Riley's due date was July 12th, at the end of June my OB Dr. Lee started talking about the option of getting induced at 39 weeks so I wouldn't have to wait as long. At this point I'd been having frequent Braxton Hicks and lots of pressure and was dilated to a 2 and 90% effaced. I agreed with him, but I was so sure that I'd be having her on my own any day that it wouldn't happen. We realized 39 weeks was over the 4th of July weekend so I'd have to wait until the 8th for an induction date. But I was still sure I wasn't being induced.
We didn't have family coming to help until the 8th and I was worried about not having anyone to stay with Eric. We were talking to Tanner's parents and his mom offered to cone help the week before. We were so relieved and happy to have her out. Of course she came and no baby. :) We had a wonderful time with her though and Eric absolutely loved all the playtime with Grandma.
So on the 8th, Tanner got the day off of work and we headed to the hospital for our induction at 7 am. I went natural with Eric and was hoping to do it again, but I was feeling anxious and wondering if I could do it again. After checking in and getting changed into my wonderful hospital gown, my wonderful nurse Gerilyn started the pitocin at 8 am. Tanner and I talked and he played games on his ipad while I watched tv. After an hour, Dr. Lee came by to check on me, I still wasn't having any contractions, but I was dilated to a 3 and almost fully effaced. He decided to break my water at 9 am and told me he would be checking in on me as I progressed.
Shortly after breaking my water, the contractions started. They weren't too bad at all, I had to do a little bit of deep breathing through them, but I watched a movie while Tanner went down and got some breakfast. Halfway through the movie, the contractions were strong enough I couldn't really pay attention to it anymore, I just had to focus on getting through the contractions. One of the best things about going natural is that you can get up and move around and walk yourself to the bathroom. And one of the worst things about going natural is that you have to get up to go to the bathroom. Tanner had a good laugh because since they were giving me fluids, I kept having to get up off the monitors every 15 minutes or so to pee. This was not very fun once I got into the stronger contractions because it's very painful to have a contraction when you're sitting on a toilet. But the good thing about getting up so much is I think it really helped me progress quickly.
By 11am I was full on in labor, the contractions were strong and very regular. They still kept upping the pitocin because that is part of their protocol with inductions I guess. I can't say that the contractions with pitocin were more painful than my most painful contractions with Eric, but they came a lot earlier on in the labor at that level of pain, which meant going through that much pain for longer. I was feeling nervous and wondering if I had it in me to do it for the whole thing; I remember after one really intense contraction just feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Around noon the nurse came back in and told me I was doing a great job and asked if I wanted anything for pain. I used IV pain meds with Eric and they helped a little bit when the contractions were pretty weak, but not much after, so I was skeptical. But Gerilyn told me it couldn't hurt to try, so I said yes. Best decision ever, those pain meds are the reason I made it. Just like before, they didn't do anything for the pain during contractions, but all my worries and anxiety between contractions were gone. I was so relaxed and felt so great, it was like I felt recharged after each contraction and knew I could handle the next one because I was just taking them one at a time, which is what helped me with Eric.
I have to add of course, this whole time, Tanner was a total rock star. He was right there with me, asking what I needed, helping me to the bathroom, rub my back during contractions and helping me focus. Up to this point, time was flying by, and the next two hours went even faster. By 2pm I was in transition and the contractions were right on top of each other and very painful. They decided to stop the pitocin because I had a few contractions that literally had a few seconds in between them and the nurse said they shouldn't be that close together. About 2:25 I was in the middle of a contraction and just knew Riley's head was starting to come down and I was feeling a faint urge to push. I was panting through each contraction, so I had to wait until it was over to tell Tanner to get the nurse and tell her I was feeling like I needed to push. Tanner pressed the call button and ran out to the hall to tell someone to come in a check me asap. Gerilyn came in and checked me, she said I was dilated to a 7 and I started to tear up and said "only a 7??!!" She told me not to worry and that she was going it call Dr. Lee now to head over. And just stay focused on not pushing. That was the hardest 15 minutes of my life, trying not to push. By the time Dr. Lee got there, my body was pushing involuntarily, I had no control. It was a weird experience, having all my muscles contracting without being able to stop it. The nurse told me to just keep talking, as long as I didn't help push while the doctor checked me. Thank heavens, he told me in that short time I had fully dilated and was ready to push. Just like with Eric, pushing felt soooo good. Even Dr. Lee told me it was going to be my favorite part after those horrible last contractions. On the fourth push, I felt her starting to come out and the contraction ended and I stopped pushing and I could actually feel her slide back in a little. I was frustrated but geared up for the next contraction. On my fifth push, I could feel she was so close and I felt that "ring of fire," where her head was crowning. Gerilyn told me to keep pushing through the pain, that I was almost done. I felt her head come out and let out a cry of relief, but too soon, her shoulders hadn't gotten through. They told me to just hurry and keep pushing, so I took a deep breath and pushed as hard as I could and man did it hurt (I now realize it was because I got a second degree tear), but it worked, I felt her slide out. At 2:57 pm, our sweet Riley Sue was born, 7 lb 10 oz, 19.5 in long.
The second her body hit the bed, she just started screaming. It was so funny. Eric was still pretty purple when they handed him to me while they cleaned him up, but not Riley. She was red as can be and screaming like there's no tomorrow. I got to hold her for a minute while they cleaned her off, I couldn't believe it. She had a full head of curly black hair and looked so chubby, she was a pound heavier and an inch shorter than Eric; they couldn't have looked more different. The whole time they cleaned her up and weighed her, she didn't stop for a second. Once they got her wrapped up and let Tanner hold her, she calmed down. Once they finished stitching me up, I finally got to hold my sweet baby girl, and she was worth the wait. I couldn't believe she was here and how much I loved her already. Having another kid already, I now understand that she is going to grow and have her own personality and be her own little person, since I'm seeing that with Eric. I felt overwhelmed with love and gratitude and happiness. We are so happy to have Riley in our family, she is the sweetest little girl and I'm so thankful to be her mama.
