After going in for my 38 week appointment and already being 2cm and 70% effaced, we discussed induction knowing how fast I got to 6cm with Ethan (not even knowing I was in labor) and with my first wedding to photograph being 3.5 weeks after my due date. The induction was scheduled for August 13th (although I was sure I was going to go into labor naturally before then – shooting my final weddings pregnant at 38 and 39 weeks).
But, sweet little girl held on for induction! We were told we would get a call on the morning of the 13th when it was time for us to come in and they called at 5:45am! We got to the hospital by 9:00 and I was 3cm – they started the pitocin shortly after (around 10:30). By 1:00 after an increase in the pitocin and contractions 4 minutes apart they broke my water! And I had anesthesia on call before they even broke my water knowing (from past experiences) that I was going to want my epidural as soon after my water broke as possible. By 5:00 the epidural was wearing off and I was exhausted emotionally and physically. I couldn’t believe induction would take this long with my third baby, but here we were. They gave me another dose and checked my cervix – 7cm (yay!), but she was facing up so they put a peanut ball between my legs and the contractions immediately picked up and I was in a lot of pain until the epidural kicked in again. We were waiting for my doctor to finish with a c-section to come in and check me again but I felt ready to push and asked to see another doctor instead. Just as the house OB was coming in to check we, Dr. Carroll came in, checked me and said we were ready! She asked for a practice push and immediately told me to stop!! She got dressed and with the next contraction, sweet Madalyn Joy came into the world! After 2 hours of pushing with Emily and 1.5 hours of pushing with Ethan – it was a surprise to us all that Madalyn came in one push! Praise be to God!
