Savannah Emily Merrill

Last Monday, I called Dr. Broadbent and begged him to let me be induced on the 1^st instead of the 2^nd so Corey could definitely be there. He was very nice and called the hospital and arranged for me to go in to start being induced at 12:00 a.m. So, we went in and first they checked me to see how dilated I was. I was still fingertip. I hadn't changed a bit in over 3 weeks! So, they monitored my contractions (which were regular, but so slight I couldn't feel them) and then put some medicine on my cervix that was supposed to soften it up. The medicine burned horribly but I figured it was worth it if it put me into labor. So, they sent us home at 2 a.m. and told us to expect a call Tuesday morning about coming back in around 7 a.m. to get some more medicine. They said I would come back 6 hours after that to get started on Pitocin.

Tuesday morning came and no phone call. I called the hospital and they said they were overwhelmingly busy and had no beds so I couldn't come in yet. This was very frustrating because I wanted to have her as soon as possible so Corey could spend as much time as possible with her. So, I ate tons of pineapple and Corey and I decided to walk around the mall to see if we could get things started. We walked around some stores and we also spent quite a bit of time walking up and down the escalators. I'm sure some people thought we were crazy, but we were feeling pretty desperate. I was having some cramping, but nothing that I hadn't been feeling for weeks. Finally at 11:30 we got a phone call and headed over to the hospital.

At this point we thought we were finally on our way. But, when we got there, we had to wait about an hour and a half for anybody to even come in and talk to us! When they checked me, they found out that the horrible, burning medicine had done absolutely no good the night before. That wasn't cool. The nurse kept leaving for very long periods of time and we sat there having no idea what was going on. At one point, Dr. Broadbent came in the room and said he hated the stuff they'd used on me before and didn't think it worked very well. So, he said he wanted me to get Siddecat which is a pill they place on the cervix that he thought would work better. So, he left and then we sat there for probably another hour having no idea if I was there to stay or if they would put the pill in and send me home or what. Then someone came in and started having me sign paperwork. I asked, "Am I here to stay?" and she said, "Of course, didn't your nurse tell you?". Well, she hadn't which was very frustrating, but eventually she came in.

She told us that they would place the first pill at 3:30 and then come in and place the second at 6:30. She said that they hoped I would start contracting enough sometime after that to be ready for Pitocin. She said I should expect about 10 hours of labor after that and then 1 to 3 hours of pushing. So, they placed the pill and we started the long process of waiting. She also gave my my i.v. which was quite the adventure. I'm kind of terrified of i.v.s and I have tiny veins. She tried a vein on my right underarm and it burst right away. Then she tried one on my left fore arm, got out one tube of blood, and then it burst. At this point, Corey was very pale and had to sit down so he wouldn't faint. Poor guy. As soon as he felt better, he came and sat next to me as she tried a vein in the top of my right hand. It worked, but it didn't stop hurting until the i.v. was removed hours later. I have two huge bruises from where the veins burst. Just the first of many aches and pain from the night…

Around 5:15 I decided I should probably do some homework. So, I started. But, the second I opened up the word document, my water broke. Honestly, I thought I had peed my pants because it was so much and I was super embarrassed. But, Corey thought we should call the nurse to check and it was actually amniotic fluid. She said that was a really good sign. They checked me and I had dilated some which was really good news. Needless to say, the homework was put on hold as contractions started to get stronger and I started to get excited.

When they came in to check on me at 6 I had dilated some more and they decided I was doing so well that I didn't need the Pitocin. At this point, the contractions were every two minutes and they were getting pretty bad. The nurse told me to let her know when I wanted an epidural. I said, "Really? I can get one now? I thought I had to wait." She said that since my water had broken they had to deliver me no matter what so the epidural was fine. I was in so much pain. Corey was great. He laid on the bed next to me and let me squeeze his hand. He was trying so hard to be supportive and helpful and I'm afraid I wasn't very nice. But, I really hurt. He was great though. Around 6:30, the anesthesiologist was finally able to make it to my room. Corey was smart and didn't look at the needle at all so he wouldn't get faint again. I had been pretty scared about the epidural, but I figured it would be worth it. So, I laid on my side and they injected me with the numbing stuff. They warned that it would hurt quite a bit, and it did hurt some, but it wasn't nearly as bad as a contraction. As soon as that took effect, they put the epidural needle in, inserted the catheter, and taped it down. It felt very strange, but it was mostly a lot of pressure, not pain. Within minutes, the pain from the contractions was gone. I totally respect that some women don't want pain medicine during birth, but for me the epidural was a wonderful thing. I was able to relax and Corey was able to feel his hand again.

After the epidural had been in for about 30 minutes, they checked me again. I had dilated to 5 centimeters! They couldn't believe it! Normally they expect people to dilate one centimeter an hour. A new nurse had come on shift and she was way better than the previous nurse. She noticed that Savannah's heart rate was having some problems. So, they put heart and contraction moniters up inside the uterus on her head. The heart was still having problems so they gave me an oxygen mask. It started to get better then, but they nurse said that the umbilical cord was probably wrapped around her in a harmful way and that it would have to be closely monitored. This scared me, but she said it was nothing to worry about as long as she kept monitoring it.

At 8, they checked me again and I had dilated to 9 and ¾ inches! They were very surprised and said I should have a baby by midnight. The nurse said she would call the doctor and then I would start pushing. My mom and Corey were both in the room and I decided I wanted my mom to stay. I'm very glad I did.

I started to push at 9:25. I'd never realized what a difficult process that is. It's hard to push when you're numb. Corey and my mom were both great though. They both kept encouraging me and helping me. Corey fed me about a hundred ice chips. No matter how much I pushed, I was making very little progress. For some reason, my contractions weren't very strong. They were only going to 60 on the screen and when I would push really hard I could get them up to 80. Normal contractions get to 80 on their own and then pushing makes them even stronger. The nurse gave me Pitocin, but that only increased the frequency, not the intensity. I was getting very tired and I felt like it would never end. I took some breaks, but it was still a lot of very hard work for a long time. Plus, remember how I always complained that Savannah loved to kick me in the ribs? She did that up until the very last second. Her head was in the birth canal and the rest of her body was squished up against my ribs as far is it could go. The rest of my stomach was soft and there was this hard little ball right under my left ribs. The nurse had never seen anything like it. So, I was pushing her down as mush as I could between contractions.

At midnight, the nurse decided that I had pushed enough without progress and so she decided to call Dr. Broadbent. He got there at 12:25. He said felt her and decided her would try to get her out with forceps; if that didn't work, he was going to do a C-section. I was not okay with a C- section and desperately hoped the forceps would work. So, he got ready and I made sure not to look at the forceps because I knew they would scare me. Then I felt tons of pressure and was told to push. I saw Dr. Broadbent cut me with scissors and I tried not to think about that. I pushed and Corey started getting excited. He told me to just push once more really hard because she was almost out. I pushed one more time and she came out. It was 12:33 a.m.

My memories after that are a bit of a blur. I watched the doctor cut the cord and they showed her to me and rushed her over to the bed they have in the room to check her out. The cord had been wrapped around her neck but the doctor had fixed it right away. They started to clean her up and Dr. Broadbent started to stitch me up. It was surreal to watch him sewing me up and not feel it a bit. He said my tearing was pretty bad; it was as close to being 3^rd degree (tearing the rectum) as possible while still being second degree, which I am grateful for. I was so exhausted from the delivery that my teeth were chattering like crazy. I watched Savannah get cleaned and checked but I couldn't hold her because they were a bit worried about her breathing. Corey was standing by her taking tons of pictures. They weighed and measured her. She was 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 18.5 inches long. She had quite the pointed head from being stuck in me so long and she had little red bruises on her face from the forceps.

After about 30 minutes I finally was able to hold her. It was wonderful. I was laughing and crying at the same time. The second she was placed in my arms, she looked right into my eyes. Corey said she hadn't looked at anyone like that yet. I couldn't believe that perfect little baby was mine. I tried and failed at breastfeeding, so instead she sucked on my finger. We got some pictures and Corey held her for a few minutes. Then they took her to the nursery to get cleaned up and Corey went with her. I was moved to my new room. Eventually, they brought Savannah in and people came in to see us. After a few more hours we finally were able to get some sleep around 6 a.m.

We stayed in the hospital until the afternoon of the 3^rd. I was exhausted and sore, but it was really a nice time. My favorite was when Corey would hold her and take her for walks in the hall. He loves her so much and is a fantastic daddy already. He would want everyone to know that he even changed the first messy diaper. We took her home Thursday. Corey left Friday morning to go back to Gillette. It's hard to be apart and we both can't wait for Christmas Eve when we get to be together for good.