Tracey Ann's Birth Story -- Short Version

Here is the short version of how our wonderful Tracey Ann came into the world on Friday, January 24, 2014.

My parents arrived from Michigan on Thursday afternoon, January 23, and I had dinner with the two of them while Hubby worked late.  I was exhausted and went to bed around 8:00pm, just as Hubby got home from work.  My water broke at 8:30pm.

My contractions didn't start after my water broke, so Hubby and I tried to get some sleep.  We had called the on-call obstetrician to let her know my water had broken.  We spoke with her Thursday night, and then she called us back Friday morning before she went off-duty to find out how we were doing.  Since my contractions still hadn't started, she recommended that we come into the hospital.

Hubby and I arrived at the hospital mid-morning, and my labor still wouldn't get going.  Finally, at 1:00pm, we made the decision to start some pitocin, with the intention of trying to get off the medicine as soon as possible, hoping that my body would continue in labor after the pitocin was stopped.

The light dose of pitocin worked beautifully, and I was in major labor, and off the pitocin by 3:00.

For me, the best place/position to labor was on my side, in the bathtub with jets going.  Using the Bradley Method training Hubby and I had learned, it was definitely a team effort to help me relax through the contractions.  I definitely told Hubby, on several occasions, that I wasn't sure I could keep going.  He reminded me every time how well I was doing, and that I could do it.

Around 6:30pm, they let me start pushing, and Tracey Ann was born at 7:56pm.

There is MUCH more to the story than what I have shared here... but those details will have to wait for the Long Version, which I will post another day.