The Birth Story!

I know it has taken me WAY too long to update the blog, but I just could never find the time while I was at home. Now that I'm back at work, it will be so much easier to keep everyone updated!

Violet's Birth Story:

On Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 I left work to go pick up my niece Amanda and give her a ride home. I hardly ever get to see her, and was excited to get to spend a few minutes with her and as it turned out she was our little good luck charm. As soon as I got home from dropping her off I started having what felt like really bad menstrual cramps. One came that was really strong and so I laid down on the couch, and that's when I felt a small leak. I looked up at Steve and said, "I'm leaking"! I went to the restroom, where I had more "leaking" and I was sure that my water had broken; it was a little after 8 pm. I called the on-call doctor which was Dr. Pettite and he told me to head to the Assessment Center at CL Regional. I was so excited! I jumped in the shower, we started packing up the car, and off we went. Once we were there, I was tested twice for amniotic fluid but both tests came up negative. While there, I was contracting irregularly, sometimes every 1-2 minutes and then sometimes every 5-10 minutes. Both of the nurses that evening were certain that my water had broken also, but since the tests were negative I was sent home. I wasn't that happy to be leaving without a baby, but I knew she'd be coming soon. We came home and Steve was off to sleep, and I was in for a night a labor, on my own! After about 2 am, I was really uncomfortable so I moved into the living room to let Steve get some rest. I already had an appointment scheduled for 10 am the next morning on Thursday at the OB office. When morning came Steve had to go to work to finish up a few things, so my Mom came over to sit with me. She started timing my contractions and they were about 2-3 minutes apart and very regular. We decided to call the office and once again spoke with Dr. Pettite and he told me to be at the office when it opened. Once we were there, Dr. Abbott saw me immediately and instantly knew my water had broken. She sent me straight to admitting! I was actually relieved at this point because I was NOT in the mood to go home in pain!! The rest of the morning is kind of a blur. Steve arrived, I got checked in, and I had to wait to 3 cm before I had an epidural. In the meantime I was given Demerol for the pain. Can I just say how stupid Demerol is?!?! Basically your just immobilized and so out of it that you can't tell anyone just how much PAIN you are in! I would not call this pain medication, but maybe "shut the patient up" medication. Anyway, I finally got to 3cm, and got my epidural! Love the epidural, didn't hurt going in and couldn't feel my legs when it was done - lovely! Then we waited....me, Steve, Mom, and Mom2 (Carol)! I was stuck at 5cm at about 7 pm, and at this point had been in labor for almost 24 hours, and water had been broken for about the same amount of time. I developed a fever, and Violet's heart rate was decelerating at the beginning of my contractions. Dr. Abbott came and said she'd give me one more hour to progress at 8pm, and if not we'd need to do a c-section. She was back in an hour, me - still at 5 cm, and we had to make a decision. At this point, I was of the opinion that I didn't care which way she came out as long as she was out SOON. So we were off for a C-section. Violet Sophia Schoff was born on Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 10:12 pm by cesarean weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Dr. Abbott and Dr. Pettite together performed the surgery with Steve by side. Daddy was the first one to see and hold our little girl. With tears in his eyes he keep running back and forth between me and her giving me the play by play, telling me "she has my nose"...."she's beautiful"....."I love you".....it was amazing. I will never forget the look on his face or the sound of his voice when seeing our daughter for the first time, I have never loved him more! Our little red-headed, blue-eyed baby girl was finally here!!