First comes Labor...

Here it is! The labor story of Ruby Geraldine Fuller.

9.10.09 ~ I woke up at 5am when Jon went to work. I felt the instant urge to get going on my day... There was laundry to be done, a bathroom to clean, and I wanted to get pictures on the blog from Labor Day... I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 12:30pm. Since I knew there was a chance I could be induced if my amniotic fluid was too low I wanted to make sure things were in order around the house. After all the laundry was done, bathroom was clean, and pictures posted I started packing my hospital bag. All the while thinking that today would NOT be the day!

I put Sawyer down for a nap and had some lunch. Then off the doctors office I went. It didn't really dawn on me until I was in the car that this day might be the last day for Sawyer to be my only baby... I didn't cuddle him enough because I was SO busy getting ready for the new baby. Suddenly I was very sad and missed Sawyer like crazy!

Sad thoughts pushed aside and tears wiped off my face, I walked into the first of my three appointments scheduled for the afternoon.

Appt. 1.) Non-Stress Test - Everything looked great! The baby was moving around and responding as she should.

Appt. 2.) Ultra-Sound - "The Moment of Truth". The Ultra-Sound Tech took measurements of how much amniotic fluid was surrounding the baby... The total amount was less then it had been the week before... There was 4.7 cm in there, which is under 5 (the magic # to stay above). So I immediately knew I would be induced that day!

Appt. 3.) See the Dr. - The U/S Tech took me to the room where I would see the doctor. I could hear them talking in the hall about letting the hospital know I'd be on the way over and that it would be OK for me to go home and get my stuff and come back... Jon must have sensed that I was about to lose it because he called just then. I started crying. Even though I knew induction was a very real possibility for me and I had been mentally preparing for it, it wasn't what I ideally wanted... Now, I didn't have a choice and things were out of my hands... It was a bit scary. The doctor came in and I told Jon I had to go. She half smiled at me and said that since my fluid was so low they had decided the safest thing to do would be to induce me. She checked to see if I had started dilating at all and I hadn't... She wished me good luck and said the hospital would be ready for me. I sat in the room a minute and got myself together...

(A side note: My regular Dr. went on maternity leave and was scheduled to be back at work on 9.21. We were hoping I would hold out for that long! Ruby had other plans :-))

I called Jon back and let him know what was up. He left work to meet me at home and get things together. We loaded everything up, and along with Sawyer, drove to the hospital.

We got there around 4pm. Since I hadn't eaten anything since 11:30am, the nurse ordered me dinner. I wouldn't be able to eat once the induction process began... Dinner arrived and it was NOT good. Meatloaf and mashed potato's with gravy, peas (which is by far my LEAST favorite vegetable, absolutely disgusting) and a little vanilla ice cream. I ate the potato's and ice cream and Sawyer ate the meatloaf and peas (he's such a good eater!).

At 5:15pm the induction process began. The first induction drug I was given is called Cytotec. It's a pill, inserted into the vagina, behind the cervix to help it ripen and dilate. I would be given a pill three times through out the night at 3 hour intervals. If the pills didn't start labor, then hopefully they would help my cervix dilate and I would start Pitocin.

My parents came by to pick up Sawyer since Jon and I would be staying the night in the hospital. A small hospital room is not a good place for a super active 16 month old! Jon and I watched TV, talked... Since the Cytotec was inserted vaginally I couldn't walk around, so we were confined to our room... I got my 2nd pill at 9:25pm and I had yet to start dilating.

9.11.09 ~ Third pill at 1:15am and still no dilation... At about 5:30am the nurse came in and said that we would be starting Pitocin. The Pitocin would be given to me through my IV and once it started I would have to pull the cart holding the Pitocin bag around with me if I wanted to get out of bed. So, I got in the shower and prepared for more uncomfortable bed time... The shower felt great! Besides not getting much sleep and that I was STARVING, I felt good! I was starting to get more excited and less nervous. (At least that is what I kept telling myself...)

At 6:45am the Pitocin bag was hooked up and my body was being blasted with another labor inducing drug. I still wasn't dilated when the doctor broke my water 7:15am. By this time, I had been poked and prodded quite a bit "down there" and I was very sore.

I was given Pitocin with Sawyer, so I knew what to expect. With him, it did the trick within a few short hours. However, I was 6 days late and my water broke on its own. With Ruby, I was 2.5 weeks early and we were pushing labor along without my body really being ready for it...

All afternoon the nurse kept turning the Pitocin drip up because my contractions were not starting. She kept coming in and asking if I was uncomfortable yet and I wasn't...

By mid-afternoon most of my family who wanted and could be there for Ruby's birth were in attendance. The whole group consisted of:
Jon
My Mom
Kristie (BFF)
Auntie Sarah
Grandma Val
Grandpa John (actually showed up around 5)
My dad had Sawyer at home. There is no way Sawyer would have been able to handle being in the room with me in the state I was in. He would not have understood...

Finally, around 3:30pm I started feeling contractions. I was still only dilated 2cm (doctors want you at 10cm before you can start pushing). Now, came the question of drugs?... With Sawyer, my contractions came really fast and hard. They came so fast, that I wasn't able to have an Epidural. Instead they gave me a "walking epidural", also known as an Intrathecal injection. This injection is very similar to a regular epidural except that it only lasts a couple of hours. I decided to go with an Epidural for this birth because I wasn't very dilated and didn't know how much time I still had ahead of me.

At 3:45pm I was given the epidural and soon felt no pain. However, I did get the shakes and that is not fun. I asked my Aunt Sarah how I would know when to push and she just said that I'd know...

5:00pm I knew! The pressure was intense and all of a sudden I felt like I wanted to push (honestly, it felt like I had to poop really, REALLY bad). I asked if maybe we shouldn't tell the nurse that I was feeling something... So, we let her know what I feeling. She checked to see how dilated I was (thankfully with the epidural I could no longer feel this!) and sure enough I was 10cm and ready to go!!! The nurse said she'd let the doctor know.

Things started moving fast! At 5:15pm I was SERIOUSLY ready to push, but I had to wait for the doctor. The nurse kept saying she was on her way. ME - "On her way? Where is she coming from?" NURSE - "She's in her car driving here and should be here in 10-15min." ME (in my head) - "I hate you nurse, go a way and don't talk to me ever again!" In real life, I started crying and gripped the bed rail for dear life. It wasn't that it hurt, there was just SO much pressure and I felt like I was holding back a flood without really being able tell if I was or not... Such a weird feeling... I just wanted to push that baby out!

5:30pm The doctor is in the house and I can push. 3 contractions, 7 pushes and at 5:39pm out came Ruby Geraldine Fuller!!! :-) :-) :-) There is no better feeling in the world then having the little life you've been creating in your body placed on your tummy for you to see and hold. The moment is SO grand it is indescribable.

Ruby came out so perfect. She didn't have a cone head and her coloring was all red pink (not grey and blue like Sawyer!). She was little, but not as little as I thought she'd be.
Weight: 5.8oz
Height: 19"
Head: 13.5cm
She didn't really cry much. She just made this "cute" little grunting noise.

Shortly after Ruby was born my dad and Sawyer showed up to visit. Sawyer sat on the bed with me and checked out his new sister! Then he was off and playing around the room. After about an hour of people hanging around I had had enough. It was time for people to clear out.

At 7pm Jon, Ruby and I were moved to a different room. I attempted to nurse Ruby, but she wasn't really interested. She just wanted to sleep! She look SO beautiful already, sleepy and all bundled up :-) Jon and I ordered pizza (By this time I hadn't eaten in about 27 hours!).

Around 9pm, the nurses came by to give Ruby her bath. She was still making that grunting noise over and over and hadn't really stopped since she was born. The nurse said that she probably had some fluid to spit up. Sure enough, shortly after the nurse said this little Ruby threw up some very yucky looking fluid. The grunting continued...

The hospital we were at wouldn't allow me to have Ruby in the bed with me while I slept, so I slept with my hand up in the air, reaching into her little crib, and resting on her little tummy. My little girl was here and I was SO happy! Little did I know what was coming our way starting very early the next morning...