The due date was June 14, but our little Kiwi wasn't interested in leaving the comfort and safety of the womb. We went into Missouri Baptist Hospital on Monday, June 22 and the pitocin induction started about 2:30. Greg and I settled in with some DVDs to watch which was a good thing since the painful contractions didn't start until about 9:00 that night. I wasn't really progressing on dilation and station so we wanted to go as long as possible without the epidural so I could continue to walk around and try to help progress things along. By about 10:30 I was ready for the drug and by 11:15 I was pain free.
Pain free - yes, worry free - no. About 9:00, one of the nurses came in and asked me to lie on my side for a while because the heart monitor wasn't picking up a regular heart beat. I did it and all was fine. I was up again moving around and a short time later they came back and informed us they wanted to break my water so they could insert an internal heart monitor to watch it more closely. Throughout the night, Greg and I tried to get some sleep and the heart rate continued to worry them. Around 5:00 a.m. they called my doctor and asked him to come in and make a decision on what to do next. By the time he arrived, I was on all fours in bed because this was the only position where they could get a steady heart rate. The baby had still not descended down so they flipped me around and ask me to start pushing. I went through one round of this when the doctor decided to take me in for a C-section.
Things had already started getting a little crazy in the room but it was then that it became a fuzzy whirlwind. We had been keeping a log of the night's activities. Greg entered a note that they made the C-section decision at 5:45 and Delaney was born at 6:01. Amazing how fast they worked. Greg watched as they weighed and measured her (more on this to come) and even got to cut part of the cord. Someone video taped it for him and I hope we can post this soon. We were back in our Labor room by 6:45 and started calling family immediately.
Our stay in the hospital lasted until Saturday. Seemed like forever but I am grateful for it because the nurses and staff offer so much great assistance and advice. Greg didn't want it to end so soon. We spent most of the day Friday working with a lactation consultant and made a ton of progress with Delaney. She had lost over 10% of her body weight which is a point of concern. Frankly, it stressed us out tremendously trying to feed her often enough to get her weight up. It wasn't until we went to the Pediatrician on Tuesday morning that we learned she had gained 5 oz and we didn't have to be so strict with her schedule. Tremendous relief. Oh, we also learned that she is 20 3/4" long, not 22" long as they told us in the hospital. We watched the nurses do it twice just to be sure. 22" is long for any baby but especially for us both being about 5'5" to 5'6" tall.
Now she is home and we are getting used to our new life. Grandma Joan has been here helping to cook and clean but she leaves soon and we will be on our home. Greg starts back at work tomorrow telecommuting from home but then heads to the Base on Thursday and Friday so I am eager to see how I do on my own. I have attached a few pictures but I am hoping for some video soon.
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