The day my life changed forever part 1

My due date was August 30 but Baby Petry did not want to be born then. I had many doctor appointments, two ultrasounds and 3 stress tests in the following 2 weeks after my due date. Finally on Sept 9 my midwifes decided that it was time to force baby Petry out! My last weekly picture just before we left for the hospital -

I was admitted into the hospital on Sunday September 11 at 5pm. Through the course of the evening I was given an IV and a thin ribbon like medicine. Its purpose was to thin my cervix in 12 hours. I was only 1 1/2 cm dilated and hardly thinned out at this point. Charlie and Kerri came to visit us in their way home from church. They brought Rick some dinner but I was told I wasn't allowed anything to eat except liquids. Which made me really sad cause I didn't eat dinner before going in and I was super hungry! For the rest of the evening/night I watched tv while Rick worked on some things for work. At 10 pm the midwife on call came in to check on me and make sure everything was going well. I asked her about eating and she said of course I could eat and that it was the silly doctors who do c-sections that didn't want me to eat in case I ended up with a c-section. Rick ran out to Wendys and got me some food and that made me very happy! After my belly was full, it was time for me to try and get some sleep. The bed was super uncomfortable and every time I needed to use the bathroom I had to take my IV in with me and unhook all the monitors that I was hooked up too. Needless to say, I got very little sleep and morning came way to quickly. Monday morning September 12 at 7am I was checked by the midwife on call (Lora) and was given the report that I was now 2 cm dilated and only about 70% thinned out. But she went ahead and decided to start the pitocin drip so that we could finally have a baby! I went ahead and showered and ate my liquid broth breakfast. My family and Rick's parents showed up around 8 just as they started my drip. They were only allowed to came and visit me 2 people at a time, so they all took turns throughout the morning to come back and visit me. Rebecca and Jacob hanging out with me - they were freezing and I was burning up! -

I am not sure of the exact timeline, but my contractions started to get much more intense during the morning. The nurse kept telling me that we would have a baby by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. But I was progressing very slowly! My back was hurting from sitting in the bed and my contractions were getting worse so the nurse allowed me to sit in the rocker for a little while. That made my back feel ten times better and it helped pass the time quicker. After one of my many bathroom trips, when I walked out and was just standing for a few min, I felt like I had peed on myself. Yay! My water broke! It was just a trickle but the midwife checked it and it really was my water! But because it was only a small amount she just called it a 'high leak' and that The last picture taken of just Rick and I -

I can't remember the exact time but between noon and around 2 pm I was checked again by the midwife and I was only 5 cm dilated and about 80% thinned out. My contractions were about 4 minutes apart and super strong (to me at least!). I was very discouraged that I still had a ways to go before the baby would actually get here and I was in ALOT of pain. So when the nurse told me that they would be getting worse because of the pitocin drip and general labor - I caved in and asked for the epidural. I was disappointed in myself but I was way more concerned with what Rick would think about me because I gave into something that we had both discussed and agreed that it would be better to do without the epidural for my health and the baby's health. But I knew that I couldn't go on with the pain so I gave in and Rick was very encouraging and supportive of my decision. Actually getting the epidural was very painful. And it was mostly my fault. Because I had waited so long I was dealing with contractions along with more needles being injected into my back. And at one point of the process I had to to sit EXTREMELY still which is not easy to do when you are having string contractions! After the meds made it into my system I felt like I was in heaven! I had this warm fuzzy feeling come over me and ALL my pain was gone. No more contractions, no more back pain and I feel asleep!