The Birth Story: Part Two

I finally come to the conclusion that I am definitely having this baby tonight. 

This is where the urgency starts kicking in.

I yell at my husband to get out of the shower. We need to leave now. I grab our bags, run in and kiss our daughter one last time and get in the car. I got back out of the car because I wanted some jelly beans. I got back in the passenger seat. At first I had wanted to drive but after getting the jelly beans I realize that is probably not realistic.  Sitting down is now uncomfortable.  The contractions are intense, lasting about 2 minutes and back to back. Maybe 30 seconds in between. I am also bleeding pretty heavily at this point.

Our hospital is about 45 minutes away. It is 10:47PM when we leave our house.  We make it a few miles before the sitting down starts to get unbearable. I am gripping the handle bar and console to lift myself off my tailbone. The seat belt felt very restricting but my husband is adamant I kept it on. The roads are still snow covered and icy. I tell him he needs to hurry.

He wonders out loud where he should go (there is a closer hospital to our house but my doctors do not attend there). I remember telling him I only wanted my doctors so he turns to head that way. We gott behind a slow red car, I tell him probably ten times to just pass it. Typically he would have been passing with me telling at him to slow down. Of all nights he wants to drive cautiously.  During the drive I can feel the baby moving down. We finally make it to the town where the hospital is and hit a red light, I tell him to run through it. AFter sitting at it for far too long (in reality probably only a minute) he does. He tells me to stay aware of where we are because he isn’t 100% sure on the directions to the hospital (he was sleep deprived in his defense). When we are about 5 miles from the hospital everything gets a little blurry. I want to push but am able to talk myself through the contractions without pushing. We finally make it to the hospital (in reality my husband got us there in less than 20 minutes but it felt like forever). It is 11:05PM. He drives around the parking lot a million times looking for a good parking spot, I finally yell just park the damn car. He of course parks at the bottom of the parking lot. I make him grab our bags as I am scrambling to get out of the car. I start running towards the entrance, over snow banks through the parking lot clutching my crotch as I swear the baby is going to fall out. I got to the door and ring the bell as I turn to see where my husband is I see him talking on the phone. WTH "Get off the phone." He had called his mother. I think because he was panicked he wasn't sure exactly what to do. The nurse asks who we are and why we are here. I tell them I am in labor (eerily calm at this point). They let us in and tell us to wait at triage. I cannot sit; I pace and clutch my husband’s shoulders wondering how long it is going to take them to get there. I hear laughing and chatting as the nurses walk slowly down the hall, I want to urge them to hurry, I however remain quiet.

As they round the corner and see me they stop laughing and starting asking questions, probably assuming I am being dramatic (I mean I would have). When they realize my first labor was 4 hours from start to finish (the doctor barely made that one) and that I was 5 cm dilated late last week they start taking me seriously. The one nurse wants to do a quick check (I am still clothed) and standing up. She checks before I can move and stands up wide-eyed.

The baby is close to crowning, water bags bulging. Both nurses jump into action. One starts paging the doctor on call because they are sure mine won’t make it in time and the other helps me on the gurney and starts pushing me down the hall. The first nurse joins her and starts pulling my clothes off (I was not happy about this part though I knew I couldn’t have a baby with pants on). We get into a room. The contractions are really intense. I sigh/huff loudly though them. I think I may have yelled OWWW at one point.  I keep saying I needed to pee. The nurses do not want me to go. I finally convinced them I will not push and they allowed me to walk to the bathroom.  As soon as I sit down my water breaks. They both yelled at me to get back on the bed. The head is crowning. Walking with a crowning head is not recommended. It is extremely uncomfortable. I layed down and automatically started pushing. I tell one of the nurses I am sorry. I yell OW again. My doctor walks through the door.  At this point I think the contractions make me nervous and I started panicking. The first nurse was amazing. She rubbed my leg made me look at her and talked me through them. She was a life saver. The doctor yanks off her coat puts on a gown and gloves then stated the baby is coming. I pushed two times total. The first time her head came out, the second time her body. My husband announced it’s a girl! I knew it! She was born at 11:14PM, nine minutes after arriving at the hospital.  All natural. My active labor was about 40 minutes long. I was told if we decide to have more (as the doctor is stitching me up), I need to move to the hospital or have a home birth. The nurses on call that night were amazing. I cannot imagine going through that without them.

After still nameless baby girl was born I was allowed to spend lots of skin to skin time with her. Something I didn’t get to do with my first since she was a preemie.  It was amazing. I cherish those few miuntes breathing in my second miracle. After they cleaned her up and brought her back over our breastfeeding journey started. She was as sweet as pie and nursed like a champ again so different than my first who was too small to latch on.  My husband and I oohed and awed over her for like an hour.  He called our family and announced the news that baby w had arrived.

I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, well maybe not being in a car while I was transitioning. Or running through the parking lot thinking a baby was coming out.  I am glad we made it to the hospital in time.

And after typing up this birth story I am ready for baby #3! #givemeallthebabies

The Birth Story: Part One

I wanted to write this down since it’s a great story and I already love to reminisce about the birth of our second miracle daughter.

A little synopsis of this second pregnancy:

I had preterm labor issues. My second pregnancy was no different than the first. The second time I was put on drugs (to relax my uterus) and bed rest much sooner, around week 12.  I tried very hard to follow doctors’ orders; I stayed off my feet and did not exercise at all. I did nurse my eldest though (with permission from my OB/GYN). Thr doctors were skeptical that I would make it to the date my first daughter was born 36 weeks 3 days.

Week 36: I was supposed to stop taking all medications; however a snow storm was in the forecast so with the okay from my doctor I continued until week 37. Contractions were hard and close together anytime I stood up. I had weaned my daughter to only nursing right before nap and bed times.

Week 37: Doctor Appointment shows the baby flipped (head up), I freaked out. I did not want a C-section (though obviously I would do whatever was in the best interest of my baby). The next evening while in the refridgerator I felt TONS of pain and ripping. It brought me to my knees (even birth didn’t do that). Sure enough baby decided head down was a much better position. I thanked God a million times. I prayed hard that this baby would decide to go head down and the my prayers were answered.

Week 38: Another snow storm is in the works (worst winter ever for worrying about going into labor) for the night before St. Patrick’s Day. Doctors are all amazed I am still pregnant. I am 90% effaced and 4.5-5cm dilated (I had been dilated since about week 12-13, well not that much though).

And so the story begins:

My last day of work was Friday March 14. After talking with my doctor about my concern (and hers) about having the baby at home or on the way to the hospital we decided to head in Monday to have my water broken and get this baby out (38 weeks). Of course Sunday night it started storming and we got several inches (perhaps even a foot) of snow, the hospital called me Sunday night/Monday morning really early and told me to head in Tuesday morning bright and early due to the storm and staffing issues. No biggie. I stayed off my feet (except when I took the dogs out to feed the animals since my husband was plowing snow). I had hard contractions, nothing new.  

My husband got home around lunch time. We cleaned the house. Prepared for the new baby. I was also preparing to leave my daughter for the first time ever. Hello pregnancy hormones. I was a mess. I tried to spend as much time with her doing the things she loved all day. Coloring, reading, painting and dancing. My mother-in-law came up later that night to stay so we didn’t have to wait for her to get there since we had to leave at 5:30AM. I still felt totally fine.

Around 8PM or so I started getting nervous, I thought it was due to me having to leave my first baby. I didn’t really want to sit down. After eating Chinese food for dinner around 9PM (a few bites really). I decided to take a shower with my daughter. We took a 20 minute shower. It felt wonderful.  I had several contractions in a row, hard but again nothing new. I finished getting her ready for bed and spent extra time brushing her long blonde hair and singing silly songs as we brushed her teeth.  As I laid down with her, she nurses for less than 3 minutes and passes out snuggled against my neck. At this point I am starting to realize I have been having hard consist contractions. My stomach was really hurting during them and the pain lingers when they are over.  I still think nothing of it. I headed downstairs to visit with my husband and mother-in-law. Really to go over the routine’s, point out where everything is and try to assure myself that my baby would be okay (the first one that is).  I urged my husband to shower and get to bed. He hadn’t slept since Saturday night. It is now 10:30PM on Monday night. Before he goes up I start having to walk through the contractions. I finally realize they are about 1 minute long in duration and 2 minutes apart. Hmm. I debated on calling the doctor so I call my mom instead. She yells at me. Tells me I am going to have this baby at home if I don’t head to the doctor right this minute. I brush her off but decided to just call the doctor and see what she says. The new to the practice doctor is on call and I have yet to meet her in person. She tells me to head in and she would come in and check me. Regardless if I am in active labor they will keep me and break my water.  This was a huge worry for me. I am not sure why but I did not want to go and be sent home because I wasn’t in active labor. The contractions feel the same to me as they always have. I head to the bathroom after a contraction since all of the sudden I had to pee right then (not normal for me pregnant or not).  As I headed to the bathroom I felt a gush. I thought it was my water breaking, it was not but I had started bleeding.  My husband just got in the shower.  

 

To be continued ... (I hate doing this but it is just TOO long).