D. was to arrive April 22, 2010. I was convinced he would arrive early, just like his sister. but was surprised with each day that was closer to the actual due date- and still no son. The week before, April 15 I experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions but believed them to be the real thing. I faced such disappointment when I realized I would not be meeting him the weekend of July 16-18.
Thursday, April 22, was a difficult day to go to school. The students kept asking the constant question, "Isnt today your due date?" "Why arent you at the hospital?" "When is he going to come" I kept the smile on my face and assured the kids that the due date was simply a guess- no guarantee, and that he would come when he was supposed to. The students continued to be stressed and overwhelmed with the possibility of me breaking my water in the middle of class. The idea terrified me as well but I tried to assure them it probably wouldnt happen at school. They were also terrified that he would actually ARRIVE at school- and again I assured them that with A. the labor was LONG and that it would take at least 5 hours. (oh how I would be incorrect!!!)
That afternoon we had A's dance recital pics. Then we went home and my parents had arrived. I had asked my parents to make the 8 hour drive this weekend regardlesss of his arrival so they could attend her Saturday afternoon dance recital. We all went for a walk, chatted, and went to bed around 945. I fell asleep quickly, thinking of my lesson plans for my last day of school. At 1044 I woke Andy up to tell him my water broke. (they had to break my water with A. so this was the first time I experienced it naturally). I was very excited but also very relaxed. I called my principal and long term sub, then took a shower and told my parents we would be leaving at some point. I was not in a hurry and told Andy to try and get some rest. Moments later I called out, "What time is it?" and about three minutes later I called out the question again. That was all it took for Andy to realize that we didnt have much time! I was shocked that the contractions were just three minutes apart straight from the beginning.
I called the hospital, explained the situation (and the fact that we have a 20+ minute drive to the hospital). The lady kindly, but also strongly suggested that we leave for the hospital now. The contractions were bad but not too bad. On the drive to the hospital I was doing well with them but at one point I said to Andy, "perhaps you should drive about 4 mph faster! We arrived at the hospital by 12:05 am Friday April 23.
They took me to my room, I got settled in (all the while having consistent, strong contractions every 3 minutes), and soon she checked my progress. The wonderful nurse, Heather, was surprised but informed me that I was already 7.5-8cm! Soon an aide was in setting up the table. The nurse told me it was too late for an epidural and mentioned how well I was doing with the contractions so far. I was excited that perhaps I could experience the delivery without drugs. I was still open to the possibility but was willing to do what I needed to do to meet my son!
Soon the contractions were much worse- and in addition to that time in between the contractions was filled with strong pain.
Andy was an awesome partner and Daddy in the delivery room. Though we didn't take a birth class this time, we were a great team. The nurse left for a moment and the contractions were so bad I found myself pushing- I was not able to stop pushing. I freaked out and asked Andy to push the button to get the nurse but we couldn't find it! She soon came in and said I could go ahead and start pushing. After one push she called out to get the doctor quick. Surprisingly, D. arrived on the second set of contractions that I could officially push. Suddenly Andy noticed that our son had arrived- neither of us expecting it to happen that fast. D. arrived at 1:24am, less than three hours of labor- called precipitous labor- occurs less than 5% of the time! Thank goodness I got to the hospital the hour earlier... who would have thought after my first birth experience!
The staff was awesome and allowed me to hold him immediately. I had read that it is valuable to allow the cord to stop pulsing before cutting it and they were okay with that. The nurses did not rush to weigh him or give him a bath. They were extremely busy that night with many births, but they did not hurry us.
By 4:30am I was finally allowed to sleep. Andy stayed and we were ready for some sleep. I did not expect for it to be hard to sleep after the previous hours we had gone through. Instead- my mind was racing, re-living the past 6 hours. Finally, without sleeping, at 6am I called the nurses and asked them to bring in my son so I could hold him some more.
Our daughter had a private first meeting with him around 9am. She immediately went to hug him and talk to him (and completely ignored Mommy!) I was relieved the transition started out so well and over the past week feel that I can confirm that A. is handling this big change in our lives very well. Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) came up soon after. Andy's parents are coming Mother's Day weekend.
And this concludes the crazy, exciting, painful, but also awesome miracle of our son's birth and beginning.
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SHORT VERSION
Thursday April 22- taught all day and felt great.
Went on a walk as a family around 730- still no feelings of labor.
Went to bed at 10, woke up at 1045 to find my water had broken.
Called principal, took shower, no contractions yet.
Contractions started at 11pm- and occurred every 3 minutes
At 11:15 I called the hospital- they said come in now.
We left about 15 minutes later and arrived at the hospital at 12:05am.
Checked into room and at 12:30 I was checked for the first time- 7.5-8cm dilated!
Realized I could finish without any medication- excited and scared.
Born at 1:24am- doctor was barely in the room at the time.
Such wonderful staff who allowed D. to rest on me right away and not rush to cut cord, weigh, bathe, or give him medicine. We really enjoyed the first moments as a family and I am thankful that God designed my body to carry him and created this amazing son for our family to love, encourage, and help grow into a man of God. Praise God!
2 comments:
Congratulations on what sounds like a great birth experience and an answer to prayer. I can't believe he came so quickly! I'm really glad you included the long version, because, as you can imagine, I am quite interested in and curious about this topic all of a sudden! :)
So glad to hear your daughter is doing well with the transition. We don't have to worry about that this time around, as its our first, but we are concerned about a certain Boston Terrier who is already starting to act all dejected and resentful just because he can't fit on my lap anymore!
AWESOME!!!!!!!! just awesome :)
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