I have lots to catch you all up on. As most all of you know by now, Hannah Elizabeth is here! Born August 4th at 2:22pm weighing 6 lbs 13 ounces and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. She was just four days shy of her original due date - August 8th. Here's a "mini" clip of how things went down...
On Friday, July 29th I was sitting at work feeling uncomfortable as usual but noticed something different happening. Pain. I couldn't stand up, but didn't want to sit down either. Obviously I couldn't crawl under my desk and get in the fetal position so I waited until the pain subsided enough for me to go to the bathroom. At this point in the pregnancy, I didn't know what was happening. I thought it could have been really bad gas, something I ate, baby moving in a place that didn't settle well or contractions. I went to the bathroom and as I was walking back it hit me again - I knew this was a real contraction. I remember once asking the doctor how I'd know when I was having a contraction and she said "oh, you'll know". Now I know what she meant. It's like menstrual cramping you've never felt before. I didn't have to say much to my co-workers because leading up to this point everyone was already looking at me like I was a ticking time bomb...they all knew it could happen at any time. And lets be honest, working M-F at 50 hrs a week (give or take), the probability of me going into labor at the office was pretty great. So I braved the drive home solo and that was one of the most painful drives ever. Jeff was already home and I had called him on my way to give him the heads up that I thought I was having contractions and to get ready! I will never forget, I walked in with a clear look of pain/discomfort on my face hunched over while I tried desperately to make my way to our bed all the while he has the biggest grin on his face. I laid down and no sooner did I find Jeff with a note pad and pen sketching a contraction time table and asking me to report when I had another one and we'd time how long. We had never really discussed what we'd do when I went into labor but we did know the doctor said to go to the hospital when they were happening 5 mins apart and for roughly 60 seconds. These were happening 15 mins apart and were lasting about 50 seconds. All this began at about 4pm and continued until 8pm or so which by that point things started to slow down instead of speeding up. Soon the contractions stopped entirely. False labor is what they call it. I see how people make premature runs to the hospital when stuff like this happens. Luckily, we did not. Needless to say, we figured at this point the baby was coming soon....like, very soon. Obviously this was not the case. Nothing happened for days and we were just waiting... I'd feel things here and there but nothing as intense.
I had my weekly appointment schedule for Wednesday so I was very anxious to hear how I was doing at that point. When Wednesday rolled around I was naturally very anxious but excited. It was August 3rd and being only five days from our due date I knew we were in the home stretch. (As I've mentioned before, my blood pressure towards the end was something the doctor was concerned about, but despite it's elevation, the prior weeks blood work confirmed I was still "healthy" and could carry the baby longer as I wished). However, my blood pressure was even higher at the August 3rd appointment. And at this time, I was measuring 3 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced and the doctor felt me carrying the baby any longer would put not only me but the baby in danger. She wanted to induce labor the very next day. This of course made me very scared. I did NOT want to be induced, but knew I should follow the doctors orders and do what she thought was best. So we were put on the schedule to check into the hospital Thursday, August 4th at 6:30am.
The morning of August 4th, I noticed I was having contractions again. It was around 5am when we were up and getting moving to head out to the hospital. They started just like the ones started the Friday before but these seemed to come much quicker. While we were driving to the hospital at 6:15am to check in at 6:30am I was timing them and they were 5 mins apart. We checked into the hospital as planned by my doctor and we told the nurse that we thought I was actually already going into labor. At this point we were pretty excited because we thought if I were we wouldn't have to be induced and could have the baby naturally. By 7:30am we were in the labor and delivery room we were assigned and were getting settled in. Around 7:45am I was still having the contractions which were getting stronger and the first nurse checked to see my progress. I was 4 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. We were stoked! We asked the nurse to call the doctor to see if we could skip the induction since I was already technically in active labor. The nurse reported back around 8am and said the doctor still wanted to induce. Before starting me on the pitocin the nurse checked me once more at 8:30am and I was 5 centimeters dilated. I still feel had they not started the pitocin I would have had Hannah at some point that night but starting me on the pitocin just meant the labor would get moving even faster and we'd hopefully have her sooner. Honestly, at that point, I was ready to get the show on the road. Contractions hurt. Bad. There's no joke about it - any woman who goes through natural child birth (no epidural) are truly strong/pain tolerant people. I would never wish for that. Anyways, once the pitosen started so did the contractions...within 20 mins my pain level went from a bearable 8 to 10 and I was in tears. I only had to wait 15 mins before the anesthesiologist came in to relieve me. Jeff was asked to leave the room for 20-30 mins while they inserted the magic stick in my back and then he could come back. I was scared when he left. Not sure why but something about not having in him the room with me at all times freaked me out. All in all, the whole epidural thing is totally overrated. It's not scary at all and it doesn't hurt. Well, maybe it hurts a little but I definitely think getting the IV hurts more than the epidural. After the epidural, they just want you to relax, sit back, and try to get some rest. I found it hard to rest though because I was facing the contraction monitor and the baby's heart monitor and for a while there the baby was having a hard time. My contractions were coming back to back (keep in mind - I can not feel the contractions anymore just a little pressure) and while they were happening the baby's heart rate would drop. A couple times it dropped so low nurses would run in to monitor more closely. So that was a little stressful. Soon they had me switch sides I was laying on and the baby seemed to be happier and by 2pm I was fully dilated and the baby was ready to come! When the doctor came in to check she said "Ok, baby is right there, it's time to start pushing." I remember saying to her "What? Are you serious? Right now? Wait...can we have just a minute?" The doctor replied "Honey, you've have 9-10months to get ready for this. It's go time!" haha I was pretty nervous about pushing, etc. Still blows my mind to think you actually deliver babies out of your private part, but I knew it had to be true because that's how I got here... Ten minutes after I was told to start pushing, our beautiful baby girl was here and I experience a moment in my life that I will never ever forget. To try and blog about how amazing that moment is would be impossible. Just know, aside from asking the doctor if she was ok ,there weren't many other words spoken. Jeff and I couldn't take our eyes off her or each other and were left speechless. That day will never be forgotten and we will cherish it forever.
More to come on the first days home...
