Nicholas ♥ Ashli ♥ Ryder ♥ Sweet Baby Girl: June 2012

I love writing and reliving the birth of my babies. We record the birth of our children and write down every detail as my labor progresses until birth. I enjoy being pregnant and love the feeling of my baby inside my belly, it really is indescribable, but for as much as I love being pregnant and having my big belly I was more than ready to have my sweet girl. Being pregnant with Avree was SO different than with Ryder. She was wild. Constantly moving and keeping me awake throughout the night. She was resting on my belly with her back side so every time Ryder wanted to cuddle or be held it was uncomfortable. On top of that, not being able to sleep through the night and taking care of an 18 month old, active toddler, to say I was beyond ready to have her is an understatement.

A week before my due date I scheduled an induction on May 24. Making this decision was hard because I really wanted to go into labor on my own and with inductions you never know how things will turn out or how long it will take. With Ryder, I went into labor on my own, but since my cervix was only dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced (for weeks), my doctor and I decided it would be best to get induced because I wasn’t willing to go more than a day past my due date. I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 10 p.m. on the 23 and have these gels inserted in my cervix to “encourage” it to change. Until then I walked every single day for hours to get my body into labor and the day of my due date was no exception. I was up bright and early trying every last attempt to go into labor. I walked around EVERYWHERE, and by the end of the day I was exhausted. I also bounced on a birthing ball, walked up and down stairs and TMI but I did an enema, pretty nasty stuff, but I wasn’t willing to down castor oil. And to my surprise none of that worked. I called the hospital to make sure there was a room available for me at 10 and there wasn’t. They said they would call when there was one available and so I just slept. They called and by 12 a.m. we were at the hospital waiting to be checked in. By 1:00 we were in our room ready to start the first of three gels. These gels are inserted every 2 hours; you lie down for an hour and walk around for an hour. By 3:30 my nurse was ready to check me and I hadn’t dilated. At. All. Since there was no change and my energy was completely exerted, my nurse inserted the next gel and decided to just let me sleep. She came in at 5:50, checked me and I was barely dilated to a 2, she inserted the last set of the gels and let me sleep. I was woken up at 8 by my doctor who checked me and I was dilated to a 2-3 and 60% effaced, she decided that she would break my water and start me on a low dose of pitocin. I was sure that since my water had broken I would be delivering Avree within hours. (Again with Ryder, after my water broke, 3.5 hours later he was delivered.) My nurse would come in every hour or so and up my dose of pitocin which didn’t seem to help because by noon I was ONLY dilated to a 3!! I was starting to lose hope that I would be meeting my little girl anytime soon. I mean everything was taking FOR-EV-ER, my labor was progressing so slowly and my contractions weren’t all that painful. Then finally around 2 things started to change.

Up until then I was able to breathe through each contraction and sometimes I wouldn’t even feel them. After 2, I started having back labor and had to have Nick massage my lower back, while I bounced on the birthing ball or laid on my side. It felt really good for a while, but the contractions started getting more intense and I could no longer breathe through them. For some reason I always tell myself that I am going to have a natural birth without pain meds. Never again. By the time I asked for the anesthesiologist, he wasn’t available. Which always seems to be the case for me. This meant I had to wait for him to finish with the other patient (s), while my contractions were becoming closer and more intense. After putting in a request for the anesthesiologist the nurse came back and wanted to check and see how far along I was. By this point I was groaning through each contraction and shedding some tears here and there, while Nick was massaging my lower back. The thought of me simply lying on my back while she checked was not going to happen. I probably gave her the dirtiest look and thought to myself "are you out of your mind!” when she asked. I replied very firmly “No, when I get my epidural you can check, until then you'll have to wait.” She wasn’t too pleased with that answer, but there was no way she was going anywhere near my cervix. Finally at 3:00 relief came and I was able to relax. For me with the epidurals both times have been completely different. This time, my lower back and my belly were completely numb, my legs and vaginal area were kind of numb too. I was still able to move both of my legs and had feeling in my vaginal area. After the epidural kicked in, the nurse drained my bladder and then checked my cervix at 3:30, which I was sure I had dilated quite a bit, but to my amazement I was a big 4! (To truly understand my "lack of patience" you should read Ryder's Birth) I. Was. Shocked. To put this into perspective; at 8 a.m. I was dilated to a 2-3, had my water broken at noon and was 3 cm, and at 3:30 I was at 4. This was completely unexpected, I was sure that my cervix was further than that. Anyone who says that there subsequent labors goes by faster than their first, lied. At least it wasn’t the case for me. My labor was taking a lot longer than I had anticipated, and I knew that it would be hours, if longer, before I was going to have my baby. So I decided to relax and sleep and let Avree come when she was good and ready. At 4:30 I started feeling the urge to push and thought to myself it was nothing. But it happened again and again, and I told Nick and my mom “I’m feeling the urge to push, like I need to poop.” I told my nurse that I felt like I had to poop and was feeling pressure down there. She looked at me like I was out of my mind, and I didn’t blame her for not having the urgency to check. Lets be honest, it has taken 14 hours for me to dilate from 1 cm to 4. I wasn’t even sure why I was feeling the urge to push, but knew I needed to be checked. At 4:45 I was a 10!! She said Avree's head was right there and was immediatley on the phone calling my doctor. I was so excited and in disbelief that my body was finally ready to have her. I couldn’t believe that it took an hour and fifteen minutes for me to dilate 6 centimeters. The nurses were getting everything ready for when my doctor arrived and by 5:13 I started pushing. Four pushes later at 5:20 p.m. she was out. I don’t mean to brag but I can push my babies out, that’s the one thing I know that happens quickly. My sweet girl was 8.4 oz and 20.5 inches long, she was beautiful. Holding her for the first time was incredible, looking into her eyes, hearing her sweet little cries, nothing is better than that moment.

Avree is a gem. We are so in love with our little girl and Ryder loves her so much. He has adjusted amazingly well to being a big brother. He loves to kiss and hold her as long as she doesn’t cry, and lays next to her while she sleeps or plays on her mat, and Avree loves to be held and cuddled and sleep on her belly. She sleeps 3 to 4 hours through the night, and wakes every 3 hours to eat. Like clockwork, she's so predictable. Its crazy how completely different my pregnancies, labor, and babies are. She is the absolute perfect addition to our family. Here's a few pictures, enjoy!