On Sunday, September 16 I woke up at 6 am with cramps- a foreign feeling as I hadn’t had a period since the end of December. I felt yucky and was a bit bewildered as to why in the world I had cramps- I was only (barely) 37 weeks pregnant. I got up to make sure that I hadn’t started a period because it honestly felt just like it. I had a bit of pink when I wiped- prior to that when I lost my mucous plug the tinge was brown. I knew my mom would be up at 6:30 to start getting ready for church, so I got up and posted on two internet boards I belong to see if what I was feeling could possibly labor? I was too bewildered to actually think I could be having my baby, I still had three more weeks! I called my mom at 6:30 am and she was definitely surprised to hear from me that early in the morning. She encouraged me to call my dr and describe to her my symptoms. I was hesistant to call my dr, I didn’t want to bug her. My mom wanted to know if she should skip church and come over to be with me, but I didn’t want to be an alarmist. Plus, my mom is on staff at church, so it’s a big deal if she misses, she has a class to teach. So I told her to go and I’d call her if I needed her. She and my dad texted me a couple of times to check on me.
I got back online and several ladies said it sounded like how their labor started. I started to cry… I was just so overwhelmed. My husband works for the railroad and my biggest fear the entire pregnancy is that he would be out of town when I went into labor and he’d miss the birth of his daughter. Since I’d never been through this before I didn’t know if it was actually happening and I should get him home, or if I should let him stay. In addition to being afraid that he would be out of town, both of us afraid he would be on the “mountain run”. Every other run he takes parallels the interstate and he could stop the train and get off if there would’ve been an emergency or I was in labor, however, the mountain run he has limited cell phone reception and is waaaaay up in the mountains, not near any interstate. I even joked when he got called for this train, “Okay, I’ll hold her in! Can’t have me going into labor with you on the mountain!”. Figures he hadn’t been called for a mountain train in a month, until I started going into labor!
I called my doctor and then called my husband and woke him up. I didn’t want to scare him, so I really downplayed the fact I was having contractions. Apparently I did a great job, because he got off the phone and went back to sleep! I started to time my ‘cramps’, as they were coming in waves. They were coming every 7 minutes and lasting 20 seconds. They were very bearable, they lasted from 9 am to 12 pm. My doctor called me at 10:00 am and told me what I was experiencing sounded like early labor. I was explaining to her the pink tinged mucous, and apologized because it was such a gross thing to talk about! She said, “I talk about this all day long, no need to say you are sorry!”. I told her, “Well I don’t talk about this, EVER” and she laughed. I explained to her that hubby was out of town and asked her opinion about whether or not he should come home on emergency. She said for me to have him wrap up what he was doing there and head home- I told her we weren’t exactly in the position to do that, he has to wait for a train to be called. She said that her best guess he would be okay as long as he was home tonight (which we figured he would be).
At 10:45 am my dad called me and said, “I’m on the freeway. Either I’m sitting with you at your house or you are coming to ours- you aren’t going to have contractions alone.” I nearly wept, it was just the nicest thing he could’ve done. I had felt really lonesome having these strange, scary pains by myself. My dad came over and helped me pack my hospital bag. (My hubby had been bugging me and bugging me to get it done!). I had all the baby’s stuff ready to go but hadn’t put my stuff together. I kept having contractions while he was there, but Dad said they weren’t the "real thing" since I could talk and manage through them. We went over to my parent’s house. My mom had shared with our Sunday School class that I was having contractions and Josh was out of town. They all prayed that Josh would make it home and we would have wisdom about whether or not he should call in and get a ride home (which is a big deal, he’s supposed to take a train home).
My inlaws also attend the church we go to, so they came over to my parent’s house to check on me. My mother in law kept volunteering to send my father in law to go get Josh. I really, really didn’t want to be an alarmist (see a theme here??!) so I told them I’d let them know if I thought it was necessary. They came over at noon and stayed about a ½ an hour, and the whole time I didn’t have one contraction! Then they came in about 30 min intervals… so I went and took a nap in case I was going to be up all night- and nada! Nothing! No contractions… upon waking from my nap with no more symptoms of labor, I felt so foolish. Here half the church thought I was having my baby and I had been having false labor. I called my hubby, he still hadn’t gotten a train! It was nearly 3 in the afternoon, what in the world was going on? Embarassed, I decided to just hang with my parents for the evening/night. My mom and I went for a really long walk at about 4 pm and then my best friend came over and ran me to Target for some supplies I needed for my hospital bag and a baby brush that I realized I didn’t own… We kept joking it would be really funny if my water broke in Target, it would make for a great story. I had a few cramps here and there, but nothing to talk about… When we got back we went for another really long walk and talked. I hadn’t eaten much of anything all day, just drank my weight in lemonade. Nothing sounded good to me.
That night I got in my parent’s hot tub, they got it when I first found out I was pregnant and I hadn’t been in it the whole time. I figured with these cramps it would help, as baths have always helped me when I had PMS. My dad turned down the temp and my parents hung out with me. Josh FINALLY got a train and went on duty at 8:30 pm. Usually his trips are at least 12 hours, so I knew he’d be home by 8:30 in the morning. I went to bed at midnight. At 1:30 am I was really uncomfortable and crampy, at 2:30 am I was still crampy and my sleep was fitful, tossing back and forth trying to get comfortable. At 3:00 am I was too uncomfortable to lie down and had to get out of bed. I went into my sister’s room (she’s at college) to watch TV and hopefully get some rest. At 4:00 am I called Josh and he said he was just pulling into the yard in our town and BOOM- hard labor started as soon as we got off the phone. These cramps were just like the ones I had before, except they stopped me in my tracks. I tried to lie down inbetween them, I was tired, however it really hurt. I timed them from 4:00 am to 5:00 am and then averaged the times, they were 5 minutes apart. I went and woke up my parents (misery loves company, right?). I didn’t want to be tricked again by false labor, and everything I had read stressed the importance of varying your activity. If it is false then it will go away, if it’s true, it will continue.
So I got back into the hot tub, this time by myself. I had a couple of really bad cramp spells in there so I decided to take a shower. My mom came and helped me out of the hot tub and I got in the shower. 6:00 AM: While I was in the shower I had quite a few contractions and was moaning aloud because of them. My mom heard me, and heard how fast they were coming on top of one another, and told me we’d better go to the hospital to get checked. Everything in my childbirth education said that the majority of women that come in get sent home because they come in too early. I didn’t want to get sent home- I really really didn’t. If this wasn’t the real deal, I didn’t want to know. I had never been checked, my doctor doesn’t do internals until 37 weeks. And my last appointment I had just had my strep B culture, the results weren’t even back yet! My mom insisted we go.
I wanted to blow dry my hair first. I purposefully didn’t put on any makeup, I wanted to look miserable to the hospital personnel! Honestly, I wouldn’t have went in until 9 or 10 am, I didn’t want to be an alarmist (!). Plus, my doctor said 5 minutes apart and 60 seconds long. Although mine were 3 to 5 mins apart they were still only about 20 seconds and I could manage through them. I’m such a wimp when I’m in pain, but it still just felt like a bad period. We got my stuff together and got in the car. The drive to the hospital is about 15 mins from their house without traffic. In the car I had 4 to 5 contractions and not being able to stand up was driving me nuts and made them worse. Seeing the traffic going into town (the opposite direction) I wanted to cry… thinking that they were going to turn me away and make go back in that traffic with these contractions was so discouraging.
Us arriving at the hospital, me stopping for a contraction:
We got to the hospital, me having more and more contractions. Still manageable and now standing, I felt a lot better. We checked in and the hooked me up to two belt belly monitors, one pink and one blue. One monitored the baby’s heartbeat and the other my contractions. It seemed like the nurse took forever to come in and check me. Usually I’m so nervous about internals and they hurt, I actually felt relief when she checked me! I didn’t care about modesty, I probably would’ve been checked in the lobby had it been necessary! I was so apprehensive, thinking, hoping, praying, please let me be a 2 or a 3 and she said… “4 centimeters, 100% effaced”. My mom and I looked at each other and our jaws dropped. YAY! Baby day! I told my mom to call Josh. Josh had just gotten home and been in bed for about 10 minutes and was deliriously tired and groggy. My mom called and told him my stats to which he responded, “What do I do?”. My mom said, “come to the hospital”. Josh said, “Okay, I just have to get Brooke’s red shirt”. My mom was like “huh?”. (You see earlier I asked him to bring me a ribbed tank top to my parent’s house, and he in his groggy state thought I needed a red shirt, LOL!).
They got me checked in and admitted me, I had my own room, Room #17 (on the 17th!). We called my dad and he came on his way. My mom called my in-laws and they were on their way. I told just about every hospital personnel that checked in on me that I wanted an epidural. I was really worried I would miss my window of opportunity and as the contractions got more intense I got more and more scared that I was progressing and would miss the epi! The nurse made me lie down so that I could be monitored for the epi. Oh mi gosh- the contractions came like crazy! Looking on the monitor they were stacking one on top of another. I know they would’ve been manageable if I could’ve stood up, but having to lie down on that bed was killing me. My husband walked in during this and was wide-eyed and looking at me like, “we surely will die before this baby is born”. I was nearly in tears, but wouldn’t let myself go there- I knew if they started I’d get too emotional. So I closed my eyes and worked through them.
Finally at 8 am the anthesteologist came into my room and introduced himself. If my life was a movie the ‘heavenly aaaaaaahhhhhh’ music would’ve escorted him into the room. He was very methodical and careful, he explained to me everything he was doing and about to do. I was never afraid of getting the epi, but when the time came, I was afraid I would move or have a contraction during it and screw something up. But
I was stoic and solid, I didn’t move a bit. He said it would feel like a bee sting, and it was nothing! My mom held me while he inserted it, I knew if my hubby was looking he’d flinch or get wide eyed and freak me out. (he knew it too!).
Doing my makeup:
My mom and I:
Almost immediately I felt the warm spread in my legs, the effect of the epi. Never, though, did I lose all feeling. I could move and manage my legs, lift them for my coaches to hold while pushing and was able to feel her descent. However, I never again felt the pain of my contractions. I chilled out and watching the monitor I was having huge, on top of one another contractions. I asked for my makeup and some jolly ranchers and was joking with my inlaws and dad as they arrived. They were looking at me like a crazy person, having never had the opportunity to experience an epidural birth. Our parents kept saying, “this is amazing!”. I also got a catheter inserted (which was something I was nervous about) and it didn’t hurt a bit. I could feel the pressure of it but no pain. They took it out before I started pushing.
At 9:00 AM my doctor was at the hospital for something so she stopped by to see me. Since she was there the nurse had her check me. I was 6-7 cm dialated, 100 % effaced and the baby was at 0 station! This baby wanted out! She broke my waters and the little nurse in there exclaimed, “Wow! That’s a lot of water!”. Then, my lovely nurse, Barbara arrived. Barbara was literally an answer to prayer, as I really really didn’t like the first nurse we had. Barbara was exactly what I had been praying for during my pregnancy, encouraging, supportive, talkative, kind, and a great sense of humor.
At 10:45 AM nurse Barbara said it was time to start practice pushing and helping my girl descend. My mil went to leave and I told her to stay for her granddaughter’s birth. She started crying, she was so excited to be a part of it. My dad took his position in the corner (free from any crotch shots) to video the labor and birth. My mom took one leg and my hubby took the other. I pushed from 10:45 until 12:20. Honestly, I never looked at the clock, I had no idea that much time had passed! I thought maybe a ½ hour? My whole family was so amazing and supportive, encouraging me, talking me through it. My husband was the best- hearing him tell me I could do it and how good I was doing it made me all the more determined. I held my legs and Barbara told me to push like I was “rowing a boat”. She would tell me when the pushes were really good and what I needed to do to improve, she’d touch the area she needed pushing at and then I started to get it.
I was in my “athlete mode” very focused. I closed my eyes the majority of the time to concentrate. I talked to myself in my head and never once said “I can’t do this” or “No more”. I pushed every time I was asked no matter how tired I was. The good pushes are the type that you are making noise through and you don’t even realize you made noise until after the push is over. My hubby kept feeding me ice in-between holding my leg, as my throat was getting so dry from pushing. Baby girl started to descend and they could see her head. I was amazed by the amount of time they could see the top of her head before she came out, I thought before that you see the head and then the baby comes. My hubby actually looked and was a part of the whole birth experience, which prior to us going into the hospital he was positive he couldn’t/wouldn’t look. It was totally different when we were in the situation!
At noon nurse Barbara called my doctor to tell her to come to the hospital and my dr said she’d be there in a half an hour. My nurse was like, “Umm… I’d come earlier than that!!. I started to feel an immense amount of pressure and started asking to push. Nurse Barbara was like, “honey hold off, the doctor is coming…”. It was the first time in the whole birth experience that I was begging, “please- let me push!” My mom was commenting afterwards that I was so polite, I kept saying “please” and “thank you” and “I’m sorry”.
Finally- the doctor! I only pushed a few times with her there and then, her head was out. When it was out I announced her name to our parents (who didn’t know). I wanted them to see her and know her. She started crying when only her head was out!! My doctor was laughing, “you aren’t even born yet and you are crying??”. Then, with her head out, I had to stop pushing. Even though it wasn’t at all comfortable I concentrated and didn’t push. I wanted to minimize tearing as much as possible and followed her instructions. Then I pushed the rest of her out and they put her on my chest.
How to describe this moment? Honestly, I could write the rest of my life and never find the words. It was perfect, amazing, heart-wrenching… one of those moments where you feel like heaven is shining down and all its glory is upon you.
She was 7 lbs, 9 oz, 19 inches long and got a 9/9 on her Apgars (yep- aced her first test! ). Unfortunately, because she was an early bird they had to take her away from me and put her in the nursery. While I had labored, quite a crowd of friends and family had arrived. And they got to see her get her first bath and get taken care of in the nursery. In fact, there was such a crowd at the window to see our Evie that they moved the beds around so she’d be the closest to the window.
My sister was flying in and arrived at the hospital at 12:30, just 10 minutes earlier and she would’ve witnessed her niece’s birth! But she got to see her and then she held my hand and talked me through my ½ hour of stitches. The stitches hurt the worst- mainly because they turned off my epidural? I sent a couple of text messages which people have been mocking me about because I was getting stitched and texting! But it was a good distraction!
Me and my sis, my total support during my stitches:
Us visiting her in the nursery:
No comments:
Post a Comment