So, now for the labor story...Monday afternoon my sister was admitted to be induced because the doctor decided it was time for Emma to come into this world. My sister and her husband had been waiting anxiously for the arrival of their daughter and did not expect the doctor to admit her that day - on her official due date - for induction! What a great surprise!!
Of course when I got the call I left work immediately and went to the hospital to be with my family. My Dad also booked his flight for that afternoon and was able to get out of Tampa fast to get to his baby who was having a baby :-) My Mom was already there and had been helping prepare for Emma's arrival. It was so special that we could all be together as a family, my sister had hoped for that.
When I arrived at the hospital, they had my sister hooked up to a pitocin drip to induce her labor and they were starting it off very slowly to make sure they were being safe with Mom and baby during this process. They were also working their "magic" to help my sister dilate. It was an uneventful evening and no contractions had begun, so my Mom, Dad and I went back to my sister and brother-in-law's house to get some rest. Tuesday morning the doctor checked my sister for dilation and still nothing, so they decided to up the pitocin as planned. Later that morning, there were still no big contractions or dilation, so the doctor had said they would assess later that evening how things were progressing. All I could think to myself was "oh no please do not put my sister through another night of pitocin and trying to get her to dilate," but that was probably going to be the plan if her water did not break on its own.
At 1pm Tuesday, my sister's water broke!! Yay, progress...BUT still no dilation! Who knew this process would take so long?!? After the water broke, contractions were coming faster and stronger and I was watching my sister going through this pain of labor and was thinking to myself, she is such a strong and beautiful woman and I couldn't be more proud of her than I was at that very moment. It was surreal. She finally decided it was time for the epiderral, but they had a hard time getting that in because my sister has herniated discs in her back. Once they finally got it in, my sister turned a bit loopy and it was quite funny to listen to some of the things she was saying (I will not publish any of that here...hehe). She just seemed like she was on some heavy drugs, which she was!
When I arrived at the hospital, they had my sister hooked up to a pitocin drip to induce her labor and they were starting it off very slowly to make sure they were being safe with Mom and baby during this process. They were also working their "magic" to help my sister dilate. It was an uneventful evening and no contractions had begun, so my Mom, Dad and I went back to my sister and brother-in-law's house to get some rest. Tuesday morning the doctor checked my sister for dilation and still nothing, so they decided to up the pitocin as planned. Later that morning, there were still no big contractions or dilation, so the doctor had said they would assess later that evening how things were progressing. All I could think to myself was "oh no please do not put my sister through another night of pitocin and trying to get her to dilate," but that was probably going to be the plan if her water did not break on its own.
At 1pm Tuesday, my sister's water broke!! Yay, progress...BUT still no dilation! Who knew this process would take so long?!? After the water broke, contractions were coming faster and stronger and I was watching my sister going through this pain of labor and was thinking to myself, she is such a strong and beautiful woman and I couldn't be more proud of her than I was at that very moment. It was surreal. She finally decided it was time for the epiderral, but they had a hard time getting that in because my sister has herniated discs in her back. Once they finally got it in, my sister turned a bit loopy and it was quite funny to listen to some of the things she was saying (I will not publish any of that here...hehe). She just seemed like she was on some heavy drugs, which she was!
Later that afternoon the doctor on call came in and my sister and her husband had already been seen by her once or twice throughout the pregnancy, but she said she would be the one to deliver the baby if she was coming Tuesday night. We got to talking to the doctor and found out she went to the University of South Florida for medical school and did her residency at Tampa General Hospital. Immediately I felt comfortable with this doctor since I knew TGH was such a great hospital and so was USF medical school...phew, what a relief. Also, it was kind of neat that Emma was going to be delivered by someone who had a tie to Tampa, her Mommy's hometown.
At 7:30pm the doctor came in to check on my sister and she was still not more than 2cm dilated and Emma was ready to come, so they decided it was best to get her out via C-section. That was the longest hour of my life while my sister was in that operating room. My Mom and I paced the halls peeking through different doors and windows to see if we could see where my brother-in-law was with Emma. The nurses told us that we would see Emma for the first time through a window and that her Daddy would come hold her up for us. So, of course we anxiously awaited and then we finally saw Jeff with his beautiful daughter coming to the window to show her to us. She was beautiful, mesmerizing and took my breath away. We all cried and cried, tears of joy and relief, and we all held hands and stared at Emma - this beautiful angel.
My sister was in recovery and we went upstairs to the room they would be coming to afterwards and got their things in there to help settle them in. About 10:30pm that evening we saw my sister in the hospital bed being wheeled down the hall, holding Emma and Jeff walking beside her with a perma-grin. I have never seen Layne and Jeff light up like I did that night and I will never forget meeting my niece for the first time.
She has already changed my life...I love her more than anything and would go to the ends of the Earth for her. I never knew I could love something so much. This is only my niece, so I cannot imagine what it will be like when I have my own baby one day! I cannot describe her beauty - there are just no words. I cannot describe how proud I am of my brave sister for all she has gone through. I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of Jeff for being SUPERDAD!! They are both such wonderful parents already and I am so happy and proud of both of them. They truly deserve this belssing from God. We all love Emma!!
Where the hell have I been? This is a beautiful "blog" and I don't know why I had missed this. Emma and I love you so much Nanny!!!
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