Summer's Birth Story

Here is the story of how Summer came into the world...(I am a proud mama so this will be a long story).
On Monday I went to my regular doctor's appt and there was no change from the week prior (1.5 cm dilated, head down). See the video (recorded Monday evening) for mine and Chad's opinion on when we thought she would be born...we were a bit discouraged at the news. I had begun recording myself everynight just in case my water broke or something.

Monday night was painful. I was up pacing the house ALL night with pains at the top of my uterus and my right shoulder was absolutely killing me. I googled my symptoms and thought there might be a sign of preeclampsia (from the right shoulder pain). I called the doctor first thing Tuesday morning and she said come in for a check up. I had dilated to 3cm and she told me she expects Summer to be born in the next 24 hours. She was on call that day and all night at the hospital and Chad and I were thrilled. We called our moms and on planes they hopped! P.S. I said to the nurse could this be preeclampsia and she said I had been reading too much that my blood pressure had been fine this whole time and not to worry (in hindsight I am not upset with her she is still great). Chad and I went home and walked around the neighborhood and timed contractions. I had no clue what a contraction felt like and seriously thought my pains were from gas or Summer kicking. Shows how much I know my body! We went to the hospital around 4pm when the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart. I was monitored for 4 hours but the contractions were inconsistent so they released me with an Ambien to help me sleep throught the night. They did blood work before I left and said they would call me if there was anything to be concerned about. Two hours later, after the Ambien had kicked in, Chad received a phone call saying I needed to come back to the hospital. My blood platlettes were low and I had high toxin levels in my liver, signs of preeclampsia. My doctor said she was going to induce me. Honestly, Chad and I were thrilled. I wasn't in pain and the sleeping pill made me feel really good. I was put on pitocin to induce me and magnesium to help my liver. We slept through the night. At 7am my doctor broke my water and the contractions which had only been a sight on the monitor changed to dynamite pain feelings. I immediately asked for pain medicine and they gave me a shot through my IV that would last for an hour and then the anesthesialogist would be available for an epidural. The IV kicked in immediately and I was out, actually snoring so says Chad, as the contractions spiked off the charts on the monitor. Well, as the nurses said the pain medicine wore off after 1 hour and I woke up at 8am to major pain. There was no time for an epidural and they said I couldn't have any more medication through my IV. I gave birth to Summer Marie at 8:29am.
We have recalled these moments many times in the past 6 days and we will be doing so for the rest of our lives. I will definetly be one of those mothers (like mine) who relives Summer's birth every year.