Thursday, June 3oth
11am - Woke up with cramping, nothing unusual. My best friends texts me asking if I was having any contractions at all, and I annoyingly told her no, just the usual annoying cramps! Around 11:45 I finally get out of bed (hey, it was my last day of complete freedom! I was taking it easy!). I had a DR appointment at 1pm for a NST, which I thought was kinda dumb considering I was being induced the very next morning, but if the DR felt it was necessary I guess I should probably go. As I was getting ready to get in the shower I had a contraction...no biggie, I have contractions everyday at this point. As I'm showering I'm noticing that they keep coming, okay, that's different, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I get ready, and I'm still having them...now I'm starting to think maybe this is it.
1pm - I get to the DR office, and I'm still having contractions, and this is definitely the first time I've had consistent contractions lasting for more then an hour, so I'm starting to get a little excited that this might be the real thing. I go in for my stress test, and tell the nurse that I had been having contractions since around 11am. She says after the stress test, she'll check me to see if I've dilated anymore since Tuesday when I was 1-1 1/2 CM dilated. During the stress test I noticed that they were getting stronger. As I was waiting for her to come back in to check me I was standing because it seemed more comfortable that way. I noticed that when I did have a contraction I tended to go up on my tippy toes so I knew they were most definitely getting stronger and it wasn't just my imagination. The nurse comes back in to check me and says I am now 3-4 CM dilated and about 50% effaced. I was really excited to hear this! So, she tells me to head on over to the hospital because my DR was already there with another patient that had gone into labor that morning because she thinks that this is the real thing.
3pm - I come home, pack my bag, take care of the dogs, eat a little something, I had barely ate anything at this point because I was being so lazy, and put away the load of towels that were in the dryer, haha. My mom gets to my house and then we head on over to the hospital. I didn't want to rush to the hospital and sit there all day and night when I could have spent some of that time at home doing things my way.
4pm - Sitting in the triage getting my contractions monitored, the nurse comes in and checks me, she said I was still 3-4CM, but like a 4, but almost completely effaced now, and my contractions were strong, consistent, and lasting over a minute. She then admits me to labor and delivery.
5pm - In L&D and contractions are getting stronger and are about 2 minutes apart, but then I would have a small contraction (that still hurt!) in between my "real" contraction...so I was contracting just about every minute, and they were lasting over a minute. At times I would tense up pretty bad, and hold my breath, haha. The nurse was like don't forget to breath through them! Once I started breathing through them, and not tensing up so much, they were better, but still hurt pretty bad!
6pm - At this point I'm not considered in active labor. I labor on the yoga ball for about a hour or so, it helps with taking the pressure off my butt, and is pretty comfortable. They didn't want me walking to much because my bag was bulging, and they didn't want it to break just yet if they could help it in fear that I would progress too quickly, and my DR wasn't quite ready to deliver a baby at this time. I didn't really want to walk either because I felt like I really couldn't through contractions, but I didn't want to being laying down either! So, the ball was perfect, and I would highly recommend using it while in labor.
7pm - When I get back up in the bed I feel a gush, but I didn't know if it was my bag or just a lot of discharge, because even though I had lost some of my plug the previous Friday, I was still losing a lot of it now, but whatever it was, it was a lot! I tell the nurse, and she decides to check me again. I'm at 7cm now, and my water breaks. I almost felt like my contractions were better after my water broke instead of stronger...who knows. When my water broke the nurse says that Hayden had passed meconium in the placenta so they would have a neonatologist present during the birth to see her immediately to make sure none of it gets in her lungs, and if it does to get it out quickly as possible. She says it appears to be moderate. I was a little worried because I know it isn't good when they pass meconium in the placenta, and the fact that it was moderate. She says it happens a lot with post term babies, and assures me the neonatologist will be able to handle it. I was confident that they would definitely be able to handle something like this, but of course still worried.
Things are moving along pretty quickly, and I realize I should probably decide on whether or not I should get an epidural. I figured I've dealt with the pain this long, I can keep doing it, but DO I want to keep working through this pain. Then I start to think about how tired I am now, and how much work it is going to be pushing her out, and it would be nice to be able to have a hour of just relaxing. So, at a little after 9pm I decided to get the epi...
9pm - I get the epidural, which didn't hurt. It was just a pinch, and I started feeling less and less of my contractions. My left half was TOTALLY numb, my right side was numb as well but I could still feel contractions in my right side, but it wasn't bad. By 9:30 I was 9CM, and at 10:20pm the nurse said it was time to start pushing!
10pm - I start pushing, and boy was I glad I had that hour to relax! I then realize getting the epidural was a good decision. It was hard work! I have a mirror so that I can see everything, it was pretty awesome! After about an hour of pushing they yell STOP STOP STOP! I almost pushed her out!
11pm - All of a sudden all these people come in, and within minutes are ready to get to work, I was amazed at how quickly they got everything ready. Now, the REAL pushing was about to begin. I remember looking in the mirror thinking - holy shit, how am I going to get that HEAD outta there!! After about 20 minutes, and a couple of dips in her heart rate - nothing serious. The DR gets out the vacuum! Arrgghhhhh! I didn't want that think sucking my babies head!! So I just found it some where within me to push as hard as I could because that vacuum was going no where near my baby's head! I thought the vein in my head was going to explode! They didn't even get that vacuum hooked up yet, and I had her out at 11:36pm! Well I had to stop after her head so they could suck her mouth quickly because of the meconium. Once the DR sucked her mouth a few times and clamped everything I gave one more quick push to get the rest of her out...that part was easy! Then they had to take her right away and make sure there was no meconium in her lungs, so I didn't get to see her immediately, but obviously her health was more important. Her body temperature was also a little low, so they wanted to warm her up while caring for the meconium issue. It seemed like hours, but within 10 minutes I had her in my arms, and it was the most amazing thing ever. I had no words, or thoughts...I was just sitting there in complete awe. I just kept thinking...I did it! I can't believe she is finally here, and I cannot believe I made THAT...the most beautiful thing in the world! I felt very proud of myself, and knew that a completely new chapter in my life had just started.
