Makenzie's Birth Story

I know that Makenzie was born almost three years ago, but I didn't have a blog then and I want to document her birth story. I'm sure I will post baby number two's birth story and I don't want to leave big sister out. So here it goes:
Makenzie's due date was February 19th. I REALLY wanted to wait for her to come naturally, but my doctor was going out of town the following week and I really wanted my doctor to be there for the delivery. So, I was induced on Feb 21st, her Uncle Casey's birthday. I went in for a check up on that Wednesday and she told me to check into the hospital that evening that we would induce the following morning. I spent that whole day being a nervous wreck! I couldn't eat, sleep, or do anything expect worry. I was so concerned about all of the "what ifs." It felt like the longest day of my life. So I drove to the hospital that night. Eric had a track meet that afternoon and met me at the hospital. I got checked in, changed into a gown, and they gave me two Ambien and said try to get some rest. I think Eric slept, but I did not. I stayed up all night doing word find puzzles. Finally at 4:30am the nurse asked if I wanted to go ahead and get everything started. I was like, "yes please!" Two hours later after getting the okay from the doctor, etc. They put in a Cervadil to get my cervix to soften. That wasn't the most comfortable experience, but once it was in it was no big deal. At some point they started giving me pitocin too. There was a lot of waiting and checking on things. Eventually I started dilating and by the time I got to 4cm I said I would take the epidural. Thankfully getting the epidural was not near as scary as I had anticipated and it provided some great relief. After that was more waiting and checking. At one point they weren't getting consistent readings of the baby's heart beat so they took me off of the external monitors and put in an internal monitor. I assume one of the nurses wasn't aware of this because when she came back in the room and didn't see the fetal heartbeat where it had been before she strapped oxygen on my face and started moving me from side to side very rapidly. I was terrified. She wouldn't tell me what was going on and I thought something was wrong with the baby. When the other nurses came in and informed her that the external monitors had been removed and that the baby was being monitored internally the chaos stopped. Everything was okay and the baby was fine. Eventually I could really feel a lot of pressure in my left hip as the baby was descending down into the birth canal more. They turned me on my hands and knees in what I called the frog position. It really took the pressure off and I actually fell asleep! I couldn't believe it! The doctor had to come in and break my water to get things moving. I'm not sure of the sequence of events with the epidural/catheter/internal monitor/crazy flipping back and forth trauma, etc. It has been three years! Anyways, once my water was broke the process seemed to really speed up. When I was almost fully dilated, the EPIDURAL RAN OUT! I didn't even know that was a possibility! So the nurses went to get a "refill cartridge." There was a nurse that was new to this particular hospital and they took this as a "teaching moment" to show her how to reload a cartridge. I was not happy. The pain was INTENSE! I kept telling Eric that I couldn't do this. The pain was so excruciating. He assured me that I could. He stayed right in my face and coached me through the contractions until they finally got it reloaded. Of course I took the time to say, "can you teach her later, I'm kind of dying here!" I normally don't say things like that and I have a huge respect for medical careers and teaching, but seriously I had to say something I just couldn't take it! Once the epidural was back working it was time to push! By the way, when I saw my doctor for the first time that day I was so excited! I thought that meant, "yeah, this is really happening!" and then she left and I didn't see her for several hours! I actually asked her where she was going when she started to leave. I think it caught her off guard. She was like "Um, I have paperwork to do and other patients to see. The nurses will let me know when your ready for me." So the extent of what my doctor did was break my water, deliver the baby, cut and sew me up, take a picture and then she was done. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my doctor, but I was extremely disappointed at how little time she is actually present for the whole thing. I wish someone would have said, you'll spend all day with the same nurses (hopefully) and then you'll see your doctor for thirty to forty five minutes at the end. I must say that I had great nurses! They were with me from 7am to 7:20pm when Makenzie was born. I remember asking them if they were going to leave me because their shifts were over at 7 and they all said, "no, we're staying until this baby is born." It made me feel so blessed and at ease that they were all going to stay with me. So back to the birth story. I had dilated fully and it was time to push. Oh happy day when they said push because despite the epidural I was feeling a lot of pain in my left leg. But once I was pushing it didn't hurt anymore. Every time I pushed the pain went away. I remember telling the doctor that I didn't think the epidural was working and that I could feel everything so I was worried about getting an episiotomy. She informed me that she had already done it! So, I was more numb than I realized. It was less than thirty minutes of pushing before Makenzie was born. They put her up on my stomach and Eric cut the umbilical cord. Then they took her away, measured her, cleaned her up and gave us her Apgar scores. I remember they were high, but I can't remember exactly. Either way I remember being glad they were as high as they were. It felt like an eternity before I got to hold her. I don't remember the sequence of events after that. I know eventually they moved me into another room and were shocked that I was able to stand and walk on my own from the bed to the wheelchair. I felt great. I was hungry and tired, but I was ecstatic that my baby girl had finally arrived. She was a healthy 7lbs. 11oz. and 19 inches long. She had a head full of hair and the tiniest little feet and hands. She did have jaundice but not so bad that she had to be under the lights. She took to nursing pretty well and I was thankful for that. It was a whole new experience to be able to feed someone with my body and I loved it. My mom, dad, and Eric had been in the delivery room with me all day. My dad stepped out when it was time to push, he didn't need to see all of that. Then Eric's grandparents, Tim and Tiffany, and April came to meet the new baby. It was really a great birth experience and a wonderful time of celebration for the blessing that God had given us: Makenzie Leeann Neal.