Proud Mama

On February 12th, 2008, I went in at 7:00 am to Orem Community Hospital (2 days past my due date) to be induced. By the time I got all the paperwork signed, got in to my hospital gown, and got the IV going, it was about 8:00-8:15 am by the time I started on the Pitocin. Going in to it, especially being my first baby, I expected labor to be at least 8 or 9 hours long. It seems my doctor expected that too. Much to my surprise, I was already dialated to 4 cm by 8:30 am, 7 cm by 9:30 am, and then fully dialated to 10 cm by about 10:45 am. My mom and Keith were the ones in the room with me that day. My mom brought her knitting and Keith was just hanging out chatting with her. Meanwhile, I was quietly going through labor, not really saying much and just going through the contractions as they got more and more strong. When the nurse came in to check me and I was already dialating so fast, my mom commented on how I was just quietly going through the pain. And thank goodness for an epidural! She was so surprised at how quiet I was as I went through the labor. I remember this overwhelming feeling to push, and I kept resisting it because there were no nurses around. I told Keith, and he went in to the hall to tell them. At this point, I didn't expect that she would be born in less than an hour from then. The nurses kind of had the attitude that "oh its her first, its still going to be a while." Meanwhile, my doctor had scheduled himself to do a surgery that morning, probably thinking that I wouldn't have her until later that afternoon or even that evening. The nurses called him, and he rushed over from a different hospital (probably exhausted and wishing he had had a break). He came and watched me push once, and said "suit me up." I started pushing at about 11:15 am and she was born at 11:36 am. She was 7 lb 3 oz and 19.5 inches long. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked at how fast everything happened! I was grateful that the process went well and that we now how our precious little one.