The Story Behind Welcoming Baby Grace

So before I forget the details and they become fuzzy, I want to record the story behind having Miss Gracie. First of all, because of my blood thinning issues (which I didn't know I had till becoming pregnant), I had to be induced so that I could go off of my heparin at least 24 hours before giving birth. The earliest my doctor would induce me was at 39 weeks, and I scheduled the induction right at 39 weeks to be safe. So I was scheduled for an induction on Jan. 10th. I learned the day before I was the 3rd of 7 to be induced, and that the hospital would call me on the 10th and let me know when I should come in. I figured, being 3 of 7, that I could sleep in a little and not rush to be up early. So Boyce and I got up about 8. At 8:30 - right after I'd scarfed some breakfast down - I got the call from the hospital. They asked if I could be there by 9. Wow. 9? The hospital was 20 minutes away. Sure! We'll try!

We got to the hospital just a couple minutes after 9 and they took us up to Labor and Delivery. I was amazed at how calm I was. I wasn't afraid; just excited! And for any of you who know me, that's pretty much amazing! I thought maybe it would take awhile to fill out any paperwork and get hooked up to the pitosin, but wow was I wrong! By 9:30 they had the IV in me and the pitosin going strong. I was already dilated to a 3 at the time I got to the hospital, and by an hour or two of pitoson I was to a 4. By 4 cm, I opted for the epidural. No trying to be a brave woman here! My goal was not to stress and just enjoy my labor, and the only way I knew how to do that was to get an epidural. It was the right decision. :)

Boyce and I watched a few movies for the next few hours (I only caught glimpses of the movies; I actually slept a lot of my labor). At around 3 o'clock, I started feeling intense contractions. Hello - wasn't that why I got the epidural? I pushed the button to administer more of the epidural and waited a few minutes for it to kick in, but it didn't seem to, and the pain got stronger. Pretty soon I was clenching Boyce's arm and gritting my teeth through contractions. This was intense - even WITH the epidural! At around 3:30 the nurse came in, surprised to see me in pain. I asked if she could please give me more of the epidural. She did, and decided to take a look at my progress.

"Wow, no wonder you're hurting!" the nurse said. "You went from a 4 to a 10 in a half hour! You're ready to have this baby!"

WHAT? Well, that makes sense! I was dying!

My nurse (whom I LOVED), told me to just enjoy the next hour, finish my movie (she turned down the pitosin), and that we'd start pushing around 5. So the next hour I recovered from that half hour of heck and finished our movie.

At 5, my nurse came back and had me start pushing. Because of the extra dose of the epidural, I was so incredibly numb I couldn't tell I was doing anything, but Boyce and the staff assured me I was! Twenty minutes later, little Miss Gracie was born!

And Miss Gracie arrived at 7 lbs. 5 oz., 20 inches long. She was so beautiful!

WELCOME MISS GRACE KATHLEEN CAMPBELL!