At The Hospital

So, after going in on the due date at 4pm for a routine ultrasound, we found out that Kelly's amniotic fluid was really low and the doctor wanted to induce labor immediately. This was a bit of a surprise to us and made us a little anxious, but we thought it was best. Joel went home (somewhat frantically) to grab our things, and came back with dinner. The first night at the hospital was very uncomfortable and Kelly didn't sleep at all, but when the morning came Kelly was in a better mood and even did some yoga in the room.


The medicine took longer than expected to kick in so we passed the time filling out a maternity record book, watching TV, listening to music and going on Facebook.


By the second evening, the contractions were kicking in big time. Kelly was in a lot of pain, but wasn't dilating very much. The process was going to take longer than we thought. They broke her water around 6pm and that hurt like CRAZY. The contractions grew stronger and the doctor decided to give Kelly the epidural. Though it hurt badly going in, it really helped...at first. Since neither of us had slept much the night before, and since the doctor was going to give Kelly a sleeping pill, Joel went home for a few hours of rest (the chair for dads in the labor and deliver room was not at all conducive to sleeping.) But after Joel left things got really bad. Kelly became sick, vomited several times even though her stomach was totally empty since they didn't let her eat all day, and had to wear the oxygen mask because the baby's heartbeat was low. Also, the epidural seemed to lose its effectiveness and every contraction was brutal. All the numbness she had felt before went away and doctors were hesitant to give anything else that might affect the baby. By 6am, awake again all night, Kelly was in tears, called Joel who came back in an instant, and told the doctor she felt like she had to push. Kelly still wasn't dilated as much as she needed to be, so they offered her a drug that would help "take the edge off" and make her groggy. She slept for two minutes, fought through contractions for two minutes and repeated this until about 9:30 when she couldn't help but begin pushing. The doctors and nurses came in and prepared for the birth. Kelly pushed, with Joel supporting her right by her side, for one long hour before little Mila's head appeared. The staff began cheering, Joel had tears in his eyes and Kelly asked "What the hell was that?!" They told her it was the head, to give one more hard push, and out came the baby in a gush! It was so surprising. They put Mila right on Kelly's chest.



Little Mila Quinn was born on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 (St. Patrick's Day) weighing 6lbs 15oz, 19 inches long.