A day to remember

It was Monday September 27th. We had just finished having dinner with everyone at Outback. Andy and I were driving to Physicians Regional Hospital so I could check in to be induced for labor and I was starting to get nervous. The kind of nerves that I used to get when I was little right before I went on stage for a ballet performance. My body all filled with excitement and wracked with nerves. All eyes were going to be on me. This was MY big moment. This was it.
We checked in and got settled. At about 9 pm they gave me the cervadil which was meant to help soften my cervix and hopefully urge my body to go into labor on it's own. That was not the case. Something in the cervadil was causing the baby's heartbeat to act erratically. They gave me oxygen and told me to lay on my side.

Then the other side, then my back. Nothing seemed to work. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Thankfully 2 1/2 hours later they took it out with the hopes that I would go into labor on my own. If I didn't by 5 am they would start the real stuff and hook me up to the Pitocin.
I really was hoping that I would go into labor on my own. I mean after all, I had been on "bed rest" for the past 5 months because I had a short cervix and could go into pre-term labor. HA! So much for that theory.
By midnight my contractions started to come. They were painful but manageable. Needless to say by 5 am it was obvious I needed a little help, so in went the I.V. of Pitocin.
After that the contractions started to get unbearable. Nothing seemed to help. I just kept waiting for my water to break. For something to happen. Something other that the INTENSE pressure and pain I was feeling.

This didn't help.
By 7 am nothing had happened so the doctor broke my water. What a weird feeling. Katie and Mom had shown up by then and I had Katie, mom and Andy all trying to figure out the best way to keep me comfortable. I can't even express how much that meant to me. I was in crippling pain and just couldn't think by then. The contractions had intensified so much that it was taking everything out of me just to get through them.
Katie brought me ice chips, butterscotch candies, tied my hair back into pony tails or took it out, put chap stick on my lips. She was amazing.

Andy rubbed my back, wiped my face with a cold rag, held my hand and never left my side.
ANd just having my mom there was so important to me, even if she hung out behind the curtain the whole time of the delivery ( I can't blame her though, from the stories I would have too)


From 7am till about noon I was in agony. Not to mention EXHAUSTED. I hadn't slept the night before so I was running on no sleep and no food and I was having contractions about every minute or two apart. It felt like I had no break. At one point I looked at Andy and said I couldn't do it anymore. It was getting to be too much. So I asked to nurse to kindly take the pain away. She had the bright idea to check me to see how far along I was. I was 8 cm. She said, " you're at 8 , you've gone this far. It won't be much longer now" HA!!!! man do they know how to stretch the truth.
Anyway, I took her advice and stuck it out. In retrospect I am glad I did. My delivery was so difficult that I think if I had gotten the epidural me and the baby would have been in big trouble. I had a hard enough time pushing when I could feel something. I probably would have fallen asleep if all of a sudden the pain went away.

I won't go into details about the labor but lets just say that on Ava's hospital records it says that she had a "difficult transition" and mom and Katie had anxiety that night because the images kept replaying in their head. ANdy even had to look away at one point. Ava's shoulders got stuck in my little hips. But aside from all the pain, exhaustion, and momentary concern Ava Virginia Dolwick was born at 1:15pm on Tuesday September 28th.

At some point I will write all the little stories and memories of that day. I will write it for you Ava.
It was the hardest thing I have ever put myself through. I was spent of everything I had but every time I look at this little angel I don't even remember the pain. All I see is love. All I feel is love and joy.