Rachel Grace - Her Birth Story!

Well, we had our precious baby girl for those of you who haven't heard through facebook! She was born on Thursday, October 7 at 11:09 pm.

The day started out very normal. I had a scheduled doctor's appointment that morning. I was supposed to have decided if I was going to allow the doctor to schedule an induction, and I was going to talk to the doctor that day about it. Because of all that going on, Josh decided to go with me to the appointment to give me some moral support and to just meet the doctor and all. When we got there, they hooked me up to the monitor like always. Nothing was really going on until about half-way through when it started showing contractions about every 5 minutes or so. They weren't painful at all, so I honestly thought it was still Braxton-hicks going on. The doctor came in and commented on them and asked if I would like to be checked. I said yes! Please! I thought that would at least help me make a decision about the induction.

So he checked me, and I was 4 cm!! That's when I started getting excited. We were getting some progress now! He said he would like for me to go to the hospital to continue to get monitored because we might actually have a baby today! I asked if I could go home first to get my hospital bag, and he said that would be fine. So Josh and I went home and got everything together. We got the babies bag packed, my bag packed, and then we ate a nice lunch together. I was seriously taking my time, because I didn't want to lay in a hospital bed all day! Then we went to Josh's parents' house to drop the baby's bag off and check on them. Then we headed to the hospital; it was about 2 p.m. when we got there. I was feeling contractions during all this, but nothing that really made me think I was in labor.

We got to the hospital and they got me all checked in and strapped in. Contractions were still regular, but staying about the same for about an hour. Then they started getting smaller on the monitor. The funny thing is that these contractions were the strongest ones! I asked the nurse about that and she said that it's not always accurate. Well, after a little while of those they decided to send me home. They scheduled me an appointment for Monday, and a tentative induction for Tuesday. I was pretty sure I would go into labor before then, though, but I still didn't think it would be that day!

So we drove home and I dropped Josh off, and then I went to pick up the babies. I got to their house and layed down with Abbie in the bed and watched TV for a while until the babies got up from their nap. The contractions were slowly getting stronger and stronger and closer together. By about 5 I was pretty sure I was in labor. Contractions were about 5 minutes apart and starting to get hard to talk through. I wanted to do as much of the labor at home though, so I went for about an hour and half like that. Then about 6:30, they were about 3 minutes apart but still manageable. I went to the bathroom though, and I was bleeding. This scared me more than anything. I didn't bleed with my first two, so I either thought something was wrong or I was about to have a baby right then! Josh's mom told me it was probably the mucous plug. I debated staying home a little longer, but Josh was concerned so we decided to head back to the hospital. Everyone kept telling us that your third labor would happen a lot quicker too, and we were not prepared for a home birth!

We got to the hospital about 7 and I got strapped in again. (By the way, I loathe those straps! And having to lay on my back!) And it was confirmed, I was definitely in labor. The nurse checked me and I was 6 cm. Which was kinda disappointing. I had hoped to be farther along than that before I headed to the hospital. But I was excited too, because we were definitely having a baby! Well, I labored in that darn hospital bed (so uncomfortable!) for about 3 more hours! Josh was so good. He stayed right beside me, and helped me through each contraction. The nurse checked me at about 10 p.m. and I was only 8 cm. I was beginning to think that I wasn't going to make it through this delivery without pain meds. I was soooo extremely tired too. After some really hard contractions, I begged her to check me again! I was at 10 cm at about 11 pm!! Finally! My water had still not broken though, and I asked if she could get him to come break it. (They had to break my water on my first 2)

So the doctor came in and they got me in the position to push. When the next contraction came, he told me to start pushing. I had just started to, when he was like "Oh! Your membranes are still intact!" So he broke it right then, and the baby's head immediately popped out! But I had no idea! They hadn't told me anything. He was doing something, but I couldn't see. Apparantly, I found out later, he was sucking out the baby's mouth and nose, but I thought he was just getting things ready down there for the delivery. He then told me, "ok, one good push!" So I pushed again, and I felt the release of the whole body come out! I was so surprised, and relieved! That rush of adrenaline came, and it was amazing! I felt so amazingly good! I absolutely LOVE that feeling! So I had a hard labor, but the actual pushing lasted all of 30 seconds! I am still in shock that it happened so quickly! Actual birth time was 11:09 p.m.

So, they took her and got her all cleaned up and weighed and measured. She weighed 6 lbs. and 0.3 ounces, and was 19 inches long! Then they gave her to me, and she immediately started sucking. She nursed for about 30 minutes, and never had any problems! Thank you Lord for a good nursing baby! She's done very well ever since too!

We were released from the hospital on Saturday, and have been taking it easy ever since. I had a doctor's appointment on Monday. I had a small superficial clot on my left leg. And then Rachel had an appointment yesterday. She's doing great. She weighed in at 6 pounds even. So not much weight loss at all! Today was my first actual day of being alone with all three kids. And it was a lot better than I imagined! I actually got a shower, and the kids were all fed and we all got a nap! Pretty good I'd say!