A Birthing Story

Caroline's birth ended up being quite easy. We arrived at the hospital at 6 am, and the nursing staff was able to get me set up in my room immediately. We completed all of the preliminary paperwork and the nurse inserted the dreaded iv (which hurt until they removed it at midnight by the way). They started my oxytocin at about 7:30 am, and then Dr. Broome came in around 8 to break my water. Now for the rough part... The anesthesiologist came in around 9:30. I was excited because it was the same one I had with Madison. The first time it literally took him five minutes to get the catheter in, and the drugs numbed both sides perfectly throughout the labor. This time, however, it did not go so well!!! It was extremely painful and he had to replace the catheter twice. I was so frustrated I thought about telling him just to forget it (but then I came to my senses). Finally he finished, but I was numb on only one side. My left leg was like a dead tree trunk, but I could feel everything on my right side. In fact, when the nurse came in to do the first exam I could feel everything, which was UNACCEPTABLE... Another anesthesiologist came in around 11:30 and took care of me. He was awesome!!! Finally around 3:45 I gave everyone the boot, hoping that I could get some rest before it was time to push. I started feeling pressure around 4pm and called for the nurse. She didn't seem convinced I was ready. I then had a double contraction and could feel Caroline actually swivel down the birth canal. It was the most amazing feeling. I didn't really know what I was feeling until the nurse began the exam and said she could already see the head. I had to push for 30 minutes with Madison, so this was somewhat shocking. She went to the nurses station and paged Dr. Broome. The nurse then came back into the room and said we were going to do a test push. She had to stop me in the middle of the contraction. Once Dr. Broome was scrubbed in and ready to go, I only had to push through two contractions and little Caroline's head was out. She began crying the second she entered the world, which made Spencer and me both cry because we knew she was healthy at that point (you know...you are always paranoid that something will be wrong). When she started crying, Dr. Broome said, "You aren't supposed to be doing that yet." So the nurse was suctioning her nose and mouth while Dr. Broome was pulling the rest of her body out. She is such a little miracle. Her apgar score was a 10!!! It kind of freaked me out when they handed her to me though, because she was so much smaller than Madison was. The two of them look like identical twins - only Caroline is a mini - Madison. Well there it is... the birthing story. I must say though I am struggling a bit with trying to balance two... However, I know things will improve once Caroline is on a schedule and once we can take her out into the world (STINKING SWINE FLU & RSV).