And while it probably doesn't need to be said, I'll say it anyways - this is a birth story and thus will include descriptions of all the lovely things like blood, discharge, etc, etc. You have been warned.
My pregnancy with Melody was different from the get go. Whether that was from old age, being the 4th child, or something else entirely (or a combination of all of the above) - it was a lot more difficult from day one. My nausea was worse, my energy levels where lower, I felt more pains in my stomach and back, even my placenta was in a different position from the last three. Because of this many people thought I was going to have a boy, but I still felt deep down in my gut that we had another precious little daughter coming to us. In fact the night before the gender ultrasound I had a dream of a beautiful little girl whose name was Melody. I just knew that it was our 4th child's name. So when we found out for sure that it was another girl I asked Braedon what he thought of the name Melody and it's stuck ever since.
Fast forward through months of getting bigger, more tired, more sore, and more anxious to meet our final piece to the Goudie family puzzle. Monday February 4th (the day before I hit 38 weeks) I had a regular baby check up. The prior week I had had a few days/nights where I had had some good stints of contractions. Nothing close enough to make me want to go in, but enough that I was hoping I had progressed from my dilation of a 2 and 70% effaced from the week prior. But of course I found out at my appointment that I was still at a 2 and 70%. I left the appointment a bit disappointed but knew that at worst I only had a week left as my induction date was set for February 12th.
Then at about 1:00 in the morning on February 6th I woke up to more contractions (thank you snow storm). I tried to ignore them at first because I had already had a few nights where this has happened, but I noticed that they seemed to be stronger and closer together then they had before so I started to track them. By 5:00 in the morning I was tracking them around 5-6 minutes apart and decided to wake Braedon up and get things ready and a plan in place for the kids in case we decided to go in.
We showered, finishing packing, called my sister to arrange having the kids play at her house, ate some breakfast. Although my contractions where still pretty steady at around 5 minutes apart, with the road conditions we didn't want to be rushed trying to get to the hospital if things changed quickly, so we decided to head on in.
We got to the hospital and I got checked in. They first wanted to track my progress, and we found out that I was only at a 3 and 70% effaced. I was still having regular contractions, but they seemed to be starting to get further apart again. But with my history of coming early, the horrible road conditions, and the fact that we were scheduled for an induction in 6 days already, they decided to go ahead and let me stay. I couldn't believe it. I was at the hospital, being told I was staying for a baby and for once my water was NOT broken. I shouldn't have been surprised as so much was already different about this pregnancy, of course Melody would want to make her debut differently too.
But then things started to feel a bit more familiar as they got us a room, got me situated and hooked up to an IV and my antibiotic (having tested positive once again for Group B). I knew this song and dance - we would need to wait 4 hours for the antibiotic to get into my system before doing anything else. Once that 4 hour mark was hit the plan was to start me on pitocin and see how I progressed, and then if my water didn't break on it's own they would break it to get things moving along. So we started the waiting game.
In my past pregnancies my water had already broken when we got to the hospital, and when we finally got past that 4 hour mark, it didn't take too long on the pitocin for me to get to a 10. I think this is what most of us (even my doctor) expected to happen this go around. But after the 4 hour wait, and then another hour on the pitocin, I was still at a 3 and 70%. I think we where all a bit shocked, and disappointed that I hadn't progressed. It was going to be a long day.
They upped the pitocin and decided that as soon as the doctor was available that he would come break my water. Sadly he wasn't available until about 6:00 PM and sadly my body had decided it was content to hang in this weird limbo state. So the doctor came in at 6:00 and checked me - I was STILL at a 3 and was still only 70% effaced (I kept hearing the words "You are nice and thick still", which is so not what a laboring pregnant lady wants to hear). So he broke my water and upped the pitocin. I went ahead and got my epidural in as well because in my head I thought surely things will go quick now that my water is broken, right?
Wrong. I could feel quite a bit of pressure with each contraction, which I thought meant we had to be getting close. But the nurse checked me and I was maybe at a 4+ (though by the sounds of it I think I was probably still just a 4 and she was being generous to be nice to me haha). And of course I was still "nice and thick". I told the nurse about the pressure I was feeling and we decided to try and change Melody's position as by the sounds of it she might have been a bit cocked to one side and that was effecting how slow I was progressing. So we got a giant "peanut" ball and I layed on my side with the ball between my legs. After laying on one side for a while we switched to the other.
At around 8:30 PM, after having the ball between my legs for a bit, I asked the nurse to check me as we where debating on if Braedon would run home to help his brother (who had taken the girls off my sisters hands around noon) and get the girls down for bed. It had been a long day for them as well and they where missing their mama and daddy and we thought a quick visit from dad before bed would help them. The nurse came in and checked me and I was at a 4+, possibly a 5 but I was 90% effaced at this point, so I was finally starting to thin - thank the heavens. I went ahead and told Braedon to go home real quick and help with the girls (because putting three emotional girls down for bed is no joke, ha!). I told him to make it quick just to be safe, but with how slow the day had gone I wasn't too stressed.
So he left and of course 15-20 minutes later I felt the pressure start to increase. I sent him a message and let him know that I think we were getting closer and reminded him to keep it quick (cause the last thing I wanted was to have this baby without Braedon at my side). Luckily he got back at around 9:30 and I still hadn't had my baby. The nurse checked me again and I had made it to a 6 is all, so I had stressed over nothing, though with the increase contractions and pressure I was feeling I knew that I wasn't going completely crazy and my body was finally starting to kick into gear.
At this point I messaged our families that I was only at a 6 and so it would probably be a another few hours until she arrived. We continued to wait and hangout when I suddenly feel massive pressure. I didn't say much because I felt like I had cried wolf so many times already that I figured that maybe I just needed to poo or had had a bigger contraction or some such nonsense.
Then I had another bout of major pressure that was so intense I finally spoke up. We called the nurse in and I made a joke about how I was feeling so much pressure but maybe I just needed to poo. (I seriously was just waiting to hear I was still at a 6, since it had only been about 10-15 minutes since she last checked me). She went ahead and checked me again and I was so relieved to hear that I wasn't crazy this time and was finally at a 10 and Melody was ready to come!
My nurse ran out of the room (literally, she ran down the hall) to call the Doctor in. They informed me it usually only takes him 10 minutes to get there so we didn't need to wait too long. The started to prep the room, and one nurse took one leg and Braedon took the other leg as I breathed through the next few contractions. Over the next 5 minutes the pressure continued to grow and grow and we all just kept looking at the clock. I was getting to the point where my body felt the NEED to push, but I knew it would be best to have the Doctor there, just in case anything went wrong, so I wanted to hold off if I could hold off.
The nurses and Braedon kept encouraging me to breathe and that he would be there soon. 10 minutes came and went and I started to panic a bit on the inside. This baby wanted to come out. I wanted to push the baby out. But I also wanted the doctor there. Hearing Melody's constant and strong heartbeat over the monitor was a reminder for me that she was okay and I was okay. And I was so glad Braedon was there holding one of my legs - he kept rubbing my leg so calm and telling me how amazing I was doing. I'm pretty sure if he hadn't being there, holding me, encouraging me I wouldn't have been able to keep my cool as much as I did (which probably wasn't even that much).
15 minutes came and went and each contraction was just another reminder that the doctor was STILL not there. Clearly the road conditions where effecting how quickly he normally gets to the hospital. I kept telling the room that I just wanted him there, that I wanted to push and he needed to finally walk in the door. I'm not exactly sure how many times I said the phrase "He just needs to get here".
Those last twenty minutes of NOT pushing felt so much longer then the whole last 24 hours had felt. Finally the doctor walked in just a minute or two after 10:00 PM. I could not believe my relief. I wasn't sure I could hold off for another contraction. He pulled his gloves on and I asked if I could finally push, to which he gave a resounding yes.
I was all too happy to oblige. I pushed through the next two contractions and just like that our sweet Melody was here! The cord was wrapped around her neck, but not tightly thank goodness and her cry broke the tension of the room. Nothing can describe that feeling of pure happiness. My sweet girl was here, she was finally here. Melody was born on February 6th at 10:06 PM. 7 pounds and 5 ounces and 19.5 inches long. She is perfect.
We went into this pregnancy knowing that it would be our last. I've had many people ask me if I felt sad about that fact, or if it was bittersweet. I can honestly say sadness never crossed my mind. The feeling that our family was now complete was and is amazing. I feel blessed beyond anything to have 4 amazing wonderful little girls and a loving husband. I love the stage of life we are in and I love the stage of life we are moving towards.
We love our sweet baby Melody and are so glad she is here safe and sound to put the perfect last touch to our family. Her sisters where so excited to meet her. Rose can't get over how cute she is. Haevin can't get over that "shes come out now!" and Rory just wants to give kisses to "baby Meldeeeee".
So grateful for my wonderful family. <3
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