Well...

Genesee Alene Kotter

born September 02, 2010 at 9:08pm

7lbs 1.5oz 20 inches.

...THE STORY...

We(me and Dillon)decided to induce labor at 4pm. Lij woke up from his nap and I(Bree)packed up and headed north to where Dillon works and the Briggs family lives. Jace and Whitney offered their babysitting services and we took advantage.  A few tears were shed as we left our little boy for the first overnighter. But from the sounds of it Lij and Jaxton had a great first sleepover. Thank You!!

Arrived at the hospital right at 4 and of course I am getting more and more nervous. You just never know how things will go. Got all checked in, IV in and monitors running. Nurse examined me and I was still at a 4 and same effaced. Dang it!!! Pretty much for the first hour we just chilled and did a whole lot of waiting. The nurse came back in and said we were going to start Pitocin. It was just after 5 and it finally felt like things were getting started. This is when I consider active labor started. I guess I was contracting when I arrived but I had no idea. So the Pit is in and now things are starting to ramp up. Once I got to a 4 on Pit my contractions were about 2 minutes apart. This got me dilating finally. I went from a 4 to a 7 in about 2 1/2 hours. Which I guess is pretty normal. When I was about to a 6 Genesee started to not like the Pit so I had to lay on my side. This seemed to do the trick for awhile.

So at 7:30 my doctor came in and broke my water. Up to that point the contractions weren't that bad. I could definitely feel them and had to work through them but nothing unbearable. Once my water broke though it took about 15 minutes and I was done. Bring on the epidural!! For some reason at this point I got really nervous and started crying. Granted sitting there I had to get through the contractions and labor shakes all by myself. Because of course Dillon was ordered to sit down so there was no chance of him passing out. Although he had no problem I guess a lot of people pass out and have severe problems from hitting the floor. Most actually miss the birth because they are being taken care of themselves. Didn't know that!! Back to the story...the anesthesiologist was really great! He was quick and knew what he was doing. Although he did have to stick me twice(the first was was in the wrong spot).

Epidural is in and I'm feeling good. Now I can actually enjoy the process. Of course Genesee really didn't like the new changes(like no water cushioning her)and so I had to switch sides a few times. We found out that laying on my left side worked the best(just like Lij). So of course the epidural started to leave my right side(just like Lij). The anesthesiologist was called back in and he shot me up with a ton of medicine. I was so numb I literally could not feel a thing from my waist down. Not even pressure on my legs. Just before he gave me all the medicine I did feel a ton of pressure all of a sudden on my bottom. I didn't think much of it. Also with all the side switching the nurse decided to try oxygen. I cried this time too. I HATE oxygen. I really don't know why but it made me sad to be on it with her. But she needed it and that's all that mattered to me in the end.

The nurse came back in about 5 minutes after the anesthesiologist left and I told her I felt pressure. She said, "Good! That's what we like to hear." She checked me and said, "Okay...I have a baby's head! Get the doctor, this baby is coming now." HOLY COW!! I wasn't expecting the process to go this quick. My doctor came in a little before 9. I started pushing at 9. I think I pushed 5 or 6 times and I heard her cry. I pushed one more time and Genesee was here!!

The nurses wiped her off quick and handed her to me. The BEST feeling EVER!! I never got to experience that with Lij so this was a new euphoria that I had never felt. First few thoughts...SHE IS BEAUTIFUL, I LOVE HER SO MUCH and SHE REALLY IS A GIRL!(Inside I had been worried that the ultrasound tech had been wrong and that we were really having a boy. good too but I was all ready for a girl). It was so nice to have her room in with me and Dillon. It felt like she was ours and it was so natural. This experience was AMAZING!

We left the hospital on Friday night. Just 24 hours after Genesee was born. I couldn't wait to be at home and get the transitioning started. So she is finally here and we are enjoying the changes that have come with Genesee in our family.

More pictures and stories to come!!