Our little miracle came early! I began having contractions on Sunday afternoon after church. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions very regularly since I was about 18 weeks pregnant and these contractions felt very different from those. But, since this was my first baby, I figured that I wasn't actually in labor. My whole pregnancy I had prepared myself to go past my due date. I was willing to go two weeks past my due date (which would have been January 12!). So, I didn't think too much of those contractions. By 6:00pm the contractions were getting more regular...but I was still skeptical. Then, by 9:00pm they were regularly being about 6 minutes apart and some of them were becoming quite uncomfortable. So. I called Mama to tell her (Mama and Papa were not planning to arrive in AK until December 27, as my due date was December 29). But I told her I still wasn't sure I was in labor. I told her I doubted I was actually in labor. But, by 11:00pm they were becoming even more intense and were getting closer together, so I started monitoring them more closely. At 12:30am I had been having regular contractions 2-4 minutes apart for an hour and half. I called my midwife and told her and we decided we'd meet at the birthing center at 1:30am. Sarah came to the birthing center as well. She took all the amazing pictures for me, as well as was at my beck and call whenever I need sprite, food, etc :)
When we got to the birthing center, I was at 6cm. I had Matt call Mama and Papa to tell them. They immediately began trying to change their airline tickets to get here sooner. At 9:00 am (after continuing to have regular contractions all night), I was still only at 6cm, but my water had broken (partially, I had a "high leak"). At 4:00pm, I was still only at 6cm. At 8:00pm, still no more movement. My midwife said that since I'd been in labor almost 24 hours and had not progressed since about 2:00am, I needed to be taken to the hospital. I was doing good and baby was in no distress....but she said since I was not progressing, this was outside of her scope of practice. We drive 45 minutes to the hospital. I got an epidural around 10:30pm. I was exhausted. I had the BEST anesthesiologist!! The epidural worked perfectly and quickly. I was thankful for the relief and was able to rest for a few hours.
Mama and Papa arrived! It was a HUGE blessing that they got to Alaska so quickly. I was so relieved and thankful to have them there!
My contractions slowed down a little bit. The OB doctor came and checked me a little while later. I was still at 6cm. So, he broke my water the rest of the way and recommended trying just a little bit of pitocin. After just an hour of pitocin baby started showing a little bit of distress. The pitocin was stopped. Dr Elrod recommended we just continue to watch and wait and see if contractions continued to be strong without the pitocin. But he also told me that there was a possibility I'd have to have a c-section since I still wasn't making much progress. I rested the rest of the night, and my contractions stayed strong and regular. Dr Elrod came back in at 6:30am to check me again. To my huge surprise, I was fully dilated and complete. He asked if I was ready to push. I was shocked, but elated!
I pushed for 1 hour and then we got to meet our sweet Adalynn Jo. 7lbs, 8oz and 21 inches long, she was born at 8:04am. I am so thankful for the Dr's and nurses that took amazing care of me. I am so thankful that God provided a doctor that was willing to wait and let my body do what it was supposed to do, without rushing into doing a c-section.
