Finally....we are settling into our new roles of parents of 3 and I have had a moment to recap the wonderful story of our newest sons birth:
It was Friday night the 15th of January. I started my nightly routine of braxton hicks contractions that felt so much like real labor it was unreal! We had already been to the hospital 3 times however, throughout the pregnancy I was beginning to feel like a regular! We went once for fainting...in my daughters kindergarten class no less, once for thinking my water had broken...turned out I just peed my pants, and once for pre-term labor at 33 weeks....that they were thankfully able to stop. So long story short I told myself....and anyone who would listen for that matter, that there was NO WAY I was going to the hospital again unless I was dying or having a baby! I jokingly said I was going to be one of those people who give birth in the car or something because I waited too long...making sure i was in "real" labor.
So, on this particular night, just like most since the pre-term labor stay, I was timing my contractions. They were getting pretty close together, but ha-ha.....they liked to do that to fake me out...so I would get ALL excited and wake the house up in the middle of the night, only for them to fizzle out and leave me hanging my head in disappointment. So, there I am timing away and Joe started getting nervous...they were coming about every 5 minutes and were pretty strong. But I kept holding off and holding off, until finally around 10:30 I gave in and called in the Doctor....only to find out she was out of town until TUESDAY!!! My heart dropped...TUESDAY???? Well,I thought, I'm not in labor anyway, it was just another tease. And ironically just about this time the contractions started spacing out and I went to bed. Another night pregnant, another night with miserable aches and pains....another night with NO BABY!!!
We got up the next day and my normal "show up at night" contractions started coming earlier in the day. I decided we should clean the house and go t the store to get the last minute baby things we needed. while there my contractions really started up, so I decided to keep the momentum going and we should walk laps around the mall. We walked a little bit, went to Gameworks and got a little competitive playing some air hockey and then finished our lap....by this time my contractions were every 2 to 3 minutes. We went to the car, they were still coming, got home, still there. I thought, wow, this really might be it. Joe made a quick dinner...salmon, sweet potatoes, and broccoli....while I played on the computer. Sure enough....they stopped! I couldn't believe it! I couldn't take this roller coaster ride ANYMORE! I got up and started walking laps around the house, our dog though I was NUTS!!! I was jogging up and down our stairs...anything that I could think of that might..just might..get things going again. I didn't care anymore,I told Joe we were just gonna go in to the hospital and hope I had dilated enough that they wouldn't send me home.
We finished packing our last minute things and we were off. I had a grand idea on the way.... I told Joe to stop at Meijer which happened to be right down the road from the hospital so we could walk a few laps before we went in just to make sure the contractions did stop, since walking seemed to bring them on. We were finishing up our 2nd lap when I informed Joe I HAD to pee before our 3rd and final lap. We headed to the bathroom and were about 20 feet away from the door when "it" happened. "Oh God....did I just pee my pants??? No wait...that's a lot of pee. "Then I said out loud..."honey, I think my water just broke" This had never happened in my previous pregnancies...I didn't know what it was like, what to expect. I wen to the bathroom to "investigate" But I just couldn't tell. We went ahead to the hospital anyway....seriously was I about to be the girl who not only once but TWICE came in thinking their water broke only to find out they have slight bladder issues instead????
We went to the oh so familiar maternity triage area to see if we were gonna have a baby in our arms in a few hours or if I was going to be ridiculously embarrassed yet again. I explained what happened and they did a test to determine whether or not it was amniotic fluid or not. We had to wait for a bit and I just kept saying ...please oh PLEASE let me have broken my water over and over again in my head. The nurse came back in the room. The test is POSITIVE she said...you're gonna have a baby!! It instantly brought me back to the moment I found out I was pregnant with this little angel. Joe and I high fived and couldn't stop smiling!!! He rushed in the hallway to get a better reception and called both our parents. I got my gown, we got our bracelets and we headed to our room....it was 12:30 and I was 3 cm dilated. I was slightly disappointed as I thought I would be more and just assumed that I was going to have at least 5 or 6 more hours ahead of me.
We met our nurse, she started my IV, we called more friends and family....updated our facebook status...you know, all the important things!! : ) They checked me again and I was 4 cm...it was 1 a.m. and I was told I could go ahead and get my epidural, which I was just starting to need. They called the anesthesiologist and by the time he arrived my contractions had reached an extremely uncomfortable point. I winced in pain as it felt like my lower abdomen was going to erupt with volcanic fluid. The tapped up the epidural catheter and with in 5 minutes I felt the relief.I was able to smile again...ahhhhh, this is better I thought. They finished breaking my bag of water, dimmed the lights and told us this would be a good time to get some sleep. Sleep sounded great but I was on a super adrenaline high, I was going to meet my baby soon! : )
Joe was all smiles as he reached in our bag and whipped out a long shiny bronze box. It contained the most precious charm bracelet I have ever laid eyes on. He had hand picked the charms and even had some engraved...all while keeping it a secret from me....which if you know Joe is a FEAT!!! Two of the charms represented Joe and me, one for each of the kids and a little bootie for our new baby boy...all with two hearts...one on each side that said " my angels" My heart melted!!! It was just perfect and soooo special.
20 minutes had gone by since I received my epidural, but something was wrong...the intense pain of the contractions was back and stronger than ever. I told Joe and he went and got the nurse. By this time, they were coming every minute or so and were so painful I was almost in tears. The nurse came in and said that they weren't set to check me again until 2 but since I was so uncomfortable and now had the "shakes" that she would go get the doctor. The doctor came in and at this point the pain was almost unbearable. It was like nothing I had ever felt and in my head I was really questioning whether I could do this. She checked me and I was 9 cm. She had me push just one time to push past the little bit of cervix I had left and that was all it took. We went quickly to get Doctor Smiths fill in....which just happened to be Dr. Beals...the Doctor who delivered Kara. So , that was actually extremely special to me that I was not delivering with a stranger.
Now this is where things get a little fuzzy. It was a complete whirlwind....people were scurrying all around, emotions were flying...this was almost it. My little boy was coming! I couldn't believe it was already time to push, not even an hour and a half before I was just getting to my room. We asked why I was in so much pain and I guess apparently because I had dilated so fast the epidural hadn't had a chance to catch up to the level of pain I was feeling...... so basically I was feeling EVERYTHING!! All I kept thinking of was my baby boy and burying my face in his sweet smelling skin.
I pushed through just 4 contractions and on the last one at 2:11 a.m on January 17th Dr. Beals told me to open my eyes. And there you were, I helped pull you up onto my belly.
It was Friday night the 15th of January. I started my nightly routine of braxton hicks contractions that felt so much like real labor it was unreal! We had already been to the hospital 3 times however, throughout the pregnancy I was beginning to feel like a regular! We went once for fainting...in my daughters kindergarten class no less, once for thinking my water had broken...turned out I just peed my pants, and once for pre-term labor at 33 weeks....that they were thankfully able to stop. So long story short I told myself....and anyone who would listen for that matter, that there was NO WAY I was going to the hospital again unless I was dying or having a baby! I jokingly said I was going to be one of those people who give birth in the car or something because I waited too long...making sure i was in "real" labor.
So, on this particular night, just like most since the pre-term labor stay, I was timing my contractions. They were getting pretty close together, but ha-ha.....they liked to do that to fake me out...so I would get ALL excited and wake the house up in the middle of the night, only for them to fizzle out and leave me hanging my head in disappointment. So, there I am timing away and Joe started getting nervous...they were coming about every 5 minutes and were pretty strong. But I kept holding off and holding off, until finally around 10:30 I gave in and called in the Doctor....only to find out she was out of town until TUESDAY!!! My heart dropped...TUESDAY???? Well,I thought, I'm not in labor anyway, it was just another tease. And ironically just about this time the contractions started spacing out and I went to bed. Another night pregnant, another night with miserable aches and pains....another night with NO BABY!!!
We got up the next day and my normal "show up at night" contractions started coming earlier in the day. I decided we should clean the house and go t the store to get the last minute baby things we needed. while there my contractions really started up, so I decided to keep the momentum going and we should walk laps around the mall. We walked a little bit, went to Gameworks and got a little competitive playing some air hockey and then finished our lap....by this time my contractions were every 2 to 3 minutes. We went to the car, they were still coming, got home, still there. I thought, wow, this really might be it. Joe made a quick dinner...salmon, sweet potatoes, and broccoli....while I played on the computer. Sure enough....they stopped! I couldn't believe it! I couldn't take this roller coaster ride ANYMORE! I got up and started walking laps around the house, our dog though I was NUTS!!! I was jogging up and down our stairs...anything that I could think of that might..just might..get things going again. I didn't care anymore,I told Joe we were just gonna go in to the hospital and hope I had dilated enough that they wouldn't send me home.
We finished packing our last minute things and we were off. I had a grand idea on the way.... I told Joe to stop at Meijer which happened to be right down the road from the hospital so we could walk a few laps before we went in just to make sure the contractions did stop, since walking seemed to bring them on. We were finishing up our 2nd lap when I informed Joe I HAD to pee before our 3rd and final lap. We headed to the bathroom and were about 20 feet away from the door when "it" happened. "Oh God....did I just pee my pants??? No wait...that's a lot of pee. "Then I said out loud..."honey, I think my water just broke" This had never happened in my previous pregnancies...I didn't know what it was like, what to expect. I wen to the bathroom to "investigate" But I just couldn't tell. We went ahead to the hospital anyway....seriously was I about to be the girl who not only once but TWICE came in thinking their water broke only to find out they have slight bladder issues instead????
We went to the oh so familiar maternity triage area to see if we were gonna have a baby in our arms in a few hours or if I was going to be ridiculously embarrassed yet again. I explained what happened and they did a test to determine whether or not it was amniotic fluid or not. We had to wait for a bit and I just kept saying ...please oh PLEASE let me have broken my water over and over again in my head. The nurse came back in the room. The test is POSITIVE she said...you're gonna have a baby!! It instantly brought me back to the moment I found out I was pregnant with this little angel. Joe and I high fived and couldn't stop smiling!!! He rushed in the hallway to get a better reception and called both our parents. I got my gown, we got our bracelets and we headed to our room....it was 12:30 and I was 3 cm dilated. I was slightly disappointed as I thought I would be more and just assumed that I was going to have at least 5 or 6 more hours ahead of me.
We met our nurse, she started my IV, we called more friends and family....updated our facebook status...you know, all the important things!! : ) They checked me again and I was 4 cm...it was 1 a.m. and I was told I could go ahead and get my epidural, which I was just starting to need. They called the anesthesiologist and by the time he arrived my contractions had reached an extremely uncomfortable point. I winced in pain as it felt like my lower abdomen was going to erupt with volcanic fluid. The tapped up the epidural catheter and with in 5 minutes I felt the relief.I was able to smile again...ahhhhh, this is better I thought. They finished breaking my bag of water, dimmed the lights and told us this would be a good time to get some sleep. Sleep sounded great but I was on a super adrenaline high, I was going to meet my baby soon! : )
Joe was all smiles as he reached in our bag and whipped out a long shiny bronze box. It contained the most precious charm bracelet I have ever laid eyes on. He had hand picked the charms and even had some engraved...all while keeping it a secret from me....which if you know Joe is a FEAT!!! Two of the charms represented Joe and me, one for each of the kids and a little bootie for our new baby boy...all with two hearts...one on each side that said " my angels" My heart melted!!! It was just perfect and soooo special.
20 minutes had gone by since I received my epidural, but something was wrong...the intense pain of the contractions was back and stronger than ever. I told Joe and he went and got the nurse. By this time, they were coming every minute or so and were so painful I was almost in tears. The nurse came in and said that they weren't set to check me again until 2 but since I was so uncomfortable and now had the "shakes" that she would go get the doctor. The doctor came in and at this point the pain was almost unbearable. It was like nothing I had ever felt and in my head I was really questioning whether I could do this. She checked me and I was 9 cm. She had me push just one time to push past the little bit of cervix I had left and that was all it took. We went quickly to get Doctor Smiths fill in....which just happened to be Dr. Beals...the Doctor who delivered Kara. So , that was actually extremely special to me that I was not delivering with a stranger.
Now this is where things get a little fuzzy. It was a complete whirlwind....people were scurrying all around, emotions were flying...this was almost it. My little boy was coming! I couldn't believe it was already time to push, not even an hour and a half before I was just getting to my room. We asked why I was in so much pain and I guess apparently because I had dilated so fast the epidural hadn't had a chance to catch up to the level of pain I was feeling...... so basically I was feeling EVERYTHING!! All I kept thinking of was my baby boy and burying my face in his sweet smelling skin.
I pushed through just 4 contractions and on the last one at 2:11 a.m on January 17th Dr. Beals told me to open my eyes. And there you were, I helped pull you up onto my belly.
I cradled you and looked in your eyes and it was suddenly like we were the only ones in the room. We cuddled and just sat there taking one another in. I looked over and your proud Daddy had tears in his eyes. It was a special moment that just the 3 of us shared. It was amazing how in that instance 9 months of agony just plain disappeared. In fact i was ready to do it all again......
Ahhhhh the miracle of birth!!!!!!
Ahhhhh the miracle of birth!!!!!!
