The Bentley story

Monday:
My 37 week check up. My midwife said that she could check me and if I was starting to progress at all she could strip my membranes. If I was ready to go into labor, stripping the membranes would just kind of jump start the process. If my body wasn't ready to go into labor, then it wouldn't do anything. I said sure! I was dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced. She stripped my membranes.
That night we went out to delicious Mexican food with Kacey and Casey for Kacey's birthday. Our theory is that greasy Mexican food will start labor. My water broke the day after we had Mexican food with Josh and Summer when I was pregnant with Carter.
That night I had tons of contractions that were strong and regular for about an hour and then would slow down for an hour and then be regular for an hour, then slow down for an hour. And then at about 6am they stopped and there was no action all morning. I did not sleep a wink that night.
Tuesday:
Quiet morning, all the normal activities, no labor. Jefferson came home at lunch and we decided we would try to jump start labor just for fun. The two of us played our kids' Wii game that involved an activity pad, kind of like DDR. Most of the games just involve a lot of running on the pad. We laughed a lot and I was seriously out of breath, not to mention cramping up like crazy! Then we did some acupressure and those definitely caused some contractions to kick in, just not regular ones.
Between 3:00-4:00pm I started having contractions every 7-10 minutes that would make me stop for a second. These continued, somewhat regularly, for a few hours. Finally around 6 we decided to have Abbey come over and watch the kids so we could head down to the hospital and see what was going on. I figured if there was some progression perhaps they would break my water and just speed things along, if not, then at least we got that out of the way earlier in the evening rather than the middle of the night.
We went to the hospital and they monitored me for a while. The contractions were coming regularly, just not super productive (ie painful) and I wasn't progressing. I was maybe 1/2 a centimeter more than the previous day. They had me walk around for a while and see if that made me progress, because if it did then they would admit me and get things going. Well, it didn't. My contractions became stronger and were definitely regular, but just not dilating. They said we could wait another hour and see what happened or head home and come back when the contractions were even stronger. We opted to go home.
We got home around 10:30 and Abbey decided to stay the night just in case we were to need her in the middle of the night. My contractions were immediately debilitating and every 5 minutes. We went to bed and I slept off and on for about an hour. Then I walked around the house, heated up my bean bag and tried to work through my contractions, which were every 3-5 minutes. Finally at 2:30am I woke Jefferson up and told him it was time to go!
Wednesday:We arrived at the hospital at 3:00am and I was dilated to a six, contractions every 3 minutes. They were painful!!! They did all the admitting stuff and started me on my antibiotic because I was group B strep positive. The antibiotic needs to run in over four hours before they would let me deliver (if at all possible).
What we look like at 3 am...4:30am I am at an 8 and get the epidural. I have to be poked twice. That was fun. I mention that I really respond to meds and would prefer a lower dose of the epidural if at all possible, so I get 7mg instead of the standard 10mg.
5:30am I am dilated to a 9, water still in tact, otherwise that baby would have been out! Again, they won't break my water til the antibiotic is in. I feel EVERYTHING during the exam. I can't feel my contractions, other than a tightening at the top of my belly when they hit, just like Braxton hicks, but my legs are completely not numb, not tingly, I have full function of them, and I can feel everything down below. I am slightly concerned, but think maybe it will go numb by pushing time.
6:45 I tell them there is a ton of pressure down below and I feel like I could push. "Don't!" I am told. Not til 7:20 when the antibiotic is all in.
7:20am they will finally break my water. I am fully dilated, water is broken and I immediately tell them that I have to push. I push and feel everything. OUCH!!!!! Jefferson said I gave him a terrified look and squeezed his hand really hard.
7:24am Baby Bentley is out and I pull her up onto my chest. Apgars 9 and she is absolutely perfect. 6lbs 14oz & 20 inches long. So in love
Proud Papa
This is to show how big her hands and feet are... at least they look it to me.
Me and my midwife Georgianna
Bentley Olive
Bentley did not love her sponge bath
but she did love getting her hair washed... such a girl.
She has a little bit of blond hair
The kids meeting Bentley for the first time:This is pretty much all Andi wants to do all day long... love on the baby.
Going home
Highlights:
*When Bentley was placed on my chest Jefferson said, "Look, no cord." I immediately knew that he was referencing that the cord wasn't around her neck like it has been with our other three kids. The midwife however, just looked at him like he was crazy and said, "Yes, there is..." We had to explain. It gave us all a good laugh to think that perhaps we didn't know every baby has an umbilical cord.
*Visitors and the good tidings they brought
*pellet ice chips
*text message from Jefferson after spending half a day watching the kids saying, "As much as I respected you before this week I respect you even more for not beating these kids."
*Lots of quiet time with just me and Bentley.
*Room service all day long... I ordered chips and a chocolate shake on more than one occasion.
*Celebration dinner. The night before you leave they have a special menu that you get to order from... soup, salad, entree, dessert, and drinks that is all delivered on a fancy little tray with a bottle of sparkling cider in an ice bucket.
*Every new mom gets a half hour massage