Birth Story

WARNING: long post ahead!

We spent the weekend before Savannah's birth trying every old wives tale out there to try and induce labor naturally. We took tons of walks and I did lots of squats, ate a ridiculous amount of papaya and spicy food, and lots more. Alas, Sunday evening rolled around and we knew we were headed for an induction in the morning so we got to bed early hoping we'd be able to catch a few hours of sleep despite our excitedment.

Last pregnant pic -- 04.06.14

I was scheduled to be induced at 7am but we were told to arrive at 5:30am. We arrived at the Fair Oaks Hospital and were surprised when the Labor and Delivery team said they weren't ready for us and asked us to wait in the waiting room. SAY WHAT?!

Hanging out in the waiting room the day Savannah was born

We waited about 10 minutes before they took us back to start check-in, bloodwork and my IV. I started on pitocin at 7:20am and my dose was slowly increased every 20 minutes. It didn't take long at all for my contractions to become pretty regular around every 2 minutes.  For the first few hours the pain wasn't too bad; I'd say a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-10.  I didn't have complete freedom to walk around because I was hooked up to the pitocin but I was able to change positions in bed, stand and walk around as far as the IV line stretched and sit in this rocking chair like seat they had in the room. Being able to move definitely helped me get through contractions and probably helped me progress quickly.

Early labor hence the smile and clean hair

At 10:30am my doctor broke my water and by 11:45am I was 6-7 cm. That's what shiz started to get real and the contractions picked up in intensity. During transition (when you go from 8-10 cm) my contractions were coming back to back about every 30 seconds and I had to focus all my energy on just breathing through each one. The doctors and nurses kept telling me I was doing a great job getting through the contractions and I attribute it to all the prenatal yoga I did while pregnant. 

I told Ray that during every contraction I wanted to give in and get an epidural but after each contraction I felt strong and good and told myself no way do I need an epidural. The hubs was awesome in supporting me the entire time and anticipating my needs (ice chip, please!) which really helped during labor. It got to a point where the pain was so unbearable I was thinking of asking for the epidural and my doctor came in to check me. I decided to see where I was at before making the decision and she said I was 9.5 cm and the whole team started getting ready for the next stage -- deliverying baby girl. I knew then that an epidural wasn't an option but was excited that it was almost time to meet our little one. 

When they broke my water they saw meconium so we had a NICU nurse in the delivery room once I started pushing because baby girl would need to be suctioned immediately after birth to avoid her from aspirating. At this point we also realized the little one was "sunny side up" meaning her eyes were facing up towards the ceiling which my doctor informed me would make pushing more difficult.

An exhausting hour and a half(ish) of pushing later (not sure exactly how long since neither of us checked the time) baby girl was born! Within minutes they had her suctioned, cleaned off and the hubs carried her over to me and she was skin to skin with her momma! BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD!

We spent the next couple hours as a family of three in Labor and Delivery (before being moved to Family Centered Care for the next few days) feeling like the luckiest people alive! After 10 long months, we were finally able to meet our precious daughter who has already stolen her mom and dad's hearts.

Welcome Savannah Marie!

On April 7th at 3:20pm the hubs and I welcomed Savannah Marie Wotring into the world!

Savannah weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. at birth and measured 20 3/4 inches long.

We fell in love instantly and are so thankful for our healthy baby girl. The last week has included a lot of diaper changes, snuggling and time spent staring at our little angel in disbelief that she is ours. We are absolutely loving our new role as mommy and daddy!

Baby Wotring - 41 Weeks!

Howdy from the other side of our due date and a blog post I didn't think I'd have to write!

Unlike her schedule-oriented mom, Baby Wotring is officially late! I think she decided long ago she wanted to be an April baby (maybe for the diamond birthstone...) so this probably shouldn't come as a surprise but every day that passes has me and the hubs growing more and more impatient to meet the little nugget! We are trying to keep ourselves as busy as possible which has included scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees (isn't that supposed to induce labor???) and the hubs undertaking a complete reorganization of his closet.

41 weeks...will Baby Wotring evacuate or get evicted?

I've been consulting "The Google" a lot and read that about half of all first time births occur after their due date and despite all the "sure-fire" labor inducers you hear about -- spicy food, pineapple, walking etc -- nothing has been able to get this little girl moving. No one knows exactly what triggers real labor but it's believed to be a combination of factors. The intricate process begins with the fetus, whose brain sets off a relay of chemical messages that stimulates a chain reaction of hormones in her mommy. At that time, a woman's water might break or contractions might start. Now if only we could figure out a way to trigger those chemical messages in Baby Wotring...

Blooper because Brownie is just so photogenic

I've had some cramping, pressure and on and off nausea this week. The doctor said the nausea is likely caused by a mix of real and Braxton Hicks contractions. At our appointment this morning everything still looked good with Baby Wotring and I'm 4 cm. The doctor suggested I eat some papaya so I stopped in to Whole Foods after my acupuncture appointment (has been known to induce labor) tonight and stocked up!

I also bought some dried papaya but that was consumed on the drive home!

My induction is scheduled for bright and early Monday morning. Seems a little mean that we have to be at the hospital at 5:30am on our last day to sleep in before becoming a parents but we are so excited we didn't argue or think twice about it! With any luck, the little one will make her arrival this weekend and we won't make it to the induction but it's nice to know we'll be meeting our sweet little girl within just a few short days!