Once we arrived at the hospital, we got ourselves checked in and waited in the waiting room for about a half hour until our room was clean and ready to go (we agreed to wait a few extra minutes to get the “labor and delivery suite” as they called it…the big corner room with a window, yay)! We got to our room where I was handed my fashionable hospital gown to change into. Once I got changed, they promptly started my IV and hooked me up to the monitors. Our midwife came in to talk to us about starting the induction. She checked my cervix which was still at only 1-2 and suggested that we either a: start pitocin to get me dilated to 3-4 (which would take approximately 6 hours) or b: use a foley bulb to get me dilated to 3 (which would take 3 hours)...we opted for the foley bulb. She inserted this tube into my cervix and pumped it full of saline (a foley bulb is commonly used to remove urine form the bladder; however, it is also used as a non-drug induction of labor). She explained that it would gradually dilate my cervix and once I reached 3, it would come out on its own. Four hours later (11 pm) the foley bulb had done its job and out it came as the nurse checked me, what a relief because that thing was quite uncomfortable!
Now that I was dilated to 3, they suggested starting the pitocin to get me to the active labor stage. The midwife broke my water and started my pitocin a little after midnight. I started feeling my contractions about an hour after the pitocin was started, the pain was mild but I could definitely tell I was contracting. The contractions slowly became more intense as they increased the pitocin and finally after about six hours, I caved and asked for the epidural (and was only dilated to 5…). The anesthesiologist came in about 6:30am and started my epidural. I forgot to mention to him that my spine was crooked so that added a nice twist to getting the epidural placed correctly and getting me completely numb. After a few extra minutes, he got the epidural just where it needed to be and I quickly became much more comfortable! I have to say, getting the epidural really wasn’t that bad. I sure dreaded having to get one but now looking back, I’d have to say the worst part about the whole thing was when they ripped the tape off my back after delivery – they basically had to peel me off the ceiling.
Around 9:45 Friday morning, I started feeling a lot of pressure with each contraction. I let my nurse know that I was starting to feel the pressure they had warned me about and she said she would get the midwife to check me. By this point, I was praying that I would be dilated to 5 or 6. She came in and checked me and said, “How does having a baby in the next 30 minutes sound?” WHAT?!? We thought I had at least 3 or 4 more hours of labor to endure so hearing that Madelyn was right there ready to come out came as a real shock! David quickly phoned our parents and let them know that pushing was about to start and we should have her here within the half hour. I started pushing around 10am and baby Madelyn was born after 12 pushes at 10:46am!! It was an indescribable experience and one we will for sure never, ever forget. I will never forget seeing her come out or the expression on David’s face. As soon as she came out, the nurse put her skin-to-skin on me for the first hour. David and I just stared in awe at this precious little girl who had just entered our lives. Surprisingly she didn’t cry much at all, she was wide awake and taking us all in.
After the first hour, they took her to clean her up, put the medicine in her eyes, and give her the first shot. Once all of that was done, they brought her back to us and started the process of moving us to our recovery room. We got extremely lucky and didn’t have to share a room with anyone which meant David even got his own bed! There is no nursery at the hospital and they do what is known as “rooming in” where the baby stays with us 24/7. I have to say, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. The rest of the time we spent getting to know Miss Madelyn between all of the doctors and nurses coming in and out checking on her and mommy. It was a pretty sleepless night with all of the in and out of doctors and nurses and we were delighted to find out that we could go home the next day if we wanted to since we were all doing so well. We of course jumped on this opportunity and they started the discharge process Saturday around lunchtime, yay! We were home by 3pm Saturday afternoon and so very happy about that! We finally had our family home and were eager to start this new chapter of our lives with this amazingly adorable addition!
Madelyn Ann Gardner
August 26th at 10:46am
7 lbs. 7 oz.
22” long
12 ½ head circumference
13” around
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