Today, February 3, 2008 (Super Bowl Sunday - Sorry Patriots!) at 2:56 am weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz, 20 inches, we welcomed our beautiful daughter into this world. Charlotte is our first child and both Cory and I are so thrilled to welcome her. It was a very hard decision but we decided that we weren't going to find out the sex before delivery. It is an understatement to say that we were surprised that it was a girl as most of our friends and family were convinced that Chardrew (our nickname for the baby in the womb - a combination of our two names, Charlotte and Andrew) was a boy.
The delivery came as a surprise to both Cory and I as Charlotte arrived 9 days early. Cory and I are were obsessed with doing everything that we felt we would not be able to do once we were parents (such as movies, going out to dinner, etc.) so the previous night we went to dinner at Portabello Cafe in South Boston with our friends Christa and Lloyd. Cory even asked during dinner whether he should have another beer or not in case he needed to drive me to the hospital, which I told him was ridiculous.That night I slept pretty well considering I was 9+ months pregnant at that point. I woke up around 5 am feeling a little bit of cramping. I was not sure what I was feeling since I had something similar to this ever since I ran on Thursday. Cory was freaking out telling me to call the doctor and I kept saying that I couldn't be feeling contactions. We finally called around 6 am and the doctor on call said it was just Braxton hicks and not to come in.
After two more hours of feeling this way (and plenty of freaking out by Cory) we decided to go to MGH (Cory kept saying, we live 10 minutes, why not just go). Surprisingly, for as anal as I am, my bag was not fully packed, so Cory rushed around trying to throw everything together in five minutes. We finally get in the car, with a suitcase, a big bag, and 2 pillows and head to MGH. I was in the back seat on the floor, screaming from time to time while Cory was driving like a madman. We both kept saying, we know that we are going to get sent home, but at least we'll feel more comfortable knowing we are still a ways away. We arrive and the garage is full, Cory finds a security guard who tells him he needs to park in a garage further away, he says, um my wife is in labor and he quickly calls an attendant who wisks me up to the labor and delivery area. Cory parks the car and meets me in the triage area a few minutes later.
After being checked, 3cm dialated and 100% effaced, they do a stick test to find out if my water broke, it had, which I didn't realize and was leaking amniotic fluid for how long, I have no idea.
So they admitted us at 9:45 and told us we would have our baby today! Cory and I had planned on a natural childbirth, so we started walking the halls and doing everything we learned in our childbirth class. They get us to our room around 11am and I take a shower to help with the pain. We walk and we walk, the nurses kept saying, are you ready for the epidural, nope! well at 2:30, they decided to check me again to see how far I was, and I had only dialated to 4cm, after 5 hrs. I decided at that point to have the epidural, and let me tell you it was heaven. I wish I had gotten it from the beginnging. I never felt any contractions and we called our friends and family to tell them, we watched movies, read magazines, it was great. They checked me at 7pm and I was at 6cm, then again at 9pm and I was 9cm, they said it would happen tonight! At 11:30pm they check me again and I was still at 9cm, UGH. So they waited another half hour and decided to give me pitocin to speed up the labor, well at that point, I could feel everything, but they wouldn't give me another boost, because they wanted me to feel what it was like to push . I was not happy.
At 12am, they had me start pushing, the pain was incredible and I kept saying I felt severe pressure on my left pelvic area. After half hour of pushing, they gave me a big boost and the pain was less but still there. After 2 1/2 hrs of intense pushing, Charlotte arrived. The pain I was feeling was Charlotte's shoulder, she was stuck, and she had shoulder dystopia . Usually in those cases they have to push the baby back in and do a section or break the collarbone. Thank god we were at MGH, where they just worked the baby out. It was such a miracle, Cory was incredible during the whole labor, he was my rock. He was just such a huge support. He cut the cord and after they checked her shoulder to make sure she was ok, they put her in my arms and I just melted. I couldn't believe she was finally in the world! It was the best day of our lives.
I do believe in God, for my wonderful, amazing husband and for this gorgeous, healthy baby girl. I am truly blessed.
