The story really starts on Wednesday 4/17 when we had last
OB appointment. I was still 50% effaced and not dilated at all (same as the
appointment a week prior and the one to that as well). I hadn’t had any really
regular contractions the whole time. I had a final to take for my Complex care
of adults class (7 credit hours). I had previously asked my professor if I
could take it early on Friday if I was showing signs of labor. Well, I didn’t
think I was showing any signs of labor so I said I’ll just take it Tuesday with
everyone else. Well, I started having inconsistent contractions on Friday and
Saturday. Then Sunday I had regular contractions 3-5 minutes apart that were
about 30 seconds long. I was VERY worried the baby was going to come Sunday or
Monday but definitely by Tuesday. I called my professor and worked out that I
would come in on Monday at 11:00 to take the exam. Scott and I said a prayer
that my contractions would stop so I could focus on the test and do well enough
to get an A in the class. I only needed a 90 but was concerned because her
final in the other class from her was ridiculously hard.
My contractions stopped and I was able to take the final
with out contractions and while I felt good and was very confident about it.
Scott jokes that she was helping me.
Tuesday I wanted to go on what I knew my last run would be. I
went to the gym on campus and ran/walked 6 miles it was about at 10 minute pace
even with the walking. I was having contractions every 3-5 minutes for 40-60
seconds. I was able to get in a full mile at the end of the run without
walking. Then I biked for about 30 minutes.
I had to go talk to some professors at school so I walked
over and talked to them. I could still walk through contractions although they
weren’t the most comfortable to walk through. I probably looked like I was
injured or something. After talking to some of them through my contractions I
decided that these contractions weren’t going away. The standard is to call the
doc and go in if the contractions are 5 minutes apart and 1 minute long. Well
these were definitely 3-5 minutes apart and 40 seconds to 75 seconds long.
I called the doctor and the nurse said to go in. I said I’m
not in that much pain though. She said still to go in and get checked. Scott
came and got me around 1:00pm and we obviously stopped by yogurt VI for some
frozen yogurt. The nurses knew that I wasn’t going to be that far along when I
came in because I was smilling. They checked me and I was at a finger tip and
50% effaced. They had us walk the floor for an hour and checked me again and I
was at 60% and maybe a little more than a finger tip. My OB that I wanted to
deliver her was on call that night and said that she could admit us, but that
since we wanted to go natural we might just want to go home and then come back
in when contractions were worse.
I had told everyone that I wanted to deliver on Friday
because I loved the on call doc for that day. It was Dr. Sutler and she is a
big advocate for natural deliveries. She gave me a pep talk when we went into
see her during the pregnancy. We actually only saw her once during the
pregnancy but it was my favorite appointment.
Well I thought that she would be delivering my baby cause I
knew I was going to have the baby in the night. So we went home so I could
labor at home in the comfort of my own home. I wanted chipotle that night to
get some food in me since I hadn’t eaten much that day. I think total calories
I had on Tuesday were something close to 1400-1500 and that was the day I
worked out. Then from Tuesday at 8:00pm till around 1:00 on Wednesday I didn’t
have anything. I was so so so hypoglycemic at the end of it. I was shaking uncontrollably.
I had told everyone that I wanted to deliver on Friday
because I loved the on call doc for that day. It was Dr. Sutler and she is a
big advocate for natural deliveries. She gave me a pep talk when we went into
see her during the pregnancy. We actually only saw her once during the
pregnancy but it was my favorite appointment.
Well I thought that she would be delivering my baby cause I
knew I was going to have the baby in the night. So we went home so I could
labor at home in the comfort of my own home. I wanted chipotle that night to
get some food in me since I hadn’t eaten much that day. I think total calories
I had on Tuesday were something close to 1400-1500 and that was the day I
worked out. Then from Tuesday at 8:00pm till around 1:00 on Wednesday I didn’t
have anything. I was so so so hypoglycemic at the end of it. I was shaking uncontrollably.
Well, Scott went to chipotle and I walked to 5-guys to get
some fries for us to eat as well. I was still able to walk through the
contractions, but they were getting a little more difficult to walk through. We
went home and I laid in the bath as we watched the end of the hobbit and ate
chipotle. At the time I was going to have us stop the movie since it was a
pretty suspenseful movie and I needed to be relaxing, but we wanted to take the
movie back that night so we wouldn’t have to pay more. By the time it was over
I really didn’t want Scott to leave and thought it was worth the extra 1.25 to
have him with me through the entire labor.
I took a nice shower with Scott and then we went to labor in
bed. Around 11:30pm I felt as though the contractions were getting pretty hard
and they weren’t going away completely each time so I was a little worried
about her getting adequate ox. I called and the doctor said I could come in but
it wasn’t any rush to get in quickly. Scott encouraged me to keep laboring at
home so I did. I took another bath and then labored in bed some more and might
have drifted off to sleep a little in between contractions.
Around 2:30 am I said that it was time to go in.
Contractions were getting harder and my uterus really wasn’t relaxing in
between so I was worried about her tracing. The ride to the hospital was down
Harrison Avenue, which is getting construction done on it, and is incredibly rough
especially when you are going through labor. I said a quick prayer to myself
that I wouldn’t have a contraction during that stretch of the road because I
knew it would hurt. Fortunately, just as we pulled off the construction section
I had a contraction, but not prior to that.
We were told we could go in through the ER, but I just
wanted to park and walk in. I had a contraction right at the coffee shop in the
hospital and had to stop. The two workers asked us if we needed someone to come
get us or a wheelchair. I said to them in the middle of the contraction, “don’t
mind me I’m just in labor, I’m fine!” The next contraction hit right when we
were supposed to be getting out of the elevator. I couldn’t walk out and we
tried to hold the door, but it closed on us and we had to ride it a little
longer.
In triage they checked me and said I was at a 5 with a very
bulging bag of water. They were surprised that it hadn’t broken yet. This check
was probably the most painful check I’ve ever had. The woman who did it was
merciless and was in me for minutes feeling around. She asked if I had ever had
a LEAP or another surgery on my cervix. I haven’t ever had any type of
gynecological problems so I was confused why they were asking. Like I expected
the tracing for the baby was minimal and they were slightly worried. They
wanted to pump me with fluids but I really didn’t even want an IV. I refused
the IV and said I could just drink water and ice chips. I also wanted to get
into their whirlpool, but with the tracing they weren’t going to let me.
When we got back to the room, I let them do the IV as a
precaution. The nurse that I was handed off to said that she felt ok letting me
in the tub but they were emptying and cleaning it so I would have to wait 20-30
more minutes.
They admitted me and my doctor came in and checked me again
just minutes later. She asked me the same question about my cervix and I asked
why they were wondering. Apparently I was 100% effaced except for one little
area of my cervix that was holding everything back from dropping down and rupturing.
She knew I was planning on going 100% natural and was very respectful of that.
In our last visit she gave me a pep talk about the labor and that I could do it
etc.
She said she was very surprised that my bag hadn’t ruptured
and expected it to happen any time. She told the nurse to call her when it
happened and she went to fall back asleep upstairs in the hospital because she
knew after I broke I would go fast. She did mention that we might think about
breaking your water because she didn’t know if it would on it’s own.
I went to the tub, which relieved much of the pain of the
contractions. After about 30 minutes of laboring in the tub the nurse came in
and asked me to get connected to the telli monitors. I stayed in the tub for 45
ish minutes more while I let Scott take a little cat nap in the rocking chair
in the room. (Later he felt so guilty that he was asleep while I was in labor,
but I knew that I needed him to be on his game later that morning and wanted
him to sleep while I was doing fine with contractions.)
I then labored in bed, and standing by the side of the bed
leaning over it, I tried to walk the halls a little, and the nurse brought in
the birthing ball for me. At around 7:00 am they had shift change and I had two
nurses with me because one was leaving in the afternoon. They asked me if I
wanted to get checked and I said yes because I wanted to hear that I had at
least made SOME progress. She checked me and told me I was still at a 5! I was
heart broken, Scott told me later he was heart broken for me. I had been
laboring and STILL at a 5! I was surprised they didn’t jump to say we need
pitocin! They did mention breaking my water, but the OB was off the floor and
the next one was coming in at 9:00. They couldn’t get ahold of the resident
either. Just my luck! I decided that I did need my water broken to progress
this labor since I had been the same the whole time.
They offered to get me in the tub again around 8:00am so I
took them up on it. I went to the bathroom and had another contraction while
the nurse was in my room. She ran over while she heard me and said “are you
having the urge to push?” Apparently I sounded like it. I said well, my uterus
feels like it is pushing without me wanting it to. It has been happening the
last 4-5 hours during 80% of the contractions. I was in A TON of pain during
those pushing contractions since I was trying to breath through them. I just
didn’t know that that was what it was supposed to feel like and the night nurse
didn’t say anything about them.
The nurse said let me check you before you go in the tub. I
was at a 7ish and my cervix was still in the way and my bag of waters was still
bulging. I felt like the nurse might have been exaggerating on that 7cm to make
me feel better about the progress. She said she would keep calling to have
someone come in and break my water but until then I could go in the tub only
for 30 minutes. This time the tub wasn’t as much relief as the times at home
and the last time in the hospital. I had those pushing contractions every
contraction in the tub. Looking back on all this I’m surprised they weren’t
more concerned since I could have
ruptured my cervix by pushing when not 100%.
The nurse said she would be right outside the room if I
needed anything. After 30 minutes I asked Scott to poke his head out and ask if
they had gotten a hold of anyone. She said the doc would be there around 9
since he had a meeting in the hospital till then. It was close to 9 so I
decided to get out. By the time I was out I saw the doc down the hallway. He
yelled up the hallway having fun yet? I think I gave him a pretty dirty look and
I heard Scott give a fake giggle. By the time I was in bed he was there with
everything to break my water.
He got set up and was very gentile with me the whole time
(thank goodness!). He told me that the contractions would probably get more
intense and closer together. When I was in the tub the contractions had spaced
themselves out to 3-5 minutes but they were any where from 90-150seconds long.
I really didn’t have a textbook progression of my labor, but I guess the body
doesn’t read the text book! Well he exited the room fairly quickly.
Not more than 2 minutes after he left I had another
contraction that I felt like I had to push. I felt something drop down and the
nurse checked me really quick. She didn’t even have to stick her fingers in me
really to feel the head. She got extremely wide eyes and started calling for
help. She told me to breath through my contractions because we needed the doc
there. I heard bits and pieces of what was going on, but I was in the zone now.
I knew that my baby would be here soon!
She said that she couldn’t get a hold of the doctor and I
heard someone else say maybe he’s in the elevator try the resident. I heard/saw
another guy come into the room who was the resident and I heard someone say
that he was going to have to deliver. Scott told me later that he tried to
introduce himself to me in the middle of a contraction! Then he said
“nevermind.” Well they still had me breathing through contractions and finally
got the OB in. They got my left leg in the stirrups but I just didn’t think I
could put the right one. When they said now you need to put it here all I could
say was, “no I can’t.” The nurses looked at the OB to ask if that was ok, he
said it was fine. I really don’t think I could have laid any other way. Well
the first couple contractions I wasn’t thinking and I continued to breathe
through them. Then the nurse said you need to push and work with the
contractions and I remembered what I supposed to be doing. Scott and I
practiced the position a couple days prior so he helped me a little. I think he
was more focused with the baby’s head coming out then me. The nurse was calming
me and helped coach me a little. After a couple of actual active pushing
contractions her head was out. They told me to look down and I saw her little
head and then body come out. They put her right on my belly/chest and clamped
the cord.
Now for the photo bomb!
This is right after delivery she's literally just minutes old!
Right after delivery as well.
We had to give her a bottle with pumped breast milk because of her jaundice and weight. She's off it now though! Yay!
Going home from the hospital!
First doctor's appointment. Her temp was very low so we had to bundle and they told us to stick her in our coat.
Just cute
Already one week has gone by!
After her first real bath since her umbilical cord fell off!
