| I woke up on Sunday, July 13 at 10:30 AM feeling like my bladder was really full. I didn�t make it to the bathroom before I felt a small gush of fluid. I noticed in the bathroom that the fluid had a pink tinge. I wasn�t sure if my water broke or I was just leaking something else or it was my mucus plug or what. I called the doctor and she asked me if I had any contractions yet and I said no. She said I could wait a couple of hours to see if I started getting contractions or come in to the hospital now. I decided to wait a little while, finished packing my hospital bag and had two cookies; Jason wanted to order a pizza a little earlier but I said let�s just go to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 1:00 PM and I was taken to the labor and delivery room. I still wasn�t having contractions, just feeling a little crampy. Around 1:45 PM, I was examined and told that my water did break and that I was dilated to 2 cm and 50-70% effaced. I was 1 cm and 50% effaced at my last appointment on Thursday. I was also hooked up to a baby monitor to track baby�s heart rate and my contractions and it showed up as me having small contractions, although I was not feeling them. The nurse went to find the doctor and the doctor wanted to give me pitocin to induce the contractions since my water had already broken and the contractions weren�t very much. I didn�t really want the pitocin as I wanted to labor naturally but the doctor was pretty insistent. She said I could wait a little bit longer so we waited until 2:30 PM and then got the pitocin and IV. At 3:45 PM, I started getting strong contractions a few minutes apart and began feeling nauseous at the peak of each one. Some were worse than others but luckily I didn�t end up throwing up at all. I felt all of the contractions in my lower abdomen, which surprised me since I thought I would be feeling them higher. I was checked again at 4:10 PM and was now 100% effaced and 5 cm. At 5:10, I was 7 cm. The doctor said that the baby�s heading was not dropping and I was at station �3. She had some concern that she might have to move the baby and for that I would need an epidural, which I was trying to avoid. She said the baby still might become engaged so we could still wait. Jason and I discussed whether I should get an epidural then or wait. I really thought about getting one since the contractions were getting worse. I decided to wait in the end. At 5:50 PM, I thought I might be ready to push but I was only at 8 cm and the baby was still at station �3. The next examination at 6:50 PM, I was told I was at 9 cm and the baby�s head had moved to station 0. At 7:10, I was checked again and was just about 10 cm so the doctor told me to give a small push and then I was 10 cm and ready to push! Pushing was the hardest part of the labor to me. The nurse was amazed that between these contractions that I didn�t even act like I was in labor. Jason wasn�t going to watch the baby come out but then he decided to. It was exciting when they said they could see hair! Towards the end of the pushing I yelled, �I can�t do this!� even though I said I would never say that. It was hard at the end, but after 45 minutes of pushing, at 7:54 PM we were told, �it�s a girl!� Mallory Anne was 7lbs 13oz at birth and 21 inches long. Her apgars were 9 and 9. I didn�t have an episiotomy but I did have second degree tears. My mom called 10 minutes after her birth to see how my labor was and I talked to her on the phone while the doctor stitched me. They were all amazed that I was talking on the phone while being stitched but I think it took me away from what they were doing. The staff was also amazed that I didn�t get an epidural as 95% of labors at that hospital do! My labor was 9 � hours in total. I am still in shock that I went 2 weeks early! We were about 75% prepared for her birth and I was going to finish everything up that week but she surprised us by coming early! Some fun facts Mallory weight was 7 lbs 13oz and she was born on 7/13. My grandma�s birthday is February 13-5 months before Mallory�s My brother-in-law�s birthday is December 13- 5 months after Mallory�s Jason�s grandma died 31 years ago on July 13. About Mallory�s name Up until about 3 days before her birth, if it was a girl, the name was going to be Emily Anne. I have loved the name Emily for a long time and it was the one name Jason and I could agree on. Then Jason found out that Emily�s been the most popular name for several years, although I�m sure I�ve told him that sooner. I have a long list of girl�s names I like though. We started discussing girl�s names again and Jason came up with Mallory. I told him that has been on my favorite�s name list and he was surprised. So Mallory it is! The middle name Anne comes from my favorite book, Anne of Green Gables. This story was written by Amy |