Our crazy girl finally arrived by making her own plans! Our due date was October 9th, my birthday is October 7th. I was super excited that I might possibly have a birthday buddy but this girl decided she didn’t like the 9th or 7th and that the 3rd was a much nicer day to be born.

Here’s our story:

We found out we were surprisingly expecting our first baby January 25th. At my 28 week appointment I had the dreaded glucose test. We went to lunch afterwards and I looked at my medical portal and it looked like the test came back normal. The next day I got a call to go back for the wonderful 3 hour test. Two days later I was told to go pick up my diabetes supplies from the pharmacy because I had gestational diabetes. I’m not overweight and no one in my family has a history of diabetes so this game as a shock. I met with a dietitian and my midwives and I kept an eye on my blood sugars and managed through diet.

My hospital has 2 midwives and 9 OBGYNs. I chose the midwife route to ensure I knew the person delivering my baby. At 35 weeks one of my midwives informed me that I could be induced at 39 weeks due to the diabetes. I declined the induction, wanting my body to start labor when it was ready. She then informed me that the other midwife would be on medical leave until the 15th and starting the 10th she would be out of the office for classes. Therefore I would end up with an OBGYN. Not apart of my plan at all. So I decided if there was no sign we’d get induced on the 8th.

On October 1st, I picked up my sister from the airport (I wanted her here for the delivery and she’s staying with us until Christmas to help us adjust). On October 2nd we all got up at 7am to head in for my last appointment. The nurse got us settled In the room and went to make a copy of my blood sugar record. My husband looked at me and said “What if they tell you you have to be induced today?” 5 minutes later my midwife walked in, didn’t say hi or ask how everything was going like normal, looked at me and said “I talked with Dr. so and so (I didn’t catch the name) and we think it would be best to do an induction today because you had a few high sugars.”

So up to the 5th floor we went to the delivery room. They started the cervix ripening drug at 10:30 then the pitocin at 2:30. My mom was still in Texas and couldn’t get a flight until 9:30pm. So my sister went to pick her up from the airport. My midwife decided to stop pitocin at 11 then turn it back on at 1 to give my body a slight break. I tried to get some rest but when your husband snores like a freight train and you’re having contractions it’s a little difficult.

My water had yet to break so at 1:30, just as my mom and sister got back to the hospital, my midwife broke my water and labor really picked up. I tried everything. Saying my hips, switching sides to lay on, sitting in the bathtub with warm water being sprayed on my stomach, everything except walking around because my legs were sore (from what I don’t know).

Unfortunately, my midwife went off call at 8am. However, that woman is a saint because she stayed until nearly 10am. At 9:45 I asked for an epidural. I couldn’t handle the pain anymore and I had used up my other pain medication. They brought in the OBGYN on call who did an ultrasound to determine why I had been stuck at an 8 since 2am. My wonderful little girl was face up with a hand by her face. My mom said “You’re going to want the epidural.” The OBGYN looked at me and said it was an epidural or a c-section. I looked at everyone and was like “I already asked for the epidural!”

The anesthesiologist walked in shortly after 10 and said “I’m going to be on your Christmas list by 10:30.” Let me tell you this. He made the list by 10:25. We spent the time making jokes and laughing. As he was walking out the door he pointed at the clock, reading 10:25, and said “What time is it?” And I replied “It’s Christmas!”

So with the epidural in place and everyone back in the room, I found myself in and out of sleep as my body was able to finally relax. At one point I felt my baby move and I looked at my mom and said “What if she flipped herself?” Sure enough, the OBGYN came back and did an ultrasound and determined she had indeed flipped and moved further down.

Around 12 the nurse came and checked me. I could start pushing if I wanted to, but I wanted her to move a little further down before I had to put in the work. I don’t remember when I actually started pushing, but she finally arrived at 1:09pm on October 3rd weighing 7 lbs 2oz and 19 1/2”. I’m so glad we got the extra week to love on this sweet face ❤️