My water broke Monday, July 14 at 8:45 in the morning. I wasn't quite sure that it was my water breaking but the reality of the situation hit after going through 3 pairs of garment bottoms while trying to lay back down in bed to go back to sleep. I called my Mom and Leah to say this COULD be it but I wasn't really sure. So I called my doctor as I wasn't feeling any contractions and they said I definately needed to go to the hospital to get checked. So I packed a bag for myself and for Josh as he was going to go stay at my Mom's. As I'm packing I start feeling slight cramping. Then it became more frequent. So of course I rationally did a load of laundry as those 3 pairs of garment bottoms meant I now had no clean ones. Pain getting progressively worse but still nothing serious. Nothing that stopped me from contemplating vaccuming the family room or tackling the dishes in the sink. However, I was having to stop and breathe every so often as the pain hit. So I showered and was drying my hair when my mom arrived around 11am with my cousin Daphne who was up this week visiting from Pensylvannia with her 4 kids. They asked how far apart my conractions were and I casually said about every 3-4 mintes. Daphne was freaking and saying that second baby's can come faster and how close is the hospital etc. I wasn't really concerned at this point so I went upstairs to finish drying my hair (because that will matter when I'm in the most extreme pain of my life) and when I came back down they'd put all Josh's stuff in mom's car including his car seat and Daphne made me promise to leave in the next 5 minutes. I'm still feeling pretty casual about the whole thing as we only live 5-10 minutes from the hospital. But then I went upstairs and threw up my breakfast and decided maybe we should get around to actually leaving.
So on the way to the hospital my pains are getting progressively worse and I can't really talk to Joe when they hit. We got to the hospital around 11:45ish and Joe dropped me off and went to park the car. There was a line to get in to triage and be assessed but as I was waiting and trying not to be too obvious about the pain I was in, I noticed that none of the other women waiting even seemed to be IN pain. Great. Now I feel conspicuous as I try to quietly breathe during my contrations. And slightly nauseous. I only had to wait about 20 minutes but it felt LONG. The nurse took me back to assess me and when she checked me I was dialated to a 6. What the heck? I thought the pain of a 6 would be WAY worse-at the most maybe I would be a 2 or 3. She seemed quite surprised too and said I was coping really well considering how far along I was.
They admitted me as an inpatient as Joe went to call Leah to tell her this was officially it and she'd better hurry. He called my mom instead and told her to call Leah (obviously I wasn't the only one not thinking rationally at this point)but mom was the one we decided to keep posted on how I was doing and if anyone wanted an update she was the one to call. They put me in a delivery room and then Leah arrived. Pain is getting progressively worse. Maybe at a 6 out of 10 and I'm having to REALLY concentrate on breathing through the contractions at this point. Joe decides he's hungry and goes to get something to eat around 1:30. I told the nurse I was thinking of trying to not have an epidural and she said that sounded like a good idea as I was still doing really well on my own. I asked the nurse about pain meds but she says morphine can make the baby not nurse well etc but she'd grab the laughing gas. I used it for 2 REALLY painful contractions that as I stood beside the bed I had to clutch the bed to get through them. I was starting to think that whole no epidural thing was a bad idea as even though I was clutching the mask to my face and sounding like Darth Vadar, it wasn't really even TOUCHING this pain. Felt dizzy and laid on the bed and then I was done. It hurt SO badly-I couldn't even really focus on anything but that stupid mask and breathing and moaning into it-so the nurse panicked slightly and said she needed to check me. Oh yes-fully dialated and at this point my body is just taking over and I'm starting to push while she frantically pages the doctor. Still no sign of Joe anywhere. From here on out it's slightly a blur to me but Leah was trying to dial Joe's cell phone and kept getting a busy signal ( hospital phone-no one told her she needed to dial 9 first) and finally says to hell with it-and they page him to labour and delivery. He is on his way back on the main floor, hears the page and just starts to run toward the elevators yelling "Hold the elevator" and some random guy yells down the hall"Hold the elevator!"-LOL. He comes into the room about 1:55 and I'm pushing for all I'm worth. Still in my own world of delirium at this point. I remember them telling me to hold behing my knees as I push and in my head I'm thinking-I'm trying to deliver a baby here people-maybe someone could HELP me and hold my knees for me?! Still feels slightly surreal that I've been at the hospital for 2 hours and I'm pushing this kid out. Her heart rate dropped to 30 and the doctor said if I didn't get her head out right away they would have to use the vaccum. 2 pushes later-boom-out comes the head but her shoulders are so broad that now I have to push those out too. Cut me some slack here kid. Leah said she thought it was for sure a boy when they said that. Nope-baby comes out at 2:03 and they say it's a girl. Euphoria. As SOON as she's out-pain stops. No word of a lie. Bit of freezing that I didn't feel at all-2 little stitches and done. Amazing. So in hindsight would I choose NO pain meds if I knew how much it would hurt-probably not-but considering the recovery after-I'd definately try without an epidural if we had another baby. I delivered an 8 lb 6 oz kid and only took Advil/Tylenol for the pain. Which I take if I have a headache. AMAZING. I have to toot my own horn on that one.
So she obviously has a full head of hair and looks a lot like her daddy. My mom has already said she's going to nickname her "LG" for Little Joe. I'm completely in love with her and she's been a really easy baby so far. It's been such a blast dressing her in cute pink clothes and she wore a little dress today for the first time. She's nursing well but she is jaundiced so we're at it every 2-3 hours the past 2 days which is surprisingly fine. I'll post more later as if I go to bed now I'll get an hour of sleep before her next feeding. Ah the life of the nursing mother of a newborn. Wouldn't change it for the world. The onesie she's wearing below says "little sister". Bow and blanket courtesy of Auntie Launey-thanks Auntie.
