Despite trying EVERY trick in the book, we could not coax Margaret to come out voluntarily. So, at 6am Thursday September 4, 2014 we checked into the hospital for an induction.
I was very a little anxious about inducing. Mary Claire came all on her own and it was very, very "easy." I was nervous that coaxing her out before she was ready would make for a long, painful delivery, but boy was I wrong.
After getting checked in and settled in our room, the nurse came in and started my IV fluids and hooked me and Margaret up on all kinds of monitors. She said Doc should be up around 8 to break my water and start the pitocin. She said I was already having contractions on my own and had dilated another cm- but nothing consistent/productive yet.
8am comes and goes... 8:30 comes and goes.... 9:00 comes and goes and still no doctor.
About 9:15 he comes in and says he got hung up in the OR with a 5'1 255lb total hysterectomy. Apparently took longer than expected.
First things first- break my water. It was AWEFUL no fun. Breaking my water was the second most painful parts of Margaret's delivery. Having your water break naturally is by far the way to go. And it has a little less traumatic visual than "the hook" as Chase keeps calling it. Then he turned up my pitocin to start the contractions. As he was walking out of the room he told the nurse to call the anesthesiologist because I was about to be very uncomfortable. Yes- he was correct! Took about 20 minutes for him to come to my room, another 10 to get set up, then another 10 for him to get the meds in and working. That 40 minutes was the absolute worst part of Margaret's delivery. Those "controlled contractions" were way worse than I remember the "natural contractions" I had with Mary Claire.
Once the epidural kicked in around 10:15 it was smooth sailing. Now it was just a waiting game.
Around 11 he came back and checked, and I was "ready to push". Now that's what I 'm talking about. 45 minutes of active labor beats the heck out of 4+ hours. They got the room set up and we were ready to go!
The doctor and nurses were all taking bets on how big Margaret would be. 7lb 2oz? 7lb 8oz? 7lbs 12 oz? But as she started coming out he word vomits says, "WOAH!!! this is the head of a 10 pound baby!"
Really doc? Don't say that mid push... wait at least until the baby the is out before saying curse words like that.
After 9 pushes, 9 1/2 months of waiting came to an end...
Margaret Rhea Peeler was born at 11:50am on September 4, 2014.
Weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds and 1 ounce and 21 inches long!
After hearing those stats Dr. Johnson looked at me and asked, "Where in the world were you hiding that baby?" I can tell you- she was in my lungs, ribs, bladder... etc. No wonder I was so much more uncomfortable with her the last few weeks then I was with Mary Claire. She is 3 inches longer and 2 pounds heavier. Guess she knew what she was up against out here!
She had a scratch on her head... apparently from my pelivic bone... Sorry baby girl!
Her temperature was a little low so she had to hang out under the warmers for a bit before we could really get our hands on her. But Daddy never left her side and held her hand the whole time.
Finally got to hold our sweet girl!
And then welcomed in the grandparents
And finally the BIG SISTER!
And first on the Big Sister agenda... watching Elmo.
And I am fairly certain I am only the incubator for these girls. They both look like their daddy spit them out! That's ok though- I think he is pretty cute too!
Bath time!
After a her first bath we settled in for a long 2 days in the hospital.
As anxious as I was about an induction it went dare I say better than going into labor naturally. We are so grateful to finally have our stubborn baby girl in our arms!
