Welcoming Remy
It's been three blissful, exhaustive weeks with our sweet baby girl, Remy. It's taken me awhile to get past the troubles of her birth to be able to put them into words, but in the end, she's safely here and healthy and loved beyond words.
I still feel as if we only just left the hospital, and find myself missing the comfort of having nurses there constantly for any and all questions, fears, and doubts. We had bonded with a few of them, and I wish we could've brought them home with us. A good nurse can be unforgettable. This was our second time having a baby at Tacoma General, and I'm so thankful for that hospital, because we had an incredible experience each time. The staff there deserves all the praise.
Shockingly, we were a week overdue, so the date was set to be induced as my discomfort was at an all time high. We were set for October 23rd at 5pm, only to discover that a surge of expectant mothers flooded the hospital and there simply wasn't space for us at that time. Fast forward to 4am on the 24th, and we got the call to start our journey in, there was a room ready and waiting. By 9:30 that morning, the induction began. And then we waited for nearly 8 hours. Contractions started around 5pm, but nothing else was progressing. I mean, literally nothing. We were told it could take days. I was frustrated, why wasn't my body ready?
At about 9pm, contractions became increasingly more painful. Since that was the only sign of progression, the midwife felt it would be too soon for an epidural, so a local painkiller was put through the IV before starting the fluids for the epidural, along with a catheter to help my cervix. At 9:30, something started to feel wrong. The contractions felt funny. I got scared and told my husband to call in the nurse. As the midwife and assigned nurse stepped out, anticipating nothing from me until the following morning at the soonest, another nurse stepped in to see how I was doing. As she went to check how dilated I was, the pain surged on and I asked her to remove the catheter. Poor girl, she got more than she bargained for at that moment! I rolled over on my side, grabbed the bed rail, and started yelling. Feeling like I had to push was just around the corner, I was suddenly terrified. The midwife and nurse got the call and ran back to our room, shocked that they were called in. That was at 10pm.
In the matter of about one hour, I dilated from one to nine, and by 10:28pm our baby girl entered the world. The entire NICU staff rushed in during delivery to help with complications, and thankfully, they took care of her lightening fast, and daddy was the first to hold her. I never did get the epidural. It was torturously painful. Our nurse was a "traveling nurse," she came into the room later on and said she'd never seen anything like it. I felt relief that the hardest part was essentially over, but still fearful of the recovery ahead of me. In all, though, knowing our baby was safely in our arms and healthy was all that mattered and is all that continues to matter.
Welcome to the world Remy, we are now a family of FIVE!