Eden's birth story

i finally have some time to talk about Eden's birth, so here's how it went:

6:00 am ~ arrived at hospital
7:00 am ~ fully hooked up to necessary IVs and monitors
8:00 am ~ got an epidural
9:15 am ~ doctor broke the amniotic sac and nurse started pitocin IV
12:00 pm ~ due to Eden's heart rate decelerations, fetal monitoring was switched to an internal monitor.
1:00 pm ~ decelerations continued. doctor determined it was due to umbilical cord compression, and began amnioinfusion.
1:30 pm ~ dilated to 9 cm, and had new medication added to epidural.
2:00 pm ~ told nurse i felt like pushing- still dilated to 9. doctor let me try to push, and immediately i was fully dilated. pushing phase began.
2:20 pm ~ Eden arrived!


before the induction, i was having a lot of the same feelings i had with Carli's induction. i wanted to turn around and go home. i wasn't in labor, so maybe it was better for Eden to just stay in a bit longer. although with Carli, it was more about not dealing with the emotions. either way, i reluctantly walked through the doors of labor and delivery, not at all excited about the impending labor.


my IV was the worst IV ever! it was the worst pain about the entire delivery. before we started, i had an epidural, so i didn't feel much. but, that damned IV hurt the whole time! 

Eden's delivery had a few bumps in the road (heart rate decelerations, amnio infusion, internal monitoring, etc.). i know- it's amazing i didn't panic! the funny thing is, her delivery was exactly like Lynzie's. well, Lynzie's was about 5 times longer, but the problems were all the same. i already knew all about the amnio infusion, and internal monitoring. i already knew about the epidural slowing contractions, and the need to roll me over every half-hour or so. i already knew about pitocin, umbilical cord compression, and heart rate issues. i felt very calm, and prepared.


Eden's actual birth was pretty emotional. she started screaming right away, which was an awesome noise to hear. i can't describe how happy i was to hear a screaming baby; yet at the same time, so sad because i was thinking about Carli. i cried a lot. when i finally got to hold Eden, i just let her scream. i didn't try to comfort her, because i just wanted to hear her scream for a while. i held her, and we both cried. doesn't that sound crazy? who enjoys the sound of a screaming baby? i do.


the past few days have been typical days with a newborn. lots of feeding, cleaning poop, and missing sleep. we both came through the delivery quite well. it's actually quite surprising, considering her size. she had a few tiny bruises on her face, but they're gone now. the nurses were amazed at her perfectly round head. they said she looked like a c-section baby. i had less "damage" than with the deliveries of Lynzie and Lillie (6 lbs. 13 oz. and 7 lbs. 5 oz. respectively). i'm glad i didn't know how big Eden was going to be, because i would have freaked out! 8 lbs. 12 oz.... i'm still amazed at how that was possible, and even more amazed at how easy it was! i don't even feel like i had a baby! well, aside from the sore boobs and intense cramping.


i'm just so happy she's finally here. i look forward to telling her all about her big sister, Carli.