Ava's Arrival...

Monday, September 26th started out like every other Monday.  Josh and I both went to work and Owen to daycare.  I had my 36 week appointment at 8:50 so Josh and I just meet at the doctor's office.  We went through all the normal "weekly" appointment stuff...I was 2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and measured right at 36 weeks.  Ava was being super active during Dr. Birch's exam...to the point that we were all laughing because she kept kicking the HR monitor.  She had an elevated heart rate because she was so active...which was not really concerning, but Dr. Birch wanted me to be monitor for a short period just to make sure her HR went back to normal when Ava calmed down.  So off we went to be monitored....

After about 20 minutes of being on the monitor, Dr. Birch came in and said she was not liking what she was seeing.  Ava's heart rate was staying elevated...so she wanted us to go upstairs to labor and delivery triage for further monitoring.  We had done the same thing with Owen and everything was fine, so we weren't to concerned at this point.  About thirty minutes later, Dr. B sent us for a biophysical ultrasound (something we had also done with Owen).  Ava scored a 6/8 and back to the monitor we went...

Ava's heart rate had leveled out and we were just waiting on Dr. Birch to come and access everything.  I had been having contractions all day, but by this point my contractions were 2-4 minutes apart and getting stronger. I was only 36 weeks, so Dr. Birch decided to give me some medication to try and stop the contractions.  An hour or so later I was still having contractions but only 2.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  So now they were trying to decide if I was in active labor or if they should send me home.  The decision:  go walk the halls for an hour and then we'll re-assess.... 

A visit from Owen....

The first words out of his mouth were.... "what are you wearing mommy?" Apparently he didn't like the gown/moo moo I was wearing, Ha!

Danielle and Holly arrived just in time to walk the halls with me...

After a little exercise, I had progressed to 3 cm and my contractions were a lot stronger.  At this point the decided I was in active labor and needed to be admitted to labor and delivery and get my epidural started...

Owen with his big brother pin...

Gigi and Papa Bart arrived around the time I was being moved into a room.

Aunt Anna and Papa Bart

I hadn't eaten since breakfast and popsicles and ice were the only things on the menu.  Owen was really excited about the popsicles...Ha!

Aunt Amanda and Owen...

Aunt Anna and Danielle...

My contraction were getting stronger and stronger so an epidural was the first thing on my agenda after getting settled into the room.  It took a little while because there were so many deliveries going on, but I finally got an anesthesiologist to my room around 9:30....

The night got a little crazy shortly after I got my epidural... About 5 minutes after my epidural, I started having trouble breathing, experiencing blurred vision, and tingling/heaviness in my arms.   My blood pressure also dropped to 110/40.  It was pretty scary, but with some oxygen and different positioning I started feeling better.  We're still not exactly sure why I had that reaction, but the anesthesiologist seemed to think it was some kind of vagal nerve reaction.  At this point, Josh and I thought everything was back to normal....but we were wrong.  Apparently, Ava's heart rate had dropped into the 70's (normal is 130-160's).  The entire nursing staff as well as the doctor and anesthesiologist were in the room trying everything to get Ava's HR back to normal.  We tried oxygen, different positioning, a more direct HR monitor, etc...but nothing seemed to be working.  So they decided an emergency c-section was necessary...but just as they started rolling me to the OR, Ava's heart rate went back to normal.  They watched me closely for a period and then decided we would proceed with a vaginal delivery.

Gigi watching the monitors...

Danielle and I...

Mom and I...

After the epidural my contractions slowed to 4-6 minutes apart so we started a little pitocin to move things along.  And that's exactly what it did....my contraction intensified and I moved from 5 cm to 10 cm in record time.  With the intense contractions, Ava's HR dropped back into the 70's so we stopped pitocin.  At this point, they were going to put in a new monitor, but as it turns out...I was already at a 10.  So with just 3 pushes...Miss Ava Kate arrived at 3:43 am weighing 5 lbs 8 oz!

While we were waiting on Ava Kate, we made a few bets!  We all guessed the weight and arrival time...and Aunt Anna was the winner!