Andrew Bruce came 6 days past his original due date (July 4, 2008). This was quite unexpected because of a family history of babies coming before or on their due date, but Andrew was worth the wait! I was getting concerned because my parents had driven from Texas on July 4th thinking the baby would be born anytime. Dad had a plane ticket back to Texas on Monday and mom had to be at work in a week as well... My doctor had knee surgery July 2, so I would be meeting a new doctor for the delivery. The doctors were considering induction (the last thing I wanted) between 41 - 42 weeks. I was impatient, starting to become uncomfortable and some would say grumpy the last week of pregnancy. The Miller family was determined to get the baby out of me by the end of the week, so on Wednesday we walked the Greenwood park mall for several hours (mostly because we got separated from mom and all of our cell phones were dead!). We went back to Holly's house and I started having some abdominal cramping, every 5 - 8 minutes! Dave and I decided it was time to head home and by the time we arrived in Brownsburg I was having consistent contractions every 5 - 6 minutes. We called our doula, Julie, and she headed over to meet us at home. We went for a walk, ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and worked through the contractions together. David, being an engineer, kept perfect records of the timing of the contractions, but I had to remind him to keep record AFTER the contraction was over, NOT while it was happening! Once our doula got to our house we went for another short walk, the contractions were coming every 4 - 5 minutes and I was ready to head for the hospital. The contractions intensified with the 25 minute car ride and when we arrived at the hospital I was 5cm dilated. To make a long story short, I labored at the hospital until 8cm, then used the tub to relax for an hour. I was extremely tired (about 3:00am) and asked for an epidural. I had 1 1/2 - 2 hours of down time, then I told the doctor I was feeling my contractions and was ready to push. Dr. Lund said I had my work cut out for me, because Andrew was only at a 1+ station, but decided to let me get started. I pushed for about 45 minutes and Dr. Lund told me that it was going to be difficult for the baby to get past the pubic bone (not enough room!), she would give me some time, but was preparing me for the possibility of a c-section. I was determined to get this baby out without surgery! My epidural was very light (or was displaced somehow) because I had complete movement and was feeling the contractions pretty well before anyone could detect them on the monitor. My doula asked the doctor if I could try some different positions to help the baby down, so I used a squatting bar, turned around in the bed and pushed on my side. I asked for some oxygen and used the mirror to give me motivation to keep pushing. Finally, after 2 1/2 hours of pushing Andrew was born sunny-side up. David says he came out like a cannon! I had a pretty good tear and had 22 stitches placed (I correctly guessed the type of suture she was placing because I could feel the texture!). All that matters is that he was out and he was perfect! Grandpa and grandpa Miller were the first to see Andrew Bruce. The delivery did not happen quite like I had expected, but we were so thankful that a c-section was avoided and no complications were encountered. Everything that happened was due to God's timing. Dr. Lund was wonderful and was there for the entire 2 1/2 hours of pushing. She was patient, encouraging and did everything she could to follow our birth plan. Julie, our doula, was irreplaceable and we are certain that without her help things would have happened differently. The whole experience was a true testament of God's perfect plan and faithfulness.
For more information on doulas see Julies website at http://www.birth-by-design.com/
