The Birth Story

I've been meaning to write this post for 2 1/2 weeks now...but I've just been so tired that I haven't gotten a chance to do it.  I figure at this point I need to write it down before I forget too much, though.  And I also feel like this post needs a disclaimer.....this is the WHOLE birth story....all details...so if you don't want details, now is the time to STOP reading.

If you want details....here they are....

Anyone who knows me well knows that the last thing I wanted was for my baby to come late (which people kept reminding me usually happens with the first child and that I should prepare to be late).  I always thought I would be early...but I also thought that was probably just wishful thinking on my part and I should stop getting my hopes up.  Once I was far enough along (37-38 weeks) I decided I should start walking and going up and down my stairs a million times to try and do everything I could to make sure that if she wanted to come early she could...haha.  So on Thursday (July 12) when my friend Claudia told me she was walking to Walmart...I told her I wanted to walk with her.  We walked to Walmart and then to the park and then back to her house (about 3 miles all together), which I thought was pretty good for someone almost 39 weeks pregnant (though I did have a pretty bad cramp by the time we got to the park and had to sit down for a while).

Anyway....at 3:30 am on Friday (July 13) I woke up with contractions....and they wouldn't go away...and I couldn't sleep through them.  They weren't horrible, just bad enough that I couldn't sleep.  I went downstairs and started timing them...and they were VERY inconsistent.  Like there would be 5 min between then 20 min then 15 min and so on and so on.  They also varied in how painful they were...sometimes they would hurt more and others I would barely feel them.  From everything that I read (and continued to research as these contractions continued...and I had nothing better to do at 3:30 am) "REAL" labor contractions got closer together and more painful as time went on.  What I was experiencing was "FALSE" labor and apparently could continue for weeks on and off.  WONDERFUL.  Well, these contractions continued all day long (thankfully my mom came over and kept me company/took care of me) but didn't get any more consistent.  By 8:00 that night I was sick of them (especially since they were just false labor and meant NOTHING) and I tried to go to bed.  That didn't work out because I still couldn't sleep.  I got up around 9 and then went back to bed again around 10.  I started timing my contractions AGAIN (for like the 5th time that day) and they were still inconsistent.  Around 10:40 pm, as I was having another contraction (I had just grabbed a pen to write down what time it was as I was still timing the contractions), my water broke.  I yelled to Juan, who was downstairs, and he came up.  I called the hospital to let them know my water had broken and they told me that they would get a room ready for me.  I asked how fast I needed to come in and they said since it was my first I could take my time but to come in as soon as I could.  We decided that we would get to the hospital just after midnight (as insurance pays for 2 days in the hospital and if we got there at 11:59 on friday, friday would have counted as one of those days).

We finished packing stuff for the hospital (I had most stuff packed already) and made our way out the door.  We stopped by my parents house...and by the time we got there my contractions had picked up a bit and were about 2 min apart (I'm guessing).  We got back in the car and drove to the hospital (about 15 min away) and my contractions continued to pick up...and boy did they HURT.  As Juan parked the car I got wheeled up to labor and delivery (the guy pushing me asked if I thought this was it....and I told him my water broke...so ya...this was IT).  By the time I checked in (12:04 am) Juan caught up with me and they took us to my room.  The nurse was putting all sorts of information into the computer and hooking me up to monitors and stuff.  Finally around 12:30 or 12:45 she checked me....4 cm.  And then the contractions got PAINFUL....like the nurse must have thought I was a total pansy because I was only at 4 cm (and apparently contractions get a lot worse as you progress) and I was already dying.  She told me it would probably be about 12 hours and once she said that I told her to get me the epidural.  Originally I didn't really want the epidural, but if I was going to have to do this for 12 hours and the pain was supposedly going to get WORSE I wasn't going to make it.

While waiting for the epidural (about 20 min) I told the nurse one of the reasons I was in so much pain was because I felt like I needed to push and I was trying really hard not to.  I asked her if this was normal and she said...."oh, the baby is probably just dropping down....I'll check you again after the epidural."  I told her again about 5 min later and I told her I felt like it wasn't normal and she told me again she would check me, but not until after the epidural.  FINE.  WHATEVER....don't check me.  I was wanting her to check me NOW but heck....this was my first time doing this and she does it every day...so what did I know.  Got the epidural and still felt the pain of needing to push.  I was told that the epidural gets rid of the sharp pain but not pressure pain so that pain wouldn't go away.  GREAT...thanks for waiting till AFTER the epidural to tell me that.  FINALLY, the nurse checked me again (before the epidural even kicked in all the way) and I was 8 cm.  HA!  seriously?  They don't even give epidurals to people who are that far along....guess they should have checked me again before giving it to me.  WHATEVER.  Juan and I were surprised that I had gone from a 4 to an 8 in a half hour...but the nurse told us the last 2 cm usually take the longest and it would probably be 4-6 more hours (at which point I felt better that I did get the epidural...if it was still going to be that long).  The anesthesiologist said, "yeah, this is your first baby....it isn't going to just FALL out of you...it will be a few more hours."

5 min later I told the nurse that I was still REALLY feeling like I needed to push and I wanted her to check me again.  She seemed a little put out, but she humored me and checked me anyway.  "10 cm and ready to go."  SERIOUSLY????  What the heck???  So all the nurses came filing into my room...things got really busy really fast.  The nurse who had been with me was like, "wait, we haven't even finished putting all the information into the computer and signing the rest of the paperwork."  So as I started pushing, Juan finished filling out paperwork and I signed it as they brought it to me.  Thankfully my doctor was right across the hall delivering another baby.  One of the nurses went over and asked how long he would be.  He said about 2 min and she told him that was good because that was about all he had.  He came in and about 30-40 min later, at 2:58 am, we had our little girl in our arms.

And we could not be more in love with our perfect little girl...

My labor was not at all what I expected....it was crazy and fast....and I honestly have no idea if my contractions ever got "regular."  One thing is for sure though....if each labor gets faster, like they say, I'm in trouble for the next one.  The doctor and nurses told me I better get to the hospital fast next time...cause with a labor like that I might not make it the next time around.

For now though.....I'm happy with my one perfect little girl.