Our birth story

I'm not going to spare any details so be prepared!  I honestly feel like we had the perfect birth story, I couldn't have imagined it going any better! 

I had a feeling this little girl was going to arrive soon, but I still felt very unsure of when it would actually happen.  All week I would wonder each day if she was coming soon, but at the same time I would think, no way I could imagine going into labor that day.  It was a really surreal feeling all week, each day when I left work everyone would comment on whether I would be back in the morning.  I felt like Wednesday she dropped even more.  I didn't have the pain in my rib area anymore, and the heartburn disappeared for the most part.  I started loosing my mucus plug that night, and it really continued for a few days, so I wasn't sure if it meant anything. 

We were looking forward to celebrating our 3rd anniversary that weekend since we didn't get to the weekend before due to Corey's back.  We kept joking as we were on our way to dinner Saturday that she would probably come the next day, she just wanted to let us celebrate our anniversary as our last night out before she arrived.  Well, that's exactly what happened! 

I woke up Sunday morning at 7:30 to period like cramps.  I got up to use the restroom and tried to go back to sleep, but pretty much just laid there thinking "what if this is the beginning of labor?!"  I eventually got up and went downstairs to do some of my bible study before church.  I went upstairs to wake Corey up after about an hour and was telling him about it, but we were both pretty unsure.  We headed to church and it was the most miserable church service!  The power was out due to a major storm the night before, which meant no air conditioning (super hot and sticky, especially for a 9 month pregnant woman) and no speakers, so we had to wait about a half hour for them to get a generator working so we could hear the pastor and he could start the sermon (its a pretty big church).  I just remember thinking this is the worst day for this to happen, and this is the last place I want to be right now, during these contractions.   

We started timing them during the wait for church to start on an app I downloaded on my phone, but I was still unsure whether they were the real thing.  They were 5-10 minutes apart and 30-60 seconds long.  They never eased up or stopped.  After church, we did our grocery shopping and I'm so glad we did.  I remember feeling pretty uncomfortable, and both of us rushing through the store as quickly as possible. 

Once we got home, I decided to take a nap just in case this was the real deal and we would be up all night.  I was able to fall asleep in the basement and took about an hour nap.  I woke up and the contractions were still there, and hadn't slowed at all, but again I was still feeling very unsure whether they were the real deal or not.  I guess I was expecting them to be super painful.  I went upstairs and decided to go on a walk to see if that would get things moving at all, while Corey decided to take a nap.  I took Buster with me and my phone so I could continue timing the contractions.  I remember it being so hot out and just walking through the contractions and by the end of the walk I was "owing" out loud during each one.  When I got back they were under 5 minutes apart and 45-90 seconds long. 

We still were unsure, we both just thought I would be in so much more pain so we decided to wait it out another hour and then call the doctor to ask if we should come in.  They still felt like period like cramps, but much more intense obviously.  About 30 minutes after I got back from my walk (4:45 p.m.) we were laying on the couch watching tv and I felt this "pop".  I said "oh! I wonder if my water just broke?!"  I stood up and a huge gush came out!  I ran straight to the restroom and waited there while Corey ran around getting our last minute things together.  I kept trying to get up, but holy cow my contractions started getting really really intense immediately and with each one another gush of liquid would come out.

It only took us about 10-15 minutes to get all our last minute things, take out the pup, and get out the door.  By this point I was screaming through the contractions and Corey was flying down the freeway.  He later told me he was so scared I was going to go into labor and he was going to have to deliver the baby on the side of I-69!  Once we got to the hospital we just valeyed the car and Corey wheeled me in in a wheelchair.  I remember being a little embarrassed, but in too much pain to care.  I got out of the car looking like I had peed my pants and screaming in pain.  Corey wheeled me up to the 4th floor and they let us in immediately when they saw I was clearly in labor.

They quickly wheeled us in to a triage room (about 5:15 p.m.) where they put in my IV, got all our info, and checked me to see my progress.  I stripped down all my clothes and didn't care who was in the room.  I was so uncomfortable and still loosing a lot of fluids.  I was at 4 centimeters and was screaming to get the epidural.  I don't know how some people labor naturally, I can not imagine!  They wheeled us to our room and I got the epidural (around 6:30 p.m.).  The wait for the epidural was so intense.  I told Corey this was going to be our only child, haha! 

Honestly, the epidural didn't even hurt.  I don't remember even feeling it, and the meds kicked in pretty quickly.  My legs were numb for the most part, but after a few minutes I was able to feel my contractions, but they weren't even as intense as I felt that morning when I first woke up.  She checked me immediately after the epidural and I was 6 centimeters.  I was progressing very quickly and the baby was so low that they didn't give me any more epidural because they wanted me to be able to feel to push (they usually would since I could still feel contractions).  I just remember breathing through them and my whole body sort of shaking and my teeth chattering, the nurse said it was because I was going through transition.  She checked me again at 7:30 and I was just about 10, but she wanted to wait until I was fully there.

She called the doctor and let our parents and sisters come in and spend about 30 minutes with us since they had arrived at the hospital pretty quickly after us and were in the waiting room.  She came back around 8 and had them go back to the waiting room so she could check me again.  I was fully 10 centimeters and the doctor was only a few minutes away so we decided to go ahead and do a few practice pushes.  She had me push through 3 contractions, then had my stop because she could already see the baby's head.  The doctor arrived a few minutes later and I pushed for about 45 minutes total before our baby girl arrived!  I asked for the mirror almost immediately, which was something I never thought I would do!  It was so cool to see though and it really helped me get through the pushing because I could actually see the progress I was making!  The baby's heart rate would drop during the contractions so they had my using an oxygen mask they whole time, but I never felt stressed.  I really feel like I had a great nurse and doctor there and it was so calming to only have the four of us in the room. 

Since she came through the birth canal so quickly, she had fluid in her lungs, so they put her on my chest for a few seconds before taking her over to the warmer for 30-45 minutes while they stitched me up.  I was so happy to only have some small 2nd degree tearing, no episiotomy needed.   Once the doctor was finished and Reese was stabilized they gave her back to me to spend a few minutes with her.  I wasn't able to breastfeed for a few hours since the fluids in her lungs, so they allowed our families to come back in pretty quickly afterward to meet her.  We hung out with them for probably a half hour or so then they left us to soak up our baby and our new little family of 3! 

I have to say, the labor was nothing like I was expecting.  It went much smoother and felt much more natural!  I feel very blessed about how everything happened.  We ended up loving the doctor who delivered (since mine was on vacation) and loved the nurses we had.  We couldn't believe how quickly everything happened, she was born about 4 hours after my water broke and we made it to the hospital.  Next time we will have to make sure to get to the hospital as quick as possible I think!  We can't believe our sweet baby girl is here.  I just kept thinking, I can't believe she was in my belly!  I honestly can't remember life before she was here though :)