Under the Stars: November 2008

We went into the hospital on Halloween Night at about 7:30 PM because we suspected that Sara's water broke and had been leaking since about 3:30 PM but she didn't want to miss the Halloween festivities. :) She labored very diligently, and waited until she got to about 5 cm until she asked for an epidural. They gave her an epidural, and she continued to dilate slowly throughout the night. The epidural wore off and she labored without it for about six hours, and she stayed around a 9 the whole time. She was a 9 for so long, and the baby's head dropped to zero station, but she continued to be at a 9. Dr. Jackson checked where she was at and her cervix was swollen, so although it was dilated to a 9 it felt like an 8. Then it got even more swollen, and for some reason the baby was stuck and wouldn't drop down anymore, and Sara wouldn't dilate anymore. She was in labor for over 24 hours, but Dr. Jackson said there hadn't been any progress for a long time, and recommended a Cesarean section. After a blessing and some tears, we decided to proceed. They got ready to operate and they delivered the beautiful Mary Jade Ostler at 8:08 PM on November 1st 2008. She weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz and was 19 inches long. She is completely healthy with all her fingers and toes and everything where it should be. She was a little bruised up from all the labor and had a slight cone head, but it went down quickly. The surgery went well, and about an hour later, Sara was wheeled back to her room and she got to hold her baby and feed her. Mary and Sara are both doing very good, and Mary recently got a bath from her Daddy (me!). I hope you like these pictures we took so far of the baby and us.

Love,

Andrew and Sara