I had contractions for months before I had Claire. I was physically and mentally exhausted, sick, and so ready to have her. She was due April 24th. On April 12th I had my last OB appointement. I was 38 weeks, and she was Breech. I was told that if she hadn't come by the following Monday, I would be induced or have a c-section, depending on whether or not she turned back head down.
April 13th came, and I was still having contractions, nothing out of the normal, and I convinced myself that it was nothing like usual and went to bed that night in a bad mood, thinking about the fact that I had to wait another week, and sure I would have to have a c-section.
On the morning of April 14th, I woke up at 3 AM. I wasn't sure why at first and tried to go back to sleep, but after about 20 minutes I realized my contractions were slowly getting stronger and more regular. I held out until 5 AM, terrified that I would be sent home from the hospital again. At 5:30 I woke Logan up and told him it was time. My grandparents watched Brennan, and we headed to the hospital.
I was immediately strapped to the monitor and my cervix was checked. Imagine my surprise when I was told I was already nearly 6 cm dilated! We went with the assumption that the baby was still Breech, I was given a shot of Brethene to stop my contractions, and was told I would have a c-section sometime that morning. There were two other women scheduled in front of me. The on-call doctor ordered a flat plate x-ray to be sure that she was still Breech before they started prepping me for surgery.
She wasn't. Stinker. She gave me nothing but problems the whole pregnancy, why stop now, right?
Fortunately the Brethene wore off within about 15 minutes, and a happier woman you've never seen. It was 6:30 AM, I'm in full active labor and practically skipping up and down the hall of OB with excitement. About 7:30ish the on-call doctor came and broke my water, and I immediately jumped up to 7 cm. I went and relaxed in the jet tub for a while, still without any pain meds, I felt great. I was made for Claire's labor, I could hardly believe the difference between Brennan's labor and this one. Once I got out of the tub I was checked again, waited a while and checked again, and I got a little stuck at 8 cm. At this point it was decided that I needed the dreaded Pitocen. Oh Pitocen, how I loathe thee. I was doing awesome with my pain management before you were injected in my IV. I honestly think I could have made it through the birth without any medication if I didn't have the Pitocen. But I'm a pansy, and 5 minutes after they started it, I asked for Stadol, and promptly passed out, mouth hanging open, drool running freely down my chin. Lovely.
At 11 AM I was 9 cm, with just a little lip of cervix left. The doctor pushed it out of the way (ouch), I started pushing at about 10 minutes past. They told me she had hair halfway though and I got sooo excited!
At 11:26 AM I laid eyes on this for the very first time. Love at first sight.
Claire Madelyn Gutowski
April 14, 2010 11:26 AM
6 lbs. 10 oz. 19.5 inches
Perfection.
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