miller's birthday

Saturday, August 7, 2010



Miller and Colby's family.

Miller and my family minus Mackenzie. (she left right after Miller was born to make it back to Stillwater by 6:00 that night)

Proud mommy!

Miller's first measurements.

First bath and hair wash.

Happy family!

Proud daddy!

Daddy and nurse Denise getting Miller's footprints.

Miller weighed 9 lb 0 oz and was 21 ¾ inches long.

Miller's here!

My room.

Colby and I before Miller arrived.

I was scheduled to go to the hospital to be induced on Sunday night, August 8. On Friday afternoon, August 6, I was laying on the couch watching TV waiting for Colby to get home to eat lunch when my water broke (12:04 PM). I thought that I had all weekend to prepare for Miller's arrival. It was so unexpected. I had not really been having contractions (except for a few Braxton-Hicks contractions). At my doctor appointment that Monday I was not dilated or effaced. I had pretty much mentally prepared myself for the fact that Miller did not want to come on his own and that I would have to be induced.

When my water broke, I immediately called Colby, who was still at work, and then I tried to call my mom. She was in a class that day for her job and had left her cell phone at home. She had called me earlier from her friend Janet's cell phone, so I tried to call her back on Janet's phone but didn't get an answer. Finally, Colby called my dad who went to my mom's class and told her the news. Because I wasn't having any contractions or pain, I wasn't really in any hurry to get to the hospital. I had Colby help me clean up around the house. Then, around 2:30 PM, after packing our bags, we headed to the hospital.

I was admitted to the hospital around 3:15 and started on IV fluids. My nurse, Tracy, checked me and said I was about 80% effaced but not dilated. Dr. Nilson was still out of town on vacation and Dr. Coleman was on call. At 5:15 I was started on pitocin to help induce contractions since my water had already broken. By this time, my parents had arrived at the hospital and Colby's parents were on their way. Maddie was on her way from Houston and Mackenzie was coming later that night from Stillwater. The timing worked out perfectly for both of my sisters to be there for Miller's birthday!

Around 9:15, after gradually increasing the pitocin, I began to feel the contractions especially in my lower back. However, the contractions weren't very painful yet and I was only about 1 cm dilated. At this point, I wasn't very concerned about the pain and remember just wanting the contractions to get stronger so that I could meet my baby boy! At 11:00 PM (shift change) I was assigned a different nurse, Julie. By this time, I was having contractions every 1-3 minutes. By midnight our families had all arrived at the hospital (except for Brian and Krystle who came the next morning) and were beginning to leave for the evening to get some rest with our promise that we would call them immediately if anything happened. My mom and Colby both stayed with me at the hospital.

At 3:00 AM I asked Julie to check me because I was really starting to have a lot of pain with the contractions. She said that I was still only 1 cm dilated and about 90% effaced. I really wanted to go ahead and get an epidural, but Julie said that I should wait until I was 3 cm dilated. She offered to give me stadol instead. So, thinking that she knew best, I agreed. The stadol helped for about 30 minutes before it wore off and just left me feeling really drunk. At 4:50, I couldn't stand the pain any longer. Since I was still only 1 cm dilated, Julie gave me another dose of stadol, which was much less effective than the first dose. I had a third dose of stadol at 6:20, which basically had no effect at all. I remember crying in pain and asking for her to give me an epidural. Julie was not very sympathetic, but at 07:00 AM I got a new nurse, Denise. I had a bolus of fluid and the epidural by 07:45. Colby and my mom both said later that they wished they would have insisted that I had the epidural sooner. I also was given penicillin since I had been in labor for so long already. Doctors typically prefer that the baby is born within 24 hours of your water breaking.

After the epidural, I was finally able to relax and even got to close my eyes for a little while after being up all night. However, I was a little too excited to sleep! By 09:00 AM I was 2 cm dilated and my cervix was much softer. Denise was very positive that I would continue to dilate and that I would have Miller in my arms by that afternoon. She was right and by 3:00 PM I was fully dilated and ready to push! Miller was born at 4:35 PM without complications! I am so grateful to my mom and Colby for all of their support and encouragement. I know that it was a long night and day for both of them! I couldn't have done it without them! Colby was by my side the entire time and my mom got lots of great pictures.