The morning of our "due date" arrived, and, though the doctor had said that she could be coming "any moment" for the past two weeks (based on what they were seeing at my weekly exams), I was still very much pregnant and very much not in labor. I had told my boss that I planned to work up to my due date, unless she decided to make her appearance prior to that date. So, February 5th I woke up and went to work. I got to work pretty early since I had not been sleeping well lately, the anticipation of the baby coming and all that.
I worked until around 10:45am, thankfully having a short day on my last official work day before baby, whether she came soon or held out until receiving an eviction notice from the doctor. :) Since I got off of work so early I called a sweet friend and asked if she would like to do lunch. We met at Olive Garden and had a wonderful time visiting. Ironically, when we ordered, my friend told the waitress that the meal was "on her because it might be my last meal as a pregnant lady, or at least our last meal together before baby came". After lunch I insisted on getting tiramisu "on me" since after baby I would need to be more careful about what I ate.
I got home from lunch and my husband and I were leaving the house around 2 to go visit someone in the hospital, who was being treated at the hospital I would be having the baby at. As we were heading out the door I asked him if he had his toiletries, to which he said "we are only going to be gone a few hours". I said "Well, just in case..." so he put them in the car. We pulled up to the daycare to pick up our 3 yr old, my husband on the phone talking to the person we were going to visit. He was saying to her "Is it okay if we come see you for a little bit..." as I stepped out of the car and my water broke. Thankfully I had put a towel in my backseat "just in case" my water broke this time as well. My husband ran into the daycare and, as he reports it, just stood there frozen saying "babys coming" and the teacher and daycare director proceeded to gather our daughter and all of her things while I called the doctors office. I was surprised when they told me to come in anyway even though I wasn't in active labor yet, and though my husband wanted to go straight there, I convinced him to let me go home and change clothes first. Thank goodness!
The whole way to the hospital I am trying to explain to our 3 yr old (S) that her baby sister is coming without toooo many details, and making sure I don't make any noises or faces of discomfort because my husband is mildly panicking driving through rush hour traffic to the medical center. We let my parents know we would call them when we got checked in and ready for them to come pick S up from the hospital. We got to the hospital, went to the labor/delivery unit, then they took us downstairs to the fetal monitoring unit, and then immediately took us back upstairs to L&D unit.
I put on the beautiful green hospital gown, my parents showed up, my dad stayed with me while my husband, mom and S went for a quick visit to the other side of the hospital. Got my IV in, doctor said I was at 4cm, my parents took S home, and we proceeded to wait. The contractions really got started around 5:30/6 but were manageable. A few hours later I was 5.5cm...and that's when the contractions started coming approximately 2 minutes apart with minimal breaks in between and the pain got to the point where it was very difficult to walk, stand, move, and my music and essential oils were not really helping anymore. I had been very determined that since I had my first daughter without any pain medication, that I should be able to this time as well. Around 3am, when my contractions had been 2 minutes apart for almost 7 hours, I finally broke down crying to my husband asking him what I should do. I didn't want to be disappointed in myself because I wasn't able to manage unmedicated this time, but I was physically and emotionally exhausted. My husband, the ever supportive and logical one, pointed out that it wouldn't hurt to ask the nurse about the pros and cons (not that I hadn't read them a million times before) and ask if they could check me again to see if I had made any "progress". The nurse called the doctor who said it was okay to check, and we found out that I had gone 1/2cm from 5.5 to 6 in the past 7 hours. I agreed to the epidural and within 15 minutes that was over and done with. My husband then informed me that he was really happy I decided to get it because it tears him apart to see me in so much pain and not be able to help me feel any better.
Then I went from overwhelming pain to mild panic over not being able to feel my legs or move. I just told myself to try to relax, laid on my side, and attempt to rest if at all possible. The nurse said she would be back at 5am and if I hadn't made any more "progress" before then that we would have to discuss pitocin to try and get me to dilate. Around 4:45am I told my husband that I was feeling some pressure and a little nauseous. He said I should call the nurse to which I responded "She said she would be back at 5 to check on us". Again, ever logical, he said I should trust my instincts. So...I called the nurse, she took a quick check and said "This baby is ready". She called the doctor to come, and then said the doctor said we should do some test pushes. After one "test push" she said we needed to wait. When the doctor got to the room we did a couple pushes, then the doctor came over and a few pushes later, our beautiful baby girl came into this world and onto my chest.
Both my husband and I were overwhelmed with joy, tears and all. How is it that something so tiny can consume your heart so instantly and so completely? Something I love about the womans hospital is that they do everything that needs to be done in the first hour while you are skin to skin with your baby. They give her shot, eye cream, etc while she is lying on you. We were able to feed her and everything before they ever weighed her, and did all the logistical measurements.
It is hard to believe a week has already gone by. We are blessed beyond measure to have 2 beautiful girls in our lives. God is good.
Psalm 127:3Contemporary English Version (CEV)
3 Children are a blessing
and a gift from the Lord.
and a gift from the Lord.
