Geneva Claire

So I thought I'd share a bit more of the birth story for those of you who might be interested (and for my own memories).

I had a doc appt the Monday after my due date and the doc scheduled a non stress test and another appt for the following Friday (11/2). The non stress test went fine and at the appt the NP told me I was still only 1 cm, about 50% and baby was still at postition -2. UGH. Seriously I know God made women's bodies to have babies, but I think he forgot something in me...my babies have all needed medical motivation to come meet us.

I was sure my doc would schedule another NST for the following Monday or Tuesday and then induce, but to my surprise, he was comfortable setting the date as I needed induction with the other two kids and they had both been successful. So, we planned for Sunday night. When the receptionist called over to set it up, Sunday AND Monday were full. I almost cried thinking it would be Tuesday, but then she said, "How's Saturday?". Um, YES PLEASE!

Now, I am not all about inductions. I hate them. I hate that I've never gone into labor on my own. I've had to spend an extra night in the hospital with each birth. I've had long labors. I've been afriad to not get an epidural because of how long the labors are. BUT, when you're already 41 weeks and realize you're probably going to be induced whether you do it the next day or next week, it's a welcome relief to have it scheduled.

So, on Saturday we went out to Wolfgangs for breakfast as a family of four, came home and cleaned a bit, went to the store to get food for Jun while we were away, packed the kids and brought them over to my parents house. We grabbed some Jimmy Johns as my 'last meal' and headed to the hospital.

We had a resident, a med student, my doc & our nurse all talking to us about the 'plan'. It was refreshing to be a part of that discussion, and tell them my hopes (no pitocin, probably epidural) and to have them truly consider my past inductions and what worked (cytotec) and what didn't (cervadil). So, we went with what had worked - cytotec. It's a 4 hour med that is to help you dialate, essentially. The first round produced a few contractions, but nothing serious. So, around 1:30am they started a second round. We got a few hours of sleep and around 6:10am I woke up to a painful contraction. The doc checked around 6:30am and I was at 5cm. I soon after asked for an epidural because the contractions were 'tripleing' - I would have 3 in a row with no break in between. Then about 30 seconds rest and 3 more. I got the epidural around 7:15/7:30am and when the doc checked me around 7:45am I was 10cm. Went from a 5 to a 10 in about an hour. The doc had me labor down a while so baby could drop more and a little before 9:00am I got to start pushing. It probably took 15-20 minutes of pushing, and Geneva arrived! The epidural didn't fully work because things progressed so quickly, but it at least took the edge off.

Geneva Claire was 8lbs 9oz and 21 3/4" long and born at 9:06am.

She came the easiest, the quickest and was the smallest!

We chose the name Geneva because we liked it. :) We've typically done a 'Bible' type of name, and while Geneva isnt' in the Bible, Eve is (Hebrew for Life), and we will most likely call her Eve as a nick name. Her middle name is Claire after my grandmothers, who both had the name Clara.