Labor

Here is all the gory details of my labor and delivery. Just kidding…No gory details just the story of how it all went down. This is post is mostly for me as a journal entry but here you have it too.

I had not had any Braxton Hicks contractions throughout my pregnancy so when I started having really mild contractions Monday night, I didn’t even realize what was going on. I thought I was just having some cramping (they were extremely mild contractions at that point). It was only with hind sight that I realized they were actually contractions and not just a bit of cramping. Tuesday morning I woke up with mild contractions again, a little worse than the night before so I knew they were contractions. I only had a few in the morning right when I woke up. But of course they started again right before it was time to leave for the airport to pick up my mom. Hubby had been on night shifts so I woke him up to ride with me. Yes, I drove us all to and from the airport while I was having contractions. I was having back labor as well as regular front labor and since the driver seat in my car has extra lumbar support I wanted to sit there for my back to be comfortable. At home that night, Chad and my mom basically stared at me all night long. I felt like they were waiting for me to spontaneously combust.

I went to sleep at 11pm and woke up with contractions at 1230am. They were worse than before but still not horrible. I was dozing back to sleep in-between them. This was going on for awhile with the contractions getting closer together. I got up for awhile around 3 or 4 am, walked around, sat on exercise/birth ball, went online, then went back to bed. Chad came in to go to sleep too since he needed to sleep all day to go to work for the night shift. My contractions had other plans though. I could no longer lay down or sleep through them. After having 3 painful contractions in 10 minutes, I decided it was time to go to the hospital. I still wasn’t feeling rushed though so I got ready and tried to eat some toast before we left because I knew they wouldn’t let me eat while I was in labor. Since I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before, I ended up not having anything until about 3pm Wednesday. By the time the toast was done, my contractions were so intense I felt nauseous. I tried to have one piece then we hit the road.

The hospital is only 5 minutes from our house, which is why I didn’t feel a huge rush to get there in the middle of the night. I went to check in and they asked me to wait outside the maternity ward in the waiting area. I said Hell No. My contractions are only 2 minutes apart I need to be admitted now. They sent me to the triage, where a nurse checked me and I was still only 2 cm dilated. Not good for contractions every 2 minutes. The doctor took his sweet time coming to check on me. Of course I went into labor on the one day that my regular OB is off. So here I am meeting this idiot for the first time and he tells me I should go home since I’m only 2 cm. I wanted to kick him in the head. Then he offers me some drugs, not for the pain but for anxiety. I am not anxious. I am calm and thinking clearly, my clear thought is I want to kick him in the head. I politely decline the useless drugs. Next he tells me to walk around the hospital for an hour and then he’ll check on me again. The nurse agrees with him, I now want to kick her in the head too. So I suck it up and walk around the triage area. Chad is fantastic through my labor, walking around with me, rubbing my back, holding my hair, reminding me to breath and breathing slowly with me so I can time my breaths to his. Who knew out of nowhere he would just know how to be a labor coach? I can only make it from one bed to the next before I need to stop and lean over the bed b/c of the back labor and front contractions.  I get my revenge on the nurse by throwing up on one of the clean beds. Once my hour of torture is up, I am 4 cm and the dumbass admits me.

In my maternity room, I have about another hour and a half of labor. The nurse suggests an epidural to get me dilated quicker, my OB had previously recommended the same thing. I give in and have one. Getting the epidural was much worse in my head then in reality. Once it kicks in everything slows down. I no longer feel my contractions or back labor, Chad takes a nap and my mom goes to lunch. Lalalala me in the hospital bed just waiting. Nothing really happens for the next 2 hours. Then I start to feel a pressure as baby drops down more. I feel that getting much more intense for the next 15 minutes. Just when I don’t think I’ll last any longer without starting to push her out myself, the nurse comes in. She immediately calls the doctor and says it’s time for me to push, guess I was right. I push through about 5 contractions for the nurse while we are waiting for the doctor. They tell you to push as if you are trying to have a BM, which I find very odd and gross, so I tried to focus more on contracting my abs to push. I was actually contracting every muscle in my body to push her out quickly, I was determined. There was no screaming or yelling, I think the only thing I said was asking the nurse if I could push again yet. Chad held my hand between my pushing, again being right there for me and exactly what I needed. The doctor finally shows up at basically my last push, just in time to catch the baby. 15 minutes of active labor and my beautiful Sadie Rosalie was born at 1418. She’s perfect! Great color, no cone head, no spots, absolutely beautiful. 6 pounds 10 ounces, 19.25 inches long.