Riley's Story, Part I

Now that I've told Hannah's story, I can tell the world about Riley's entrance into the world.  I keep to myself about it, but now that it's over and Riley is here, I think it might do me some good to talk about her story.  Like my pregnancy with Hannah, this one was pretty easy.  I had no complications, and as far as pregnancy symptoms go, I had it pretty easy.  Fast forward to July 13th.  I had my 40 week appointment that day.  For two weeks I had been dilated to 1 cm and 50% effaced.  I had lost my plug 10 days prior. But I wasn't having contractions, so I was nervous about going to my doctors appointment that day, I knew my doctor was going to talk to me about a C-Section.  My doctor's office would let me go to 41 weeks before I was required to have another C-Section.  I could not be induced, because of the prior C-Section.  I had to go in to labor on my own before anything could be done to progress my labor.  I show up for my appointment and my doctor checks me.  Nothing had changed.  He starts to talk to me about a C-Section.  He told me that typically a C-Section appointment is made 2-3 weeks out, because the hospital fills up.  The doctor I had seen the prior visit just hadn't done that.  So he called the hospital and learned that the hospital was full every day for the next 10 days, except for one day when another doctor would have to do it.  My doctor was going to be out of the office the following week, which is why he would not be able to do it.  And the on-call doctor was the doctor I had a previously had horrible exam with.  I wrote about it here: bad doctor visit.  My doctor goes back and forth between my room and his office a few times, then tells me the hospital has an opening on Friday, the 15th.  This meant that he would be able to do the delivery.  Otherwise, I would have to wait two more weeks.  My thoughts felt so scrambled and I just wanted to feel sorry for myself and cry.  Naturally, this was the doctor's appointment that David ended up missing!  I asked if I could have an hour or two to think about it and headed outside to meet David, who was on his way.  And I cried.  A lot.  David and I went to a little cafe and talked about it all.  I didn't want to throw in the towel.  I wanted to go as long as my doctor would allow.  I wanted to be forced into a C-Section, not volunteer for it.  But it wasn't that simple, it never is!  First of all, my friend Pam was flying in on the 27th.  If I waited two weeks, I'd still be in the hospital when she flew in and I didn't want that.  Amy and Tom would have to go back to Illinois before I left the hospital, which meant I would be without their help.  And the bottom line was that I could wait two weeks, and still end up having a C-Section.  I told David I felt like I had to choose between being selfish and making the responsible decision.  I really wanted to be selfish, but deep down I knew I would make the responsible decision.  David and I walked back over to  my doctor's office and sat down to talk to my doctor.  I explained that I had really hoped to have a VBAC, and cried some more.  He told me that he had stripped my membranes earlier, and that if I wanted, I could come back tomorrow and he would do it again, in hopes that something would start to happen on it's own.  I felt really good that he was offering to go extra to help, to do what he could.  So David and I went home.  We prepped for a C-Section Friday morning.  I prayed.  Not for a VBAC, but for myself and understanding.  I remember calling Casey, my sister, to tell her.  I told her I just wanted to go home, feel sorry for myself and cry.  And she said "then do that."