We finally made it home from the hospital! After wondering if I was in labor on Monday morning, my DH and I went to L&D and sure enough - my water had broken! I was in labor for about 12 hours when the OB said that I had only dilated 1 cm. I opted for the pitocin, but aftr another 6 hours, I was still only 2 cms dilated. 18 hours of labor (with contractions lasting 60 seconds and coming every 2 to 3 minutes) without an epidural! Ugh! The OB then told me that I would likely be in labor another 24 hours, so I had to go with the epidural. No way around it, I decided. Unfortunately, my blood pressure plummeted immediately after receiving the epi, and then the baby's HR dropped drastically. They gave me ephedrine and things settled down for a while, but we had another scare later on. The following morning, they tell me that I'm still only 7 cm dilated, the baby is posterior (facing up), and it's highly unlikely that the baby's head will fit through my pelvis. Given all the problems we had already had, we opted for the c-section, but I didn't realize that this would mean more epidural. This time, they loaded me up so much I couldn't move anything from the waste down and eventually my blood pressure dropped so much I don't remember much. I do know that the originally "opted for" c-section turned into an emergency c-section b/c the baby's HR dropped again and was going into "decell" whatever that is. Despite all of this, the baby and I came through! Kayden Michelle was born at 11:45am on Tuesday, May 13th! She has been doing VERY well, requiring no transitional care between surgery and postpartum care. She is beautiful and I love her more than anything I ever thought possible! She is the sweetest little girl, and she sleeps like an angel! We returned home today and now we begin the journey of acclimating while I recover from my c-section (I am horribly swollen and appear to have GAINED weight as a result - if any of you have any words of wisdom, I'd love to hear them!). Anyway, Kayden's birth story sounds a little scary, I know, but it was 100% worth it. I cannot wait to watch this little girl grow up! I'll post pics when I get time!!

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Congratulations!

What a rough time. So glad everything turned out okay. Welcome to the world Kayden! I love her name btw. I can't wait to see pics!

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Happy Birthday Kayden. Congrats Mommy! Glad everyone is ok now.

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Congrats!! Sorry it was tough, but as you said, it's always totally worth it!! Can't wait to see pics

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Whew. Sounds rough, but I know it was so worth it! Congrats on your little girl!

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lurking from DIS, but wanted to comment on the swelling.

I have had 2 c/s so far and each time i had horrible swelling. 2nd time around i also weighed more when i came from the hospital. i would say to give it about 10 days PP and it should go away. i remember w/ my first c/s around 1 wk post partum i lost 21 lbs in about 2 days!! I used to call my feet elephant feet cause they were so swollen (as well as my calves). htp

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Flowerbaby, mommy to 3 little musketeers:

2 dd's, and 1 ds

wow what a story! But well worth it like you said... congrats... glad all is well.

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Wow, sorry you had such a rough go during labor. However, glad all ended well and you now are holding your precious little baby girl. I love the name BTW...of course I'm partial since I have a Kaden. So looking forward to seeing pics. As far as the swelling I had the same issue with my c/s with Kaden. Like the others mentioned give if a few days and the water weight will start melting off.

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