Labor of Love

The last few days have been by far the most amazing, exhausting, and terrifying days that I have ever experienced in my entire life. We checked into the hospital on the evening of Feb 8th 2009 to begin the induction for labor. The nurses started the cervidil to help ripen the cervix in preparation for delivery that evening along with a continuous infusion of magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures (which are a possible side effect of labor in women with preeclampsia). The magnesium was awful and made me feel very strange and caused unbelievable swelling! I didn't sleep much that night. Partly due to the side effects of the meds, partly due to the nurses coming in and out to move the fetal monitors and check vital signs, but mostly due to the excitement and anticipation of what was to come.

We started the pitocin to induce contractions around 5:30 am. The doctor came in a little before 8am to check my progress and broke my water. After that point the contractions became much much stronger and began to occur every couple of minutes. I decided to go ahead and get my epidural by 10 am due to the discomfort. I was a little scared to have it done, but it was amazing! The process was not painful at all, just felt a little weird. It was totally worth the relief that it brought. I had one of my favorite anesthesia faculy, Dr Singh put it in. She did not disappoint!

Me with Dr Singh


Through out the day I had visits from some of the girls in my residency program (Diana, Supriya, and Amy), my parents, Bryan's parents, and then later Karen and Kim. The labor was progressing, albeit, pretty slowly all day. I was pretty comfortable and able to enjoy visiting with our guests and thinking about baby Elizabeth.

The Meadows Family

The Garrett Family

Things continued to go smoothly until about 7pm when I stalled at 8 cm for the next 3 hours. Dr. Beard our OBGYN came in at 10 pm to check me again. She found that I still hadn't progressed and she said she would give me one more hour. If things didn't change, we would have to proceed with a c- section due to arrest of labor. This was very upsetting to me after laboring all day. I was bound and determined to will my body to dilate! The next hour I sat straight up trying to use gravity's influence and I refused to bolus the epidural hoping that it would help the labor to be stronger. When Dr. Beard returned, she said I had progressed only slightly but she wanted to see if I could push around the small ring of cervix covering the baby's head. I pushed twice and she said she could no longer feel the cervix and that we were going to go ahead and deliver the baby vaginally.



The nurse, Dr Beard, and Bryan were with me as we did a few "trial" pushes to see how much I was able to move the baby. Things were progressing very fast from that point. They broke down the bed into the delivery conformation and called in my mom and Bryan's mom too who we wanted present for the birth.
It only took about 5 good pushes to get the baby out. I am not going to lie, the pushing was the most miserable part of the whole day. It was hard work and it was pretty painful on top of that. When her head emerged she had the cord wrapped around her neck once. Because of this Dr Beard had to cut the cord instead of Bryan. Once she came out they placed her on my chest. It was pretty amazing to finally see the little baby that has been growing inside me for the last 9 months. I noticed all of her dark hair and chubby cheeks right away.








The nurse took her away to clean her off and get her breathing better. She was a bit early (3 weeks) born at 37 weeks gestation. Once the nurse evaluated her initally, she was weighed and measured. She was 7lbs even and a whopping 20 inches long. They wrapped her up and Bryan brought her over to me. We held her and looked at her for a long time. Our families came in and also got a chance to hold her too. This was a special time for all of us. The team from the nursery came to our room to do a second evaluation of her breathing. She was having a little trouble so they had to take her away to be evaluated further.

Mimi and Papa Garrett

Proud Aunt Karen

Papou with Ellie

The Meadows Girls

With Dr. Beard-our OBGYN

Bryan and I were really worried about her. I told him to go be with her in the nursery and they took me away to my post pardum room. At this point I was completely delirious from the magnesium and the sheer exhaustion of the 18 hour labor and lack of sleep.


In the nursery they watched Elizabeth for 6 hours. Her breathing continued to be very rapid and she was requiring extra oxygen. It was decided to take her to the Neonatal ICU. Before they took her there they came by my room with her so I could see her again. It was 5 am and she was wide awake. She was looking all around in the dark room. It was wonderful to see her and hold her!

Our little Family together for the first time

The next morning, Bryan wheeled me up to the NICU to see her. She was in a warmer and had an IV in her tiny arm. The nurse let us feed her a bottle which she had a difficult time with due to her breathing. She came off of the oxygen within the 1st 24 hours and was transferred to the level 2 NICU for infants requiring a slight less level of care. She stayed until she was 3 days old being monitored and receiving antibiotics in case her breathing difficulty was caused by an infection. When her blood cultures came back negative and her breathing stablilzed were were sent home. Bryan and I were so thankful to be getting out of there and back home to begin our life as a family of three.

Daddy and Elizabeth before going home

First time in the car seat

Ready to go home

First Car ride

Since coming home she has been such a joy. She is looking healthy and is eating well, which makes her momma happy. We are so blessed to have her and we can't wait to watch her grow ;-)

Papou taking care of his first grandaughter

After her bath

Sweet Baby Girl