Delaney's Birth Story

Delaney's original estimated due date was 7/23/04 when we first went to the doctor, but was changed to 8/4/04 after Gina had an ultrasound done at 6 weeks and that was its estimate. Since Delaney's due date of 8/4/04 came and went without little Delaney coming on her own the doctor and we decided to induce labor on 8/9/04. The doctor's office scheduled our induction for 6:30 a.m. on 8/9/04 at Baptist Hospital.

On 8/9 we woke up at 4:30 a.m. and both got showered and ready for what we anticipated could be a long day ahead. Our bags had already been packed for at least a month since we wanted to be ready had Delaney chosen to come on her own time instead of ours. :) We said goodbye to Buddy and Shadow and headed for the hospital at 5:30 a.m. When we got to the hospital about 6 a.m. we were met by Gina's Dad, Jim, who had left Florence, AL at 3:30 a.m. and gotten to the hospital about 5:30 a.m. He was really excited for us and is use to being up in the middle of the night since he works nights at Lowe's in Florence. It was funny, but still nice to see him there before us. There was another couple in front of us at the check in desk so we chatted with Jim for a while and then finally checked in. The check in process really didn't take that long since we had pre-registered a few weeks earlier during our birthing classes. The check in really just consisted of Gina getting her patient bracelet and signing a few forms that notified her of some of the stuff that would be happening during the labor. After we finished checking in we were sent to the waiting area to wait on a nurse to come take us to the labor and delivery room.

Around 6:30 a.m. a nurse came and got Gina and I and we left Jim in the waiting room while we went to our room - room # 3110. Once in the room the nurse took all of our information like names, allergies, etc., and then she strapped Gina up to the monitors for Delaney's heart rate and Gina's contractions. After getting all our information and setting things up the nurse left for shift change, and just a little bit later, about 7:15 a.m., another nurse, Pam, came in to start Gina's pitocin drip. As she was getting Gina's medicine started Dr. Wingo, Gina's obstetrician, came in and checked Gina out. She was still only dilated to 1 cm, but he tried to break Gina's bag of waters anyway. I specifically say he "tried" to break the bag because he wasn't able to, and it was really a lot of pain for Gina. In fact, after Delaney was born Gina confessed that Dr. Wingo trying to break her waters was the most painful thing she experienced in the whole birthing process!

After Dr. Wingo left and we got settled down a bit and around 7:30 a.m. I went out to the waiting room to get Jim, and I found him waiting there along with my Dad and Donna. They all came back to the room with me and we all sat around to wait for Delaney. Eventually Tracie and Gina's Mom, Ann, arrived to sit and wait with the rest of us, and also Leigh Ann arrived also from Muscle Shoals, AL. About 10:30 a.m. our great friend Laura dropped by to say hello before running some errands. Around 10:45 a.m. the anesthesiologist arrived to give Gina her epidural. Overall the epidural didn't really hurt going in. The main pain Gina felt from that was the few sticks that had to be done to numb the area around where the epidural was inserted.

Around 11:15 a.m. I went downstairs to the cafeteria with my Dad and Donna to get some lunch because I expected Dr. Wingo to be back around noon to try to break Gina's water again. As we returned to the room about 11:45 Tracie and Ann were running down the hallway toward me saying that Dr. Wingo was there to break Gina's water, and that they tried calling me but couldn't get me. I ran back to the room, but when I went in Dr. Wingo was already gone and had already finished breaking Gina's bag of waters. :( Well, because of that we figured out that our cell phones didn't work in the cafeteria. When Dr. Wingo came in to break Gina's waters she was having regular contractions, but she was still only dilated to 1 cm.

We continued to relax in the room and everyone was even nice enough to give us some time alone so that we could try to nap a bit. Around 1:45 p.m. Gina's nurse came in to check her and we finally had some progress - Gina was dilated to 3 cm! That was exactly what Gina wanted to hear! People continued to come and go and Laura, Tracie, Leigh Ann, and Ann all decided to head out of the hospital to Maggie Moo's for some good marble slab ice cream around 3:00 p.m. Dad and Donna also realized that they never ate any lunch so they headed down to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat. About 3:15 p.m. Dr. Wingo returned to check on Gina and she was complete - fully effaced and dilated to 10 cm!!! Delaney still hadn't dropped quite to the point where Dr. Wingo wanted Gina to start pushing yet so he had Gina sit up in her bed so that gravity could help pull Delaney down before Gina started pushing. We tried first to call Tracie to let her know, but her phone didn't connect. Then we tried Leigh Ann, but her phone wouldn't connect either. Finally, Gina called Laura and told her "that if Tracie or Leigh Ann would answer their phones they'd know that I was dilated to 10." Laura immediately told everyone what had happened and all the girls started screaming from excitement and apprehension that they wouldn't get back to the hospital quick enough. Laura made sure Gina wasn't trying to play a trick on them and Gina explained that they didn't need to hurry back. After Gina called the girls I went down to the cafeteria to let Dad and Donna know (since I of course couldn't call them on their cell phones down there). They didn't believe me when I told them because Donna didn't think that I'd leave Gina if she were really complete. I finally convinced them I wasn't lying and told them to take their time finishing their food. On the way back upstairs I also called my Mom to let her know what was going on because she also was on pins and needles waiting for Delaney to arrive.

Eventually everyone made it back to the room and the pre-birth picture session began. Everyone took a lot of pictures as we waited for gravity to do its thing and help bring Delaney to us. Around 4:15 p.m. the nurse came in to let us know that it was time to start pushing and everyone said their goodbyes before Gina's real work began! :) Shortly after 4:15 p.m. Dr. Wingo showed up again to check on Gina's pushing and we had actually just started. I was definitely excited and wanted to do everything I could to help Gina. Apparently I was doing too good a job because Dr. Wingo had to tell me that when Gina was pushing I'd better not push too or else I'd end up with hemorrhoids. Apparently every time Gina pushed I was also trying to push something out of me too. :) From that point my job was to count to 10 out loud during each push so that Gina knew how long to push and so that I was breathing and not pushing too. At first Gina wasn't quite pushing the way she needed to, but within 2 or 3 contractions she was doing a great job! Dr. Wingo had left, but Pam, Gina's nurse, kept telling us that every push was pushing Delaney further and further out. Around 4:50 p.m. Dr. Wingo was called because Delaney was really close to coming out.

Dr. Wingo got to the room about 4:55 p.m. and was shocked at the progress Gina had made. After Delaney was born he told us that he didn't expect Delaney to be born until after 9:00 p.m. Dr. Wingo sat down and told Gina to push twice when all of a sudden Delaney's head was out. Dr. Wingo turned Delaney around so that she was facing the ceiling and started to clean off her face a bit. He poured something, we assume now that it might have been warm water, over her eyes and he also suctioned out her mouth and nostrils. Then, at 5:02 p.m., he just tugged a little bit on Delaney and out popped her shoulders and the rest of her body. They lay Delaney on a blanket and clamped her cord, and then I got to cut Delaney's umbilical cord. Right after I cut the cord and handed the scissors back to the assistant, Dr. Wingo said "Here Dad" and thrust Delaney into my arms (and shirt)! That's right - he "slimed" me! I got blood and all the other "stuff" that Delaney was covered in all over the front of my shirt. It was totally worth it though to be the first person to hold onto Delaney! After a few seconds of looking at Delaney I gave her to Gina so that she could hold her for the first time.

After Gina got to hold Delaney for a minute the nurse took Delaney away to give her some oxygen because she was turning just a bit blue. As I took Delaney over to the warmer a nurse also came into the room and I could see Tracie trying to sneak a peek through the door. Of course the whole family had been waiting right outside the room instead of in the waiting room while Gina pushed! After she got some oxygen and the nurse had suctioned out her nose, mouth, and lungs Delaney was breathing fine and looked great. She must have felt pretty good too because she decided to poo all over the blankets in the warmer. In fact, she did it not once, not twice, but three times! That'll show the nurse what happens when you don't get a diaper on right away! Once Delaney was weighed and measured (8 lb. 15.9 oz and 20 3/4 inches long) they let me take Delaney back to Gina. As the doctor and nurses got everything cleaned up and put away they left us to be alone with Delaney for a little bit. It was fantastic to be able to spend a few minutes alone with Gina and Delaney right after she was born. The whole process was absolutely amazing.

Finally, after we'd gotten our fill of some alone time we let the rest of the family into the room so they could enjoy our little angel too! After they all got in to the room and got to play with Delaney a bit we learned that as the nurses and doctor left, that the whole gang in the hallway tried to pry them for information, but the nurses and doctor wouldn't give them any. When they asked the nurse that brought the baby scale into and out of the room how much the baby weighed, the nurse looked at another nurse and said "Did you weigh the baby? I didn't weigh the baby. I'm not sure what it weighed."

After an hour or two the nurses from the nursery came to get Delaney to take her to the nursery and I got to go with her. I carried her to the nursery and put her in the warmer. Of course, wouldn't you know that the warmer they assigned Delaney to wasn't right in front of one of the nursery windows so everyone outside the nursery was constantly straining to see her from the side. First, Delaney had to warm up for her first bath, so while she was warming the nurse gave her a couple of shots - I think that one was a Hepatitis B vaccination and the other was Vitamin K. Before she gave her the shots, though, she gave her some sugar water to drink. She said that usually soothes them and helps when they give the shots. She was so cute drinking her first sugar. Now she'll probably never be able to stop eating it! When the nurse started Delaney's bath she was not a very happy camper. Everyone that was watching from outside the nursery said that she was crying so loudly that they could hear her out there. After cleaning her face and body the nurse took her to the sink and washed her hair. Once Delaney was good and dry the nurse let me know that Delaney had to warm back up again before she could leave the nursery - a process that could take an hour or so. Instead of sitting there watching Delaney sleep under the warmer I decided to go check on Gina to make sure she was okay. I left and went to our post-partum room - room # 3608.

Eventually they brought Delaney to us from the nursery and we got to play with her a little bit more. By 9 p.m. all our visitors had left and we were alone again with Delaney. We just sat around holding and watching her until we got tired. We decided to go with all the advice everyone had given us and send Delaney to the nursery at night so we could try to get some sleep. That was definitely the right thing to do, but it was so hard to watch them wheel Delaney out of the room in her crib. It almost felt like we were abandoning Delaney and she had just gotten here. We did get some sleep between feedings the first night though. I'm sure if we'd kept Delaney in the room with us we would've been constantly checking on her and gotten no sleep.