Pearl's birth didn't go quite as planned but it did go fast. Going into this pregnancy, the only thing I included on my birth plan was to skip being induced this time around. I had mommy guilt over inducing Gus (even though I had valid reasons) and was determined to go the distance with Pearl. That said, at my October 31st appointment, I had several markers that were signaling preeclampsia including high blood pressure.
After attending Vera's Halloween Party at school, it was off to the hospital to have my blood pressure checked again, blood tests done, and the baby monitored. AND after that, the obgyn read all the markers and decided that it was time to get the baby out.
At 6:30 I started the medicine, which had fully taken effect by midnight when I was 5 cm dilated and asking quite adamantly for the epidural to be told the anesthesiologist would be there shortly. 12:30...you will have your epidural in 3 minutes. At this point, the contractions were coming fast and furious and I didn't feel like I was getting many breaks. Felt the need to push, laid down on the bed, screamed a few times, "I can't do this!", and out popped Pearl. Three pushes. The anesthesiologist walked in a minute later to be met with the sight of the baby delivered. Oh, did I mention that the doctor missed the delivery? Diane, my nurse, was honored with delivering our baby at 12:37am.
The other interesting fact is that Pearl was born is in the caul, which means that the embryonic sac was intact at the time of delivery. Only 1 in 80,000 babies are born in the caul. Diane was excited and kept mentioning that it is a sign of greatness and good luck. That is our little girl!