Ali Debra Burton-The LONG Version

She. Is. Here. I NEVER thought the day would come. Our little diva caused quite the chaos in utero, and her entrance into the world pretty much confirmed that she is a stubborn girl who wants what she wants when she wants it! Miss Ali decided she would shorten my cervix, pee A LOT to make my fluid sky high, and make my uterus mad to contract at 26 weeks. They started me on meds right away, but I ended up on bed rest anyway from 30 to 36 weeks. Those 36 weeks were absolutely crazy with fluctuating amniotic fluid levels, pre-term contractions, and lots of cervix thinning out and shortening. Luckily, we made it to 36 weeks and I was taken off bed rest with the ok to have her any time. BUT THEN.....we waited, and waited...and she decided she could hold off after all. I'm telling you...DIVA. So with my real, regular contractions barely dilating me week by week, and my fluid continuing to rise, Dr. Bohman decided to induce at 39 weeks.

This morning, March 27th, we arrived at the hospital at 6 am. It was weird to have it scheduled because yesterday I knew it was my last day with Luke as just his mommy. I knew it was my last day of being pregnant after what seemed like a 2 year pregnancy. And I knew our lives were about to change with another amazing miracle baby sent straight from heaven to our arms. Needless to say, I barely slept last night!

By the time I got changed, got my I.V. started, and got situated I was actually having pretty regular contractions on my own. Dr. showed up around 7 am to break my water. (Usually he would have his nurse do it for him so he could just come when I was complete and ready to push. However, due to my high fluid, there is a chance of a cord prolapse, which is when you have so much fluid that the cord can actually get sucked out first, cutting off oxygen to baby and requiring emergency c-section. Because of that, he wanted to break it himself to try and avoid that!) Baby girl's head was already very low, which caused a very slow trickle of water instead of a gush. We were all expecting Niagra Falls since I had high fluid, (and though it didn't come in gush form, it was Niagra Falls with every single contraction.) It was crazy, but every time I would contract I would leak out everywhere and had to change the bed chucks about 15 times. After breaking my water, they started pitoin. Dr. said this would just ensure that my contractions would be effecive in dilating me. I was 4 cm when I started the pit and when he broke my water. I knew from Luke's delivery that contractions are A LOT worse with pitocin, so I told my nurse Liz (my awesome co-worker) that I would like my epidural as soon as possible. She let me know it would be at least a half hour because the anesthesiologist was in a c-sec. I didn't think anything of it and said that would be fine.

I was wrong!! Not 5 minutes after Liz left the room my contractions hit like a freight train. One minute apart lasting 1 minute 30 seconds. They hurt. They were so much worse than I remembered them to be with Luke. (I got my epi super early with him so maybe that's why.) I was crying through them while panting and squeezing my eyes shut. My mom kept saying she was going to go out and remind them I was there. Haha. Drew just held my hand and fed me ice chips in between. It was hard. And the 30 minute c-section turned into an hour and 15 minutes. But finally around 9:15 the anesthesiologist "remembered I was there." :)

My epidural was also a lot different than Luke's. Maybe because I was contracting so hard while getting it. But the anesthesiologist said to me, "Do you have scoliosis?" I answered "No" right away and got a little worried by that question. He explained that he could see the mark from Luke's epi and it had moved far left from where it should be. Needless to say, he had a rough time getting it in, and the back popping/cramps were pretty painful on top of my contractions. Those few minutes seemed like an eternity. Not to mention the shooting fluid out on my nurse and Drew as they held my hands. Crazy amounts of fluid.

After getting the epidural, things were much better. I was able to rest for about 20 minutes while my mom, Lori, and Drew went to get some lunch. My nurse checked me and I was only a 5 after those crazy contractions for 2 hours. She told me she would be back in 30 minutes to check me again. I kept rolling from side to side to keep my numbness even because it seemed to be stronger whichever way I laid. Then about 20 minutes later, I started feeling a weird pressure in my pelvis whenever I would contract. It started getting pretty intense almost to the point where I felt like I needed to push. I told Drew, Lori and my mom that there was no way that's what I was feeling because I was barely a 5. Liz happened to be delivering another patient at the time, so Drew grabbed another nurse in the hall and told her I felt the need to push. She came in and said she would check me for Liz and just make sure the pressure I was feeling wasn't baby saying it was time. Well, that's exactly what she was saying! It was time! I had gone from a 5 to a 10 and ready to push in 20 minutes. So here's where things got interesting. I work for my Dr., and we have been texting through out my whole pregnancy (things like "Can I take blank for blank, or "My contraction are getting worse, we are going to get checked..." Etc. etc.) So, at this point, I text him to give him a heads up. I said, "Liz is delivering another patient, another nurse checked me and said baby is going to be ready soon!" So, Dr. Bohman get's my text, and immediately calls the hospital asking for whoever checked me. Nobody knew! So he just headed my way assuming I was right. He was a little angry that the nurse didn't call him right away, and I think I made some of the nurses mad by texting him instead of them just calling. But they waited to call him a whole 10 minutes! And let me tell you...I could not have waited another 2, let alone 10. For the next 34 GRUELING minutes, I breathed (more like gasped). through my urges to push with every contraction. I didn't feel pain, which I am very grateful for. But the pressure was so intense that I had to focus on spots on the wall or think about fun memories to keep from pushing. A nurse was there making sure that my contractions wouldn't push her out themselves, but finally Dr. Bohman made it. They quickly set up for him, and after 2 pushes, an episiotomy, and one more big push, our baby was here!

It was a blessing that my epidural was just right enough that I felt the urges to push, or else I probably would have been complete and had her coming without even knowing it. It also made the actual pushing a lot quicker after holding all those pushes in, because my contractions did their duty and moved her down the birth canal themselves. It was incredibly difficult, but the fact that it was so quick made it a little better.

They set her on my chest in all her goopiness glory and I couldn't believe she was finally here. My heart grew twice the size of what it was and I realized there was room for both of my amazing kiddos. They took her away for a little bit to do the quick tests and then brought her back to do skin to skin. 8 lbs, 11 oz, 20.5 inches long and perfect. Such an amazing experience. With Luke, they whisked him away to the nursery right away due to high fever and infection risks, so having Ali with me from birth up until today when we came home was so fun.

She latched on right away, and has been nursing great. My milk isn't in yet, so she isn't getting much but she was doing great and we were able to come home the standard 24 hours after birth. Luke loves her, and calls her "Owie". Cutest thing ever.

I am so grateful for my little family. Drew is my rock and best friend. I couldn't ask for a better partner in parenting and life. We love our sweet girl so much, and can't wait for our future with her. I can already feel the amazing bond with her that I anticipated, and I can already see the relationship between Luke and Ali blossoming. Ali has her daddy wrapped around her finger already, and he complained about her going home outfit because her dress was too short. Uh oh...so it begins. I can't wait. Sorry these are out of order...I'm too tired to fix it right now. ;)