It all started at 7:30am on Thursday June 21, 2012 - my contractions started at about 2-8 minutes apart and never really veered from there. I was a bit surprised as we were told early labor contractions are 10-20 minutes apart...just goes to show you, EVERY one is different. Contractions definitely were painful from the get-go, and lucky me had back labor and frontal labor pains - it was coming at me from all directions! The contractions were only lasting 30-45 seconds and I could talk through most of them, so I knew I was a ways away. Matt and I were set on going through labor naturally and wanted to stay away from any interventions - so I wanted to stay home as long as possible!
My parents came over to bring us dinner that night, as we were both pretty exhausted. Since I was having such bad back pains, Matt had to massage my back every contraction. Poor, poor Matthew ;). I was also pretty vocal with each contraction, there goes my dream of relaxing and singing cumbaya through contractions like those dumb birth videos we watched! Yea right! LOL. That night, or I should say the next morning, around 2am, my contractions were picking up in length and were getting to be about 2-3 minutes apart. Matt was getting nervous and told me we should go to the hospital but I told him NO I'm not ready, I know I'm not close yet. Well, Matt couldn't wait any longer and he called my mom to come with us to the hospital, since I needed my back rubbed and someone had to drive the car! Also, mom was on duty to help me labor when Matt needed a break.
So what happens? We get to the hospital and my labor backs off.. I told you I wasn't ready!!.. in the meantime they get me in a room to check me out. I was dilated to 3cm's but of course they tell me that I cannot go home because the baby's heart rate was dropping with each contraction. I got mean at this point and told the nurse it was because she was making me lay down in order to monitor the contractions! Finally they let me get off my back - I couldn't stand it any longer, but the bad part was the two monitors they put on me had to be in exact specific positions in order to pick up signal ... one for the contraction, the other for the babys heart rate. I was so uncomfortable and just wanted to go home. My OB was to be back in town from vacation that morning Friday, June 22, so I told them to call her ASAP! Thank goodness she came to check on me at 8am and she said I was FINE but just as a precaution I should go back in 24 hours to do a stress test - wait what!? won't I have this baby before 24 hours is here!??!?!?! I left the hospital to go home at 9am...and I was then at 4cms.
All day long on Friday I labored at home... going for walks, leaning against the couches, on my bed, on the ball, in the shower, in the tub, I would have done a head stand if I could to ease the pain... oh my word! I felt like my pelvic bone was being pulled up and over my head! WOWZERS! Contractions all day were about 2-3 minutes apart, 60-90 seconds and were hard work. Matt and my mom were taking turns massaging my back...don't know how I would have done it without them! We sent my mom home around 10pm so she could get some rest, so it was up to Matt now! We were both laying on the floor of our room, and I'd hit Matt right when another contraction would start, he'd hit his timer, then massage my back, as soon as it was over we both crashed down and tried to rest. Middle of the night/early morning it got intense, but I kept telling Matt, no I'm not ready to go back to the hospital. Finally around 5am Matt called my Mom, he was fading and needed some rest. Hey I want some rest too!!! Well my mom traded off with Matt at about 6am and all the sudden my contractions pretty much stopped. At this point I had been in labor for almost 48 hours..with no sleep! Finally I got to sleep 15-20 minutes at a time, phew! We called into one of the nurses at the hospital who knew we wanted to go natural and she said this was my body telling me to rest, it was the calm before the storm. And that is exactly what it was.
The 24 hour mark was coming up and I need to be back at the hospital at 10am to get the stress test done. So we jump in the car and head out... I for sure thought we would be coming back home after the test. The car ride was uneventful, had maybe 2 contractions (30 minute drive) and was able to sleep some. We get to the hospital and as soon as I lay on the bed, my water broke! God's timing is perfect! They checked baby and she was fine, then they checked me, and in 24 hours I had gone from 4cm to 5cm... shoot me! Well within the next 15-20 minutes I went from 5cm to 8cm! Whoa whoa! I thought before was intense, that was a walk in the park compared to transition. I kept repeating in my head...it's almost over, this is the fast part... well that's what we were told at least! But I guess in comparison to my entire labor.. the next 5 hours were "fast".
I cannot even describe the pain I was in. I was kicking, I was pounding on the bed, pounding the monitor cart into the wall over and over. Here's a bit of advice, don't look at the clock when you're in this stage because it will seem like it never moves! My contractions were right on top of each other with no breaks...this lasted for about 4/5 hours. The nurse said I was going tribal... is that a compliment?? lol. I was stuck at a 9cm for about 3 hours and I just couldn't even take it anymore, I could barely catch my breath! I told them to give me something to just take the edge off, so they quickly got someone in there and gave me a shot of something, i don't even remember what it was, but it was something they put in via my hand IV, and the next thing I know I'm laying on the bed trying to calm my body down. I knew this drug was going to fade fast, so my nurse had me push myself to a 10, and said it's time to start pushing! At this point she said she was going to call the Dr, even though it was early. So 10 minutes later the Dr. walks in.
I love my OB, Dr. Kendrick, shes so down to earth and totally was on board with our birth plan (Thanks Auntie for recommending her!). She was cheering me on as soon as she walked in the door. In the birth plan I had requested she take measures to decrease chances of tearing..women you know what this means...so she grabbed a glove and had one hand ready to go. I was mid contraction and mid-push (at this point it was Matt, my mom and Dr. Kendrick in there with me, nothing had been prepped for baby's arrival yet) and the next thing I hear is Dr. K say "oh my gosh, this baby is coming now, Matt call the nurse, push the button push the button!" Before she could finish her sentence Abby popped right out (this was about 20-30 minutes from the time I was given the shot!). I felt no crowning, no ring of fire, nothing, just pressure and bam she's out! Oh my goodness gracious!!!
We were so overwhelmed, exhausted, and drained that we were all kind of in a state of shock when she came out, but it was love at first sight! Matt looked like he was in a daze! Yup it was for reals, this baby just came out of me! Cray cray! And that's our story... we love this baby girl so much!!!
I love this picture above. I love the look on our nurse, Francie's, face - she stayed over time just to help me since she was all about women going natural, and she missed it! She literally said "she just started pushing, I walk out for a minute and she had the baby!?" I did feel bad for her, but oh well nothing I could do! You can also see that Dr Kendrick only had on one glove, she wasn't ready for baby to come out either! But this was kind of cool since when my mom had me, the doctor only had one glove on too! But lets not talk about my moms labor which i was NOTHING like... she labored my brother from start to finish in 1 hr and 45 minutes and with me it was 4 hours... yea thanks for not sharing your genes on that one mom! >:(
Here are some more pics!
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| 6 lbs 13 ounces, 21 inches |
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| Love at first sight! Hi daddy! |
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| Thanks Mom for helping me get through it, yes yes yes it was worth it! :) |
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