I was 39 weeks pregnant, just hanging out on a normal Saturday...confident that it would be at least 2 weeks before my baby would make her entrance into the world. All day long, as well as the previous day, I was having small mild cramps. I had a feeling they were braxton hicks contractions, which may or may not have anything to do with real labor. I never had these with Asher, so I almost felt a little excitement with them…they made it feel more real and I anticipated labor a little more enthusiastically.
They kept coming all day. Around 8 pm on Saturday they started coming faster and stronger. I knew this was it. There’s a feeling that comes over you when you know you’re about to experience excruciating pain in order to deliver your new baby. I’d describe the feeling like this:
Put your big girl panties on, sock that pain in the face, and push out that baby!
I knew how awful it was in my previous labor when I had to labor for 25 hours on no sleep, so I tried my darndest to fall asleep and rest before they got stronger. I must have laid in bed for 2 hours before I finally gave up and told Chris there was no way I was getting any sleep. The contractions were coming about every 5 minutes and lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. It was really random, so I figured I still had hours until they steadied and I needed to head to the hospital.
Around 2 am was when the contractions started taking my breath away. I had to stop, breath, and truly work through them. I realized this was going to be a much faster labor, because they were getting really painful much sooner into the labor. We called my husband’s parents and told them it was time! His mom was going to drive us to the hospital and his dad was going to watch Asher for us, and I called my parents to tell them to head to the hospital.
For about 2 more hours I labored at home. Pain was probably a 6 on a scale from 1 to 10. It’s funny how you really know how to judge pain when you’ve given birth. It’s hard to describe how it feels. I once described it as someone taking a machete to your insides. This time I’d go with a vice grip squeezing your whole lower body to death. Mind numbing, toe clenching, tear-jerking pain. The longer into labor, the more severe the pain. Why God?!
I called my doctor and told her my contractions were lasting 2 minutes and coming every 5 minutes. She said it was time to head on over!
Chris’s parents finally got to our house (his dad had to get half a million cameras ready!) and we hopped in the car. That was the LEAST fun car ride of my life. We live 45 minutes away from the hospital, but I think we got there in about 30, thanks to some mad mother-in-law driving skillz. Sitting up straight, buckled in a hard seat does not make for easy labor. We tried to lighten the mood by joking about what we’d do if a police man pulled us over. I would just love the opportunity to scream out a choice word at a po po and be totally justified in it. Ha ha.
We got to the hospital, I signed myself in through a contraction, and we made our way to a labor room. I always wonder what the desk nurse thinks as she hands a woman in pain a long list of papers to sign.
Once in the room it was all I could do to not burst into tears at every contraction. For an hour or so we waited. The nurses hooked me up to a monitor so they could see if I was “really in labor” before they admitted me. This made me really mad. I was ready for an epidural the moment we arrived, but they couldn’t order one until I was admitted. So I had to lay still in bed while they proved this was the real thing. I HATE laying still during contractions. It’s the worst position to be able to handle that pain. Finally they admitted me, took my monitor off, and gave me my group B strep IV. They checked me and I was dilated to a 4. I got out of bed, walked around, went to the bathroom, and tried all sorts of silly positions to get through the contractions. My nurse asked me about my birth plan, and I told her I wanted to go as long as possible before meds, but that I DID plan on getting an epidural. I decided to be brave and told her I was ok for now.
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| What a guy |
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| This was hour 1 at the hospital-stuck in bed while they waited to admit me |
It helped to let Chris hold me. Sometimes he would just let me hang my whole weight on his arms. He would tell me I was doing a great job, and that he was so proud of me. He would massage my feet and legs (and would graciously stop if I snapped at him during a contraction!) He was so patient, encouraging, and loving. Man I love that guy. Even though I was the one in pain during labor, it's not easy seeing your wife suffer. There were times I could tell he was about to tear up, but he stayed strong for me and gave me the security and support I needed.
At one point I was on the floor in some sort of tortoise yoga pose in a room full of family members when I realized I was absolutely beyond the point of embarrassment and modesty. This time I really didn’t want anyone touching me. Foot rubs were ok, but didn’t help me nearly as much as they did the last time.
The contractions started coming back to back. No break in between. I had never experienced this before. I literally couldn’t catch my breath in between them. It was ridiculously painful and went on for about 2 hours. I finally I ordered my epidural.
The anesthesiologist came in around 7. Just like the last time, he stuck me right in the middle of a horrible contraction. Why does everything happen DURING a contraction?! It only took about 20 minutes for it to totally kick in. There’s nothing like the sweet sweet relief of a well-earned epidural.
The nurse checked me again and I was at a 10! I went from about a 4 to a 10 within 3 hours. That explained why I was in such huge pain...I went through transitioning from a 4 to an 8 or 9 med-free. They called in my doctor. This part of my labor is weird, totally not "natural," but none the less productive since I had a safe vaginal birth. Dr. Hays said I was ready (meaning dilated to a 10 and baby's head about to pop out), but she had to perform a c-section at 7:30 and wouldn’t be able to stay. She said if I could hold on, give her an hour and she’d be right back to deliver Hallie. I really wanted her to deliver my baby, not some strange doctor, so I agreed. I basically lay in bed, watching the clock tick away and watching my huge contractions on the monitor, hoping that I wouldn’t feel the need to push until she got back. At 8:30 on the dot she came back, and at 8:38 am after only 4 pushes, Hallie was here!
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| time to push |
Breakdown: 12 hours of labor--labored at home for about 8 hours, got to the hospital around 4 am, labored med-free for 3 hours, labored gloriously pain-free for 1, grand total of 4 hours in the hospital! I have no words for how easy this labor seemed compared to my last. It was more painful, but much shorter and much more easy to handle, since I wasn’t as tired and since I progressed much faster. As the doctor attended to lady business while I held Hallie, I just could not believe it was all over. I had prepared myself for another 25 hour labor and 3 hours of pushing. I even wore my hair down and it still looked semi-decent! And I must say, this time my breath did NOT smell thanks to my carefully prepared hosptial bag which included toothbrush, toothpast, and gum. :)
I could not have gotten through this without my wonderful husband and sweet mom and mother-in-law. I'm so glad I chose to have them all in the room during my labor again. There's something priceless about sharing such a special moment in time with the ones you love most.
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| lots of lovely pics thanks to my parents and my in-laws-see their website here |
After the bith:
Recovery stinks. The hosptial bathroom floor will look like a scene from (enter your favorite gory movie). You will get sick of wearing giant diapers. You will waddle like a duck for a few days. You will pop those lovely pain pills like nobody's business, until they're gone. You will swear to never get pregnant again. And who needs a trampoline? You could park your belly in the backyard and invite the neighborhood kids to come jump away on it.
There's nothing like going through all of the above to make me so incredibly grateful for my husband. He was by my side through
all most of my labor (someone did get a little hungry and make a burger run). He helped me in and out of bed. He walked me to the bathroom. He filled and re-filled my ice water millions of times. He helped me get dressed. He encouraged me when I thought I'd never pee again. He blow dried my hair when I couldn't stand up long enough. And he helped make the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen. There is nothing quite like seeing your hunky husband hold his newborn daughter for the first time.
And here we are, almost 4 months later, fully recovered, 19 pounds lost and 10 to go, and crazy in love with our Hallie Kate.
