The Story of Jillian Jane

Warning: very long post!!!

I can't believe my baby girl is three weeks old already! She is already smiling at us and big brother loves his "baby sisters" as he calls her. After Eli was born I wanted to write out his birth story so I would always remember it, so now (three weeks later) I'm finally doing the same for Jillian.

Most of you know that I was scheduled for induction on Monday April 12th, which also happens to be my birthday (original due date was April 16th.) Since Eli was 2 1/2 weeks early I was kind of surprised to make it to 39 weeks. I went to the doctor on Thursday April 8th and was dilated 3cm and 25% effaced. After that appointment, I believed this baby would hold out until my induction date. I really wanted to go into labor on my own, but knew that with my body already getting ready for this baby I would be ready to deliver on that day.

So, we packed our bags and got ready for delivery on Monday. My parents were planning to drive down from Arkansas on Sunday afternoon so they could be here for the birth. We planned to take Eli to Stephen's brother and sister-in-laws house on Sunday night since we would need to be at the hospital early on Monday morning.

Well, Jillian had a plan of her own.

At 4am Sunday morning I woke up from a dead sleep. Even though I had been up to go to the bathroom at 2am and didn't really need to go again, I figured since I was awake I should go ahead (pregnant ladies understand this, right?) As soon as I stood up my water broke. I was completely shocked and ran to the bathroom while yelling at Stephen that I thought my water just broke. He woke up very confused...poor thing had been up until 2am working on a paper for his doctoral class so he was exhausted and had only been asleep for 2 hours.

At this point I start to realize that I'm having contractions very low in my abdomen (although I don't think I was having them in my sleep.) I called my parents who immediately got up and started driving here. Even though we were basically packed and ready to go it took us about 30 minutes or so to get everything together and into the truck. Eli is usually very crabby if we wake him up, but he was so good all the way to Stephen's brothers house. He was even smiling and saying "train" as we got stopped by a train on the way.

While driving in the car my contractions REALLY intensified. They were coming 1-2 minutes apart and lasting about 45 sec. - 1 minute. I was trying to relax and breath through them, but they were getting so intense it was hard to even talk during them. I started cursing myself for picking a hospital so far away and Stephen started driving faster. I think he was getting worried we were going to have a baby in the car!

We finally made it to the hospital and upstairs at about 5:25 am. I got changed and they hooked me up to the fetal heart monitor. A nurse checked me and said I was 5cm while another nurse came in to start my IV. I wasn't too concerned about the IV...I've always had good veins and have never had any trouble when giving blood. Plus, I was in pretty significant pain by this point so a little needle in my arm wasn't even on my radar. At least that is what I thought.

I never knew what an ordeal starting an IV could be. The first nurse tried to get the IV started one time in each arm and then called in another nurse to try. This nurse tried two more times in my right arm and another three in the left arm before she finally got it. Between the contractions, the poking of the needle seven times, and that stupid rubber band thing they tie way too tight around your arm, I was not a happy camper. And why (even though I pre-registered with the hospital and they already had all my info since I was going to be induced the next day) do they insist on going through a lot of questions and paper work that has to be signed by me right then? Luckily, I was in too much pain and focused too much on breathing to be rude to anyone.

To their credit, the nurses really were doing everything they could to get the IV started so I don't think it was completely their fault that my veins weren't cooperating...but the paper work was definitely annoying.

It took over an hour, but they finally got the IV going and got me started on an antibiotic (I was group b strep positive.) They had to do some extra tests on Jillian the next day since I only had time to get one round of the antibiotic. I never knew this, but apparently you have to get blood drawn and have some kind of platelet count done before you can get an epidural...which is why it was about 6:50 am before I finally got some relief. The nurses and doctors went through a shift change at 7am so there was confusion about which anesthesiologist would administer the meds. The anesthesiologist coming on duty came in and explained to me for about 10 minutes what was going to happen and showed me how to sit, etc. Then he walked out saying he had to get some equipment and he would be back. The anesthesiologist going off duty came in then and was upset the other guy was taking so long so she just did it herself. She was kind of rude and acted put out by the other doctor, but at least she was trying to get me the meds quickly because she could see I was in pain.

By about 7:10 am I was feeling awesome! The nurse checked me again and I was 8cm, but just then Jillian turned her head a bit and I went to 10cm!! They hadn't even called the doctor yet! I could feel her down very low and I could feel LOTS of pressure. The nurse told me to close my legs and NOT to push. Since it was Sunday I had the on call doctor instead of my own, but she was very nice and apologized for being late. lol She finally got there about 7:25 am. I pushed for two rounds and Jillian's little head popped out! The cord was wrapped around her head THREE times!! Whoa...glad I didn't know that ahead of time because it would have made me very nervous! After the doctor got her untangled, I gave a little push and at 7:34 am she made her debut! The doctor asked if we could see what it was and I said it's a girl!! We were so excited!

They took her over quickly and started suctioning her. We already knew from the fluid that there was some meconium...which was also making me a bit nervous, but everything turned out great!

Through my whole pregnancy I thought we were having a little girl. I told Stephen on the way to the hospital that my water breaking and going into labor a day before my scheduled induction was confirmation of that...I just knew SHE didn't want to share a birthday with her mommy. :) This birth was so much different (and so much faster) than with Eli, but I still loved it! If this is the last child we have, I will definitely miss the fact that I will never get to do this again. But I had two wonderful deliveries and now we have two wonderful children to show for it!