My Dearest Kate,
At my doctors appointment on February 25th (a whole MONTH before you were due!!) I was already 2.5 cm dilated and 90% effaced! Girl, the doctor convinced me you were coming early. I freaked a little. I didn't have a bag packed, no instinct to clean, nothing. I secretly knew it wasn't time, so I called your Grandma (or Gigi or Grammy) Sandy and had her remind me that's what doctors always do. ...get your hopes up just a bit!
At my doctors appointment the following week I was 3 cm dilated and still 90% effaced. The doctor said at this rate, you were coming way earlier than your due date. I hadn't gotten all of my school stuff really done yet, so I was convinced again you weren't coming just yet.
The following week I didn't have my doctor's appointment until the Wednesday (We were going to the Houston Rodeo that day!!) I was 4 whopping cm dilated and still 90% effaced. I had to ask the grueling question of whether or not I could go to the rodeo (and boy did I want to go so bad!!) she said she wasn't going to tell me No, but if I went into labor to not tell anyone or else they would take me to a different hospital. Your daddy was super freaked out. He tried to convince me not to go, but I knew my body and you weren't coming. Now granted, when I got to the rodeo I must have freaked out myself a little (I didn't tell your dad though!) because my tummy wasn't feeling normal. Thankfully we enjoyed a ginormo corn dog, dipNdots and frito pie. All worth the worry!!
At the doctors appointment, the doctor also told me she was on call that weekend so that if I wanted to be "augmented," basically make you come before you were ready, I could just hop on into the hospital on Saturday and she would take care of me. Man did this sound tempting!! Meeting you early, having Dr. Leblanc as my delievery doctor...only thing was, both of those were selfish reasons to meet you. You obviously weren't ready.
So here we are, your "hopeful" birth week and I was still 4cm dilated and 90% effaced. Come early? My tooshie! Your grandma was right. You weren't coming early and if you were anything like I was, you will be 10 days late. Luckily we do have a induction date (aka eviction date!) and I cannot wait to meet you on the 28th. Thankfully this means there is an end date in site and I am SO excited!!
So some other things you need to know about those last days.
1. You will hurt when you sleep! Gravity takes it's toll on your belly, pulling it towards the bed no matter which side you are sleeping on. I have found that I love to sleep on my back, apparently a not so good thing, but even the body pillow can't stop me now.
2. Braxton Hicks can sorta feel like contractions but they are NOTHING like the ones I felt in the hospital. If you think you're in labor, you probably aren't. Don't freak out and clean the house...they'll go away 2 hours later.
3. Stay busy. It was miserable just sitting around the house wishing you were coming. Go see a movie, even if by yourself.
So the induction date came and we finally knew you would be here. We had gone to the hospital the day before to do pre-Op paperwork and other things they normally just give you when you arrive at the hospital. It was nice to be able to go back and see exactly where we would be, where we would go the next morning, etc. Calmed my nerves a little. I was still hoping you would come on your own. We went home and I of course had a big honey-do list ready for us to tackle. It took us until midnight to finish. Probably not the smartest thing considering we would soon be lacking sleep, but we did it. Finished packing our bags and headed to bed. We got up the next morning at 5am to shower. By 6am we were out the door and on our way to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital, headed up to L&D and they got me all "hooked up." Blood pressure, IV, my awesome hospital gown ... (they first had me in a mustard yellow gown...it might have made you throw up just looking at it thankfully my nurse was not ok with it, so she gave me a different one). Even though you will throw it away, buy a cute one. It'll make you feel better. We hung out until about 7:30 when my doctor came in and broke my water. I was having contractions before that, but nothing that was really worth anything.
I had come in to the hospital already 6cm dilated so I only had 4 more centimeters to go before we met you. Unfortunately it took about 6 hours to get there. After she broke my water my contractions escalated to about a 5 on the pain scale from a zero. Then the pitocin was started. That's when the contractions went from a 5 to a "7-8-9-10!!!!" as I said to your daddy. It was time for the epidural. For sure. I had gone in with the mind set of maybe not getting one, but definitely not opposed. Oh lordy, thank goodness I got one.
About TWO hours after the bad contractions started I finally got my epidural. I had waited an hour to ask for one just to see if I could do it. It was very painful. The contractions were VERY long and INTENSE. They say that can happen when given pitocin. We requested the epidural and when the anesthesiologist came in I was ready! She told me everything she was doing which was nice and calming. It didn't hurt at all compared to what I was feeling. I can tell you God gave me the best anesthesiologist that was there. It started working very soon after she was done. Unfortunately I was still feeling contractions on my left side so another lady came in and gave me something else (after they had me lay on that side for a bit). Your dad and I aren't quite sure what it was haha. We didn't care. The nurses would move me from side to side once my legs became jello. They were HUGE jello legs. It was weird and boy were they filled with fluid.
After the epidural the contractions were definitely manageable. I could still feel when I was having one which was good, but your dad and I could still get some catch phrase playing, bible reading, cat nap taking, in. By this time my blood pressure was on the rise. They were re-checking it every 5 minutes. I of course didn't feel anything different. Tests came back and there was protein...a sign of pre-eclampsia. Nothing to worry about though, you were coming soon and that would help! At about 1:15 the nurse came in to check me again. I was 10 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. It was time to call the doctor.
At around 1:30 Dr. Leblanc came in and got all "dressed up" in her hospital attire. They brought in all the equipment they needed and the things they were going to need when you came. At 1:45 I started pushing. Thankfully I could still feel pressure and contractions so I knew when you were ready to start coming. Dr. Leblanc was AMAZING. So very encouraging and positive. A very short 15 minutes later, YOU WERE HERE!!! Honestly girl, I barely felt anything. I hate to say that because labor was NOTHING what I had imagined it to be. Our most gracious father was there with me that day. He knew I needed Him. That said, I pray that you will have just as easy of a labor.
They cleaned you all off, I got to cuddle you and then your daddy cut the umbilical cord. There we were, our little family of three. ...and our lives have forever been changed.
All the other fun stuff about after you came is soon to come...I love you sweet girl.
Your mama
3. Stay busy. It was miserable just sitting around the house wishing you were coming. Go see a movie, even if by yourself.
So the induction date came and we finally knew you would be here. We had gone to the hospital the day before to do pre-Op paperwork and other things they normally just give you when you arrive at the hospital. It was nice to be able to go back and see exactly where we would be, where we would go the next morning, etc. Calmed my nerves a little. I was still hoping you would come on your own. We went home and I of course had a big honey-do list ready for us to tackle. It took us until midnight to finish. Probably not the smartest thing considering we would soon be lacking sleep, but we did it. Finished packing our bags and headed to bed. We got up the next morning at 5am to shower. By 6am we were out the door and on our way to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital, headed up to L&D and they got me all "hooked up." Blood pressure, IV, my awesome hospital gown ... (they first had me in a mustard yellow gown...it might have made you throw up just looking at it thankfully my nurse was not ok with it, so she gave me a different one). Even though you will throw it away, buy a cute one. It'll make you feel better. We hung out until about 7:30 when my doctor came in and broke my water. I was having contractions before that, but nothing that was really worth anything.
I had come in to the hospital already 6cm dilated so I only had 4 more centimeters to go before we met you. Unfortunately it took about 6 hours to get there. After she broke my water my contractions escalated to about a 5 on the pain scale from a zero. Then the pitocin was started. That's when the contractions went from a 5 to a "7-8-9-10!!!!" as I said to your daddy. It was time for the epidural. For sure. I had gone in with the mind set of maybe not getting one, but definitely not opposed. Oh lordy, thank goodness I got one.
About TWO hours after the bad contractions started I finally got my epidural. I had waited an hour to ask for one just to see if I could do it. It was very painful. The contractions were VERY long and INTENSE. They say that can happen when given pitocin. We requested the epidural and when the anesthesiologist came in I was ready! She told me everything she was doing which was nice and calming. It didn't hurt at all compared to what I was feeling. I can tell you God gave me the best anesthesiologist that was there. It started working very soon after she was done. Unfortunately I was still feeling contractions on my left side so another lady came in and gave me something else (after they had me lay on that side for a bit). Your dad and I aren't quite sure what it was haha. We didn't care. The nurses would move me from side to side once my legs became jello. They were HUGE jello legs. It was weird and boy were they filled with fluid.
After the epidural the contractions were definitely manageable. I could still feel when I was having one which was good, but your dad and I could still get some catch phrase playing, bible reading, cat nap taking, in. By this time my blood pressure was on the rise. They were re-checking it every 5 minutes. I of course didn't feel anything different. Tests came back and there was protein...a sign of pre-eclampsia. Nothing to worry about though, you were coming soon and that would help! At about 1:15 the nurse came in to check me again. I was 10 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. It was time to call the doctor.
At around 1:30 Dr. Leblanc came in and got all "dressed up" in her hospital attire. They brought in all the equipment they needed and the things they were going to need when you came. At 1:45 I started pushing. Thankfully I could still feel pressure and contractions so I knew when you were ready to start coming. Dr. Leblanc was AMAZING. So very encouraging and positive. A very short 15 minutes later, YOU WERE HERE!!! Honestly girl, I barely felt anything. I hate to say that because labor was NOTHING what I had imagined it to be. Our most gracious father was there with me that day. He knew I needed Him. That said, I pray that you will have just as easy of a labor.
They cleaned you all off, I got to cuddle you and then your daddy cut the umbilical cord. There we were, our little family of three. ...and our lives have forever been changed.
All the other fun stuff about after you came is soon to come...I love you sweet girl.
Your mama
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