Welcome Baby Ruth!!

We went into the hospital to be induced at 8am. Within a few hours, I received my epidural (it took several tries to get it in). I felt nauseous around 1:30pm. My mom suggested that I have them check me one more time. And sure enough, I was at 10cm. I did a few practice pushes, and then had to wait a little while for the doctor to arrive. I was completely and totally numb at this point. So I wasn't really feeling much pressure to push. I also didn't throw-up before beginning the pushing process...which ended up not being a good idea. After several pushes, I began vomiting through my contractions. SO not pleasant. My pushing was therefore not very productive. It took a lot longer than we were expecting to push her out. And there were two times that she was stuck. There was some uncomfortable silence in the room, as the doctor was trying to figure out what we should do, as my labor completely stalled at one point, with the baby's head half-way out and stuck. I finally got her head out, and then her body also got stuck. One nurse said something like, "Whoa...that's not just shoulder dystocia...that's whole body dystocia!"

Then, at 2:43pm (the EXACT minute and hour that Sarah was born), Ruth Annabelle Ober was born! And she was HUGE, weighing in at 10lb8oz! And 21 inches long, with a head circumference of 14 inches. The poor thing was SO swollen and having a little difficulty breathing. So she was whisked away to the NICU before I had a chance to hold or nurse her. :( It was tough.

But she only had to stay up there for a few hours. The hardest part for me was yet to come. Due to how much I strained while pushing, I pulled several muscles in my groin area, leaving me more or less disabled. I remember crying in bed the second night, fearing the worst. I couldn't bear weight on my legs AT ALL, and required the assistance of nurses to do anything...even moving my legs in bed. :( It was scary. I was seen by a physical therapist while in the hospital and then sent home with a walker and an order for physical therapy.

Thankfully, within only one to two weeks, I was back to feeling normal. I could walk again!! Praise the Lord!! :) Anyway...enough blabbering. Here are several photos from our birth experience...