March 31st, Easter Sunday, I woke up at about 445 AM and felt different. I thought maybe I needed to go to the restroom but when the cramping persisted after 30 minutes I realized this was it. These were the real contractions and "the feeling" everyone said you would just instinctively know.
About 530 I woke up Tim and let him know that I thought I was having contractions and was going to take a shower just to be prepared. He put in a request that I hold off on "popping her out" until at least 2pm so he could watch the Michigan game. Love that guy.
The contractions persisted so after I took my shower I told Tim he should probably take one sooner rather than later because I was sure at some point today we'd be going to the hospital. I thought I would be extremely nervous but I wasn't....I was just focused.
About 730 I used the restroom and noticed a pinkish discharge. I knew things were progressing and I was in the early stages of labor. I called Labor and Delivery to let them know what was going on and to see what they said. At this point I was feeling contractions about every 5 minutes at a pain level 3-4. Based on what I told her the nurse confirmed I was in labor and said to try and stay home until the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart because I would be more comfortable at home. Just like the doctors the other day had reminded me...once you get to the hospital they start hooking you up to machines etc.
As the morning progressed the contractions got more uncomfortable. I downloaded a handy dandy contraction timer on my phone which really helped keep me focused and aware. Since Makaela is totally team daddy, we were able to hold off on going to the hospital until 230 pm.
On the way to the hospital we stopped and got sour patch kids and a hershey bar with almonds, because for some reason I felt I would REALLY needed those specific items after delivery. The drive to the hospital got pretty uncomfortable especially when we passed over bumps. When walking into the hospital I had to stop several times and lean on Tim to wait for a contraction to pass.
Once we got into Labor and Delivery they took us into a triage room and did all the preliminary vitals. Next they said they were going to check me to see if we would be admitted or not. As the doctor went to check me my water broke all over her. I'm sure she loves her job. At this point I had been in labor for 10.5 hours (9.5 hours at home) and was 2 cm but because my water broke they admitted me. They told me they like to deliver babies within 18 hours of the water breaking.
They took me to our room and we were greeted by the most amazing nurse. She was 100% focused on me and taught me how to breath and work through the pain (most of which was in my back). Without her, Tim and I are confident that the experience would have been totally different. Unfortunately, her shift ended at 700 PM that night.
I wanted to manage the pain naturally for as long as possible. After a few hours I inquired about what my options were and decided to take some IV pain medication. This helped a lot. I could still feel the contractions but they could be worked through.
About 830 PM I was getting more and more uncomfortable. They checked me and I had progressed to 6 cm on my own! At that point I knew I would want an epidural at some point so opted to get it then. The nurse said she was pretty sure we'd have the baby by midnight.
The epidural was not painful at all to receive. But it was scary. They kept saying how "critical" it was that I did not move, and the process took quite some time. (My biggest fear about labor and delivery all along was an epidural gone wrong...I pictured chronic back pain or never having feeling in my lower body again.)
The epidural was heaven sent. I was on cloud nine. Literally I was just hanging out. If they would have let me eat, I would have kicked back and munched on some bon bons.
Around 1100 PM they checked me again and I had progressed to 7-8 cm. Seemed like we wouldn't be having her before midnight, but were happy that I was still progressing without things like pitocin.
Around 130 AM when they checked me I was 9.5 cm dilated. The nurse said it would be time to push soon. I asked her if it was going to hurt or if I would feel anything. She asked if I could feel anything at the moment, and I could. Pain was about a 4-5 but not awful. She said she would pump up the epidural and I wouldn't feel anything during pushing. Sounded great to me.
Around 330 AM the doctors and nurses came in and said it was time to push. We did a few practice pushes so I could learn how to do it. I could feel pressure and some pain but figured it was par for the course. They had me push while holding my legs, while pressing my legs against a squatting bar and pulling on a rope wrapped around it, while on my hands and knees and they had me push on each side. After awhile I was in excrutiating pain. I could feel horrible pain in my back and left side. I was mentally and physically drained and they just kept saying "good job" "you're almost there" "you can do it" "she's so close." I wanted to punch them all. I kept saying how horrible the pain was and asking if I could push my epidural button to get relief. Occassionally they would let me, but reminded me "labor hurts." I finally hit the point where I just couldn't do it anymore at about 630 AM after 3 hours of pushing.
I didn't hold back at all. I told them I was done pushing and they better get me set up for a c-section. The doctors grouped and told me that was not the safest thing for me or baby because she was "so low" and "almost out." I told them to figure something out then because I was done helping (LOL). They came back in and asked if I would be okay with a forcep assisted delivery to which I replied "if you can get her out in the next 15 minutes have at it otherwise GIVE.ME.A. C-SECTION." (This was said in between my screams of pain.)
They decided forcep delivery was the way to go and told me they would have anesthesia come in to pump up my epidural first. When anesthesia came in he goes over to my back and goes "oh wow, this explains why she was in pain, it came undone." THE EPIDURAL WAS NOT CONNECTED TO ME. ARE YOU FRICKIN JOKING RIGHT NOW!??! In a weird way it made me and Tim relieved to know that there was a legit reason why I was in so much pain. We determined when the nurse went to increase it around 130 she some how unhooked me....
Because the original epidural tubes etc were no longer sterile I had to get another one. It was a little harder to sit still this time, but I knew the end was near. Once the epidural was in, I pushed for 30 minutes (no forceps) and had our baby girl at 800 AM. (We can't help but wonder how long I would have pushed had the epidural been functional during the first round of pushing...)
Tim was beyond wonderful throughout the whole process even though he saw more than he wanted to ;-)
She was immediately put on my chest and they helped me nurse her. They pushed on my belly to deliver the placenta which they said was "huge!" (gross - Tim looked, I did not). They then extracted cord blood because we decided to donate that to a local cord blood bank. She stayed on my chest for an hour while they "repaired me" (hellllo 3rd degree tear) and then weighed and measured her.
8lbs 7 ozs BOO YAH! Take that doctors who thought she'd be "a lil peanut."
Our hearts have never smiled so hard. Talk about love at first sight.
We can't wait to share how our stay and recovery in the hospital went along with how our first week at home is going soon!!
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