The Birth Story

I am writing this down so I don't forget anything in the future! 
Disclaimer:  If you don't have kids or the idea of having children scares you it might be in your best interest to skip this posting (or get a nice glass of wine...down it and read on!).

Friday, December 3, 2010
I went to the doctor's for an ultrasound and check-up to see how big the baby was and if I would need to think a little more about having a C-Section.  The little peanut...was not so little at 38 weeks measuring well over eight pounds.  The good news was the baby's head was almost the right size for age.....a great thing as the head was 4 weeks ahead of schedule on previous ultrasound.  That being said Dr. Drake still said it would be better if I went into labor in the next week on my own because he still suspected I might need a c-section anyway.  He also put me off of work because my blood pressure was a little elevated.  After leaving the office in true Jen style I went into work for a few hours to tie up loose ends.

Saturday, December 4, 2010
We had a pretty normal day and decided to go out to dinner with Ali and Brian's mom as John and Brian's dad were out of town.  We went to Olive Garden and while we were sitting there I just started to not feel well.  I didn't tell anyone that because I didn't want to get Brian excited yet!  So we went to bed and some time in the middle of the night I started to have mild contractions.

Sunday, December 5, 2010
When Brian woke up I had him start timing the contractions as they were starting to become more regular although they still weren't bad.  We timed for four hours and they were 5 minutes apart.  I called the Dr and he said to be safe go down to the hospital to be checked.  We drove down, smiling all the way to the hospital, but pretty sure that the contractions were not strong enough yet.  I was 2 cm and having regular contractions, but not progressing after a few hours of monitoring.  So we were sent home to labor at home and return with either stronger contractions or when my water broke.

We got home and relaxed.  My contractions started to get pretty strong by the evening and I started having pretty bad back labor.  Brian did a great job keeping me focused, making me eat and drink and timing my contractions.  I was having stronger contractions every 4-6 minutes consistently for several hours, but my water didn't break.  We called the Dr and were sent back down to the hospital at about 1 am Monday.

Monday, December 6, 2010
We got to the hospital with consistent strong contractions, but again I was only two centimeters.  I didn't progress after several hours so we were sent home.  I think I told Brian that it was crazy that we were being sent home because it seemed like things were getting harder and stronger. So back home we went in the first snow storm of the year.  We went to bed for a few hours....I forced Brian to go sleep on the couch so he would actually get some rest and he agreed.  I was up with contractions all day....leaning on a stack of pillows on the bed, on all fours on the bed, trying to do anything to get the little peanut off of my back.  The rest of the day Brian plowed our driveway, his mom and dad's and Ali and John's just in case they needed to get out.  Oh i forgot to mention that both grandpas were out of town in California and John was with the tower crew in Virginia (I am glad I wouldn't let my husband go on the trip...he would have had to come right back).  I watched movies and TV while leaning on the back of the couch onto pillows.  I literally stood up the entire day to try to get relief.  Brian slept the night on the couch while I continued trying to get comfortable upstairs.  No sleep again due to the pain.  I promised Brian I would call him if I needed him.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Brian brought me pancakes in bed, which I ate standing up, spilling syrup on the bed.  I could not have cared less!  Brian and I decided that we would call our doctor's office and see if they could see me in the office.  They agreed and I took a shower (which made the contractions worse) and got dressed.  I looked like pure hell!  We went into the Dr's at 9:30 am or so and were the only one's in the waiting room (again we had a big snow storm so there were not too many people out on the roads).  They put me on the machine and I was in fact having strong contractions about every 5-8 minutes.  Dr. Huynh (pronounced "win") checked me and I was 2-3 cm so he stripped my membranes again.  Oh, important point, they couldn't help me along because I was not yet 39 weeks  ( I was 38 5/7 weeks on Tuesday).  There is some rule that if you are not 39 weeks and the baby looks fine then they cannot augment labor.  I am pretty sure he was saying a lot of things while we were in the office, but I couldn't really hear him so Brian listened.  I did hear him say this eventually will end and this is very uncommon and you are "one in a million".   "Your wife drew the short straw."  So back home we went to hopefully progress and go to the hospital.  We watched Sabrina and tried to relax and rest.  Every contraction I would jar awake and I didn't sleep at all.  Brian and I went to the basement and walked laps trying to help things along, but Brian was getting worried that I was getting too weak.  He did an amazing job taking care of me and making me eat and drink.  He made me eat Popsicles...although I love them.  By the evening I basically told Brian that I could not do this another night and that I either needed some pain medication or sleep in order to continue.  He agreed.  By this point Brian looked pretty bad and I am pretty sure I didn't look so good either.

Brian called the Dr on call which was Dr. Huynh and he said the only way to know if things were progressing would be to go to the hospital which is actually where he was at the time we spoke to him.  So I took a shower and changed my clothes and we went back down to the hospital in the late evening.  On the way to the hospital we thought well enough and put two old blankets on the passenger seat of the CRV (important later).  We got to the hospital and this snooty resident checked me and I was still 3 cm.  At this point I was "crying" on and off from lack of sleep, hormones and pain.  I also had almost no voice because I had a crazy amount of post-nasal drainage, which wasn't helped by crying.  They put me on the monitor and made me lay on my back...which was excruciating.  I was contracting every 4-7 minutes or so and the baby looked great.  We went walking and I sat on a birthing ball while Brian massaged my lower back.  They checked me again and I was still 3 cm.  They went to discharge me and Brian told them that we weren't leaving until they did something for me to either sleep or relieve some of the pain as I had not slept in over two days.  They looked at us like we were crazy and the resident didn't want to give me anything.  Finally she said I could have Percocet, which I agreed to.  The nurse could not have been nicer when she went to discharge me.  She said I know you will be back very soon.  I took the Percocet around 1 am and they watched me for 30 minutes or so.  We left and walked out to the parking deck.  As we got to the parking deck my contractions picked up to every minute and a half.  Brian assured me we would go home and relax and hopefully my water would break and we could go back to the hospital.  We got in the car and did not even get onto Route 59 and Brian hit a bump and my water broke.  I was very happy for the two blankets on the seat.

We called back to the triage unit and let the nurse know we were coming back, she very nicely said she wouldn't even put through the discharge and to come right back in.  Brian dropped me off at the emergency room and went and parked the car.  I got to the triage unit via wheelchair and my contractions were coming every minute or so.  They asked if I was sure that my water broke and I showed them a lovely pad I was wearing.  The snooty resident refused to believe from sight and decided that she had to check me with an internal.  The nurse was so mad!  Pretty much every change of position I made I had another contraction, sitting, standing, laying, bending, it didn't matter.  When they checked me they could see the baby's hair and I did appreciate that they showed Brian ( he couldn't believe it!).  They drew my blood and sent it off stat so they could get me an epidural as soon as possible.  My nurse (named Amy) walked me to my room and basically dragged an anesthesiologist in and made them start setting up before my bloodwork was back (god bless her!).  Epidural went in without much trouble, except it didn't take fully on my right side.  They had me lay on the right side a few times and gave me more medication, which helped and really really made my left side completely nonexistent.  Brian came back in the room after the epidural was placed and I was like a new person.  He and I both slept for awhile (it was only like 2 or 3 am once the epidural was in), which helped soooo much.  The nurses and residents kept saying that my contractions were off the charts and were truly coming as fast and hard as we said they were, glad to know I wasn't lying or a wimp!

At around 9 am they checked me and I was 9 cm.  They started to set everything up and Brian called our parents to let them know that we were going to be welcoming a new baby pretty soon.  I will spare all of the details, but everything went very well and our little Natalie was born at 10:17 am on December 8, 2010 after about an hour of pushing.  Natalie Marie 7 lbs 10.5 oz  20.5 inches....perfect after her long journey.  The only issue was I had a fever during labor and delivery so they started both of us on antibiotics.  I secondarily got an infected IV site and had to be put on oral antibiotics on discharge.

As I tell everyone, once I had an endpoint to the end of labor it was perfect and I would do it over again in a minute!