Emmy was causing me horrible sciatica pain for the last 4 weeks she was in utero. I was hoping that the doctors would induce me earlier than 39 weeks. (We had a set induction date of November 1st because that was the earliest they would induce). By my calculations, I thought I was due on Halloween; by the doctors' calculations, I was due November 7th.
So, I could barely walk and when they told me they wouldn't move up my induction date, I got a handicapped hang tag so that I could park closer to work. (It was taking me a good 20 minutes to walk to and from work from where I parked and I looked like Quasimodo walking across campus).
I was walking around at 5.5 cm dilated for the last two weeks prior to November 1st. I was hoping I would go naturally earlier than November 1st. No such luck, Ms. Emmy was too cozy inside of me. We had a big hurricane (Hurricane Sandy) on October 29th and lost power for a little over 24 hours (not my favorite thing, but was doable and much better than the WEEK without power during the same time the year before plus the Stroke of Mama which was not a happy time for many).
So, our neighborhood had power (one of the few in CT) so Andrew, Lucy, me and Cesar went out trick-or-treating on October 31st (which was also my last day of work, since I was to go in at 7 am on Thursday, November 1st to be induced).
Andrew was a magician and Lucy was a white bunny. I went with the kids to the houses on our street, then I went home to hand out candy while Cesar took the kids around to some other houses. They had a grand time and Lucy really enjoyed the candy even though she couldn't say "Trick or Treat".
Thursday morning I woke up at 5 am to shower and get ready and pack the last things in my bag. Cesar came home early from work so that he could shower and try to get some sleep before he drove me to the hospital. Lala was supposed to come at 6 am to get Andrew off to school and to watch Lucy while we were at the hospital.
I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but perhaps Lala could clarify in the comments, but I believe they had locked their keys in the car and had to call a locksmith and were therefore late to come watch the kids, which was fine because when I called the hospital, they told me they were running late and that they couldn't check me in until 7:30 or 8 am.
So, I was able to see Andrew and Lucy before I left as they both woke-up.
I ate something at Dunkin' Donuts and we were off to the hospital.
I thought I would try to have Emmy naturally since Lucy came so quickly after I had the epidural. They checked me in and I was still dilated to a 5.5. My plan was to wait to see if I would labor naturally and if not, then the doctor would break my water and see if that would throw me into labor, if that didn't work then I would get Pitocin to speed things along. I would avoid getting an epidural if at all possible.
Well, the doctor broke my water around 11 am, not much progression. At 2 pm, I asked for Pitocin. I didn't get it until 6:30 pm because their regular pharmacy had been in the news because of some scare where they had contaminated medicines. So they had to mix the Pitocin in the hospital. So, I had been laboring off and on since 11 am and when I got the Pitocin, the labor pains were getting stronger and stronger, but I had only progressed to a 7. So I told them I needed an epidural because I was too tired (mind you I hadn't eaten since 6:30 that morning). So, I got an epidural at 8:30 pm and after 4 pushes, Ms. Emmy made her debut at 9:40 pm weighing 8 lbs 13 oz and 21.5 inches long. She was 1 oz less than Andrew and .5 inch longer. Ms. Lucy was my smallest baby at 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long.
Emmy latched on quickly and had a strong latch. We tried only breastfeeding for the first 24 hours, but she was too hungry and I had too little milk which is par for the course. So, she had formula and was happy as a clam. She was very snuggly and loved to nurse.
