Avery's Birth Story

Here are the details of Avery's delivery.  Not too many Avery pictures - those are in the post before.  It really was quick and easy.  This is pretty much what I wrote while I was in labor.  I tried to keep track of things as they were going on so that I wouldn't forget anything.  ;)  Things went really well and I couldn't have asked for a better experience!  :)

On my way to the doctor's office.

Went to the doctor on Tuesday afternoon, Dr Wheeler said I was a "generous 3 cm" and stripped my membranes. That was around 2.
I was making dinner around 6 when I told Carl I was having lots of contractions and maybe I should start paying attention to them. I started timing them and they were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. I kept on making dinner, then decided I should lay down and see if that made a difference. Evelyn didn't like that and just wanted to play with me. Once I was able to lay down, my contractions were still 5-6 minutes apart. I called Becky to ask her to come pick up Evelyn, called my mom, and then called the OB. Dr. Privette said I should come in. I got mine and Evelyn's things ready to go. Carl asked me when I was going to start going crazy and I told him I was in my head, but that's why I had made lists weeks ago!
We got to the hospital around 8:30 and went up to L&D triage. They put me on the monitor and asked all the admission questions. Dr Privette came and checked me, I was 3-4 cm. she said that she could break my water, start pitocin if needed and get an epidural. Wow! I wasn't expecting that, but I'm all for it!

Waiting around in L&D Triage - obviously not hurting!  :)

A little after 10, we got moved into an L&D room. Our nurse is Cristina. She got me settled & started my IV fluids.


Around 11:15 the anesthesiologist came in to start my epidural. It's funny the things I don't remember from Evelyn. It was a bit uncomfortable having it placed, but I've been fine since. :)

The baby has been moving all over the place and we've spent a lot of time trying to keep him on the monitor.

I got a foley and fluids going around midnight. At 12:45 (am on the 21st 😉) pitocin was started at 2 ml. At 1 they went up on the pit to 4. Almost immediately my contractions picked up.

Carl trying to rest before things got busy!

At 1:30, Dr. Privette came in to check me and break my water. As soon as she started, she said my water had already broken and it gushed out. She said I was about 5 cm. the epi is working fairly well but there is one small spot I can feel the contractions. That one spot REALLY hurts when I contract, but that's it. I've tried turning and moving a bit, but it doesn't change much. I have a demand dose for my epi, so we'll see if that helps anything out! I'm able to breathe through the contractions and that helps. It's funny how it works fine except for that one spot, and that's what bothers me!

Sometime between triage and baby - not quite as comfortable...

Around 1:45 I had some strong contractions and little guy didn't like that too much. The nurse came in and had me switch sides and that seemed to help. However moving did not improve the epidural. That one spot really hurts with contractions. 😒 I'm trying to breathe through it, but they're getting stronger and more frequent. Good things for bringing on baby, not so good for pain.




A little before 2:30, baby started having more decels no matter how I laid. Cristina checked me and thought I was complete, but wanted another nurse to check to be sure. Jill checked me and just goes "you're complete!" She had me push a couple times, then called Dr. Privette. She got to the room at 2:30 and I started pushing. On my back, the epidural was working GREAT! I couldn't feel anything and the nurse had to tell me when I was contracting to push. I pushed and everyone was telling me how well I was doing. Maybe 4 or 5 sets through, I could feel his head right there. I laughed through a few pushes then got to work :) After only 10 minutes of pushing, Avery Robert Lindahl was born at 2:41 am on November 21, 2012. He is 7 pounds and 6 ounces, 20 1/4 inches long. His head is 13 3/4 inches around. He screamed and screamed. He had a nuchal cord and his apgars were 8 & 9. He was wide awake screaming. I was able to do skin to skin immediately and he stayed on my chest for over an hour other than getting weighed. He went straight to nursing and nursed like a champ. :)

Very tired, but well worth it!

My sweet boy