We took the kids to Mom's on Saturday night and then headed to the hospital. We got there at about 7:00 and they were ready for us. Luckily, it was a slow night and we were able to get started right away. At least they tried. It took four tries to get my IV in and another poke to draw my labs. My arms look like they belong to a heroine user. They also hooked me up to the monitor that would track baby's heartrate and my contractions. It turned out that I was already contracting about every five minutes anyway and dialated to a three! My nurse, Andrea, was excited to start pitocin and have a baby that night! Dr. Gaunt apparently wanted to go home and sleep, though, so he told her to give me a cervix softening pill and wait until morning to start the pit. I was pretty disappointed, but I got a sleeping pill and slept pretty well. They even brought in a cot for David to sleep on, which is an improvement to the chair that normally is in the room. David had brought the Wii so we played games for a while, which was a nice distraction.
Andrea started the pit at about 5:30 before her shift ended and we were on the way! I was feeling the contractions, but they weren't painful yet, so I decided to get the epidural before they got that way. It worked like a charm and I was able to sleep on and off throughout the day. I averaged about a centimeter an hour, which isn't super fast, but I guess it could've been worse. Baby's head was still way up high, so Dr. Gaunt didn't want to break my water because he said if she's still floating, the cord or an arm could come down with the gush. The day nurse, Theresa, came in to check me and my water broke then anyway! So I was at about a seven and we hoped things would go faster from there. I was finally competely dialated by about 1:20 and they got everything set up for delivery. They broke down the bed and it was time to go! I could feel the contractions but still no pain. She came down really quickly and it only took about 10 minutes of pushing and she was born! It didn't hurt! I love epidurals! David confirmed to me that she was still the girl that we were expecting and he cut the cord. They took her over to the warmer right away to get her cleaned up and weighed. She weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz and was 19 inches long and born at 1:38 pm. She has a little bit of hair and it looks kind of reddish.
We had kind of decided on the name London a bit before but we didn't have a middle name yet. David suggested Marie and we thought it sounded good so we went with it.
I felt great afterward and didn't have any tearing at all. Dr. Gaunt is an awesome doctor and was able to do some massaging, stretching thing that really made the difference, I think. I had episiotomies with both Paige and Jenna, but didn't need one with either Jack or London, who were both delivered by Dr. Gaunt. London latched on right as soon as I was able to try to nurse her and is a good feeder still. What a good baby!
Mom brought the kids to see us that evening and the girls loved her right away. Jack was a little weirded out the by hospital and pretty much wanted to leave as soon as he got there. He didn't like seeing me in the bed with an IV in my hand and I couldn't get up because my legs were still numb.
I had Andrea for a nurse again that night and slept on and off. London went to the nursery and I told them to only bring her to me when she was wide awake and ready to nurse. That only ended up being one time. Everything was fine with both me and London, so we were able to leave at about 12:30 on Monday. It was so nice to be back in my own bed! I took a nap and slept better for that hour and a half than I did the whole time I spent in the hospital. David was so good to me the whole time and I really appreciate him. He is such a good daddy and the kids adore him. London recognized his voice immediately and I'm sure she'll be just as taken as the rest of them.
And here's the breakdown: