Charlotte Ryan Douglas joined our family on Monday, March 18th at 8:14pm. She was 8 pounds, 1 ounce and 20 inches long. Here is my birth story:
My due date was Saturday, March 23rd. I had been having a lot of cramping and pressure, but I had the same thing with Peyton and ended up being induced, so I was not too hopeful she would come early. Pinehurst had its annual St. Patty's Day parade on Saturday the 16th, so I decided it would be a good idea for us to walk from our house to the parade. It was a beautiful day and it is probably about a 30 minute walk. On Sunday, we got a phone call from our realtor requesting a last minute showing of our house, so I scrambled to pick up toys, vacuum, mop, etc. I don't know if these things helped start labor, but something worked! I started to lose my mucus plug on Sunday, so I had hope that she would come sometime that week (since that is what happened with Ashley). Here are some pictures from the parade.
I woke up around 4:15 Monday morning because I had felt something, somewhat of a gush. I just assumed it was more of my mucus plug. I got up to use the bathroom and the back of my underwear was wet, I knew I did not wet myself! I also had some "bloody show". I came back to bed and told Ryan I thought my water broke. He asked if I wanted to go to the hospital and I said no, I wanted to wait and call the doctor. I knew they would send me to the hospital, but given how long I was in labor with Ashley and Peyton, I wanted to prolong going to the hospital as much as possible. Ryan got up, showered and went into work for a few hours. I started to have contractions around 7:30am, they were pretty strong and about 5 minutes apart, but tapered off after an hour. I called the doctor around 8:45 and they told me to go the hospital, just as I suspected. Ashley was on Spring Break and Peyton does not have school on Mondays, so we had to find someone to watch them. I waited until 9am to call my parents and my mom could not give me a clear answer on when they would be there because she had to "eat breakfast, brush her teeth, take a shower, etc". Luckily, Ryan's mom called into her work and was able to come help us out.
We got to the hospital around 10:30am. They did a couple tests to determine if my water really had broken, the second test was actually the most painful thing I experienced the whole day! It was awful! Both tests determined that yes, my water had broken. I was only 2.5 cm dilated, so they started Pitocin. My friend Kathy came to see me when they were putting in the IV, which they had a lot of trouble getting in, probably because I had not eaten or drank anything since the day before.
My parents called and came to see me before going to the house. By this point, it was lunch time and Ryan had to go "relieve" his mom so she could go back to work. My parents then went out to lunch and then went to our house to help with Ashley and Peyton, around 2:30. So Ryan was able to come back to the hospital around 3pm. I got my epidural pretty soon after that and it was by far the best epidural experience I have had! I could still feel my legs a bit and move them, something I was not able to do with Ashley and Peyton. I did get really loopy after I got it, it was so strange and scary. The nurse had to give me ephedrine because my blood pressure/heart rate were dropping.
Things started to pick up, I got to the stage of labor where I get the shakes really bad, I hate that! I also got really nauseous. The nurse checked me and I was 9.5 cm dilated and she was going to get the doctor. But not before I threw up several times! She told me to push then told me to not push because baby girl was coming out so fast! The doctor came and commented how much hair baby girl had, I could not believe her head was already coming out! He had me push one more time, then told me not to push again! She was pushing herself out and the cord was wrapped around her neck. I can't remember if I pushed again, I don't think I did. I saw baby girl being born and the thing I remember most is she was not crying and was blue. They rushed her over to the table and started suctioning out her lungs and giving her oxygen. They also started hitting her feet to get her to "pink up". The respiratory team had to come in and work on her. I heard a little bit of crying, but she was trying to hold her breath. I was so scared, all Ryan and I could to was watch and wait. I had a small tear, so the doctor gave me a couple stitches. What seemed like forever, she finally started crying and turning pink, it was wonderful! They had to clean her up, weigh her and measure her and then I could finally hold her.
She looked just like her brother Peyton, that was one of the first things I noticed about her when she was born. She also stuck her tongue out a lot, it was so sweet and cute! I started to nurse her and she took to it right away, which was a relief. My sister and Jason came around 9:30pm and then everyone left around 10:30pm. I took a bath and was shocked that I still looked 8 months pregnant, definitely a difference from the first two. She got her bath and then they took us to our room. I let her sleep with me all night, after what she had been through, she needed some extra snuggling. Nursing went so well, she actually seemed satisfied after she nursed, which never happened with Ash and P. I was in the hospital all day Tuesday and we discharged Wednesday the 20th. My recovery was very easy, the easiest so far, but the uterine contractions/cramping was the worst, as the nurses warned me. I love baby Charlotte so much and we are all adjusting to being a family of five.
