I was "due" to deliver Maddie on March 4, and so Ben and I waited patiently (or more or less patiently, although I will admit that I had a countdown to the 4th) for Sunday the 4th to arrive. And that day dawned, but no Maddie. And no Maddie on Monday, Tuesday, and so on.
My docs had suggested that I set up an appointment for some routine fetal testing on Monday the 12th, and that they would likely induce my labor sometime after that appointment. So off I go to the hospital on the 12th. The testing showed that Maddie was doing great - good heartbeat and fetal "reactivity" (essentially, that her heartbeat increased after she moved) - and that I had slightly less amniotic fluid than the doctors wanted. Given that, we decided to begin the induction process on Monday and I was admitted to the hospital after the testing that morning.
All day Monday was fairly boring - I was on a pre-induction medication. I began contracting lightly that evening. The labor was slow-going, but mostly comfortable. Well, at least until the back labor began. Although Maddie was head down, she was facing the wrong direction, meaning that the crown of her head was pressing on my back in a fairly painful way. Let me tell you, back labor is NO fun. Between that, the contractions, and the fact that the docs wanted to begin my Pitocin drip Tuesday morning (the 13th), they suggested an epidural, which I gratefully accepted.
After the Pitocin and the epidural, I started having "productive" contractions. So we were making good progress all morning and into the afternoon. And then we just stalled: I got "stuck" at 6 centimeters dilated despite being on a huge amount of Pitocin and contracting regularly. So - at about 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon - one of my docs came in our room to suggest a C-section. Basically, she said that although Maddie and I were both doing well, the fact that my labor had stalled for so long strongly suggested that I wouldn't have Maddie vaginally. Ben and I looked at one another and decided to go ahead with the C-section. Apparently, C-sections were de rigeur that day - a lot of other moms laboring at the same time were having C-sections then, either emergent or non-emergent. So although we decided to do the C-section at 4:30, I wasn't wheeled into surgery until about 7 that night.
Our darling Maddie was born at 7:22 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13.
Her first picture is just above. I'm sure that when she's big enough, she'll yell at us for posting topless photos of her, but there are lots more topless pics coming in future posts. Sorry, honey.
The C-section went fine and Maddie came out just gorgeous - no cone head since no vaginal delivery. Ben and the docs and nurses in the delivery room immediately noticed her auburn hair - she came out with more hair than some one-year olds - and her dark grey eyes. She was (and is) really beautiful. Before we had her, I told people that I knew I would say that about her - that she was beautiful. But nothing could have prepared me for how beautiful I thought she was, how miraculous, how magical, how perfect. Ben and I looked at her that night, when we were alone in our recovery room, marvelling at what we had made, telling her we loved her, and promising that we would trade literally anything in the world for her safety and happiness.
We're lucky folks.
