How it started

I decided to stop taking Domparidone for my milk supply with Eli on 12/21/07. I had grown tired of all the work in pumping, with such low results. On Chris' birthday I began to feel the "weird" pregnancy feeling I get. I knew it couldn't be true, but I couldn't get it out of my head, so I decided to test. The line was VERY faint, but was there, which means it is positive. I was in shock. I didn't even know when the baby was due. I was really in denial. Later that night I asked Chris "How do yo like being a dad?" He replied that he liked it. I said "Good, cuz you are going to be one all over again." He asked me if I was sure and I showed him the test. We decided I would test again the next day. The test looked the same. So I waited 2 more days. It was undeniable then. Dr. Harper's office couldn't get me in for awhile. I was a bit nervous because I had no real idea how far along I was. I assumed it was early purely based on the lightness of the first two home pregnancy tests. Chris challenged me to not tell anyone I was pregnant until after the ultrasound. So I came up with a creative way to tell the family. At the first appointment they did and ultra sound and I found out I was 13 weeks. Kiah and I then made Easter baskets for everyone. All the eggs were filled with M&Ms. One egg was filled with only pink and blue M&Ms and a poem from Eli about how he would be a big brother.

My morning sickness was bad again this time. I guess I have morning sickness when I am pregnant with girls. I took Zofran this time. Not as tired. It had JUST come out on the market when I was pregnant with kaih and the insurance wouldn't cover it. Thankfully this time they did.

Starting Mon 9/29/08 I began having inconsistent but constant contractions. By the weekend I was pretty tired. At my Appt on 10/3 I was about 50% effaced and almost 3 cm dilated. At about 1:30am the contractions were strong enough to wake me up. So I sat-up and watched some TV (lying down was more uncomfortable.) I woke Chris about 2:30 to let him know and I took a shower. Since things kept going we decided to go to the hospital. We got to the hospital about 4:45am. I went and checked in. I just stayed calm and focused. The lady printing out my bracelets thought I was there for an induction and didn’t realize I was actually in labor, lol. Once she found out, she sped-up a bit.

When I got to my room they checked me and I was 80% effaced and 3.5 cm. They monitored me for about an hour to make sure I was progressing. My contractions were very regular and I was dilating more, so I was officially checked-in, and they called my doctor. I just relaxed in bed and focused through the peaks as needed. Then I started to get this stitch like pain in my side that wouldn’t let go and a 4 peak contraction that lasted for about 8 min. I couldn’t focus anymore, so I asked for an epidural. The good news was, I was at about 6cm and after that long contraction I had a long break, so there was plenty of time for the procedure. When I got to 7cm they started pitocin to regulate out my contractions. They were spacing out more after the long one and the epidural, and since I had the epidural I didn’t mind. They didn’t put me on a continuous epidural since I was already at so far along and it was my third child, but I began to feel the epidural wearing off, but I wasn’t feeling pain. So I let the nurse know that I was beginning to feel a lot of pressure, but no pain yet. She told me they couldn’t give a second dose of the epi for pressure, but they could with pain. Even pain at 1 or 2 (on a scale of ten.) I should have taken that as a hint to say I had the pain, even though I didn’t, but I just waited for the discomfort. Each contraction came; I could feel the tightening, but no discomfort, then BAM! One contraction 0 pain level, the next one was 6. So I asked for the epi. They checked me and I was at 9 cm. Just before the anesthesiologist arrived the Dr came in and broke my water. She then went to perform a circumcision. About 2 contractions after getting the epi I had to push. Chris alerted the staff (since the intercoms system was down.) The Dr hadn’t even gotten her equipment yet, when she was called back. Annalise was out in 2 contractions, I could not differentiate between the contractions, it all felt the same to me, but they said it was 2. It was intense. I was not sure I would be able to do it, but I did. And luckily I didn’t tear. I swore I did, but I didn’t.

The Epi kicked in later, lol. So I got more time in L&D before transferring to postpartum than usual, since I couldn’t walk, lol.

So I guess in some ways I had a natural birth, or at least have an idea of what it is like.

Annalise was 8 lbs 14 oz