This may be a long post, as was my labor.....
December 5th around 3 am I woke up having uncomfortable yet not unbearable contractions. I was slightly skeptical if I was "actually" in labor or not. The Monday before that I had the same type of contractions and got overly excited and then they stopped after a few hours. So I assumed these contractions would do the same thing. I couldn't sleep very well, but went out on the couch and watched a few infomercials until Chad got up around 8 am and I told him I thought I was maybe having more serious contractions.
We had a 9am appointment at the hospital scheduled for a NST (non stress test) to make sure Amalie was doing good since I was overdue. I figured they would be able to let me know if the contractions were just Braxton or if I was truly in labor.
On the car ride to the hospital they began to be more regular, but still not overly painful. The nurse (Megan) showed me to my room and hooked me up to the monitors, (one for Amalie's heartrate, one for uterine activity) The test lasted an hour, and at the end of it they showed me I was indeed in labor, I had contractions every 4 minutes lasting a minute for the past hour. She said this was the general criteria to get checked in to the hospital and told me I was able to stay If I wanted. At this point I was thrilled that today was going to be the day (the 5th of december) Since it was just 10 am I thought for sure she would be born then.
We decided to go home since we needed to get our bags and carseat. I decided to labor at home until I felt that I needed to go back to the hospital. I called my mom and let her know, the show had began, and she cruised up I5 to be with us. I labored at home until 4 pm, at this point my contractions were more severe and I was ready to go !
When we got to the hospital (Megan) my nurse from earlier on in the day was still there, I was so happy and hoping she was going to be my nurse all night, but I knew she was probably getting off soon since she was there in the AM. Which was correct she showed us to our room, we had the largest in the hospital ! It was like a hotel suite (side note) and said my labor nurse would be Gayla and she would be in shortly. I should have know from the git go, with a name like Gayla, only bad things could come of this. And oh they did !
With my anxiety about hospitals I prayed so hard that I would get just the right people helping me to make the experience that much more enjoyable for me. When she walked in , right away I was NOT happy with her. Bad personality match to the extreme. She was old, and crazy and not personable at all ! I tried to stay calm during the first go around of questions and checks, but the second she walked about of the room I broke down and told Chad I was having a home birth and would not have her in the room with me no matter what. At this point my anxiety kicked in and starting slowing down my contractions.
I'll try to make this part short, I was hooked up to the monitors but my contractions were not progressing very fast, Gayla suggested I go home and labor for a few days (yes she told me it might take a few days !) hello 2009, pitocin ! But she was obviously bias for natural childbirth and I was all about my epidural. A long series of events followed this, (hopefully I'll be able to share this part with friends in person, it makes it much better) but this part of my labor ended with Chad having to fire Gayla, yes she got fired, well just from being my nurse.
Shift change a 7pm and my new nurse arrived, (Kayla) walked in the room, and I was so thrilled. A young vibrant nurse that was just AMAZING. We shared the same philosophy. "Let's get the baby out." At this point I still wanted to labor naturally so I wouldn't be stuck in bed with the epidural. I walked the halls, sat in the tub, used the labor ball, then around 8:30 I got my epidural. (Much less scary than I had anticipated at well)
At this point I was only dialated to 3/4 cm and Kayla said I would have to be in the first go around of IV fluids, see how the epidural was going then I would be put on pitocin to get my contractions to speed up. This point kind of all became a blur since I was so tired. But I remember her saying I would probably dialate around 1 cm an hour so that would put us around 8 am or 9 to start pushing. I was bummed because she was getting off shift at 7am so I would have someone else to help deliver. I fell asleep and rested for pretty much the rest of my labor. She came in to check me an hour later and I was dialated to a 8 ! And she thought I would be at a 10 in less than an hour. I woke up Chad and he was so shocked it happened so fast. I think we all were.
After this they waited for my water to break naturally, and then a little after 6 am I was ready to start pushing. She told me it would probably take about 1-3 hours to get her out. Especially since I had an epidural, and sometimes it is harder for women to control the pushing. I started to push and within a few pushes she could see the head. At this point she said Amalie was coming way faster than anticipated and she needed to go grab the doctor. My Dr. wasn't on call so another Dr. from the practice was going to deliver. Again, she was AMAZING the greatest doctor of all times. I was so blessed to have these women helping out. God was looking out for me ! After 20 minutes of pushing, they said we would start a short pushing sequence to get her out, but after the next push she literally shot right out ! Listening to Mozart, Amalie Claire arrived at 6:58 am (2 min before Kayla was off shift, see God again taking care of me) weighing 8 lb 10 oz 22 inches long ! And full of baby fat rolls ! I must have fed her good.
This is enough, for part one of the most amazing birth experience ever ! More to come, to finish the whole story.
Even though she isn't sucking on her pacifier, the second I would try to take it away she would suck it back in... it was so funny.
Our friend David finally got to come hold Amalie, I think they sat like this for over 2 hours ! It gave me time to clean :)
