I thought about if I wanted to share her birth story here or not. Wondering if it was too private. But I decided that it's something I'm very proud of and there's no reason to not share, so here it is.
My original due date was November 14, but about a week before that my doctor informed us that I had made no progress so far, and would probably end up going past the due date. He said it would probably be a good idea to induce, since it seemed like the baby might be getting too big (which is funny because she was born only 6 and a half pounds) Joe and I spent the rest of the day talking and trying to decide if we wanted to go through with the induction. In the end we decided it would be a good idea to take the doctor's advice. He knows what he's talking about and we trust his opinion.
On November 10 at 10pm, we arrived at the birthing center to begin the induction. As one of the nurses placed my IV, she told us that sometimes these things can take a long time, especially since I wasn't dilated yet, so to get comfortable. Then she explained the process to us; I would be given three doses of medication throughout the night to get things started, then in the morning I would be given the actual medicine to get things really going. I was told to expect some light cramping in a while, but nothing more. So we got comfy and went to sleep at about 11:30.
At about 1 I woke up with the cramping I was warned about. Nothing too bad but a bit worse than "light cramping." Within the hour the cramping got much worse. Noticeably stronger every few minutes. I called in a nurse at about 2 and she checked my cervix. I was already 3 centimeters dilated. She told me that had happened much faster than expected, but it will probably slow down and stay there for a while, so to try to sleep. We fell back asleep and at about 4 I woke up to excruciating pain. Each contraction would make me yell out in pain. We called the nurse back in and she informed us that I was already 8 centimeters dilated. While she was still checking me I started to feel an insane amount of pressure and my body wanting to push. She told me I couldn't start pushing yet and had to breathe through it. That was probably the hardest part of it all. The urge to push was so strong and I had to go against it.
I told the nurse I wanted my epidural, something I had been planning on having before I was in this much pain. She said the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and could give me one in about 30 minutes. I didn't know how I could do one more minute of this let alone 30. I leaned into Joe while he reminded me to breathe through the urge to push. A little after 5, the nurse came back to check me. She told me I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. I had gotten all the way there with only the first dose of medication. I asked where my epidural was and I knew by the look on her face I wouldn't be getting one. She said it was too late, baby was coming. I initially wanted to panic. I had ignored all the advice given to me to not have a plan and prepare for the unexpected, I would get an epidural right away and feel no pain. But that obviously wasn't the case, I didn't have a choice but to be brave and push that baby out.
Joe had called my mom at this point and her and my sister showed up. I spent the next few hours pushing with all my strength. When the doctor told me to look down and I saw a gorgeous head of dark hair, it's almost as if the pain went away and I felt calm. One more push and our beautiful baby girl was here. They immediately placed her on my chest and Joe and I spent the next few minutes just staring at her, then at each other, in complete awe. It was the most amazing, rewarding moment of my entire life.
Violet was perfect and healthy. 6 pounds 8 ounces, 19 and a half inches long. It was complete bliss.
Throughout the day our families came to visit, I learned how to feed my baby, and Joe, Violet and I enjoyed our first day together as a family. We love you so much Violet Marie, the day you were born will always be one of the best days our lives.
