Vivian's Labor

Earlier in the day:
On Sunday the 14th I started to feel a sharp pain in my side that made it so I could not even get up and walk around. Andrew's mom, Serena, had invited us over for dinner that night at 6, the pain in my side had gone away and we decided that we would go and have dinner with her. As soon as we sat down to start eating the pain in my side came back and would not let up, it was bad enough that it made it so I was hardly able to eat. After that I was convinced that I may have some sort of infection and that I needed to go to the hospital to get it taken care of. We left Jocey at Serena's thinking that we would be back in an hour or two. We did go home and get all of our stuff just in case and also left Serena with Jocey's carseat.

The Hospital:
When I arrived and got all checked in the nurse came and checked me and I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced at 8:15 p.m.. I started to get the strong pain in my side again but it was only once within the hour. At 9:00 p.m the nurse came and checked me again and I was a 3+ and 90% effaced, she called the doctor and to our surprise they decided to admit me. Shortly after that Andrew and I started to cry because we were not expecting her to come on her own and we did not get the chance to explain everything to Jocey, because we thought we would be right back. We asked Serena if she would bring Jocey to the hospital so we could see her and talk to her before the baby came. A little while later she came and we were able to explain what was going on and we felt much better, a little while after that Andrew's dad and Kathy came to pick her up so she could spend the next few days with them. At 10:00 p.m. I was dilated to a 4 and still 90% effaced, then at 11:00 I was still the same, then I was checked at 1:00 a.m. and I was STILL THE SAME... Not cool. At that point they needed to either put me on Pitocen or break my water. I asked if they would break my water because that is what we had planned to do when I was supposed to be induced. The doctor said that would be fine so a few minutes later they broke my water. There was meconium ( poop) in my water and I also did not have a ton of fluid, because of this they told me I would no longer be able to do skin to skin when she was born because they needed someone from the NICU to immediately check her lungs when she was born. This upset me a lot. And everything seemed to be going completely opposite of what I wanted. A little while later I went into hard labor and the contractions were killing me in my lower back and side, they checked me at 2:00 a.m. and I was at a 5 and 90%. From that point on the pain was unbearable and they nurse told me that my cervix was a little posterior so I needed to try different positions to help with pain and dilation. So up on my hands and knees I went for 2 hours. Not only did it not help the pain but when they came and checked me at 3:00 a.m. I was a 6 and then at 4:00 a.m. I was still only a 6. I could not even bear for the nurse to check me at that point, she told me she suspected the baby was posterior (facing up) and so every time I had a contraction she was pushing into my bottom and lower back instead of on my cervix to come out. She also said that they can't try and turn the baby until you are at least a 9 and I was not progressing past a 6, and also that often times the baby will correct themselves and face down when it's time to push. At that point I felt defeated, was bawling, having contractions every 2 minutes and did not even have the encouragement that the baby was in the right position to come. I decided to get the epidural, after the epidural was in place the nurse was able to check me and I was STILL AT A 6. They did an ultrasound and sure enough she was posterior. Right after that my contractions stopped. At 6:00 a.m. they had to start me on pitocen and by the way, I was still a 6. At 7:00 a.m. I was a whopping 6 1/2. At 7:35 I felt like the baby was coming out and they checked me and I was an 8! 10 minutes later I called the nurse back in because I felt baby again and I was a 9! 10 minutes after that I was COMPLETE! The doctor thought he felt she had turned the right way so he had me push a couple times and wait 30 min to help baby move down the birth canal. I then pushed through 6 contractions and she was born facing up.... she never ended up turning.

My Feelings:
I am super bummed that I was not able to go natural and that a lot of things did not turn out the way the were supposed to. I was sad about the labor part but I really liked the actual birth. This time I was able to literally feel everything when I was pushing, and with Jocey I did not feel a thing. I still can't believe that I delivered her posterior, my doctor said it was pretty uncommon for that to happen. My recovery however has been way better then Jocey, no swelling, no heaviness in my bottom and minimal bleeding. Vivian's delivery was a complete 180 from Jocey's, but I am glad that I had both of these miraculous experiences. Child birth is a miracle, it is worth it no matter what you have to go through. I love my tiny Vivi bum and am so happy she is finally here!

Jocey kissing my belly before she leaves.

Right after Andrew cut the cord 

First time holding her

She love's her tongue

First time kissing baby sister