Lou's Birth Story

My Livvy Lou will be 4 weeks old tomorrow and I figure it's about time I wrote down the story of her birth.

I suppose the story starts on Dec. 1, 2011. It was supposed to be my last dr. appt. All I had to do was be dilated to 2 cm so I could be induced on that Sunday (the 4th). It had been the plan from the beginnning...(You see, I don't exactly LOVE being pregnant). Sadly for me, my body didn't seem up to the task yet and it hadn't budged from 1 cm. I'll admit it. I cried. Right there in front of the doctor. I'm sure it was really mature. Anyhow, she stripped my membranes and sent me home. We rescheduled for Monday and held our hopes high that my body would get on board. The weekend passed slowly. Kade made me exercise and do everything I could to get our little babe OUT. Finally, Monday came and so did our good news! I had made it to 2+ cm over the weekend and could finally be scheduled for induction the next day.

December 6th, 2011:
The day started very early at 530 am. We had to call the hospital at 6 am to see when I could come up to be started. We got up and ate some breakfast before we called. When I called the nurse told me to be ready to go by 7 am, but she doubted I would get a call before 9 or 10 am. We woke up Easton and drove him to stay with Grandma Stock while we were in the hospital. And then we waited...and waited....and waited. Finally, 5 minutes to 10 am they called and said it was time for me to come up. It was really hard for me to leave Easton knowing that the next time I saw him, he wouldn't be my baby anymore. Not much happened for a while after that. We got to the hospital, checked in, and got set up in our room. They hooked up my IV, antibiotics, and pitocin. I spent the next few hours breathing through contractions and eating popsicles- hoping I was making progress. My body was still being stubborn and after hours of contractions 2 minutes apart, I was still sitting at a 2+. They broke my water (ouch) and I tried to brave the pain for as long as I possibly could. I decided after a couple more hours to get my epidural while the anethesiolgist was on the floor. After that, my body jumped to 4 cm and a few hours later to 6 cm. That's about when things started to get interesting. I started to have a very strange sensation in my right hip. I can't explain it other than my leg felt restless. I wanted to move it so bad, but of course, couldn't. I started to feel panicky and claustrophobic and my heart rate was going up. After tossing and turning (with Kade's help) with no relief, the finally turned me on my side and elevated my leg with a stirrup. She massaged my back through contractions which seemed to help. Luckily, I was the only woman in L&D at the time, so I got all the attention I needed. The nurse thought that the sensation I was feeling meant that my body was transitioning and that things would move quickly. She was right. Soon I was at 8 cm, and then about 10 minutes later, I was complete and ready to push. My doctor came quickly (even though it was about 9 pm when they called her). The room was set in motion preparing for our daughter to arrive. I started to push at about 9:25 pm. I couldn't feel the urge to push as strongly as I could with I was in labor with Easton, so I wasn't sure if I was pushing the right way. I must have been doing fine, because on the second set of pushing, the doctor said she thought it would be over after the next push. That's about the time that reality set it. I was so ready for my girl to be born, but suddenly I was terrified of her! It was too late to go back. She was coming NOW. One more push and my baby girl was there. They laid her on my chest and she was the most absolutely gorgeous thing I had ever seen. Alivia was born at 9:33 pm. She weighed in at 6 lbs 9 oz of beauty and 20 inches of sweetness. It was a lot of work to get her here and she's been a lot of work since, but she's worth every moment and I am so happy to have my sweet Lou.