On Friday, November 20th, I went in to have my membranes stripped, because my due date was in two days and was super scared! This being my first baby, I had talked to everyone I could think of about having my membranes stripped and had had many disturbing accounts. It was unpleasant, but do-able and got me excited about getting Chloe here. I had already climbed stairs and done the curb walking and the only thing it had achieved was making me VERY sore, so I was ready. Around 5:30 am on Saturday I got my first contraction. I tried to sleep through them, but finally got up and took a shower, mostly to distract myself. I woke Ronnie up and told him what was going on, but not to worry, because they didn't really hurt. They just felt like menstrual cramps, but better, because they only happened every 5-7 minutes. We decided to call the hospital to see what they had to say because they were consistently 5 minutes apart and they said not to come in until I couldn't stand it. I wanted to have a natural delivery, so I didn't want to go in to the hospital until it was absolutely necessary, so we decided that Ronnie should go to work and I would go stay at my parents, and call him when we were ready. So I hung out with my parents, ate lunch, and walked through Costco. I could still talk and laugh through my contractions, even though they were still every five minutes, but I was getting sick of them, so I decided to lay down and try for a nap around 3:00 pm. At around 3:30 pm my doctor called to check in on me because he had seen that we had called the hospital that morning. He told me that he wanted me to come in and get checked, and I was a little bugged because the contractions still weren't bad and I really didn't want to do most of my laboring in the hospital. If I could go back, I would've stayed home, but instead we called Ronnie and told him it was time to go. I told my Mom I could just drive there myself, but they insisted on going and picking him up. We got to the hospital a little after 4:00 pm and were led to a room to be checked. I got in the gown, laid down on the bed and prepared myself to be sent home. The nurse came in and asked me a few questions and commented on how I could still talk and smile through the contractions. She checked me and we were all shocked to hear that I was at a 7! I chalk it up to all of the awful, intense menstrual cramps I've had over the years. Life has to keep on moving, even though your uterus feels like it's flipping inside out, so I had learned to deal with the pain. Like I said before, this was way better because it wasn't constant. Anyhow, we were admitted and called my Mom to let her know what was going on. She was such a sweetheart and showed up with her crochet bag to sit in the waiting room, because she wasn't allowed in the room because of RSV/Swine Flu precautions (I actually had Swine Flu in September). Thankfully, a nurse came in and told us that we were allowed two people in Labor an Delivery, so she got to come back and be with me! After requesting and receiving the best IV (only for a heplock since I was going natural) nurse in the hospital, my doctor came in to check me. While he was down there, he notified me that he was going to pop my water, to which I responded "Right now!?!" followed by a huge gush. If that happened to me right now, I would be SO ticked, but it was my first time around, so I just went with it. I felt like I was suddenly sitting in a hot tub and as I looked down, I saw that the water was brown. My doctor called for a code something or other and people started scrambling around the room. A team came in and filled the room, because there was meconium in my water (meaning Chloe had already had her first bowel movement, which meant there could be complications if she had ingested it). They cleaned me up and I decided I better go to the bathroom, especially because I was terrified to go poop during my delivery. I walked to the bathroom, sat on the toilet, and that's when I had my first REAL, HARD contraction. It took my breath way and left me gasping for air. I was totally shocked at how quickly it had come on. It finished and I tried to stand up, but as soon as I did, another one hit me and I was back on the toilet. I was finally able to make my way out and got back in bed. My contractions were now coming fast and hard. Ronnie was incredible and I had to fantastic nurses helping me through my contractions. Sitting in bed was very uncomfortable, so I decided to try the birthing ball. I sad on that for a bit, with my head against the bed and Ronnie pushing his fists into my back as hard as he could. That got old fast, so my nurses suggested I try getting in the bed on all fours. Worst decision ever. It quadrupled the intensity of my pain. They quickly got out the birthing bar and got me into position to try that. I was having a lot of back labor, so Ronnie came in and started pushing on my knees to help relieve it. Poor guy, he worked so hard and I just kept saying HARDER! I felt like I was screaming out loud every time a contraction came on and kept apologizing, but everyone assured me I wasn't making a sound. It was all in my head! Every time a contraction came on, I would start to panic and breath fast, but Ronnie would be right there, telling me to look him in the eye and help me slow down. It was so huge to look at his eyes. By the time I would calm down, it would end and suddenly another would be on top of me. My doctor finally came in to check me and I was at a 9+!!! But, Chloe was facing side ways and my labor was slowing down. He wanted to give me Pitocin to keep things going, but I knew that would make my already hard contractions come double time. I asked him how much longer he thought it would be and I as floored when he said two hours!!!! I told him if I was getting Pitocin, I was also getting an epidural, because I was at my physical limit. Thankfully he consented and things got under way to get the anesthesiologist in. Now with each contraction came a fresh new wave of panic and me begging for the epidural! Finally he came in, and took an agonizingly long time to explain the procedure and have me sign my consent right in the middle of a contraction. He had me turn into Ronnie's stomach, arch my back and hold absolutely still. The needle went in right when I started contracting, and it was almost impossible to hold perfectly still. My feet immediately started to feel warm and tingly and I began to calm down. He must of put a really high dose in, because I was quickly numb from my stomach down. I was helped onto my side to hopefully help Chloe get into position and closed my eyes to rest. A short twenty minutes later I was checked and told it was time to push. This was the part in my plan where my Mom was supposed to leave, but everything had been so intense and suddenly my feet were being put into stirrups, so the furthest thing from my mind was asking her to step out. She was there for the whole thing, and I'm extremely grateful that she was. It was a very special experience for both of us. I pushed for about twenty minutes and started to tear, so my doctor told me he was going to give me an episiotomy (something else I would change if I could go back. I would much rather just tear). Ronnie was right there the whole time, holding my leg and watching everything. At one point, he was even able to reach in and tough her head (maybe tmi...). The nurses were all cheering me on and saying, "You've paved the way with this one! You'll definitely be able to go natural with the next one!" to which I laughed and responded "Why would I? This is fabulous!" Finally, one last long, hard push and she was out at 9:27 pm! Only 4 hours from when my water had been broken! She was placed on my chest, making the funniest little chatter cry. I started to talk to her, telling her it was all okay, I was there and she stopped crying and looked right into my eyes. She knew I was her Mama. It was incredible. Ronnie was able to cut her cord and then she was whisked across the room to be cleaned and checked. It was a dream delivery. They placed her back on me, and suddenly I felt the enormity of being a parent. Of being her guardian. I felt like I couldn't even name her...she was already her own little person, shouldn't she have come named??? I was finally given a bag of chips and something to drink and we were wheeled to our new room. Proud Daddy Ronnie pushed her the whole way in her tiny little bed. It was hard for me not to have any visitors allowed, but also nice that we were able to have our special time together. I quickly became very uncomfortable from my episiotomy and made a little nest of blankets for myself. Even with the pain meds, ice packs and numbing spray, it was painful. Even though the food was amazing, and it was nice to be taken care of, we ended up leaving the next night because I was so uncomfortable. We packed up all of our stuff and they brought me a wheel chair. I started to make my little nest of blankets on the chair, when the nurse stopped me and asked if I wanted a donut. A donut?! I was so relieved, but also a little perturbed that I hadn't been offered one earlier! We drove to my parents house, so everyone could meet her (I must have been crazy...why didn't I make them come to our house?). Finally, we made our way home and thankfully, my Mom came with us. She was a saint and did all the work for me. She even woke up with Chloe and brought her in to me to nurse. I would've been so lost without her! I will always be grateful that I had such a fantastic delivery and that Chloe was healthy and perfect. I couldn't had done it with out my amazing husband Ronnie. I think he was just as tired as I was by the time she was born!
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