September 16th 2010

September 16th was one of the sweetest days of my life because we welcomed Kensie to the world. At my appointment on the 15th Kensie still hadn't settled into position so my doctor told me she would break my water in the operating room on the 16th in hopes that the baby would settle into place. She kept my scheduled C-section just in case there were any complications. She believed that my chances of having a natural delivery would be slim if she let me go further along in my pregnancy.

At times my doctor's strong opinion to induce me early seemed too conservative. Now I am so glad that we took our doctor's advice and went ahead with getting induced a week early. My recovery hasn't been the easiest and had Kensie been much bigger, I probably wouldn't have been able to have a natural delivery nor would I have wanted that. I am so grateful that I was able to have Kensie naturally without having a C-section and that my doctor handled my situation individually.

Here is a play-by-play of the big day:

5:40 a.m. Arrive at the hospital and prepare to be admitted to the operating room at 7:30 a.m.

7:00 a.m. First emotional break down. I got really nervous about whether or not I would need a C-section. Also, they put something in my IV that made me extremely tired and I couldn't imagine 10+ hours of labor ahead of me. I felt exhausted and like all I wanted to do was take a nap. I told Niel, "I don't think I can do this."
7:30 a.m. Nurse tells me I won't be sent to the operating room for another 40 minutes
8:00 a.m. My doctor arrives and checks position of the baby. Baby has dropped so she decides to start me on pitocin and see if I can go into labor without breaking my water
8:30 a.m. Nurses start my pitocin. Contractions are manageable.
10:30 a.m. Doctor checks baby's position again. Dilated to a three. Baby's head has floated up again so she decides to break my water
10:45 a.m. Wheeled into the operating room, receive my epidural, and get my water broken. Baby's head came down into position so they wheel me back into labor and delivery for a natural delivery! Hooray!

2:00 p.m-ish Dilated to a four. Really frustrated that I hadn't made hardly any progress. Can hardly feel the contractions with the epidural and playing on my iphone to make the time pass.

4:00 p.m.-ish Dilated to a seven!

5:30 p.m. No progress

7:00 p.m. Dilated to an eight. Second emotional break-down. At this point I was starving and thirsty because I hadn't had anything to eat for almost 24 hours because I had to fast in case it was a C-section. Tired of being hooked up to cords, monitors, and not being able to move hardly. The oxygen mask was getting the best of me. Contractions are getting more painful as the epidural drip machine was malfunctioning. Wondering when I would ever have this baby.

8:30 p.m. Dilated to a ten! Surprise! Time to push at last! Nurse and Niel help me with several pushes and then they call the doctor.

9:00 p.m-ish Doctor arrives and whole team of about five other people. Everyone is cheering me on.

9:19 p.m. Kensie is born! First thing the doctor says is, "She looks just like her dad!" I get to hold my baby girl for the first time.

I thought she was super cute the first moment they handed her to me. I couldn't believe I had actually given birth to my baby. Childbirth has always been a big fear of mine as silly as that may sound. I've always worried whether or not I would be able to give birth naturally because of my small frame. This moment was so empowering for me as they handed her to me. I did it! Baby girl was finally here and I was able to hold her in my arms at last.