Campbell Leigh Trietsch

This is long, so if all you're looking for is pics, look no further. :)
Also available, pics from the hospital photographer.

Even though Campbell's delivery didn't start the way I had envisioned, the outcome was even more than I could have dreamed of.




When I was admitted on Monday, April 20, I was put in a room considerably smaller than the ones we'd been shown on the tour during our childbirth classes. Turns out it was so small because it was actually an isolation room - and it was the only room available in ante-partum, normally they don't use it unless the situation demands it. There was no room for Garett to even stretch out, so him staying Monday night was out of the question. (No big deal, since labor wasn't imminent and I wasn't in any pain.) They told me when another room became available, probably the next day, they'd go ahead and move me. As Garett was leaving, he asked the nurse about it, and turns out she was able to snag a room just as another patient discharged, and they ended up moving me that night.

Room #2 was larger, but still not a comfortable place for overnight guests. At this point, I still didn't know how long I was going to be in residence at the hospital, hence all the pity parties.

I was overjoyed on Wednesday when Dr. Robins confirmed that they'd be doing the induction the next day - when Baby T was officially 38 weeks.

The process began with Cervidil to 'get things going'. They were supposed to move me to a room in Labor and Delivery around 5 p.m. on Wednesday night, but apparently this was a very popular day to give birth - there was only one room open in L&D, and they needed to save it in case of emergency. They went ahead and started the Cervidil, and told me they'd be moving me around 8 p.m. Then it was around 10 p.m. Then, around 10:30 p.m., they said it looked like it was going to be the next morning around 5 a.m. Would have been nice to know earlier so I could have started the sleeping pill, but I went ahead and took one at that time, and sent Garett home. It wasn't too long before the contractions started. All my romantic notions of having Garett there to rub my back, help me breath, etc. were pointless, as by this point I was hooked up to a fetal heart monitor and would be for the duration. Every time I moved to try to get the slightest bit comfortable, the monitor would lose the baby's heartbeat, a nurse would come in and reposition the belt (usually making it tighter, which was just AWESOME on top of the contractions).

Around 2:30 a.m., I couldn't take it any more. I called Garett and told him he had to come back. He got there a little before 3:30 a.m., and shortly thereafter I was moved to L&D.

This room was huge and really, really nice. I had about an hour b/f they were planning on starting the Pitocin, so we got settled in and I took a shower. When they first checked me around 5 a.m., I was about 2 cm and 60% effaced. Pretty quickly after the Pitocin started, my contractions were getting bad enough that I said OK to the IV narcotics - I was hoping to skip these, as I had heard they could make the baby woozy, but the nurse said they weren't any different to the baby than the epidural, which I was absolutely planning on, so I decided it would be worth the pain relief. And it soooooooo was. After the drugs kicked in, I was able to get about an hour and a half of sleep - much welcomed, since I hadn't been able to sleep at all the night before.

Around 7 a.m., the drugs either started to wear off or just weren't enough any more. The nurse checked me again and I was at 3 cm and 80% effaced. She called the anesthesiologist and he came in to do the epi. I was a little fearful of the procedure, but it was a breeze. It took about 15 minutes, and there was one very, very sharp pain, but nothing like I'd imagined. About 15 minutes later, and the epi was working full force - my legs felt completely numb and I couldn't feel the contractions at all. It was a very odd sensation - a lot like both of my legs were just completely asleep.

She checked me again a little before noon and I was 9 cm, 100% effaced and at 0 station. It was baby time! The nurse had me start pushing around 12:40 p.m. I did three sets of pushes for each contraction, counting to 10 during each push. The set up wasn't anything like I had pictured - which was feet up in stirrups, doc at end of table. Instead, she just had me pull my knees up to my chest for each contraction, and she kept an eye on baby's position. She helped me hold up one leg, and Garett helped with the other. Until about 1 p.m., it was pretty much just the three of us. Then at 1 p.m., Dr. Robins came in - he'd been moving between rooms all morning, as he had three women delivering at pretty much the same time.

I pushed for another 20 minutes, and the doc said with one more good push, he thought we'd have a baby - and he was right! That last push was absolutely crazy - even though the baby had crowned, her feet where still way up in my rib cage. I had thought it would kind of be a process - the head's out! breath... wait... the shoulders are out! breath... wait... Instead it was PUSH! THE WHOLE DANG BABY JUST SLID FROM MY RIBS INTO THE WORLD!

She came out crying and squirming - I asked what she was, and the doc let Garett tell me it was a girl - one the happiest, most I'll never forget moments of my life. I burst into happy tears, and made G take pictures of them cleaning, testing, weighing etc. our new little girl - Campbell Leigh. She weighted 7 lbs. 15 oz, was 19.25" long and got a nine on her APGAR. I think some newborns need a few days to come into their looks, but in my completely unbiased opinion, Campbell entered this world as the most beautiful baby girl ever.