CEF arrived in this world earlier than expected. CDF was sent to the hospital on Friday, Sept 1, after the doctor determined that she was leaking amniotic fluid — and had been for the past few days. Because there was a danger of infection, she (Dr. Tolofsen) decided to induce CDF that afternoon.
I got to the hospital about 4:30 PM, and by 5:30 CDF had a room and the nurse had started the Pitocin. Carolyn met us at the hospital and took MDF back to Burgaw to spend the night. Then CDF and I settled down for a long wait.
To start with the contractions were very light. It wasn’t until about 11:15 PM that she requested Staidol for the pain. After midnight (when the pitocin was dripping at max) the contractions started getting harder. By 1:00 AM the doctor said CDF was about 5 or 6 cm dilated — which was good — and that now she should dilate about 1 cm per hour until she reached 10 cm. That was not so good, since it meant another 4-5 hours of labor! But at almost 2:00 AM, CDF
started feeling a lot of pressure, and said she was feeling the urge to push with the contractions. A nurse came and checked her, and discovered she was at least 8 cm.
CDF had another hurtful contraction, and this time cried out, which brought the nurses rushing in. Apparently they can tell by the sound how close a woman is to giving birth — at least they have with both of ours.
It didn’t take long after that. The doctor came in and started getting ready. A nurse coached CDF on how to hold her breath and not cry out so she could concentrate on pushing (she started doing so well they had to tell her to hold off on a couple contractions). I just stood beside CDF, holding her hand, and concentrated on wiping her face occasionally.
At 2:21 AM on Saturday, September 2nd, CEF was born. It was amazing to look down toward the foot of the bed and see a baby appear. She started crying right away and struggled a bit while the doctor tried to get her untangled from the umbilical cord. Of course I had the “honor” of cutting the cord — it’s not pretty, so it must be a symbolic thing — and they placed the baby on CDF’s chest so she could hold her while they finished wiping her down.
Finally I got to hold her, and she felt very tiny. I don’t remember how MDF felt — but CEF looked small. She lay quietly in my arms and looked around, cried a little, and just rested.
