Hello folkses.
Yep, she popped. Or rather, was punctured.
Yesterday we were scheduled to be induced, but at or around midnight she went into labour. Of course, we were both excited Tuesday night about having Amber the next day, so I didn't get to sleep 'till 12:00 or so, and Roberta let me sleep through the first little bit but woke me up at 2:00-ish. She had a shower while I made breakfast & fed the dogs, and at 3:00 or so we went to the Rocky.
At first, everything went really well, but by the time we were given a birthing room at 7:00 or so, labour pains had taken hold. We started out with NOS (two big bottles, Turetto!) but it wasn't enough, so we went for the epidural 'round 11:00. 12:30 or so Roberta got a top-up 'cause she still had quite a bit of pain in the right side, after which she was able to get an hour of sleep.
4:30 or so, the doctors told us that Roberta was at 10 cm and fully effaced, and the next time Roberta felt an urge to push we could let the RN know and we'd go for it. Much pushing happened, and at first Roberta had a pretty good handle on it, but after an hour or so she got tired and felt that we weren't going anywhere. She'd been up for 36 hours or so with an hour of sleep, and had only eaten 2 Eggos, a couple bites of bananna, and a handful of muffin crumbs since dinner the night before. What's worse, she started to get frustrated and scared, and was fighting the urge to push to give herself a break from the pain. Right at the end she pulled it together for a few more GREAT pushes, but still nothing. The doctors said that Amber hadn't moved at all, and in their opinion she wasn't going to get her head past the pubic bone.
So another top-up for the epidural, take her off the oxytocin (labour-inducing drug), and let her rest for a little while before heading to the operating room to have a cesarian section. Right then, all the doctors & anesthesiologists were called into an emergency procedure, and we were left pretty much all alone, with Roberta strapped to the table and the epidural wearing off.
At about 8:30, the on-call doctor arrived and an anesthesiologist who was just leaving the hospital was dragged back inside, and they kicked me out for a "minute" while they tried to remove the epidural and insert a spinal block. That "minute" turned into about 45, where I was left pacing the hall. Finally, I saw them all start to suit up so I went inside and held Roberta's hand (which she couldn't feel) and waited what felt like 5 minutes before they brought out our baby. As I got up to take a picture, I was treated to the sight of the doctor holding up and inspecting Roberta's inside bits...
After a few minutes holding Amber and showing her off to her mommy, they took her and me away to the baby special care department, where they did the full inspection & I got to spend a bit of quality time with her. They were a bit worried by Amber's breathing in the operating room, 'cause she didn't come around like they'd hoped. It all turned out fine, though, and Amber & Mom were reunited at around 3:00 this morning.
I'd gotten home at around 1:00 and slept 'till about 10:00, and after I sent out the email my mom showed up so I had a shower and we went to see her first grandaughter. Just got back about an hour ago.
Some pix:
About a minute old:
About a minute after that:
After her first hour:
This morning:
With her Meme:
