What a whirlwind day...with an amazing ending! I actually had a great nights sleep (something I haven't had for awhile) and felt really good all day. We had a doctor appointment on Tuesday and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced, but they wanted to check me one more time before the weekend. I got to my appointment early so I decided to walk the 4 flights of stairs to drop off a baby gift for Sam and Alyssa.
My appointment went good, I was now at 3 1/2 cm (which was encouraging), but when I asked how far you could be, Dr. West said there was no magic number and I could walk around at a 6 (not so encouraging!). But if nothing was progressing, I was scheduled for and induction on Tuesday (just 5 days away), but Dr. West thought I wouldn't make it through the weekend...how right he was!
I had a hair appointment and on the way I had a few contractions, but nothing our of the ordinary. My appointment took almost 3 hours and near the end I was having pretty regular contractions, but I could still breath through them.
By the time I drove home and pulled into the garage I was having to really focus on my breathing and I had to wait out my contractions to get out of the car. I barely made it into the house when I had to sit down and breath through another one. At this point I started timing them and they were about 2 1/2 minutes long and 5 minutes apart. Kingston finally noticed me ans said "Mama, is that you breathing over there?" It made me smile and he was so excited to see me he wanted to find daddy and show him I was home. Jonathan was pulling out Christmas lights to put up outside, but had to drop everything and rush me to the bathroom. Later, we realized it was just the contractions making me feel like I had to use the bathroom, but once I was in there, it was too much to leave.
Jonathan started making dinner and prepared for a hospital run. We already had the bags packed so he just gathered a few things, like Kingston's "keke", and changed out of his dirty work clothes. He also started calling people and making a plan. With Kingston, I had labored at home for almost 5 hours before going to the hospital, so I wasn't in a big hurry even though I was in a lot of pain. Kingston wanted to hang out with me, but he kept telling me to not breath so loud, so Jonathan distracted him with a new transformer toy....that did the trick!
I wasn't the only one who was in no hurry. When Jonathan called my mom, he had to persuade her to come over and then had to call again to make sure she was on the way. She was a little more convinced when she got there and found me on the bathroom floor (it was too hard to move once I was there!). And, then we were off!
My mom stayed with Kingston to help him finish his dinner and lock things up before meeting us at the hospital. But once again, with Kingston I labored another 5 hours at the hospital before he made his arrival, so my mom wasn't in too big of hurry.
It was rainy, but the trip to the hospital was surprisingly fast. I was in a lot of pain and struggling to "breath through" my contractions. Joan was working so she met us at the emergency room and they whisked us up to labor and delivery. Ironically, we ran into Chris at the elevators and he rode up with us. I had already warned Alyssa to save me a room next to her because we were on our way!
Jonathan and Joan helped me register, and thank goodness they were there, because I felt like there was a lot of paperwork to fill out and I couldn't even sign my name. I think I eventually tossed the pen at Joan and she finished it for me. Jonathan went to move the truck so Joan stayed with me in triage. They needed a urine sample and I thought I could give them one, but again, it was the contractions that gave me that false feeling. And again, once I was in the bathroom, I couldn't seem to leave. The nurse came in and helped me stand up. She through a gown on over my clothes and I got back on the stretcher. As luck would have it, Dr. West was already there delivering another baby so he checked me and said I was 8 cm dilated, my water had broken (it had actually just broken in the bathroom and was just like in the movies...a big gush!), and to get me into a room.
The nurse wanted me to get in a wheelchair, but there was no way I was moving. Good thing for me that Joan was there, because she said she would push and off we went to room #6. Apparently, we flew past Jonathan in the hall. He was calling my mom again and telling her to hurry it up, this baby was coming soon!
Once they got me into the room, they started my IV. The anesthesiologist was in room #3 and he was coming to me next. I had a great epidural with Kingston and was really looking forward to this one. My nurse got my IV in with just one stick and even through a contraction, although Jonathan said it got pretty messy. The other nurses were busy getting things set up and counting instruments and when they checked me again, I was already a 10, which meant that it was too late for an epidural. I got really nervous because I was in a lot of pain and I hadn't prepared myself for doing this without one. I did remember that the nurse in our childbirth prep class had told us once you get to a 7 or 8 the pain doesn't get any worse. So, I guess there was some comfort in that?! Although, they also talked about "the ring of fire" when the baby crowns, and there was no comfort in that! Joan and Jonathan tried to comfort me, but I was really scared and I wasn't sure I could do it (not like you have much of a choice at that point!) But, I really didn't have too much time to think about it between contractions and at that moment Dr. West walked in and that gave me a huge sense of relief. If I was going to have to this without an epidural, I wanted him to be there...he has some sort of cheerleader/calming ability and he makes you feel like you are the only one that could do this. And he reassured me that I could do this.
Dr. West instructed me to push during my next contraction and when the baby was crowning it was going to be really really painful. Sometime in there, my mom showed up (Kingston stayed with Monica in the lobby) and there is something about seeing your mom that makes everything okay (well almost okay). I felt another contraction and they all told me to push. Defintily felt that "ring of fire" as she crowned! I had a really hard time focusing through the pain and I kept wanting to push with my legs (I think I wanted to push away from the pain). After that first push her head was out, but my eyes were closed so tight I didn't know it. "One more push" they kept saying and i felt like I barley had time to breath before the next contraction. Everyone was super encouraging, but it was so painful and I was just about to give up when Dr. West siad "open your eyes." And that's all it took because when I opened my eyes, my beautiful daughter was staring back at me (she may have had her eyes closed, but that's how I'm choosing to remember it). I just needed one more push to get her lower half out, and that seemed easy after everything else. And there she was! They laid her on my tummy while they finished up and Jonathan cut the cord. My contractions stopped the second she was out and I ended up with just one stitch (although it felt like I was going to be needing a lot more than that!)
They toweled her off and I got to have a good look at her. If I wouldn't have seen it myself, I wouldn't believe she was mine with all that dark hair. And she had a perfectly round head since everything happened so fast. (I checked in at 9:12 pm and she was born at 9:33 pm). They checked her over and she was perfect, but I already knew that!
Speaking of Kingston, when he walked into the room, he became the proudest "Big Brother". He wanted to hold her right away and was so excited for "his" sister. He was so sweet caring for me and wanted to sit right next to me. He got his blanket and covered me up and offered to share his "keke" with me. I was holding Julienna (who was still nameless at this point) so he helped me eat my dinner (a leftover cheese sandwich that Jonathan had made for dinner) and shared his juice with me.
I hadn't even told anyone (besides Alyssa) that we were coming to the hospital so I'm sure they were suprised at my "She's here!" text. Joy could hardly contain herself so at midnight she drove down to meet our new addition...and take some pictures.
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