Jensen Mayhem: 7.01.2015, The Day Life As We Knew It Changed Forever

It definitely changed for the better. Although, we did expect that change to occur a little sooner...

My due date was June 24th, which came and went. I was discouraged, impatient, uncomfortable, and so ready to meet our baby! She was pretty cozy in the womb and wasn't going to come out until we made her! At 41 weeks I felt I would be pregnant for the rest of my life, so I opted to be induced, and on the evening of June 30th I was admitted to the hospital to start the process. (Side note: this was also the day we closed on our house. It was an eventful week!) I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced (which had been the case for 4 weeks). Most of you are probably familiar with the process of inducement, but I'll record my experience for memory's sake.

-June 30th, 9:30 pm: They started by giving me Cytotec, a pill they insert in the cervix that is supposed to soften the cervix which should hopefully cause it to efface and dilate. They came to check my progress every three hours. They also set me up with an IV and the contraction and fetal heart monitors. I tried to sleep on and off throughout the night but my anticipation and nerves kept me awake!

-12:30 am: still dilated at a 2...poop! And so they gave me another dose of Cytotec.

-3:30 am:. dilated to a 2 "plus" (which felt like they were saying, "you haven't progressed but we don't have the heart to tell you that" LOL). Last dose of cytotec, then we waited four hours.

-7:30 am: I am a 2 and 1/2. Exciting stuff.

-9:30 am: Still sitting at 2 1/2 so we started Pitocin and they checked my progress about every two hours.

-11:30: I was "almost a 3".

-1:30 The doctor came in and broke my water. They found meconium in the amniotic fluid, so the doctor explained there was a chance Elise could have swallowed it and they would need to suction out her lungs after she was born. Now they started checking my cervix hourly. No progress until 4 pm.

-4pm: I was a 4 and 1/2! My contractions were not super intense but I was very uncomfortable and I had planned on getting an epidural, so I decided to go ahead and get it now in case I started progressing faster...yeah right. I had been pretty nervous about the epidural but it was not bad at all! However, only the left side of my body was numb. The right side was tingly but I could still feel contractions and so the anesthesiologist came back in and readjusted my epidural which seemed to do the trick!

-7pm: I was a 5 1/2! It had taken three more hours,and in my head I was figuring I had another four or five hours left until I finally reached that sacred 10 cm. During this entire time, my contractions were not following the "regular" pattern of peeking and then giving my body and the baby a rest. Mine were consistent. Elise didn't seem to mind though and she was doing so well throughout this long process, nothing was more reassuring than having the fetal heartbeat monitor right next to me at all times. My evening nurse, Emma, (she was so awesome) put a big medicine ball thing (can't remember what she called it) between my legs because she said it would cause the baby to put more pressure on the cervix.

-8pm: The doctor came in, and I am fully preparing myself for the news that nothing has changed. He checks and says, "your a full 10, you're ready to start pushing." I look at him and say, "you're joking right??" "Nope, I don't joke about these things" he says. WOW. The feeling that overcame me was unexpected. It was a mixture of pure excitement and fear. I felt unprepared. The moment we'd been waiting so long for was almost here. I had felt prepared up until this point, and suddenly my nerves kicked in and I started shaking uncontrollably. After the nurse had prepared everything and we were ready to get going, we asked for a quick moment alone. Dan looked at me and told me he'd been in the bathroom down on his knees praying his heart out that everything would be okay and that things would work out and Elise would be with us soon. I believe that his prayers were what sped things along :) So we said another prayer and then began the pushing!

Experiencing that part of labor was surreal. I wasn't in pain due to the epidural, and all I felt was pressure, but it was still tiring and obviously laborious! Dan was AMAZING. He was so tender, patient, encouraging, and I felt so much love for him during that experience. Even though he had not realized before hand that he would be taking such an active role in the labor process he did so well!! (This is a man who vomits at the sight of spit lol)!!

I pushed for an hour and half. I was so thankful for having the epidural because I was able to focus on really pushing and not be in so much pain that I was not able to appreciate the experience.

-July 1st, 9:30 pm: Elise made her debut! There are no words that can truly express the feeling that overcame me when I pushed the final push and saw the doctor lift up my baby.. I'm actually getting teary eyed thinking about it. You moms can relate :) Dan had wanted to cut the cord, but due to the meconium in her lungs the doctor had to hurry and do it.

It was about 15 minutes before I could actually hold Elise. That was the most frustrating part of the whole experience, even though I knew it was for good reasons. The NICU team was in the room suctioning out the meconium from her lungs. After they were done they handed her to me and I finally got to hold my baby girl for the first time. That moment was the single most joyous moment of my life, and I had never felt so much love for anything in my life. She was perfect. She was beautiful. And she was ours.

We took our time after the delivery savoring our little girl and spending our first moments as a family. Then we moved down to the mother and baby unit where the cleaned off Elise and I recovered...but that's a post for another day. This one's already too long!!!

All in all, even though it took a little longer than I would have liked, Elise and I were healthy and had no major complications, which is all I wanted in the first place!