*Written 4/29/11
So the week before she was born, I was getting very ready to have her. I was exhausted, huge, and very uncomfortable. At my 38 week appointment, the doctor said I was dilated almost 2 cm, and 80% effaced, and he said it looked like I would go into labor very soon. He didn't think I would make it another week. This got my hopes up, and I was expecting to go into labor at anytime. I even had a scare one night where my contractions got pretty close together, but no baby came.
At my 39 week appointment, the doctor said I was still 2 cm dilated, so I had made very little progress. I was so bummed! I thought for sure I would be closer. The doctor offered to strip my membranes, which I took him up on. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, but I was really crampy all night.
I decided to stop expecting to go into labor, because I was still a week away, and the anticipation was just making the days go slower. I went to bed that night a little disappointed and resigned.
The next morning, I woke up early feeling crampy, and I started to time the cramps, and they were about 10 minutes apart. I got something to drink, and just waited for a little bit, and the contractions started coming about 7 minutes apart, and they were getting painful. I woke Chance up, and told him that I thought I was starting labor.
I knew I would be in labor for a long time, so I decided to take a shower, and Chance started to study a little bit so he could get it done with before we had to go into the hospital.
While I was in the shower, the contractions started coming harder and faster, and they started to really hurt! I got out, timed them, and they were 3-4 minutes apart.
I told Chance that it was time to go, and he started to panic! He jumped in the shower really fast, and then started to run around the house getting everything ready and packed ( I was calmly drying my hair and putting make-up on). Finally we jumped in the car and drove to the hospital.
Chance was speeding to get there, which made the contractions hurt worse, so I made him slow down. I called my mom (who freaked out), and then called our neighbor to meet us at the hospital to give me a blessing.
Once we got to the hospital, they had me change into a gown, and checked my cervix. I was still only 2 cm dilated, which is not enough to be admitted. This totally stressed me out, because the contractions were really killing me, and I did not want to be in false labor, and have to be sent home!
After about an hour, they checked me again, and there was not a lot of progress. They gave me some Percocet, and said that if it helped the contractions, I was in false labor, and could go home. If I was in real labor, the meds would have no effect. 45 minutes later, I was still in a ton of pain, so the nurse decided to call my doctor to see what to do.
Contractions are seriously the worst pain I have ever felt. Chance had me squeeze his hand during each one, and I'm pretty sure I almost broke his hand. My contractions were coming two minutes apart for most of the time I was waiting to be admitted, and I wanted to die. I told Chance that I was never going to have another baby.
Finally, my doctor said I could be admitted! I was so relieved, especially because this meant I could have the epidural.
The anesthesiologist came in, and it took FOREVER to get the epidural in. Apparently, I have some kind of blockage in there, and it took him a long time and numerous needle pokes to get around it. I was so nervous that I wouldn't be able to get the epidural. Luckily, he finally got it in, and I felt the relief immediately. It was the best feeling ever, and the anesthesiologist was my new hero. Right after they gave me the epidural, my blood pressure dropped real fast, so they had to give me some Efrin to get it back up.
Not long after they gave me the epidural, a nurse cam in to check me, and while she was, my water broke. Chance was watching the nurse, and saw it squirt out. He started to gag, which made me laugh. My water breaking sped things up a lot.
After that, it was just a waiting game. My aunt and cousin came to visit, and we just talked for a few hours.
Around 7:30, the nurse checked my cervix, and I was about 7-8 cm dilated. Half an hour later, I was 10 cm dilated, and feeling a lot of pressure to push. The nurse had me start pushing, and Chance got very nervous because the doctor wasn't there yet. The nurse assured him that I could be pushing for a few hours, so the doctor would not come until I was closer. After about 20 minutes of pushing, the nurse told another nurse "to call the doctor to get here now". She had me stop pushing (I think she was worried I would have the baby without the doctor there).
Chance could see her head, and the first thing I asked was if she had hair, which she did! For some reason I was really nervous that she wouldn't have hair.
The doctor came in, and I pushed two times, and out she came! It was the weirdest feeling! The cord was around her neck, but it was really loose, and didn't hurt her at all. She was screaming and moving as soon as she came out, and the first thing the doctor said was that she is going to be a handful as a teenager!
They tested her, and she scored a 9/9 on the AAPGAR test, and she weighed 6 lbs 12 oz, and was 18.5 inches long. She calmed down immediately, I got to hold her after they had cleaned her off. She was beautiful! It was so surreal to think that she had been inside me for the past nine months, and now I was holding her.
The doctor had to stitch me up a little, because I tore moderately bad. He said it was a stage 2 tear.
They moved me to a new room, and we basically hung out for the next two days. We got discharged on saturday, and brought our baby home!
My mom flew out to help out, which was so amazing. I don't know what we would have done without her. My mom took the baby every night, and brought her in to nurse whenever she was hungry. It let me get a lot more sleep than I would have by myself.
My mom helped us clean the house and organize the baby's room during the week, and we basically just relaxed. The rest of my family came in on Friday, and we all went up to my Grandparents' cabin for the weekend.
My family left on monday, and I cried for pretty much the whole day. Most of it was the hormones, but I felt totally overwhelmed with my mom leaving. I still miss her a ton!
This week has gone pretty well, I have been getting more sleep than I thought I would (Even though she wakes up every three hours to eat).
