The Big Day

Katherine Lilly Cosme
April 23, 2012
7 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches

Well, it's been a little over 2 weeks since Kate was born and I'm finally able to sit down at my computer to write about the day she was born. Sorry if the details bore you - but I'm mostly writing this post for my own memory of the day.

Since Kate was so stubborn, not wanting to make her way out into the world, my induction was scheduled for 4:30 am on Monday, April 23, 2012. I was so excited to meet my little girl, but I was incredibly nervous. I was induced when Claire was born and I know how much more brutal labor is when you're induced. I couldn't really sleep the night before the induction. My alarm was set for 3 am so I could get up and get ready to leave for the hospital. I woke up around 2:30, but I couldn't get back to sleep. I gave up on sleep and got up about 10 minutes before my alarm was set to go off and got in the shower. I had to call at 3:30 to confirm that there was a bed for me at the hospital. Thank goodness there was a bed ready & waiting for me. My grandparents got to my house a little before 4 am to stay with Tyler, Claire & Matthew.

Jeff & I arrived at the hospital just on time and walked through the drizzly rain into the hospital. Too bad I woke up so early to make sure my hair looked nice since the drizzle completely destroyed any effort I made to have decent hair in the pictures. My first nurse, Paula, met us in the hallway as we walked in & took me straight to my room. She got me all settled in, placed my iv and got my antibiotics started.

My next nurse, Jovi, was as sweet as can be. She took good care of me that day. She wanted to make sure that the anesthesiologist was available for my epidural before she started my pitocin after the 2nd bag of antibiotics. So she waited until about 9:45 to start the pitocin, but when she checked me she found that I was not dilated as far as the doctor said I was. Instead of being 1-2 cm, I was only a fingertip! She talked to the anesthesiologist & they decided it was better for me to start the pitocin and labor for a while before getting the epidural so I didn't run the risk of it wearing out before I delivered. So Jovi started me at the lowest dose of pitocin and increased it in increments of 2 over the next few hours. I labored for about 6 1/2 to 7 hours without the epidural and the pitocin was cranked up to 16 (the highest dose possible is 20). I was pretty proud of myself for making it that long without the epidural. If it wasn't for the fact that I was getting almost no break in between contractions, I would have been able to handle going longer without the epidural. But I just couldn't do it anymore. I was so tired after only 2 hours of sleep and laboring that long without rest. So I asked Jovi for my epidural. She got my fluids going and I waited for what seemed like an eternity for the epidural.

The charge nurse decided that she wanted a nurse in training to witness her first epidural. So she switched my nurse from Jovi to Nikki and her trainee, Aubrey. I was so bummed because I really liked Jovi. But Nikki and Aubrey were nice too. It was just a bit annoying because every time they checked me, Nikki would check me first and then Aubrey would check me. It was like a test every time she checked me. Nikki wouldn't say how far dilated I was, she'd wait for Aubrey to check me & then tell her what things to look for. Then after the test, they'd finally tell me how I was progressing. One time during this process, when Nikki was checking me, my water broke. I ended up getting my epidural around 4:30 pm. Unfortunately, it didn't work on the right side of my belly. I still felt everything. So the nurses had the anesthesiologist come back in. He gave me more medicine in my epidural and it took about 10-15 more minutes for it to start to work. But it made my epidural sooooo strong. I couldn't feel ANYTHING! I couldn't move my legs at all.

A little before 7:00 pm, my back started hurting really bad, just above the the line where I was numb from my epidural, and I was super nauseous. I had the nurses try to put me in a different position a few times and they gave me some zofran in my iv. That really helped with the nausea. But my back was still really bothering me. Aubrey and Nikki checked me right before they left, a little after 7:00 pm and I was 8-9 cm. They called my doctor to tell him I would be ready soon, but there was no need to rush. My new nurse Michelle came in to check me and I had her turn me. But as soon as she left the room, my back was hurting so intensely that I made Jeff go get her to turn me over again. When she turned me, she couldn't find Kate's heartbeat. I asked her if she thought Kate was sunny-side up and she explained to me why that causes a problem in delivery and assured me that my doctor is very good at turning babies for delivery. She said he uses the vacuum to turn them and get them out.

So I had resigned myself to the fact that he'd probably use the vacuum to get Kate out and I would have a very painful recovery. But after spending what seemed like 10 minutes trying to find the Kate's heartbeat, I asked Michelle if she thought Kate should have an internal monitor and she left the room to get one. When she came back with the monitor, I had Jeff come over to help lift my leg while Michelle put the monitor on Kate's head. But as soon as Michelle moved the pillow that was between my knees she started to panic. She hit the call button and started yelling, "Emergency! Emergency! I need help!" Then she said, "Oh shoot!" (Except she didn't say shoot.) And Jeff said, "Is that the head?" Within a few seconds, there were about 10 nurses rushing around in my room, getting everything ready for Kate's birth. There was no holding Kate in to wait for the doctor. Her head was already out about to her eyes. My mom said when she stood up to see what was going on, Kate's head was out about to her mouth! I didn't even push, but Kate just kind of flew out! At 7:40 pm, with Wheel of Fortune on in the background, Michelle delivered Kate and handed her off to another nurse to check her. Kate was fine (her Apgar scores were 9 and 9). My doctor arrived just in time to deliver the placenta and to check me. I didn't need any stitches. For a baby who took her sweet time deciding to come out, she sure rushed out at the end! I will never forget the excitement of Kate's arrival into the world! I wish I had been able to have the mirror to see the craziness, but I will just be grateful that I didn't have to push at all!