labor and at the hospital

On Thursday May 19th I woke up at 4am with contractions. Nothing painful, just distracting enough that I couldn't sleep through them. I started timing them and and they were about 10-12 minutes apart. Around 7am BJ woke up and I told him about it. He said "oh crap, we are having this baby. Feel, is my heart beating fast? Its yours? Is mine?" haha. I told him it was nothing to worry about yet and that after my doctors appt that morning I would call him. By the time my appt came around at 10:00am the contractions were about 7-9 minutes apart. He checked me and I was only at a 2 and 1/2 and he told me that consistency is the key with contractions so as soon as they were consistently 4-5 minutes apart or my water broke, then to go to the hospital. I was pretty disappointed that he did not seem too concerned but I left and went about my day. My contractions got closer and stronger as the day went on. That night I went to dinner with Marianne, Amber and Laurie. We timed them together and they were consistently 4-6 minutes apart and the contractions were strong enough that I couldn't really walk through them but I could talk through them. I did not want to get turned away at the hospital so I went to a movie with Marianne. Halfway through the movie my contractions were hurting pretty bad so I left and said I was going home but I really went to the hospital. I didn't want to be embarrassed if I got turned away so I didn't even call BJ until I was at the hospital going back to get checked. He came right over. The nurse checked and said I was still only at a 2 and 1/2. I told her I had been leaking a lot of fluid too but she said that was normal at the end and didn't do the test to see if my water had broken. She monitored my contractions for about an hour and when I hadn't made any progress she told me to come back when the contractions were stronger. I was in pain and so confused because I was having contractions that hurt AND they were consistently 4-5 minutes apart! Just like my doctor told me! I started crying out of frustration when she told me I was going home. She said she could give me a pain pill to help me sleep and to take Tylenol PM when I got home.

I did what she said but didn't get a second of sleep that night. By Friday morning my contractions were definitely hurting A LOT more but were further apart, about 7-8 minutes. I didn't want to get turned away AGAIN so I said I wasn't going in until they were where they were supposed to be. Around noon I was positive I had made progress so I called my doctors office to see if I could get checked but the doctors had already left for the day. I told the nurse what was going on and she said I should probably wait to go in to the hospital until my contractions were closer but that she would call me in a sleeping pill to help me get some rest that night. At around 3pm I took the sleeping pill hoping to get some rest. After a few hours of sleeping for 7 minutes and being jolted awake during a contraction, sleeping for 7 minutes, jolted awake...I gave up on sleep and got up. Bj and I decided that I was definitely in labor so we were going to try and get my water to break or my contractions closer. First I walked up and down my stairs for 30 minutes, which only resulted in me realizing out much I hadn't been working out during my pregnancy. Next we tried a long walk. I must have looked miserable because while we were walking people pulled over and text my sister in law to make sure I was okay. After that my contractions were about 6 minutes apart and hurting really bad. Around 8pm I was in enough pain that BJ decided we were going to the hospital regardless of how far apart they were.

Once we got there the nurse checked me and said it looked like my water had been leaking. She did the test and said it was my water and that it had probably been leaking for a few days. That meant I was there to stay. Hallelujah! I was so happy I started crying and could have kissed that blessed nurse if she had been standing closer to me.

We were taken back to labor and delivery around 9pm where I got hooked up to the ivs and junk. The nurse asked me if I wanted my epidural right then and I said YES yes and YES! After that I was out of pain and the sleeping pills I had taken earlier that day started to take affect. Laurie, Brad and Marianne came to visit and I fell asleep shortly after they got there. While I was sleeping I wasn't making much progress so the nurse put me on pitocin. Around midnight the she came in to flip me over and I told her I was feeling pressure. She checked me and told me I was at a 10 and ready to push. I was in shock a little and still pretty groggy so I tried to wake up and we started pushing around 12:15am. At first it was confusing because I really didn't know how to push but they brought a mirror out and it helped that I could see the progress I was making with each push. At 12:45am the nurse had me stop pushing to wait for my doctor to get there. We waited until around 1:00 and those 15 minutes were SO LONG. I knew what a good push felt like, I could see her head and had this huge desire to push. Once he got there, I pushed for a few more minutes and she was out.

They handed her to me and it was so unreal. I remember being so in the moment. Happy, confused, amazed, in love, exhausted and in aw that this little person we had been waiting 9 months for was finally in my arms. I watched BJ while they cleaned her up and he was snapping pictures looking like such a proud dad. It was definitely one of the best days of our lives and one we will never forget.

so happy to be admitted to the hospital

cleaning her up right after she was born
we did it!
holding our sweet baby girl
proud new daddy
in recovery holding our babe
sleeping soundly
both grandmas
going home