A Baby Story - Charlotte Elisabeth

Okay.. Girls are in bed and I finally have a second to sit down and remember Charlotte's Birthday! Let's see how many details I can remember from that day.. (insert flashback music here)

 My last post on Wednesday, October 12th, I put that my "official" due date would be that following Monday, the 17th. Reason for that was I had talked to the appointment secretary that morning and that was the first spot they had available for an induction. I was really okay with that because I knew, knew I would go into labor before then. I really did not want to be induced if possible, I really wanted to go into labor on my own and now I had time for my body to do that. Well a few hours after that conversation, I received another phone call. This time from one of the midwives, Freida. She was on call at the hospital and was talking to the other midwife (Carolyn, who would be on call the 17th) and said that there was actually an opening for tomorrow morning at 6 am with her. Did I want to go ahead and be induced then? My heart literally skipped a beat and I did not know what to say. I think I was at peace with waiting and now I was being told you have ~15 hours to go into labor on your own! EEEKKK!!! I felt really nervous about deciding so I was honest with Freida and said "I really think I need someone to make this decision for me." I really liked her response - "You are 8 days late.. I think it's time you had that baby. Let's do it tomorrow."


I want to just back up and say that I had a few certain requests that I prayed to God about Charlotte's delivery. First request was that I really wanted Freida to be my midwife. I just felt the most comfortable with her and knew she would give me the support I needed. I loved how God answered that prayer with her being on call that day and also being the one to reassure me with going ahead with an induction. The second request that I had was that I would have a certain nurse, Michelle O. and even though she was not originally scheduled to work that day, God worked it out to where she had rearranged her schedule to be there and I was blessed to have her as my nurse for most of the day! 


William took notes on our iPad, so here is a break down of the day (I copied and pasted so forgive any spelling errors!)

Came in at 6 am
Had M davenport.  Talked about last time and picture on wall.
Dr. Gay came in and talked with us.
M's came in and Frank prayed for us.
7:15 MOverby started the  petosin.
Called and checked on Cora at 7:40 doing well.
Frieda came in and checked, 75% effaced and a loose cm.
8:30 Frieda placed the EASY cath.
9:45 FaceTime with zach.
9:50-10:00  MO gave a tug, social visit from Frank. More petosin.
10:10 Frieda came and checked maybe 2 cm.  Contractions 4-5 min
10:30 rocking chair & apple juice yay midwives
11:30 EASY cath came out
11:40 Frieda checking and breaking water, 3 cm, 80%, -1, clear fluid no meconium
moved to side A room 7 !!!
12:20 face time with Casey
12:40 Joni stopped by for some encouraging words. And see pics of Cora.
12:50 called and updated dad in-between contractions.
Contractions 2-3 min apart
12:55 lip exfoliation ;)
2:20 check -4-5 cm 90%
2:30 IV med for pain
3:30 epidural.
3:55 feeling pressure.
4:00 10 cm +1 started pushing
4:16 Charlotte born






I loved having Michelle and Frieda!  My favorite memory from that day was sitting with the 2 of them, just having normal conversations about families, shoes, and babies, etc and they would help me through each contraction.  William had left to go eat some lunch so it was just girl time.  There we were, Michelle sitting on the bed, Freida sitting in front of me and me just relaxing in the rocking chair. As soon as a contraction would start, my eyes would close and they would just tell me how great I was doing and how to keep going and just breathe.  Soon it was over and our conversation picked up where we left off until the next contraction came along.  When the rocking chair became uncomfortable, Michelle got me a ball to sit on and just rubbed my back and helped me find comfort wherever possible!  It was just a sweet time, being cared for that way.


Around 2:30, Frieda came in to check me.  At this point, I hadn't had any pain medicine yet and it was starting to get really tough.  Contractions were coming every 3 mins or so and I was getting pretty exhausted. When she told me I was 4-5 cm, I was so discouraged as I knew I couldn't do it anymore without some pain relief.  After all that time and pain, I just thought I would have progressed further so I was really disappointed.  Plus, Michelle had to leave!  She was really only scheduled to work until 11 but since she was helping me, she stayed as long as she could but had to leave by then for a family obligation.  So I was so sad that she did all that work to help me and yet I still hadn't had the baby yet.  So Freida recommended I get some pain meds to help me rest and relax a little. First it came through the IV and relief was immediate.  It was wonderful.  But pretty soon, I started to feel each contraction again and they started coupling, like I was having 2 contractions back to back with no break in between.  It felt like an eternity waiting for the epidural.  Once the anesthesiologist got there, they had some issues with the bed, getting it level.  They ended up making me sit indian style on the bed while he gave the epidural.  Once that got put in, I finally was able to rest and I was looking forward to that.  In my mind, I was thinking okay take a nap for a few hours and then I'll be ready to push.  But pretty soon after I got the epidural, I started feeling pressure.  No pain, just pressure like I was ready to push.  So after a quick check, I was ready to go. 10 cm!  Couldn't believe it!  I guess I just needed some relief in order to help my body relax to get to 10. 




So at 4pm, the pushing began.  With Cora, I pushed over 2 hours so when Freida kept saying I would have this baby soon, I didn't believe her.  I really enjoyed having an epidural as I felt no pain.  It was a great experience to actually enjoy having a baby.  After ~ 15 mins of pushing, Charlotte was born!



I had these doubts all through the day that I wouldn't love her as much as I loved Cora.  I expressed these concerns to Freida and I remember her saying that once I saw Charlotte those thoughts would disappear and somehow my heart would expand to love them both. She was right!  As soon as I saw her and held her, I fell in love with my sweet daughter.







Pretty soon after William cut the cord, he came down with a stomach virus!  Since Cora had tested positive for strep a few days earlier, we weren't sure what he had so the nurses thought it best if he left to go to the doctor since he wouldn't be safe to be around Charlotte.  Talk about God's perfect timing.  Not that I wanted him to get sick but if he had to, God allowed it to happen after she was born and not when I needed him most.  So thankfully, it wasn't strep, just a 24 hour bug and he was able to come the next day with Cora.










I was so happy to see Cora when she came to visit!  It had only been 24 hours but she seemed so much bigger!  I missed her so much! She did great meeting Charlotte. She was interested in her and wanted to hold her for a little while. I think she was very excited about eating her "Dora" cookie that her MeMa had got for her.  They also brought some cupcakes and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte. 





Our first new family picture!

We actually headed home the day after she was born, on the 14th.  I wasn't sure if I would want to go home so early but I was ready to be back with Cora and I felt a lot more comfortable in my own bed. 









If you can believe it, I actually left out SOOO many details!  But I figured this post was long enough as it was and you get the basic idea.  Charlotte's baby story was just full of examples of how God perfectly worked everything out.  We are so thankful it all went so easily that day.  I also want to say a special thanks to our families! William's mom came and took care of Cora while we were at the hospital so I did not have to worry about her.  My sister took William to urgent care once he became sick and sat with him for those long hours.  And William's sister stayed with me at the hospital despite not having ANY overnight necessities.  I could go on and on..I think I'll stop there. 



Frieda with Charlotte at 6 weeks.


We invited Michelle and her husband over for dinner to celebrate!

Since things got a little crazy at the hospital with William getting sick, we forgot to get a picture of Charlotte with Freida and Michelle so I snapped them when I saw them again!