Friday afternoon after a mild gall bladder attack I took some medicine and tried to take a good nap in hopes of feeling better I woke up to some mild stomach cramps. I was still pretty groggy from the pain meds so I was able to ignore it for a little while. By 6 pm I started to get pains that were coming and going regularly but didn’t want to mention them just yet in case it was a false alarm. The pains were still coming regularly so I told RJ and we started timing them at 3-7 minutes apart and decided to shower and wash my hair. By 9 pm they were becoming painful and hard to ignore so we made our way to the hospital. The hospital was really busy so they got me into a triage room and hooked me up to the monitors. After an exam they said I was maybe a fingertip dilated and gave us the option to go home or walk the halls to see if I could make any more progress. At this point it was after midnight so they gave me an Ambien and sent us on our way. I got into bed but did not get more than about two hours of sleep because the contractions never quit.
September 18th
We figured that she would be here Saturday night at the latest and went to lunch at IHOP for one last good meal. No sooner than we left the restaurant I was ready to go back to the hospital. We came home grabbed our bags and left again. The hospital was still pretty busy so right back to the same triage room I went where I was told I was still 1cm. Tired, cranky, and still hurting from the roughest exam ever we left with strict instructions not to come back until my water broke or I was bleeding. I tried to lie down and rest but at this point it wasn’t happening. By 7pm there was a shift change at the hospital and we knew the nurse that had been so helpful and understanding Friday night was back so we called the hospital. They suggested a warm bath and a Unisom so into the bathtub I went which did help a little. While I was in the bath RJ went to Arby’s and brought me back a roast beef sandwich which I ate in the tub. As soon as I had finished my sandwich the water had started to cool off and I was once again miserable. RJ had started a movie so I was trying to watch with him but was so tired I was nodding off between contractions. By the time the movie was over I was fed-up and crying because I couldn’t get a break. I made up my mind by 10pm that we were going back and I was not going home without pain relief. This time we actually were brought to a regular room and I was hooked up to the monitors and checked to find out I had only made it to 2 cm. They told me I could stay and that when I made it to 3 cm I would be admitted and by 4 cm I could get an epidural. I got my IV put in and then finally they brought in my Stadol which was sweet relief. I got 4 shots of that but each time it was a little less effective and I was only getting relief by moaning thru the contractions.
September 19th
When the anesthesiologist made it in I was hurting pretty bad again. Later I found out it was a resident that put in my epidural and looking back on it the fact that it took two men to do it should have tipped me off but I wasn’t really in my right mind at that point. I cried more with him trying to find placement for it than the actual procedure. I don’t know if he was really that rough or if I was tender from the contractions but I couldn’t keep my composure. After it was in place my right leg immediately started to tingle and feel like it was asleep but nothing else did. You could tell they were concerned and debating on if they should redo it but decided not to and gave me a bolus to see if it helped. I had to be monitored for 30 minutes while lying down and it was so hard since it made my contractions more intense and harder to breathe through. I started to feel relief after about an hour and finally dozed off for a little while. When I woke up I realized my legs were completely dead but I could feel my contractions again. They said I had a hot spot and would have to call the anesthesiologist back in. I was moaning through the contractions again when they got in with another bolus for my epidural. When they checked me I was only 5 cm and my contractions had slowed down which was a possible side effect of the epidural. My Dr. made it to the hospital and came in to break my water and start me on pitocin then things immediately sped up from there. By the next time I was checked I had made it to 7 cm and RJ went to the car to bring in our bags. After a short nap the nurse came by to check me again and said that I was almost to 10 cm and would be pushing soon. I was scared to death that my epidural might wear off again but when we started doing practice pushes I couldn’t feel a thing and they kept reassuring me that I was pushing really good which I figured was just to inspire me to prepare for a long period of pushing and keep me going. After a few pushes they could already see the a lot of hair but her heart rate would dip and take a bit to recover so we just decided to give her a break until the Dr was able to get there. After about 5 minutes she came in and we started pushing again. It was totally relaxed and we even joked and laughed in between contractions. Everyone was waiting outside by now but still thought it would be a while. Within 30 min from the time I started to push Gracie Kimber entered the world at 1:45 pm. She let out one good cry but she was so quiet and content afterwards and all the staff said they couldn’t believe how alert she was. After they cut her cord she was placed on my chest where they cleaned her off. She watched me the entire time and it was so surreal. Gracie weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 1/4 in. long. She has been such a good baby so far and only cries just for a moment when she needs something. We feel so lucky to have her and are enjoying her so much.
This was taken from IHOP in between contractions
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