Part One.

Meet Elsie Lyn Garner, born May 24, 2013 at 5:45 p.m. via c-section.

Here's part one of her birth story (it will be four parts... sorry it's so dang long and that the pictures in this post are not the greatest - still at the hospital). 

As many of you know from this post, I was scheduled to head to the hospital at 7:30 pm on May 23, 2013 to be induced. Mike and I arrived at labor and delivery at about 7:45 pm (that's us... always so punctual) and I was prepped for cytotec. Part of this "prep" involved a vaginal exam to see how far dilated and effaced I was. I am going to be completely honest and say that this exam hurt more than ANYTHING ELSE I experienced while in labor. I know that sounds ridiculous, but because of Elsie's positioning (she was posterior), my cervix was back incredibly far and it was nearly impossible to check. Once the exam was over, it was determined that I was at about 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced.

At 9:03 pm, the nurse gave me my first dose of cytotec. Mike and I sat back and relaxed, waiting for the pill to work its magic (we watched Fever Pitch on E! in case you were wondering. Good movie). I was hooked up to monitors to watch for contractions and make sure that Elsie's heart rate was regular. After the movie was over, Mike ran home to get the insurance card (kind of an important thing to have... oops) and I laid down to try and get some sleep.

Right around 1:00 a.m., my midwife checked me and determined that I would need a second dose of cytotec because the first dose didn't do much. At about 1:35 am, a second dose was inserted, and I laid down to get some rest through the minor contractions I was having. The contractions started getting stronger and stronger, and by about 2:45 am I was having very strong, steady contractions that I could no longer sleep through. They were bad, but not bad enough that I felt the need to wake up Mike. I knew he would be helping me through labor on Friday, so I let him sleep.

By about 3:05 am, Mike was awake with back pain (poor guy was sleeping on an incredibly uncomfortable "couch") and moved to the recliner next to the bed. As I breathed through the contractions, he was able to get a little more rest. Finally, at 4:10 am, I decided it was time to get Mike up for the day - I really had to pee, and needed him to help me get all unhooked from the monitors so that I could walk to the restroom. I sat down on the toilet and when I stood up, I realized there was quite a bit of blood there. I freaked out a little bit and Mike called our nurse in. Totally forgot that there was this little thing called the "bloody show" that is totally normal - oops! Better safe than sorry though, right?

Anyway, the contractions continued and were about 1.5 - 2 minutes apart and very intense. My midwife was called in to check dilation at about 5:30 am and I was still at a 2 and 70% effaced. She determined that it was a good time to break my water. I asked for about 10 minutes to get myself "in the zone" and by the time I was ready, she had been called into a c-section for another one of her patients. At 7:03 am, she was back and ready to break my water. Mike was such a trooper and put his arm under my hips to help lift me up so that my cervix was more easily accessible. I don't think he really thought that one through, but I was so grateful for him. It took Carol (my midwife) about a minute to get in there and break my water, and it was such a relief. I immediately felt so much lighter and the contractions felt like they were so much more effective.