My birth story: Yes its long but so was my labor!!!

Tuesday night (Feb 21st) I went to bed like I normally do. I didnt do anything out of the ordinary. Early Wednesday (Feb 22nd) morning I went to the bathroom and went back to bed. When I was in bed I couldnt get comfortable on my left side so I rolled over on my back then over to my right side. As soon as I rolled over I felt a pop and a gush of warm liquid, my water had broke at exactly 4:53am. I woke up Ricky in shock screaming "my water broke!!!" Ricky sat right up and asked if I was sure, and I was very sure. He told me to go to the bathroom and make sure it was clear, thankfully it was! We decided we should call my mom before she heads to work so she could start heading our way( its about a 5hr drive). The next few hours were spent washing the sheet, packing for the hospital, and walking! Contractions hadnt kicked in so we were trying to jump start labor naturally. We walked (a lot!), bounced on the brithing ball, and used the breast pump to do some nipple stimulation. All of these things seemed to work for awhile. I would start having contractions, they would be coming regularly then would just slowly go away. After about 9 hours of trying to start labor naturally we decided we should just head to the hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital around 2:30 they confirmed my water had broken and checked me to see how dialated I was, a whopping 1.5 cm!?!?! Thats it! They admitted me because my water had broken and I had to be monitored for possible infection. Ricky and I spoke with the Dr and decided that we could continue to walk around the hospital and try to let labor happen naturally. They were giving me until 5am the next morning to go into labor without having to intervine. So we walked the halls, sat on the brithing ball etc etc. Again I would have some contractions then they would slowly go away. Sadly 5am Thursday (Feb 23rd) rolled around and I still hadnt made any progress so it was time to induce.
 I was started on the smallest dose of pitocin possible by 6am. Over the next several hours the dose of pitocin increased and so did the pain. By 12:30pm the pain was unbearable! The pitocin made my contractions come one on top of the other to the point where I couldnt even catch my breath in between contractions. The nurses decided to check and see how dilated I was (3 cm) ?!?!?! In 6 1/2 hours I had only dilated 1.5 cm.  I had so long to go that I caved and requested the epidural. Ricky told me no and told me I could do it and give it a little more time. He told me this several times over and over again. I really do love him for this. Before labor we had discussed getting an epidural and he said he would support whatever decision I made. I told him I really want to go through this naturally and if it does get to a point where I request one to make sure that I wont regret my decision and to ask me several times if its what I really want. Even though I was in obvious pain and he supported my descision he stayed strong with my wishes. He really was my rock through all of this. He didnt leave my side through any of it and I really love him for that. In the end I decided to get the epidural. For me and the situation I think it was the right decision to make.
I labored for several more hours until around 10pm when I started to feel a lot of pain in my back. The nurse checked me and I was 7cm! That was promising because I was in transition and I knew the baby would be coming soon! With transition came more pain as my epidural slowy wore out and lost its effect. A little after midnight I started to a lot of pressure. Again the nurse checked me. I was 10cm and +1. In order to start pushing you need to be 10 cm and +2. I was so close to having the baby but wasnt there yet. I felt the need the need to push for the next 2 hours! It was the worst 2 hours of my life! I felt this intense need to push but everyone kept telling me not to push. Finally a little after 2am It was ready to push and id be pushing without the use of the epidural!
Pushing for me felt great! It was so hard and took a lot out of me but it was such a relieveing sensation to push. I would push when I felt a contraction and the baby would come down then "turtle" back, meaning the baby would come down when I pushed then go back up when I stopped. I requsted a mirror so I could see the baby being born. It was amazing to see the babies head come down and gave a lot of motivation to push harder to get the baby out. Ricky held one of my legs and my mom held the other. Both of them were such an amazing support to me throughout everything. Ricky counted to 10 for me and kept telling me to push which gave me a lot of motiation. Finally at 4:42 am on Friday February 24th after 2 1/2 hours of pushing my baby was born. I gave birth to a perfect 9lb 3.8oz 21 in long baby girl we named Sophia Paige.
Sophia was placed on my chest where Ricky and I marveled at how beautiful she was and how amazed we were that she was finally here. We waited for a very long time to have this baby and water her so badly , we were both overcome by our emotions. It is a feeling I will never ever forget.
Unfortunatley during the birth I tore in several places which required stiches. I also had some bleeding because my uterus wasnt contracting. I got 2 shots in my thigh and the doctor had to massage my uterus to get the bleeding to stop. Thankfully im healing very well all things considered. Because my bag of water was broken for so long and I had a fever during labor my doctors though Sophia might have an infection. She was taken to the special care nursery shortly after she was born (Ricky went with her and my mom stayed with me). Because of the possible infection they needed to draw her blood and start IV medication. Several doctors and nurses attempted to find her veins but all were unsuccessful. After hearing her screams Ricky told them they are done and to took Sophia back to me. I got to hold her and nurse her, it felt amazing to have her in my arms. It was the first time I got to have a really good look at her and she was so beautiful! I could see what she got from me and what she got from Ricky. I could see so much of ourselves in her.
Sophia had to go back to the special care nursery because some bloodwork came back and her white bloodcell count was high which is a very good indication of infection. She would need to have the iv for the medications. They again attempted several times to find her veins and again were unsuccessful. Ricky and I decided to allow the doctors to give her injections of antibiotics instead of having the antibitiotics administered through an IV. This ment a series of 8 shots that would be given to her throughout the next 2 days. Being in the hospital was a very stressful time for us. We were very worried about Sophia and her health and we got very little sleep. Sophia also seemed to be in some pain from all of the shots she was recieving which broke my heart. Finally on Sunday morning we got the all clear to go home! Sophia was found to be perfectly healthy and infection free and my recovery was going well also. It was so nice to come home and get settled.
My birthplan was to have an all natural drug free birth. Unfortulatley for me that did not happen. In fact nothing that I wanted in my labor actually happened the way I wanted it to. In the end im just happy to have my healthy baby girl. To me she is perfect in every single way, I love her more than I can even possibly say or show. Ricky and I are so proud to be her parents and thank God every day that we are blessed enough to have her as our daughter.
Sophia- Mommy and daddy love you so very much and cant wait to watch you grow! You are perfect in every single way! We love you!