I went in for my 35 week appointment and was 2 cm dilated. I was still planning to take it easy for the next few weeks (if baby would stay put, I had my doubts) so I did have some hope that I might make it until 37 or maybe even 38 weeks.
Sunday September 30, 2012
My contractions had been getting stronger the last few days. I seemed to contract a lot between 11pm-3am, every 5-7 minutes. I knew how easily I dilated and was nervous about getting to the hospital before my water broke. I went to church that day and it was a very normal Sunday. Steve told me that he felt like I would be having a baby this next week sometimes, he was hoping for Thursday, it worked well with his schedule, funny guy.
That night the contractions started up again. I couldn’t sleep and woke up to count the contractions. I was contracting every 5-7 minutes and some were quite intense. I decided to go into the hospital and see what they had to say. I woke Steve up and let him know I was going. I didn’t want him to come and wake a whole bunch of people up for a false alarm so I just told him to sleep and I would call him.
Monday October 1, 2012
I got to the hospital in the middle of the night. So interesting to drive to the hospital while the world is sleeping, wondering if I would just be sent home or if the next time I drove this way I would have a new little bundle with me.
Arrived at the hospital. They checked me into a room and did all their tests. Finally they checked if I was dilated and I was up to 4 cm.
They monitored me for a couple more hours. I was contracting but not consistently. After a couple hours they checked me and I was still at 4 cm. They decided to send me home.
I got home in time to get a little sleep before I had to get up and get the kids off to school. I took the kids to the bus and slept when I got home while Karter watched a movie. I was contracting all day and just not sure if I was dilating more. At this point I was so nervous I would just dilate to a 7 or 8, my water would break, and I would deliver at home. Steve decided to work late this night because he wanted to get his jobs done before the baby came. He was convinced I would deliver soon.
I called and talked to my mom, not sure what to do. I didn’t want to go back up to the hospital again and be sent home. My contractions weren’t anymore consistent, but they did feel stronger. She advised me to go up that night. I talked with Steve and he didn’t seem convinced but finally agreed it would probably be a good idea. I wasn’t sure. I decided if I could sleep through the contractions that they probably weren’t too bad. I also said if they continued the same way through the next day I would go in the next night and see where I was at. I woke up quite a bit that night with contractions but was able to sleep enough that I didn’t go into the hospital.
Tuesday October 2, 2012
Steven headed off to work the next day and told me to call him if I decided to go in. I was able to make it through the day. I finished packing my bags and tried to clean up a bit. That night Steve worked late again. I was a bit overwhelmed taking care of everything and everyone by myself, while I’m contracting, and planning to head in to the hospital to possibly have a baby. I showered that night and Steve got home around 9pm. I headed to the hospital, again on my own, but we did call Andrew and Erin to give them a heads up that this may be the night.
Again, I was checked into the room and hooked up to all the monitors. I was very confident I would be dilated to a 5 or 6. When the nurse finally checked me I was still only at a 4. I was a bit disappointed! I couldn’t believe it! I just knew they would send me home and I would just not know when to come back. The contractions just weren’t helping me to know what was going on. I thought I would just have to wait for my water to break and hope I could make it to the hospital. They decided to monitor me for a bit.
The doctor came in a little before midnight. She was just talking to me about going home. Again my contractions weren’t consistent and I was pretty sure I wasn’t doing anything. As she was wrapping up with me I asked her if she was planning to check me again before I left. She wasn’t planning to, she thought the nurse had already checked me. I said she hadn’t but that the she didn’t have to, I was pretty sure nothing had changed in the last hour. She said she would just check. She was checking and told me I was at a 4, then she paused and said that no, I was at a 5 and my bag of water was bulging. She said she just didn’t feel good about sending me home when I was this far dilated. So they admitted me to the hospital.
Wednesday October 3, 2012
The nurse came in and took me to my room. She asked if I wanted the epidural. I wasn’t even sure if I was staying, I wasn’t sure if they would be sending me home if I stayed at a 5, and I wasn’t hurting too much. She did give me an IV (I almost think this is the worse part of the delivery for me, I hate getting the IVs) and started fluids. I just hung out for a few hours contracting. The contractions were coming on pretty strong and I just knew I was dilating. So excited to be moving in the right direction.
The contractions were getting pretty intense and I was very curious to know where I was at. She finally check me around 3am. When she checked me she let me know that I was still at a 5. I couldn’t believe it! I had been praying and continued to pray that if I was going to have this baby soon to just let me have it now, while I was in the hospital, surrounded by nurses and doctors and where I could get the epidural. If not, I just prayed I would have fair warning to make it back to the hospital in plenty of time to have my baby here. She gave me something to help me sleep. I was in and out of sleep for the next few hours without contracting much at all.
Around 7am the next morning my doctor came over to check me. The contractions had pretty much stopped since the 3am check so I knew I was still at 5 cm. He was talking to me about sending me home and what I needed to watch for before I came in again (not much help because my contractions just weren’t a clear sign of what was going on!) He said he would check me again before he discharged me. No one was more surprised than I was when he told me I was at a 7/8! He said there was no way I was going home and that they could break my water and get this baby here. I told him I had to call my husband and get him here before they broke my water.
I started calling Steve at 7:30am and he didn’t answer. I later found out he had biked with the kids to school, something we had never done before, I guess it was bike to school day. He finally called me back at 8:15 am. I let him know that he needed to get to the hospital ASAP. I let the nurse know I wanted my epidural. So surreal, I really thought I would be going home a couple times during the process, just to find out I was staying. My body’s cues seem way off when it comes to the connections between contractions and dilation. Just wondering, how’s a girl to know?? Now I’m at the hospital, not even contracting much, hardly in pain, sitting there at a 7/8, and getting my epidural. I knew what would happen when they broke my water and I wanted to be ready for it.
I thought Steve would get to the hospital a little after 9:00am. He called at 9:30 am and was just leaving the house, still having to take Karter to Aunt Erin’s house. I was a bit disappointed, I wanted to get this show on the road. He offered to bring Karter along, I vetoed that idea, and just told him to drop Karter off and get to the hospital.
I did get the epidural. When I got it I told the anesthesiologist that I wanted to be able to feel the delivery a bit, not the pain, but I wanted to feel what was going on. My last two deliveries I was so numb I couldn’t feel anything, not even when to push, I wanted to feel enough to know what I needed to do when I needed to do it. She said she would give me less of a dose. An hour after I got it I could still feel a lot of what was going on. I was nervous that I might be feeling too much, that it would be quite painful when I finally did deliver, so I kept pushing the epidural button ever 10-15 minutes.
Steve arrived around 10:30 am and I let my nurse know I was ready for my water to be broken. Another doctor came in to break my water. The nurse told me to let her know if I felt the baby drop, lots of pressure. We hung out. Steve was sitting on the couch making phone calls and typing reports for work. I was calling and texting people letting them know we were having a baby.
After a bit they decided to give me pitosin to get things going. My doctor had a meeting at 1:00pm he couldn’t get out of and I think he was hoping (and I was hoping) that we could speed things up. Around 12:15 pm I felt Beckett drop, I let the nurse know, she checked and his head was right there. I could feel what was going on, but very little pain, perfect for what I wanted. She told me not to cough or sneeze and called in the calvary. With each contraction I felt lots of pressure. I kept telling me nurse that I felt lots of pressure, I was worried he might just come out with no one there to catch him! My doctor arrived after sprinting over from the clinic. It was finally time to push. Four big pushes and baby Beckett entered the world. They put him up on my belly/chest, Steve cut the cord, and we were able to just be together, just the three of us, my absolute favorite part of delivery.
His little face was so smooched, his crooked little nose. His first cry was so loud!! He had some lungs, that was for sure. He looked so purple to me when he first came out, but he brighten up quickly with those fabulous lungs of his. He instantly calmed down when they gave him to me. Such a sweet face, cry, puffy eyes. We tried to take a picture of him to text to family but we just couldn’t capture him the way he was. Such a sweet little soul, fresh to us, even after having this experience 3 other times, it is just as new, just as powerful, maybe even more so because I know what it will be like as this little person will be growing and changing right before my eyes in the next few years. Love this little man and am so glad he is with us, healthy, happy, and strong.
What an awesome story. Congratulations again!