Around 6am the next morning, 12 hours after they had inserted the Cervadil, they checked me to see if I was progressing. I was moving along, but not quite fast enough, so they went ahead and started the Pitocin around 7. I was dilated about 3 cm at that point, so we still had quite a ways to go! Around 9, they checked me again and I was around 4, so they went ahead and broke my water. My contractions were getting stronger and closer together, but were completely bearable until a little while after they broke my water, then things got interesting Probably around 30 minutes after, my contractions became so intense that I could not talk through them and I started trying to breathe through them. Randal’s mom arrived at the hospital around that time and sat in the room talking with us for a while. My contractions continued to get closer together and were getting really strong at this point. The nurse came in to check my progress around 10:30-10:45, so Denise excused herself for a few minutes. After the nurse checked me, she said I was at around a 5, so we knew we had a lot of progress to make and were expecting a late afternoon arrival. The nurse asked when I wanted my epidural and I couldn’t even explain to her that I didn’t want one at all – luckily Randal stuck up for my decision and explained the situation and that I was set on not having one. All I could get out at that point was “no”! As they were having this conversation, my contractions really ramped up and I was really squirming. The nurse went out to call my doctor and give her an update.
Randal was keeping everyone up to date, so he had talked to my parents, who were keeping Mason while we were away. After hearing that I was only at a 5, they decided to run to Argonia and pick up a few things that they needed and then they would check with us when they got back. My contractions were getting pretty bad and I was getting really uncomfortable, so after I was checked, Denise went ahead and went out to the waiting area and left Randal and I alone. My contractions were now happening pretty much on top of one another, with no time to rest in between. I was gripping the side rail on my bed during my contractions and cutting off the flow of my pitocin IV, so the nurse came in to see what was setting off the alarm on the IV machine. Around that time, my body was really starting to try and bear down and I was starting to feel like something was really wrong. We had just found out that I was just at a five, so I knew that shouldn’t be happening for quite a while! I couldn’t get many words out, as I barely had time to take a breath in between contractions. The nurse realized that my contractions were coming continuously and that I was fighting not to bear down and started to really get on me about not pushing yet. I told her that I was trying my best, but my body was really trying to. She decided to check me and immediately told me that I could not push b/c she was not ready to deliver the baby. She told the nursing student that was shadowing her to turn on the warmer on the crib and to go get help - that we were going to be delivering a baby very soon. She grabbed her phone and called my dr and the nurse’s station and was telling me the whole time that I had to fight it with all that I had, which was really getting hard!
We had a very quick rush of nurses come into our room and they hurried to get the bed broken down and get things set up. The charge nurse got to me in the middle of a contraction and said “this isn’t going to take long, I just saw the baby’s head”. This was such a surreal experience! I was lying there trying to breathe and fight the urge to push, and all that I could think was that this all felt so wrong! I was expecting another long and drawn out delivery like with Mason, and this was all happening VERY fast and it seemed like something bad was happening, so I was a little scared!
After everything was set up and the staff was ready to go, they rolled me over and told me to give one good push. That’s all it took and we heard little Madison’s wailing begin! Such a beautiful sound!!!! Randal let them cut the cord so that they could whisk her away and make sure that everything was alright. She checked out fine and Randal got to be right there and watch them examine, weigh, and measure her. She was 6 pounds, 9 ounces and 19 ½ inches long and had brown hair - the official time she arrived was 11:12 am. My doctor was unable to make it there on time since everything happened so fast, but arrived soon after and helped get me cleaned up and checked out Madison too.
Because this had all happened so quickly, Randal obviously didn't have time to update everyone, so he was scrambling to get everyone notified after she was born. My parents had started towards Argonia and got his text message saying "She's here" before they got out of Mulvane. Thinking he had accidentaly sent the message, they pulled over and called. After Randal let them know that it was no accident, they turned around, took Mason to lunch and then came up to let him meet his little sister! Randal's mom was in the waiting room, but had no idea anything was happening, so she was surprised to get the message too! She came and waited outside of our room until she got the OK to come in, then she came in and met her new granddaughter. Everyone else arrived as soon as they could, on lunch breaks or after work, but needless to say, they were all shocked to hear that she was already here!
After the nurses checked her out, they showed Randal that she also has a birthmark on her left hand that extends most of the way up to her elbow and another that is on her side. They have faded a little bit since birth, so we’ll see if they continue to clear up. She also has pinholes in her ear just like daddy and brother, only she has one on each ear! The auditory doctor mentioned that these pinholes that have been such a topic of conversation are actually called preauricular pits, so we’ve been able to do a little bit of research on these things now!
Recovery from labor was a lot easier this time – I think both b/c of the shortened experience and b/c I did not have an epidural. I was able to get out of bed and get cleaned up right away, which was REALLY nice and they got us moved up to a recovery room really quickly after delivery. We were able to get some good sleep in our hospital room and Madison has been a great baby – sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches. She figured out her days and nights pretty quickly, so that was helpful too! We have been blessed with two babies that are easy going and adjust well – let’s hope that they continue to behave that way for a while!
We had lots of family drop in on us at the hospital and friends and family visited at home after we were there too. In Madison’s first week of life, she did a lot of traveling and meeting her family! When she was just 6 days old, we started our Christmas celebrations by going over to Randal’s grandparents house for a get-together and lunch. We then traveled to Argonia for dinner and gifts with my family. Travel was interesting on that day, since Madison got to experience her first snow! We didn’t get a lot of accumulation here in the Wichita area, but the snow was blowing so badly that visibility was very slim! The ride to Argonia was a little difficult at times, but we made it there alright! I was beginning to wonder if we would be able to make it to Oklahoma later in the week, as they had accumulations of more than 14 inches and had closed all of their highways, but the roads were cleared by the time we needed to travel again. On Christmas day, we had brunch with my mom’s family and then played games and visited the rest of the day. The day after Christmas, we traveled to Edmond, OK for a celebration with my dad’s family and stayed there until Sunday, when we came back home. We had a wonderful Christmas, with Mason enjoying opening and playing with gifts, and Madison getting to meet everyone and be held A LOT! There is no shortage of love for this little girl!
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