Sophia Faith

Sophia Faith Richert
November 10, 2006
5 lbs 14 oz, 19.5 inches long.

This is how mommy got me here:

I went into the hospital at 9:30am on November 10, 2006. My doctor arrived at 11:30am and checked me. At that point my cervix was already opened. She had the nurse connect me to a baby monitor to keep an eye on baby’s heart rate, and also to see the frequency of my contractions. She inserted cervidil into my cervix which helps the contractions to get stronger and more regular. She warned me that with most people it does not take affect until 12-24 hours later, and that there is a good chance that I would be sent home in couple of hours. As soon as cervidil was inserted I began contracting regularly 2-3 minutes apart. The contractions were pretty strong and I really had to focus as they came and went. About half an hour later one of the nurses offered me some morphine and gravol to help me cope with the pain. I think that was the worst choice that I made throughout my labor. Not only did it not take away the pain, it made me really sleepy. Being in labor and hardly being able to keep your eyes open..DOES NOT WORK!!!!

At 1:30pm I was moved into the overflow room where they checked my blood pressure and just let me labor. The doctor came in at 3:00pm to check on my progress, and me- I was 3 cm dilated. By this time the contractions were coming 2 minutes apart and were really painful. One of the nurses suggested that I go and take a shower to relieve some pain, so I took my time in the shower as it did wonders. By 5:30pm I was told that soon I would be moved up to labor and deliver where I could get an epidural to relieve some pain. A couple of hours went by and I was still downstairs. The nurses kept telling me that it would be soon, they didn’t have any beds available yet. There was a lady that had her bed next to mine who had a major freak out. She had had a stroke and got really upset when she found out that the nurses were going to move her to a private room. I had to listen to her cry hysterically for about half hour, and then I requested to be moved. From about 7:30-9:30pm I was in the high risk unit waiting for a bed to open up for me. At 9:30pm the nurse came and got me, by this time my contractions were only 1 minute apart. I was hooked to an IV to keep up my blood pressure, and an anesthesiologist came in at 10:15pm to administer my epidural. By 10:30pm I was finally not in pain. I could still feel the contractions, but I wasn’t going out of my mind. Being in active labor for 11 hours straight can drive you mad. My doctor was called to come and break my water, but about 2 minutes before she arrived it had broken on its own. She checked me at 11:00pm and I was only 4 cm dilated. She told me that they would give me Oxytocin to speed up my labor. Unfortunately the baby decided that she did not like that idea, her heart rate had dropped from 130bpm to 90bpm. They took me off the Oxytocin and checked me again at 1:30am. I was 7cm dilated, guess it worked. Then about 15 minutes later I began feeling a lot of pressure and asked to be checked again, I was fully dilated. The doctor rushed in and I began pushing at 1:45am. I pushed for an hour and 2 minutes, and at 2:47am Sophia was born.

Overall labor was not half as bad as I imagined it would be. It hurt, but once I got my epidural it was smooth sailing from there. Id do it again in a heartbeat.

MEETING MOMMY AND DADDY!!!

OUR FAMILY!!!

MEETING GREAT GRANDMA!!!

ME, THE DAY AFTER I WAS BORN!!!