Little One is 8 days old, and it's definitely time to share all of this with you! Sorry, it's a full on novel!

I am a type 2 diabetic, which has always meant that we expected to be induced, but my diabetes was so well controlled that the doctor was comfortable scheduling our induction at 38w6d. We were told to call in to the hospital on Saturday at 5 to verify they had room for us.

When Saturday, December 22 rolled around, everything revolved around that 5 p.m. call. DH and I would look at each other and laugh, saying “only 2 more hours” throughout the day. Imagine my disappointment when we call in and are told, eat some dinner, take a shower, don’t come in until 7. But I wanted to go in then! We did as we were told and my mom made it into town in time to drive to the hospital with us.

We were checked in and settled into our room by 8 p.m. Nurses placed us on a monitor, much like the twice a week Non-Stress Tests I’d been having. The doctor came in at 9:30 and did an internal exam. She initially said that we weren’t dilated at all, but changed that to “Well, I can kinda fit one finger, so we’ll say 1cm.” She also agitated my cervix while down there. I was give 50 micrograms of misoprostol, orally, and told that we’ll check in four hours. My blood sugars were acting up (don’t eat barbecue right before your induction!) so I had to be on an insulin drip. This also meant staying hooked up to monitors except for bathroom visits, and having my blood sugar checked every hour.

2 a.m. was the first check, and the monitors showed that I had started contracting, but they were irregular and light. Add another dose of misoprostol, 100 micrograms. 6 a.m. showed contractions that were more regular, but still light so another 100 micrograms of misoprostol. 10 a.m. was more of the same, saying that if things were still regular at 2 p.m. we might be able to start Pitocin. At the 2 p.m. check, we weren’t able to start Pitocin because I hadn’t dilated beyond the initial 1 cm, so the decision was made to use a Folley catheter to stir things along. Essentially a thin tube is inserted into the cervix and a balloon is blown up on the end. When you are 3-4 cms dilated, the catheter will fall out.

My in-laws arrived right after I was given the catheter and a nice dose of morphine to encourage rest. They all watched a movie and I added my own loopy comments as I dozed. I really woke up a few hours later, in time to boot out all of my company to go get dinner while I ate too. My in-laws and mom left around 10 p.m. and at 10:30 the catheter fell out. Now we were getting somewhere!

The morphine completely wore off at 11p.m. and I held off on the epidural until 1 a.m. 4 units of Pitocin were added to the mix at midnight, and at 2:30 they broke my waters. Pitocin was turned down to 2, and then turned off. Also, all external monitors were removed and internal monitors were placed. By 6 a.m. contractions were strong and just 2 ½ minutes apart, so we called our families and told them to be at the hospital by 10:30. Another check at 9 a.m. showed us to be 9 cm dilated and baby was in place, so we recalled family and set to get on their way!

My mom and in-laws arrived by 10:30, and a check at 10:50 told us that it was go time, so they were kicked out. The bed was adjusted and doctors notified; pushing began at 11:10 and LO arrived at 11:42 a.m. I suffered a second degree tear that was mended with one stitch. It was a vaginal birth, unlike the c-section I was expecting. And I cannot tell you how proud I felt being able to push her out!

The support of this community has been such a wonderous part of this entire pregnancy!