Emma's Birth Story

I woke up at five a.m. Wednesday morning because I was too anxious to sleep. We had scheduled the induction with Dr. Weiss for today, May 23, 2007. We would be delivering at Böblingen Krankenhaus, which is approximately 15 minutes from our house in Weil im Schönbuch. I was too nervous to fall back to sleep, although Jeff and I had only been sleeping for about five hours. I decided to ease my nerves I would give my Dad a call. It was only 11 p.m. on the east coast and when I called him he said he was just getting ready to call me. We chatted about 40 minutes and then I decided to get my life changing day started.

Jeff came down at six a.m. and I attempted to eat some cereal with him. Again, I was way too nervous and anxious to eat. I showered, finished packing my bag and then I heard Lily moving around in her room. When I went in to get her she greeted me with a big smile and said, “good morning Mama…..are you tired?” I guess I looked beat from my lack of sleep and nerves. I got her dressed and ready for Kim. She would be spending the morning at home with Kim and then the rest of the day at Beth’s playing with her best bud, Gabi.

Kim arrived at 7 a.m. and Jeff and I left shortly after. We had to be at the hospital by 7:30 and as usual we were running a little late. The plan of the day was this: Kim watches Lily until 12:30 and then drops her off at Beth’s house for the day. My friend Karen picks up my sister at the Stuttgart Airport at 11:50 and brings her back to our house for a quick shower and some lunch. Kim returns to our house and picks up April and they come to the hospital to be in the delivery room with Jeff and I. Larry picks Lily up at Beth’s house in the evening, brings her home and puts her to bed. It was truly a team effort to get the day organized. We can’t thank everyone enough for helping us with Lily.

Back at the hospital, Jeff and I got checked in and they hooked me up to the CTG machine to monitor Emma’s heartbeat and my contractions. Dr. Weiss came in around 8:15 and began the induction by placing a gel on my cervix. We were told to relax and give the gel time to work. They would check in with us over the next two hours to monitor my status and determine if labor was progressing. Over the two hours I had a few contractions and started to worry that it wasn't going to happen. The Germans incorporate a very natural child birth philosophy and would only give me more gel in six hours. After that, if nothing happened I would have to wait until the next day.

After two hours had passed (around 10:15 a.m.), our midwife Esther came in and said that we could walk around the hospital grounds for the next hour and a half and hope that the walking would jump start my contractions. Jeff and I walked around the hospital, visited the café for some yogurt and cappuccino and then walked around outside for over an hour. The hospital has beautiful flowers planted every where and the sun was shining, so it was a nice day to be outside. The weather was going to hit 80 degrees; it was an absolutely gorgeous spring day. The only negative...no air conditioning in German hospitals...yikes!

At about 11:00 a.m. while we were walking around outside, the contractions came and came quickly. Just like with Lily’s induction, I just needed a little jump start to labor. We went back upstairs to Labor and Delivery around noon and told Esther that the contractions were coming regularly. She suggested I take a relaxing bath to keep calm and help me breathe through the contractions. It was a perfect suggestion and I appreciated the relaxed atmosphere.

After the bath the contractions were coming regularly and I was in pain. Dr. Weiss said I had dilated a few centimeters and could have an epidural if I wanted. I of course said yes and they called the Anesthesiologist up to get me started. Unfortunately during the first try the catheter bent when it entered so they had to insert it twice….ouch! At this juncture, Jeff became light headed (he passed out while I was getting my IV with Lily) due to seeing me in so much pain. The midwife and Anesthesiologist quickly made him lie down and within minutes he was fine. Jeff truly hates to see me in pain; it actually makes him light headed. However, minutes after the second epidural I was virtually pain free. At this time it was two p.m. and my sister and Kim had arrived at the hospital. Our afternoon midwife, Heike, brought April and Kim straight back to the delivery room. It was so wonderful to see Kim and my sister. April had been traveling for two days to get to Germany and was so excited to finally be with us. Jeff and I were thrilled that Dr. Weiss and Heike (our midwife) let them both stay in the room during the entire labor and delivery.

So, from two p.m. until about seven p.m., I received regular shots of epidural and was able to sit comfortably with Jeff, April and Kim. Dr. Weiss checked me one more time at about 4 p.m. and told me that my water had broken. This was quite a relief because now we knew for sure that the baby would come that day. The actual labor was quite benign with the epidural. We all talked and joked and wished I would dilate quicker. I couldn’t believe how comfortable I was considering with Lily’s labor I was in constant pain (with out an epidural of course). My two cents if anyone is interested….get the epidural. It is such a better experience. Dr. Weiss went home for the evening, but told the midwife to call him as soon as I was ready to deliver.
At around 7:15 p.m. I started to feel a lot of pressure and the epidural was not relieving any of the pain. The midwife said that I was at 8 centimeters and progressing quickly when Dr. Weiss returned to the room. Dr. Weiss seemed to arrive right on time because at about 7:45 p.m. I was just about ten centimeters and began pushing. We soon realized that we didn’t have to worry about having too many people in the room because Dr. Weiss gave everyone their own job; it was a true team effort. After 30 minutes of intense pushing, Emma Rose Prager made her appearance into the world at 8:15 p.m. CET. She weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 22 inches long. Everyone in the room was crying and overwhelmed with joy. She was beautiful, an absolute angel. Jeff and I were so happy to be holding another healthy, baby girl in our arms. We were officially a family of four. Having Jeff, April and Kim in the room was an amazing experience. I felt so loved and happy to share such a miraculous experience with three people I love dearly. It is a day, I will never forget. Emma, we are so blessed to have you in our lives. You add such a special dynamic to our family already. Your sister Lily loves you so much and is thrilled to be your “big sister.” She can’t wait show you the ropes and play with you. You’re Daddy and I love you and are so happy to be your parents. We can’t wait to share you with the world and watch you grow into a beautiful, young woman. You have so many people who love you and want to meet you. You are a blessing, another miracle from above. Thank you for being our daughter and making us all so happy.