With Selah's birth, my water broke with no warning so the second time around, I wasn't quite sure what to expect if labor began with solely contractions.
I began attempting to time these possible "contractions" on an app I had downloaded. They were pretty much all over the board for awhile. About noon on, they began to become closer together but were only lasting short periods of time, about 30-40 seconds. Everything I read said active labor contractions would become closer together (ok, check!) and increase in length (60-90 seconds) (ok... darn). Mine lasting only 30 seconds sure didn't appear to be amounting to anything significant.
Caleb and I decided to schedule an induction date for that Sunday morning. I had been texting non-stop with my parents about my possible progression and since my induction was set for Sunday, they were going to come for the weekend. Although we were all sure I'd have her before Sunday morning.
And then we did something really smart. We decided to run out to Menards to pick up some paint samples. So smart of us, right?
My dad was going to do a coat of paint in the basement that weekend and we were on a time crunch to get paint back to the house for him to begin. SO. To Menards we went. And of course my contractions picked up. By that time, I knew they were contractions and not just cramping. And they were about 5 minutes apart.... by the way, that's when you're told to head to the hospital. Oops! But they were still only lasting 30-40 seconds. I wasn't double over in pain but had to stop walking and just quietly breath through them while Caleb chased Selah through the store. Honestly, I wasn't convinced I was in real labor simply because they weren't lasting all that long.
We were on our way home when we realized we didn't have anything to eat at home, so we pulled into McDonalds to grab some food. That cheeseburger and sweet tea tasted so good, in between contractions of course.
I had Caleb call the hospital and explain my progression. He explained we weren't quite sure if it was real labor since they were only 30-40 seconds long. At THAT point, they were about 3-4 minutes apart. I think I was in denial that this was actually the real deal. They asked if this was my first baby. Upon hearing it was our second, they said I was probably in real labor and should come right in. But... but.... the paint samples! We didn't get them painted on the wall and we haven't decided on a color! Drat.
Within minutes, about 6:15p my parents pulled into the driveway. By this time, the contractions were much more painful and I needed to really breath through them. We knew Selah would be really excited to see my parents and we didn't want to throw her off anymore than she was about to be thrown off in the upcoming days. We decided my mom would take me to the hospital to get checked in, Caleb would put Selah down and then once his mom got to the house to stay with her, Caleb and my dad would head to the hospital as well.
They checked me in lickety split and sure enough, I was dilated to 5-6 centimeters. For the next couple hours, I endured what I would consider legitimate painful labor. Sure I don't have anything to compare it to but I was in pain and beyond ready for my wonderful epidural. After each contraction, I already felt exhausted. I don't know how women can go through natural labor and push through all that pain and contractions and for potential hours. In between contractions, I felt I could have fallen right asleep.
Finally. Finally I was able to get that sweet, sweet epidural. Although, it took a solid 20-30 minutes for my epidural to even be injected. That was rough. I wrote in Selah's birth story that receiving an epidural was surprisingly a piece of cake as far as the pain goes. But having it injected while having painful contractions and constant shaking is what made it more grueling. I don't recall it taking that long with Selah but for some reason, it took awhile this time. Or maybe it just felt like forever because I was in MUCH more pain this time around.
By 9p, I was pain free. Ahhhh sweet relief. The nurse placed me on my side with a big ol' peanut shaped ball in between my legs to help open my pelvis and move the baby along. She said she'd be back in after awhile to shift me. Well... 2 hours later she came back. And here's where it got interesting. She shifted me to the other side. Immediately my water broke. She checked me and sure enough, 10 centimeters! It was about 11:15p at this point and she asked if I felt any urges to push. Unfortunately, I didn't have that impending pressure-filled sensation just yet. I wanted so badly to begin pushing. I wanted a due-date baby! I kept looking at the clock... 40 min left before midnight. Could I do it? I pushed for an hour with Selah... it was a complete toss up.
They brought the doctor in for me to try a couple pushes to see if any legitimate progress was happening. Within minutes, I suddenly felt that strong pressure I was hoping to feel. I was ready to push. But first... wait... am I?... yes... I'm going to be sick. Why is it I always have fast food type food in my system when I'm in labor? First time it was hot dogs. Second time, McDonalds. What wonderful choices Ash.
Ok... now that that's over... let's begin.
I pushed a couple times. "There's her head!" What?... already? Ok, well great! But with Selah, we saw her little head for like 45 minutes before she actually came out. I knew it could still be awhile. I pushed again.
And then that dreaded sound crept over the monitor. Her heartbeat. Her slow... slow heartbeat. It had dropped significantly. No, no, no. Not again. Selah's heart rate had dropped too and it's a very scary sound to hear. They put me on my side and I pushed in a different position. The doctor did a cool little trick and rubbed the baby's head which got her heart rate back up. Ok... back on track. Let's keep going.
I was surrounded by such wonderful coaches. Everyone telling me, "Push, push, push, you're doing great!" I leaned my head back, took a breath, closed my eyes and pushed as hard and as best as I could (by the way, it's actually quite difficult to know what you're doing when you have an epidural and can't really feel much).
And suddenly I felt something... something different... like a weird relief and I hear someone say something like "There she is, or here she comes" or something like that... I popped open my eyes and sure enough, her head was completely out and her little body followed suit. What?! Seriously?! Already?! About 10 minutes in and here she was... screaming on my chest, my eyes filled with tears and joyful laughter filling the room. Our daughter was here. She was finally here. I could not have been happier in that moment.
Those first moments of holding my daughter on my chest were beyond euphoric. The nurse placed her on my chest and within a few minutes, she stopped crying and we just laid there together in complete peace and joyful bliss.
Savannah Joy had joined our family on her due date, Friday, April 17 at 11:44pm. She's the tiniest, sweetest little peanut weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz. We have fallen completely in love with this precious babe and I thank God for the beautiful gift we have in our second daughter, our sweet Savannah Joy.
My sweet husband leading us in prayer over the delivery of our daughter
Straight action shot, just seconds out of the womb (props to my mom for being quick and catching these shots!)
Proud daddy
Friday. April 17. What started as a day filled with anxiety and questions, progressing with confusion and denial, it ended with the clear fact that I was in real labor that day and it would result in the birth of our beautiful daughter. What a day. What. a. day. And I would do it again in a heartbeat, just to relive the magic of her birth.
oh my word I love this :) I was tearing up just reading the story! I am so so excited for you guys :) Love you both and can't wait to meet little Savannah Joy!!
ReplyDelete