We finally had a baby! Yay! I was feeling super anxious and miserable the last couple weeks of pregnancy with Ruby. The last week was particularly bad because I had tons of false labor and constant contractions that never did anything! Plus Ben had accepted a job in Salt Lake and we couldn't give a start date and quit the other job until I had the baby. It was frustrating. On October 15, two days before my due date, I went to the hospital but was sent home because my contractions stopped. My contractions continued off and on after that. My grandparents came to visit and we took the kids rollerskating to take my mind off of it. Finally on Sunday morning, I couldn't take it anymore. I had my neighbor take the kids and we went up to the hospital again at 9:30. I wasn't even excited because I was so worried they would send me home again. I felt kind of bad that I let my emotions and fears get in the way of enjoying the last bit of pregnancy, but it is what it is. We got to the hospital and I had only dilated a tiny bit since the 15th, but Ruby's heart rate was lower than they liked it to be. We tried drinking cold water, moving around, etc. but she still was sluggish. I couldn't take it anymore at that point and tearfully begged them to call my doctor and induce me. They obliged. :) I checked into the hospital and got antibiotics for group b strep at 11:30. We called my mom and sister to come babysit my kids. Finally at 1:00pm, they started me on pitocin. It wasn't too bad at first. They checked me at 3:00pm and I was at a 5. So we decided to break my water to speed it up... big mistake. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I should wait until I'm at a 7 or 8 to get my water broken, but I just wanted it over with so I had them do it. Labor immediately went from manageable to insane. I tried just about everything I knew to take the edge off the pain and nothing was working. So I stared at the clock and said I'll give it a half hour and then if I'm not done, I'm getting the epidural. They checked me at 3:30 and I was still at a 5. I flipped out and told them I couldn't do it anymore. They paged the anesthesiologist and he arrived at about 4:00. They checked me again and I was at an 8. So I went from 5-8 in less than 30 minutes. Because I was so close, they decided to do an intrathecal instead of a full epidural. They all said my chance of getting an epidural headache was much lower if I chose that and I wouldn't have to be hooked up to anything. So at 4:15, they got that in place. It numbed me up pretty well, everywhere but my stomach. So while it took the edge off for sure, I was still having to breathe and concentrate during contractions. At 4:35, I was fully dilated and she was born at 4:42. At the time, I was so happy I got the pain meds because I didn't feel any pushing. But because I waited until the last 30 minutes of birth to get it, I was numb for a long time after birth, which was super irritating. Then I started getting a headache at about 8pm and it got worse and worse to where it was the worst headache I've ever had. It would go away and come back a lot during the next couple days in the hospital. One night it was so bad, it felt like the room was spinning and I couldn't even take care of Ruby. So right before I left the hospital, they did a blood patch and injected blood back into my spine. That was unpleasant and I had to lay flat for three hours, but it did take the headache away... at least for a few hours. Anyway- back to Ruby's birth. She was born and surprised us all because we were thinking it would be a boy. We had no name ideas but finally narrowed it down to Ruby and Lucy. We polled the hospital staff and went back and forth constantly. But for some reason, she just looked like a Ruby to me. So... Ruby Eloise it was. Eloise is a mixture of my two great grandmother's names... Elsa and Lois. She was as beautiful as could be and we enjoyed new baby bliss in the hospital for the next couple days. The kids came up to visit a few times and they got to be the ones to announce to everyone that it was a girl. The hospital in Pocatello was so nice, I was happy to stay as long as possible. Unlike my other births, where I left within 24 hours. Well that is Ruby's birth in a somewhat condensed nutshell. Not really, but I wanted to remember all these details. Here are some of my favorite pics from the day.
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