I finally have the time to tell the story of Julia's birth and I want to record it. Julia's due date was January 29. Nathan and I really wanted to schedule her birth so that we could have family in town to take care of Alexander and because we wanted the doctor who delivered Alexander to deliver her too. We talked to that doctor and she had no problem with a scheduled induction, so we set the date for January 24. When I hit 36 weeks, they started checking me for progress. I was 1 1/2 cm at that appointment. Then I hit 37 weeks. At that appointment, I measured at 3 cm and the doctor told me that he didn't think I was going to make it to the scheduled induction. That evening, I started feeling really strong contractions. They were regular and I thought it was the real thing. I called and they told me to come in to the hospital. Labor with Alexander went very quickly, so they didn't want to take any chances with this baby. We went to the hospital and the doctor saw some progress and told me that I would probably be staying to have the baby. We got really excited. Then everything slowed down and they told me to walk. We probably walked about 3 miles that night, back and forth, in the labor and delivery unit. It isn't very big. After all that walking, they sent us home the next day. We were so disappointed. So we went home and waited. That weekend was Alexander's birthday and he was having his party, so we were hoping that Julia wouldn't decide to come out then. Wouldn't you know, that the night before his party, I started having contractions again. I called and they told me to come in again. I got to the hospital and they told me to walk again. We were getting a little bit tired of the walking. Then we noticed that all of the other patients had the little beds for the babies outside of their rooms and we didn't. That was when we figured that we would be going home again. After that trip, I figured out that I am really not good at determining when I am in labor. I decided that I was going to make it to the induction date. I did my best to ignore the contractions that I felt constantly and I managed to make it to January 24. That morning we got to the hospital at 5:30. They checked us in and started the Pitocin drip at around 7:30. 
They kept increasing the drip and the contractions got stronger, but I didn't make a lot of progress. I was about 4 cm when the doctor checked me at 11:30. She came back in about an hour and broke my water. That's when the contractions really picked up. My plan had been to see how long I could live without the epidural and I wanted to be checked before I received the epidural because when I had Alexander I got the epidural and was ready to push 20 minutes later. At around 1:00, the pain was really bad and I told them that if I wasn't 8 or 9 cm that I wanted the epidural. The doctor checked and told me that I was 6 cm, so they sent the anesthesiologist to my room. He didn't come until around 1:30. I sat up and got the incredibly painful epidural. He was finished and I laid back down at around 2:00. As I laid back down, I started to feel like I needed to push. the nurse asked if I still felt the pain and I told her that it felt like I needed to push. She checked and told me that I was fully dilated. I could not believe that I spent half an hour getting that horribly painful epidural just to be ready to push at the end of it. The doctor came in and I started pushing at around 2:30. She thought that I would be able to push the baby out easily, but Julia had other ideas. It took a long time and I even asked the doctor if she thought that this baby was bigger than Alexander. She didn't think so. It turned out that I was right though. Julia was born at around 3:15 pm and weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces, a whole pound bigger than her brother was. 
She was 21 inches long and was just perfect. We can't believe how lucky we are to have her and Alexander.
They kept increasing the drip and the contractions got stronger, but I didn't make a lot of progress. I was about 4 cm when the doctor checked me at 11:30. She came back in about an hour and broke my water. That's when the contractions really picked up. My plan had been to see how long I could live without the epidural and I wanted to be checked before I received the epidural because when I had Alexander I got the epidural and was ready to push 20 minutes later. At around 1:00, the pain was really bad and I told them that if I wasn't 8 or 9 cm that I wanted the epidural. The doctor checked and told me that I was 6 cm, so they sent the anesthesiologist to my room. He didn't come until around 1:30. I sat up and got the incredibly painful epidural. He was finished and I laid back down at around 2:00. As I laid back down, I started to feel like I needed to push. the nurse asked if I still felt the pain and I told her that it felt like I needed to push. She checked and told me that I was fully dilated. I could not believe that I spent half an hour getting that horribly painful epidural just to be ready to push at the end of it. The doctor came in and I started pushing at around 2:30. She thought that I would be able to push the baby out easily, but Julia had other ideas. It took a long time and I even asked the doctor if she thought that this baby was bigger than Alexander. She didn't think so. It turned out that I was right though. Julia was born at around 3:15 pm and weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces, a whole pound bigger than her brother was. She was 21 inches long and was just perfect. We can't believe how lucky we are to have her and Alexander.
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