her it was different than the false labor I had been experiencing. Her response was, "We'll see you on Monday." We went back to the apartment and I was confident that I was in the early stages of labor. I was also confident that I would not go back to the hospital until I was absolultely certain that I was in labor. The day progressed uneventfully until around 10pm, when the contractions became a little more uncomfortable. By 11pm contractions were every 6 minutes and I knew it was true labor. Frankie was pacing the floors, saying over and over, 'let's wake up your mom.' I refused to let him, but by midnight I changed my mind. I started bleeding some, which prompted me to dress quickly and make my way to the car. My mom and Frankie were nervous and quiet on the way to the hospital. Each contraction had me gripping the seat. We arrived, registered and went up to L&D. In triage, I was 7cm, contractions were every 5 minutes. By the time they got me to a room and on the monitors, I was ready for an epidural. I had considered delivering naturally, but Frankie and my mom both thought I should just get an epidural. The anestheiologist agreed to give a walking epidural, but by the time he arrived in the room, I was 9cm. He asked if I was sure I wanted it at this point since I had labored naturally for so long. I told him I did! Immediately, I was a different person! It was around 5:30, so I had been in labor (that was uncomfortable to painful) for 6 hours. The next two hours were completely comfortable and uncomplicated. My OBGYN came in around 7:30am and I ended up pushing for less than 15 minutes. I tore just a little (1st degree).
God blessed me so much with such a wonderful experience. By the time we were in the room with the baby, I was telling my husband I wasn't opposed to having five kids anymore.
The last few days have been tiring, but I know that's to be expected and it doesn't improve. I've slept about 10 hours since last Wednesday, but I feel fine.
I'll post more later. We have our first pediatrician's appointment tomorrow.

posted by Amy @ 12:31 PM