My doctor scheduled me to be induced 5 days before my due date. I felt it was right after a lot of prayer and thinking it over, but still worried about it. Caleb was 3 days late and still went into the NICU, which was a really hard experience. I was afraid of having to repeat that experience. But, I still went forward with it.
Blake and I showed up at the hospital at 5:40 am on Wednesday, December 30, 2009. We checked in and walked up to the delivery floor. By the time my IV was in and they were pumping fluid in me, it was about 7 a.m. They wanted to pump some fluid in me and monitor the baby before starting the pitocin.
7:00 a.m.
They started the pitocin and soon after, I began having mild contractions. They were bearable and Blake and I just hung out all morning.
10:00 a.m.
Doctor Nims came and checked me and broke my water. I was 2 1/2 cm dialated. Breaking my water was extremely uncomfortable and not fun. Doctor Nims is very thorough in breaking the water. Thoroughness made it painful, but it was necessary for the induction.
11:00 a.m.
The anesthesiologist came to do my epidural. I was still going through very bearable contractions, so I knew I could hold still for it. However, needles really freak me out so I started to flip out a little. Nurse Amy was so awesome and with coaching from her and Blake, I calmed down. The epidural did not hurt one bit, and I was all set to go. Having been my second birth, people listened to me a lot this time. I told my nurse about how my epidural did not work last time. She and the anesthesiologist looked into it and figured out that I was still on the lowest numbing dose when Caleb started coming. Thus, I felt everything. So, this time they were very in tune with me and willing to help as soon as I started to feel pain. Awesome!!
12:30 p.m.
Doctor Nims checked me again and I was only 3 cm dialated and the baby was extremely high in the uterus. My contractions were still irregular. She and the nurse seemed concerned. Blake, my mom, and my dad were all watching the contractions for me. They were coming really strange, 3 overlapping each other, then 3 minutes of nothing, then 3 overlapping each other, etc. They decided that the baby's head was probably not pointing perfectly downward, that it was maybe tilted just a little. I had to roll from side to side every 45 minutes to help her come down. Rolling over was difficult because my right leg was completely numb and my left leg was a little numb. It was a funny experience switching positions every time!
3:20 p.m.
Nurse Amy checked me and I was dialated to 5 cm, which was progress thank heaven. It still took a while to get to that point even with my water broken, so we were assuming I would be in labor a lot longer. Also, Amy was still surprised at how high the baby was in the uterus.
I had begun feeling the contractions again and told Nurse Amy, so she pushed the "pump" on the epidural machine for me and said, "I have to do this before I send for the anesthesiologist, but it usually does not work, so I'll come in and check in a few minutes."
3:30 p.m.
Still feeling the contractions stronger and stronger. Amy sent for the anesthesiologist who came in immediately and put some awesome stuff in my epidural that numbed me up again very quickly.
3:50 p.m.
Less than a half hour after being checked as dialated to 5 cm, I began to feel a lot of pressure and recognized it immediately as the baby coming! And coming now! I could barely keep from pushing. Nurse Amy came in and I told her what I was feeling. She said, "Well if you feel like I need to check you again here soon, let me know." I said, "You should check now." She checked and I was at a complete 10 cm and baby was coming! She called for Doctor Nims and I got to hear their conversation. Amy said, "She's complete and the baby is right there... no, the baby is coming now." She hung up and looked at me and said, "Doctor Nims wanted to see if you could wait for her to see 3 more patients but I said you couldn't. So, when she gets here, you better push really hard for her."
3:55 p.m.
I was all set and ready to push that baby out. Doctor Nims walked in and took over. I pushed through 4 contractions. My epidural was perfect because I could feel enough to push but I was not screaming in agony. In fact I was not even sweating.
4:05 p.m.
Blake was right there with me counting through the pushes. Just as her head was coming, Doctor Nims saw the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and so she cut it. Then she told me to push again and said, "Danielle look!" And I looked and saw this gigantic baby emerge into the world! Blake and I were both in tears and when they put her on my tummy I felt such happiness, satisfaction, and love for her immediately. She actually looked so beautiful to me already and I knew I loved her.
She was not breathing perfectly and they had to work with her a lot to get the fluid out. They let me and Blake hold her, then swept her to the nursery to help her get the fluid out. It was looking like possibly another NICU situation. I was so worried. Doctor Nims said that I push the babies out so fast, and she was in the birth canal for such a short period, that they do not have enough time to feel the pressure in the birth canal, which helps babies to scream out the fluid immediately when they are born. Apparently my babies have both just struggled getting mad at the world when they were born.
5:00 p.m.
She did well and got rid of that fluid out of her lungs and was considered perfectly healthy!!! I was able to hold her and nurse her. Friends and family came all evening to visit and meet her. Blake and I felt so grateful to have a healthy newborn baby that would not be hooked up to tubes.
Anndi Danielle Haines is so beautiful and sweet. Her cries are even girly. She is named Anndi with two n's because that is how my mom spells her name, Annita, and also my dad's mother is Grandma Ann and my mom's mother is Grandma Nancy Ann.
We got to celebrate the New Year with some close friends. Chris and Scarlet and Jason all came to celebrate in the hospital. Blake and I loved it. We played games, drank sparkling cider, watched the ball drop, and the guys even wore goofy Happy New Year hats! Happy 2010!
Today my little buddy turned the big 2. People have thought he was 2 years old for over 6 months now, so I am shocked that now it's true! 
