The Simpson's: Georgia's Arrival!!!!!

Our Labor Story

This will be a little lengthy but I wanted to document our labor and delivery story before I forget all the details! Sunday night, September 2, 2012, was a normal night around our house. My sister-in-law, Heather, was in town so we cooked dinner and sat around playing Settlers of Catan (FYI- if you have never played this game, you should-so much fun). I headed to bed about 9:30 pm not realizing that I would be up in 3 short hours in LABOR! So at 12:30 am I get up just to go to the bathroom when a pretty strong contraction hit. I wasn't surprised because I had been having contractions on and off for a couple of weeks. What I didn't expect was to have another one a few minutes later and for them to continue every 3-4 minutes and become stronger. I tried to lay back down and I couldn't sleep through them. I started timing them at 12:45 and woke Jeremy up at 1:15. Jeremy had heard me complain of contractions for weeks now (painful ones for at least the last week) so he was not convinced I was in labor! He thought the best course of action would be to go back to bed and re-evaluate in the morning. I told him if I was still contracting at 1:45 then I was calling the doctor. He started timing my contractions for me and agreed to my plan.

I wish we had recorded ourselves during this time because we were the epitome of the unprepared first time parents! We didn't have the carseat in the car, no bags packed (There was a bag for Georgia but not for us!), and I was now contracting every 2-3 minutes and they were so painful I thought for sure I would be having a baby any minute! We called the doctor (Dr. Winter was on call) and he said to come on in. The hospital is close by but we didn't make it there until about 2:30 am because we were trying to get everything packed! I did manage a short shower and then I was ready to go.

We pulled up to the ER and I did not think I would make it through the parking lot. I knew my contractions were getting stronger and closer and were probably 2 minutes apart but at the time it felt like they were coming every 15 seconds! The ER got a wheelchair for me and got me to labor and delivery. I changed and got ready to get checked out in Triage. The nurse, Lacey, was awesome. She started taking a history and realized I was in too much pain. She decided to check me (and hopefully admit me) and get me my epidural. I let her know as soon as I got there that I would like an epidural as soon as possible! She checked me (I knew I would probably be 7-8 cm by now because this was painful!). I was a whopping 3 cm! 3CM...THAT'S ALL?? I was hoping they would keep me and they did.

At 3 am I was moved to a room and got ready for the epidural. The anesthesiologist was a welcome sight but then it took him until 4 am and 4 sticks to get my epidural in. I didn't care. I was so glad to have it. So finally at 4 am I try to get some sleep. I figure it will be a long night. My contractions continued 1-2 minutes apart and I didn't even need pitocin. at 5:30, I started feeling pain so I asked the nurse if we could increase the epidural. She checked me and I was 8 cm!! I couldn't believe it. So much for getting a lot of rest! 2 hours later I was 10 cm and the doctor came in (A new shift started so now Dr. Kaminskas was on) and she broke my water and said she would give me some time to "labor down." One minor setback was that Georgia had pooped already so they would be bringing in the NICU team for her delivery. I don't know why, but I was pretty calm about this and just knew everything would be ok (or maybe I was so tired and delirious by that time that I had no energy to worry).

At 9 am my awesome nurse, Christine, let me do a practice push. As soon as I pushed, Georgia's heart rate dropped. I wouldn't be able to push again until the doctor got there. Dr. Kaminskas came by 9:30 and we started pushing. Apparently Georgia did not like what was going on because her heart rate dropped with every push. I was only allowed to push with every 3rd or 4th contraction. Finally, at 10:47 am, Georgia was born and changed my life forever! She was perfect- NICU nurses were able to leave right away and they got to hand her directly to me.

The following pictures tell the rest of the story.

Love at first sight!!

Daddy checking her out.

I couldn't wait to love on that sweet girl.

Bright eyes! She was REALLY alert for the first 3 hours after she was born!

Georgia getting all checked out.

6lbs 12.3 oz 19.5 inches

One proud daddy!

I wasn't feeling so well after delivery but I couldn't get enough of that sweetness in my arms.

First bath!!

The next day- I am feeling much better and loving being a mama!!

We had several visitors (but missed getting pictures) but we got one of Tammy and Aunt Heather!. Thank you also to Casey, Joann, Heather Mac, Jessica, Keahon, and Ashley for coming to see us!

Dr. O'Toole missed the delivery but at least she got to see us the next day. She took such good care of us during a very difficult pregnancy. She is so positive and said she really believed that because I had a difficult pregnancy, then I would have a great labor and delivery- and I did! I couldn't have asked for a better experience.