Then New Year's Eve came and we were really hoping he would come before midnight because all the other kids were born in even years, and we had already hit our deductible, and Michael wanted the tax break. But no baby. A week before my due date my doctor told me I had to have him within 4 days or he would be out of town. I was starting to get stressed about why I wasn't going into labor, but then I remembered that in a blessing Michael gave me when I had the flu he said that the baby would be born safe and healthy when he was supposed to be. So, even though I was disappointed every morning when I woke up not in labor and every night when I went to bed without having the baby I tried to have faith and not stress about it.
The day before my due date I met with a nurse and was scheduled to be induced with a different doctor on the 14th. That night I started having really strong contractions that kept getting closer and closer together and more and more uncomfortable and I thought "This is it! I won't have to be induced after all." Contractions were 4 minutes apart for over an hour and I was just waiting for them to get closer or my water to break.... and then they stopped. So I went to bed disappointed again. It was so weird to drive to the hospital two days later without being in labor. We questioned whether it was the right thing to do or not, but felt good about it, so we went.
We checked into the hospital just after 8am. I changed and got in the ridiculously uncomfortable hospital bed. At that point I was dilated to 3cm but still high and posterior, and about 50% effaced. I got an IV with Oxytocin flowing at 4 units (they said they would bump that up every half hour up to 40 units) by about 8:30am. Then Michael and I settled in for the long haul.... By around 10:30 the contractions were in full swing- every 2 minutes and uncomfortable with the oxytocin at 14 units. But then they started coming on top of each other, basically no break at all between, so the meds got reduced to 10, then 8. By noon we were wondering if we'd even have a baby that day because they couldn't turn up the meds without the contractions piling up, but when they turned them down they'd become irregular.
Up until this point I had been up, moving around, sitting on a labor ball, watching movies and playing a card game with Michael. I figured the more I was up and moving the faster labor would go. And I was trying to distract myself while breathing through millions of contractions.
At 1pm the Doctor came in to check on progress. After all of those contractions I was dilated to "maybe a 4"... so, he broke my water in the hopes of moving things along. This of course meant I was confined to bed for at least an hour to monitor the baby and let the fluid stop flowing. But, as soon as my water was broken the baby started showing stress... pretty major stress especially during contractions. And of course the contractions immediately became super painful and hard to breathe through. Oxytocin was turned down to 5 units, but the contractions were still coming one on top of another. After an hour of that the nurse checked to see what progress was happening... dilated to maybe a 4 and a half with the baby still high and showing distress.
I decided to get an epidural at this point to help my body relax and hopefully be able to progress faster. I don't mind getting an epidural, but it was something I really didn't want to do this time around. I tend to stay numb for hours and hours after it's out, and I would rather be out of bed during labor.... but, I felt right about getting it. The anesthesiologist came in about 2:15pm to get things started. Luckily I have never seen the equipment for an epidural-- Michael says that just looking at the size of the needle and the blood-like iodine is enough to make him squeamish. But he's a fabulous husband who sat and held my hands while I squeezed like crazy sitting in the most uncomfortable position possible for a pregnant person having a major contraction every minute.
On a side note, I have a friend from South Africa who told me that women there either have a scheduled C-section or if they are superwoman they go "natural." Natural to them means pain meds and an epidural. My friend had never even met anyone who actually had a baby without meds. Michael and I joked that I was now going "South African Natural." haha.
Twenty or so minutes later the epidural was placed and I was able to lie down... but then the baby REALLY started showing signs of distress. Our nurse, Lara, did a good job of pretending she wasn't stressed, but we could tell she was worried about the baby. She never left the room for more than 5 minutes from then on. I was given an oxygen mask and rolled side to side every few minutes to try and help baby. He kicked and rolled and then the monitor stopped picking up his heartbeat so the nurse had to place a sensor on his head and another one to monitor contractions inside the uterus.
The epidural hadn't kicked in yet.... I know a lot of women who are numb immediately, but that has never been the case for me. At 3:15 or so the epidural was finally starting to take the edge off the pain of the contractions. I started feeling pressure with every contraction and took that as a good sign that baby was finally moving into place. His heart rate continued to drop, but we found a position halfway between being on my left side and my back where he seemed to do better so I didn't move. The nurse checked me then and I was at a complete 10cm. She quickly paged to call the doctor in. The baby nurse was in the room prepping things for later, but ended up staying and getting her sterile gown on since now baby was coming fast.
I started feeling like I should deliver the baby about 3:40, but the doctor was not there yet and the nurse told me "Whatever you do, don't push!" She ran out to call the doctor again after a little while and found him coming down the hall. He came in, quickly suited up, took one look and said "You're ready to go..." With Michael helping and counting on one side and the nurse on the other I pushed through one contraction, took a breath and pushed on the next. I opened my eyes and looked just in time to see my baby's full head of hair and his sweet face, glanced up to see Michael looking worried and excited, the doctor told me to stop pushing. I watched as he unwrapped the umbilical cord that was around baby's neck twice. Then one more push and he was in my arms, crying, and one of the most beautiful babies in the world. That part always makes me cry. It's the happiest feeling ever! Michael cut the cord, and they let me hold him for a minute before taking him for weights and measurements.
Baby was born at 3:54 pm. Apgar tests were 8 and 9 despite the cord scare. We are so blessed to have a healthy and strong baby.
The doctor finished with me in a few minutes (no tearing or stitches!!) and left. We should have gotten a picture with him and the baby, but I didn't think about it and he wasn't my regular doctor anyway... He was very nice though and remembered us from a previous encounter a year ago. He said he thought that the cord around baby's neck was holding him back from getting into birth position and that's why I didn't go into full labor on my own. Makes sense to me. It also makes sense why I felt good about being induced (if I had labored at home for hours or waited for my water to break before going to the hospital the baby might have been in a lot of trouble) and why I felt good about getting the epidural (which helped me go from 4cm to 10cm in less than 45 minutes even though it didn't take the pain away).
Baby had a little trouble keeping his temperature up, so after he was weighed and measured (7 lbs 2 oz, 20.5 inches long, 13.5 inch head), he had to spend some time under a heat lamp. Luckily it was in the room, but with me immobile it was so hard to not be able to see my baby across the room. Daddy held his little hands the whole time to keep him calm.
Finally his temperature was up high enough that I could hold him again! Such a sweet sweet baby boy!
We moved to a new room and after being checked over and given a meal we finally had a chance to call family and tell them the wonderful news. After a few conversations Michael and I sat together with our baby snuggled up and discussed names. We had a long list of possibilities - some were eliminated quickly, others we debated for awhile - until we settled on the name that fit him perfectly. He wasn't a Matthew, Frederick, Harrison, Hayden, Delano, or Dietrich. I pushed for Charlie, but that wasn't Daddy's favorite. We thought for a long time about Quentin and Dalton but they just didn't seem right either. Josiah Dale Rigby is the winner! We'll call him Joey for short.
It was so hard to wait until we were able to go home to have the kids and family meet him, but so nice to be home!
We feel so blessed to have little Josiah Dale in our family!
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