Well since the little man didn't want to make his appearance on his own, we scheduled an induction for the night of September 3rd, 2009, and he would be born the following day, Friday the 4th. Thursday the 3rd was probably one of the longest days of my life. (the fact that I had to wait until five o'clock for the hospital to call and confirm that there was room fore me didn't help) My mom (who had been waiting for weeks for his arrival, she thought he would come early, ha!) and I went to get a pedi/mani that day to pass time. That night, my dad flew in from D.C.. We had been worried for months about the logistics of his arrival (in time for the delivery) and how that would pan out. Well, with the scheduled induction, it worked out perfect.
Once the hospital called and confirmed that we were on, my stomach was in knots! So excited and nervous at the same time. Then it was time to head to the airport to pick up my dad, on the way back we picked up Arbys though I had little appetite. We hung out at home for about an hour and took lots of pictures of the last of my pregnant belly and then headed to the hospital.
Luke and I got settled into a room and they inserted cervidil to soften the cervix, I guess I was already having contractions but not feeling them. I was dilated to a 2. It was hard to sleep being hooked up to an IV and the baby monitors but fun to listen to the baby's heartbeat all night.
At around 5:30am the nurse came and woke us up and told us we would be heading to labor and delivery at 6:00. Oh my stomach turned..I was nervous! This was really going to happen. It really felt real once we hit the labor and delivery room.
Another nurse came in and checked me and talked to us briefly. She started the pitocin and said my doctor (Dr. Hagood who I love!!) would be there to check on me in a couple hours. The anesthesiologist came next to talk to me about pain management. One of my biggest concerns throughout this whole pregnancy about my delivery was whether or not I would be able to get an epidural due to my back surgery.
Thank god, the anesthesiologist was amazing (and an angel in my eyes) and was determined to make it work. And he did!!
Around 8:00am Dr. Hagood came to check on us. Still dilated to a 2, she decided to break my water. She also told me whenever I wanted pain management (ie. epi) to go ahead and request it, and she would be back in a few hours.
I labored for about an hour before the contractions were strong enough to ask for the epi. I was trying not to give in too soon, as I had heard it can slow down your labor (though the dr. disagreed) but the contractions were coming so fast (pitocin is some serious stuff!) that I wasn't getting a break. The anesthesiologist came very quickly (I was impressed) and inserted the epi, oh sweet relief!!!
Soon there after our family started filtering in and out (my parents, Luke's parents and steven came from Houston around 12:00). I labored for most of the day, rolling over from side to side. I dilated pretty quickly in the beginning, around noon I was already a 6. Everyone thought for sure we'd have baby by around 3:00-4:00.
Around 3:00 the epi started to wear off and I was getting pretty uncomfortable. I really had to breath through them, Luke was great support! So the anesthesiologist came back and readjusted it, etc. Then my legs were completely numb. I was actually kind of concerned. I was worried it would be time to push soon and I wouldn't be able to. But then the progression slowed down. It wasn't until around 4:30 we started to practice pushing (I really didn't feel ready to push and had no pressure but I think the nurse wanted me to try anyways since her shift was going to be up at 7:00, uurrgggh.) It felt really ineffective and somehow made the pain meds wear off again. Eventually I was pushing with alot of pain, the contractions were strong and I felt like I was pushing against them not with them, the position I was in was also putting a ton of pressure on my lower back. I ended up in so much pain we had to stop and call the anesthesiologist back again. They readjusted again and I felt better. I was really concerned about getting the baby out however, the hour of pushing did nothing and I felt horrible. I thought maybe he wasn't going to fit!!!
The doctor came in and checked me. She was concerned about his awkward position and tried to move him with her hand. You would think this would be really painful but luckily it wasn't. She also thought he was still too high up to start pushing. I expressed my concerns about changing positions to push, etc. as I felt I was putting too much pressure on my lower back and might seriously injure it (with my scoliosis & rods) So we labored down for another hour, and this REALLY helped. Then the nurses switched. Thank goodness!! The new nurse was amazing. She was much more of a coach and had some other ideas for ways to push. This helped ALOT. I really needed someone to "cheer" me on and she was that person. So around 7:00 we started pushing again, I was determined to get this baby out, I did not want a csection! The best method of pushing was using a "tug a war" approach w/ a sheet. I could not believe how much progress I made w/ this, and Luke was the perfect one to tug against!
After about 45 minutes we were crowning, woohoo!!! It felt so good to know I could do this. Then all the medical people flooded in along w/ Dr. Hagood. Everyone shuffled around getting things set up and putting on their smocks. Then it became real that our baby was about to be born. In about 15 minutes after some hard pushing and some great coaching from the medical staff Dylan began to emerge. I could not believe my eyes, I was really doing this. I really was a surreal moment. I think Luke had to turn his head, ahaha.
At 8:08pm Dylan Coy Halliday was born! Weighing a healthy 8lbs 14oz and 20 1/2in long!!! I began crying immediately. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and to hear him cry pulled at my heart strings, I was in love!!!
As Dr. Hagood finished w/ me (I had a 2nd degree tear, not too bad for that big of a baby!) I watched Luke hold and love on his new little boy. It was an amazing site to see.
So that's it, that is the birth story of Dylan Coy Halliday. All in all, I have to say, the experience was much better than I thought it would be. And the healing/recovery as well, much better/faster than I expected. I feel so blessed to have this new little man in my life, and I can't thank my husband enough for giving me this gift!
.JPG)
