It all started about a week or two before Molly's birth day. I was having horrible "pre-labor" contractions, mostly at night. The worst part was the NO sleep. Everyone tells you to "sleep now" because you won't later. Well that's frustrating because I don't know any 9 month pregnant lady who sleeps well! The Saturday before Molly's arrival, unable to nap or really relax, I decided to do a little weeding in the front yard to help pass the time. Later that night I had horrible back pain and I figured I must have pulled something. The days passed and the back pain would not go away. I would call my mom crying daily over the pain. Well in true Mom fashion, she was worried about me (and also convinced I would be going into labor any day), so she drove through the night to be with me (I think this was a Tuesday). I had my 39 week appointment that day and let them know of my pain but they weren't too worried. What they were worried about was Molly's lack of movement during her ultrasound. So much so that they hooked me up to the monitor and gave me a sugary drink and snacks to see if that would entice her to wiggle around some more. That worked but Dr. Bennett still cautioned that if I felt worried about her lack of movement at any time to go right to the hospital. She then said those magic words, "Would you like to be induced?". How did she know I was about to ask her if they could PLEASE schedule one? I mentally needed to know that there was an end date for all of this back pain. There was an open induction slot that Thursday, June 20th! I was so excited to know that Molly would be in my arms in just two days. I was also relieved that my mom was already in town and we didn't have to worry about her making it in time for the delivery.
The night before Mollys birth was a sleepless one. My mom and I stayed up most of the night together. We left the house nice and early Thursday morning, got a quick bite at Panera, and were checked into the hospital by 8am. They started me right away on the pitocin and hooked me up to the iv.
They were increasing my pitocin every 30 minutes until around noon. At this point, I was thinking labor was a breeze. The only tricky part was maneuvering around with the cumbersome fluids bag (not sure if there is a more scientific name). Luckily, Mike came to the rescue and helped me walk to the bathroom about every 20 minutes (until I had the epidural and then the catheter took over). Unfortunately, Dr. Lawson came to check on me around noon and I had little to no progress. I had two choices, try this "balloon thing" or wait it out until the evening and they would start me on some meds to help soften the cervix. I was ready to meet Molly so I decided on the balloon. Within minutes of them inserting it/continuing to up my pitocin, I was beginning to think that labor might actually hurt after all. Around 2 pm I was in a lot of pain but I really didn't want an epidural until I knew I was actually progressing. I think I caved around 3-4 pm and got the epidural. BEST DECISION EVER. I started to feel better almost immediately. Around the same time, Dr. Lawson came to check my progress. I had gone from 2.5 cm dilated to 8.5 cm! That was music to my ears. Now it was just time to sit back, enjoy the painless contractions, and wait until it was time to push. A few hours later, they told me I was ready. Literally a few pushes later (also found out later that Molly was wearing a necklace aka umbilical cord wrapped around her neck), Molly June Ziegler was born! Her exact time of arrival was 8:25 pm, and her stats were 6 lbs, 11 oz/20 inches long. 12 hours of labor and less than 10 minutes of pushing is not too shabby for a first time mom!
Here she is!
And my goodness did this little girl have a lot of visitors the first few days. Her first visitors were "Aunt" Ang and Liz. They came Thursday night:
Emily, Aly, Lauren, Kristen, Bryan, Jen B, Mariana, Lizzy, Katie, Nick, and Joe (am I forgetting anyone?) all came the next day. Thank you all.....we felt so loved! Also a shout out to those who came in the following days (Caroline, Paige, Brian, Burton, Eliza, Sandy, Nancy, Aggie, Hannah, Cam....lots of family too but we will get to that later).
Here are a few more pics from the hospital:
Gigi has found her calling in life!
Daddy and his girl
On the way home!
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