The Thrasher Family: The Story of Sweet Caroline

On Tuesday, June 1st at 6:00 a.m. we checked into Saint Mary's Hospital for our much anticipated induction. At 7:00 a.m. my Dr. arrived to check on us and see what our plan would be. When he checked me he found that I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced and decided to break my water. By 7: 15 a.m. we were well on our way to having a baby! Around 8:00 a.m. the nurse started the Pitocin and I was feeling great. They suggested that I have my epidural at this time as the Dr. was anticipating a fast labor. By the time the anesthesiologist arrived at 10:45 a.m. I was more than ready for the epidural! The Dr. came back to check on me at 12:00 p.m. and found that I was 5 cm dilated. This was apparently more progress than he had anticipated. He told me he'd be back around 3 p.m. when he thought I would be ready to push. I didn't believe him but was hopeful he was right. Around 2:30 p.m. I began to feel very uncomfortable. I asked the nurse to check me because I thought that maybe I was getting close. She checked me and found that I was 5-6 centimeters dilated. I thought she had to be wrong! Soon after my contractions picked up to every minute. Things began to get intense and according to reports of visitors in the room I began saying "the baby's coming!". At 3:00 p.m. Joe ran to get the nurse and when she arrived and checked me, sure enough, I was 10 centimeters! I had dilated 5 centimeters in only 30 minutes! They called over to let the Dr. know that I was ready to push but told him not to come quite yet. I pushed for about 15 minutes with little progress. The next few pushes were a little more successful than any of us anticipated and the nurse realized that the baby was coming quickly. They called over to the Dr. (who was across the street at his office) and told him to come right away. The nurse then called for "backup" because she was afraid the Dr. wasn't going to make it in time. At 3:45 p.m. the Dr. arrived and the baby's head was already out! The nurses wouldn't let me push anymore and it was quite possibly the longest 3 minutes of my life. At 3:48 p.m. Caroline Anne Thrasher entered the world. The Dr. didn't even have enough time to put all of his scrubs on! She weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. (the exact same weight as Claire!) and was 21 inches long (1/2 inch longer than Claire). She has a full head of dark brown hair and light blue eyes. Caroline is an excellent sleeper and is easily soothed. She has been nursing like a champ and has already brought so much joy to our new family of four. Thank you so much to everyone for all of the well wishes and thoughtful messages :)