Today God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl! Margaret 'Sloan' Hardee was born at 1:51 pm. She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.
Our journey went like this...
Tuesday, March 30
I took the day off so Mark & I could spend the day together doing something special to enjoy our last day as just the two of us. I had BIG plans. Maybe the zoo or botanical gardens. Or a movie? I knew I definitely wanted pizza for dinner and decided we would finally try Mafiaoza's.
So much for plans. It was too cool for anything outdoors. I was already kind of emotional so I didn't want to see a movie that would make me cry or anything dark and scary which left very little to choose from. So we did what came natural, we stayed in bed until almost noon, had breakfast at Waffle House and watched episode after episode of Law and Order SVU. We had all day but somehow in my true fashion we were running late leaving the house. We got to Mafiaoza's but it was packed and we didn't have time to wait. So I suggested we order takeout from my favorite pizza place, Cosmo's, and eat it at the hospital. Luckily by the time we got there the pizza was ready so we decided to dine in and try to salvage our romantic dinner!
Then at 8:05 (not too bad I didn't think) we arrived at St. Vincent's Hospital Labor & Delivery. The nurse behind the counter asked if we were ready to have a baby to which Mark replied, "well if you can figure out a way to keep her pregnant and give us a baby it would be perfect". You see I wasn't quite ready for the pregnancy to be over. It had been such a long journey to get us there that once it finally happened I enjoyed it so much I wasn't ready for that part to be over.
We were there the night before my induction to start me on Cytotec, a drug used to ripen the a cervix (I was 1 cm dilated when admitted). What I didn't realize earlier was that it is also used to induce labor. So what I thought was going to be a restful nights sleep turned out to be my first night of contractions. And that had nothing on the excitement to come the following day!
Wednesday, March 31
5:45 am - started pitocin
6:00 am - dr on call breaks my water (very weird feeling, almost like peeing on yourself) and contractions began to INTENSIFY
6:38 am - I declared, according to Mark, rather forcefully that there WOULD be an epidural (for all you that I had expressed my desire to try and have a natural childbirth all I can say is what the heck was I thinking?)
6:40 am - I told Mark I had my worst contraction so far, an 8 on a scale of 1 t0 10. Contractions were now every 2-3 minutes.
7:00 am - Dr. McKee (LOVE him!) came by and said everything was looking good and my contractions should not get any harder than they are now. This was REALLY good to hear since I already thought I was going to die!
7:10 am - Dr. McKee LIED! I had at least a 15 on a scale of 1-10!
8:05 am - I did something I had vowed not to do. I had said even if I caved and had an epidural I would NOT have any type of pain medication. So much for that. They administered Nubain through my IV. Great stuff! Between contractions I felt fabulous, relaxed and carefree but it didn't touch the pain it was intended for!
8:15 am - Dilated 1.5 cm, 70% effaced. And remember we all hear you can't have an epidural until you are 4 cm. I figured I would die before I got to that if I was only 1.5 at this point!
8:30 am - Sloan's heart rate began to fluctuate abnormally during contractions so my nurse called Dr. McKee who instructed her start an amnioinfusion (where they add fluid back into the uterus to relieve stress on the baby) and also ok'd ordering my epidural (sometimes it seems 4 cm is not a requirement). My nurse tells me I have been added to the "list" to which I asked what list? How many other people can be ahead of me 2, 10? I need the epidural now!
9:15 am - After another half hour of almost unbearable pain, my hero, the anesthesiologist, arrived for my epidural. Among all of the things that you hear happen during labor and delivery I did something I will share just in case it should happen to you one day! I peed on the bed! When the nurse got me to the edge of the bed in position for the epidural I felt a warm liquid beneath me which I initially thought was just more amniotic fluid since I was told this could happen. But when I felt more than I expected I realized I had just peed on the bed and you know what? I didn't care. I simply said to my nurse while smiling, almost laughing, "I just wet the bed". I was just happy I was about to get my epidural!
10:20 am - they inserted a catheter
10:30 am - 4.5 cm dilated, wow that happened quickly and pain free!
10:45 am - I felt so good, after the epidural, that now I could enjoy the buzz of the pain medication and I took a nap!
12:00 pm - 8.5 cm dilated
1:03 pm - 10 cm dilated, 100% effaced and +1 station. The room magically changes into what looks like the OR! Out come the tools, machines and the all important mirror. I wasn't missing this show! This is also when the tears came! We were about to finally meet our baby girl!
1:20 pm - The fun begins, I can start pushing!
1:41 pm - The nurse called Dr. McKee to inform him that Sloan was crowning!
1:44 pm - She told me to try not to push or even move and calls Dr. McKee again to make sure he is on his way!
1:45 pm - Dr. McKee arrives!
1:51 pm - Sloan makes her debut! Happy Birthday Sloan!
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