(Here's where things get a bit graphic, or TMI, tough...don't want to know?...don't read it!)
The next thing I know I'm awoken to a strange feeling, not contractions, just a bit of trickling, and you moving around very slowly. I realize the sun is shinning through the bedroom window, your father has already gone to work. I lie there, slowly blinking, trying to really think about what I was feeling, was it all in my head? Was I simply overly eager for your arrival and making things up? I rolled over, slowly and much like I imagine an oaf would, to grab my phone and check the time. 8:40am. I placed my hand on my belly and thought "Wow, you gave me a full night's sleep!" Then I realized the trickling was continuing. I decided to get up and with each step I took, more was coming out, more of what I wasn't completely sure...I was in disbelief that you could possibly be arriving, I thought for sure I would be tortured with another Monday of work. I walked to the bathroom, did my usual morning routine, and yes...it had to be my water breaking, slowly but surely, I definitely wasn't peeing my pants. Now what? Who should I call first? I decided to call the nurse hotline, because the last thing I need is to go to the hospital only to be sent home. The nurse confirmed I should go to the hospital because from the sounds of it my waters had ruptured. Then I called your Papa.
The game plan was to have Papa drive me to the hospital in the event of your father being at work and I am stuck at home. So I called him and asked if he is ready to be a grandpa again, told him that my water had broken, that I would be driving over and he could drive me to the hospital. Because that's how your mother is, headstrong and wanting to do things myself. Luckily your grandma called me and told me that no way was I driving, and she talked to me as I paced the hallways trying to find everything your dad and I would need at the hospital. Then Papa arrived. I'm pretty sure he was a nervous wreck but hiding it very well. As usual I was calm as could be, just moseying right along, telling your Papa to put various things in the car, deciding whether or not to take his car or mine. I hadn't even called your dad yet, I didn't feel the need to rush. I'm sure I was driving your Papa nuts being so calm.
I made sure to put towels on the passenger seat, having heard horror stories about how the waters stain and deteriorate cushions and what not. I could still feel you moving, slowly, just jabbing me here and there. I wasn't feeling any contractions. We decided to go pick up your brother and take him over to grandma Nell's as originally planned, seeing as how all of Bear's things were over there for him. After dropping your brother off I called your dad, I left a message and figured if I didn't hear from him in 20 minutes I'd call security at his work and have them track him down. He called back about 10 minutes later. I let him know there was no huge rush, I wasn't having any contractions yet, so he could drive to Fernley and get the Malibu that had your carseat and our overnight things in it.
Once we reached Sparks, about 30 minutes away from Fernley, I began to feel some contractions. I decided I should probably time them, seeing as how that's amongst the first questions the nurses will ask. The contractions were about 3 minutes apart, lasting 45 seconds, which is pretty good. They weren't strong enough to really hurt, so I imagine they weren't doing much. I had your Papa park in the garage parking so I could walk a bunch, which really felt like waddling at that point. Walking towards labor and delivery I was getting so excited, I couldn't wait to meet you. When we got upstairs to L&D I checked in and waddled to a room and got into the silly hospital gowns. Your dad was on his way, showed up soon.
The nurse had me all settled on the hospital bed, nice and uncomfortable, set up the belly band thing to monitor your heart and my contractions. I could feel the contractions, nothing major yet. Then the doctor arrived to check my cervix and confirm that my waters had in fact ruptured. I didn't get to have the OBGYN that we had all of our appointments with, she was on vacation, of course. Instead I had Dr. Farringer. He was interesting, funny. When he checked I was 4cm dilated, which is exactly how many I needed to be in order to be admitted to Labor and Delivery officially. That's when the contractions started to really, really hurt. I started posting on Facebook, because that's the best distraction I could come up with. Your Papa and Dad were sitting in some chairs. With each contraction I squeezed onto the bed railing. After a couple of hours your Papa went back home to be with Grandma and Colbert. Then it was just your Dad and I, trying to distract me.
2PM and the nurse came in to check my cervix again, still only 4cm. Contractions continued.
4PM and the nurse comes in again...5cm. Ugh! The doctors inquired about if I want an epidural before, I told them I wanted to feel things out, wanted to try to not have an epidural. But since my labor wasn't progressing they wanted to give me petocin, and I remember just how much contractions really hurt after I was hooked up to some with your brother, so I thought about it and decided to go ahead and get an epidural since only being half way dilated and getting petocin meant I would probably have another 12 hours of labor and I was getting exhausted, I wanted to make sure I would have energy to push. I hadn't eaten anything for 24 hours, all I could think about was food. So game plan changed, petocin and epidural it was.
530PM still no progress in my labor. Stuck at 5cm. The doctor wanted to insert a thing to better track my contractions and make sure they were giving me the right amount of petocin. I said ok after asking a few questions about it being safe and what not, and they inserted the thing around 545PM, and I of course posted to FB about it.
555PM Suddenly I started to feel intensely anxious, shakey, and incredibly uncomfortable. That thing they put inside of me was hurting, I wanted so badly to just pull it out. Something had to be wrong. I paged the nurse. She came in to check on me, I told her I wanted it out, she explained that they needed to monitor things. She said she would go check with the doctor. While the nurse was gone I was texting Sandra who gave me some excellent words of encouragement "That's stupid, it's your body! Its your birth of your child! If you think it's causing more problems than its helping, tell them to take the damn thing out!" So I did, sort of. When the nurse walked back in I was in tears and she was finally concerned and said she would check on it to see if maybe adjusting it could make things feel better, I agreed to that being a good idea.
6PM Which is when she found you. Crowning. Somehow in the fifteen minutes between them inserting the monitor and the nurse looking to check on it, I progressed from 5cm to 10! Once the nurse exclaimed that you were crowning I understood the feeling I was having. You'd think I'd know what it felt like after having gone through it once before, but with your brother my labor progressed one centimeter at a time, so forgive me for being in denial that you could possibly be ready to come out just 15 minutes after being told I was still at 5cm.
The nurses all came in, prepping the room. Around 615PM or so the doctor moseys on in like there's no rush. He lifts up the sheet and sees you on your way out all by yourself, no pushing on my end yet, the nurses had advised me not to. He looked shocked and said something like "Woah!" and throws on his doctor gear and pulls up a stool to sit down ready to catch you. One push and your head is out, another and your shoulders are out, one last push and you were out. I could feel you moving your way out of me after each contraction without my even pushing. From my end you practically birthed yourself. The world had better look out for you. You'll be moving mountains in no time. You cried loud, not as loud as your brother though. Once you were out I got to have you on my chest right away, one of those things that when you think about it too hard it's gross, but in the moment nothing else matters. While on my chest you calmed, you stopped crying, and I couldn't stop talking to you. The nurses asked if I was ready for you to be weighed, I said not yet. With Bear I didn't know I could say things like that, so I wanted to make sure to hold you as long as I wanted to. When the nurse put you on the scale to weigh you you nearly rolled yourself over, you were viciously strong from the get go. After that I got to hold you some more and get you to nurse. You nursed like a champ, for a full 15 minutes. I wasn't so sure about breastfeeding before you were born, but I was elated that you were able to do exactly what you needed to. Unfortunately that all changed from there on out, but I'll tell you about that later. After all that you left with your dad to the nursery.You were born at 6:31PM, weighed 7lbs 7oz, and 19.5 inches.
On January 8th at 10am we finally got to take you home.
