J's Birth Story, part 1
J's birth was really unique and pretty different than any of the previous girls' stories! It was kind of a whirlwind but so wonderful and special, and she has been an absolute delight. We are all sooooo in love with her!
Pull up a chair and pour yourself some coffee. This is a long one.
(As always, I will be discussing some labor details in this post... skip it over if you're squeamish...)
So to really begin at the beginning I will have to go back to the wee hours of Sunday morning, September 20. I wrote about having contractions Friday night into Saturday the 19th. Well, the same thing happened early Sunday, too. L came into our room at about 3 AM Sunday, snuggling up next to me and saying that Daddy had just called her over the monitor and told her it was morning. I suggested that maybe she had dreamed it and asked her to go back downstairs and try to go back to sleep. After that, I had about two hours of painful contractions (*not* Braxton Hicks but what felt like real labor contractions) spaced about 10 minutes apart. I started planning how I would call Auntie Bethie and ask her to come over to be with the girls, M would contact one of his substitutes on call to handle his youth group meeting that day, and I could call my Mom to come and be with me for the birth. It really felt like the "real thing" just as I had thought the previous night, and it seemed like a perfect time to have the baby-- on the weekend when M was already home and our helpers were available. Gradually, however, the contractions began to feel less powerful and eventually slowed to a stop around 6 AM. I wasn't surprised. These false alarms seem to be the way things go for me! I was awake, though, and got up to make some coffee. C was awake not long after that and we got some breakfast together.
We all started to get ready for church and left together. M was busy busy with youth group all morning so I handled dropping the bigger girls off for church school and sitting in the service with C, all while contracting here and there. I'm actually really glad we made it to church that morning because there were many words in the service that I needed to hear, and that struck me as really providential when I look back on it all. The biggest example of that was that the opening hymn for the service was "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" which was the opening hymn for M's and my wedding-- a song which is very special to us both. As I sung I just got the feeling that it would be a special day. The first scripture reading was the Proverbs passage on "a wife of noble character"... hmmmm. It felt a little bit like I was being prepared for some tasks that lay ahead of me. ;-}
There was a church picnic following the service and although M and I were both feeling particularly exhausted we stayed for a while and socialized and had some food. Afterwards we brought the girls home and all laid down for a rest time. It was then that M began to feel very sick. After I got up from rest time, I saw him in his yard work clothes, getting ready to go outside and weed-whack the lawn. He looked white as a sheet and I told him he really didn't need to do any yard work now. But he insisted, I think because he knew the baby's birth was imminent and it was just one of those things on his mind to get done before "go time". He probably was thinking it wouldn't get done for a long time if he didn't do it that day! Anyway, he went outside and weed-whacked the lawn, and raked up about half the apples in our yard before he had to run back inside and got sick in the bathroom. I'm sorry to say that he spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening on the bathroom floor with food poisoning.
I was so tired from being awake in the night with contractions for the past two nights, I just vegged out on the couch with the girls while M was sick. We watched The Silver Chair and some episodes of Mister Rogers. Then we had cereal for dinner!
Contractions started to pick up again as I was giving the girls a bath. M tried to help but he was looking awful... he asked to go back to bed and I agreed he should. As the contractions continued and I was getting the girls bathed I multi-tasked and texted my Mom and sister-in-law, just to let them know what I was feeling. In case things suddenly picked up I wanted them to be in the loop. My Mom suggested I call the doctor and let her know what was going on. So I did, and the doctor said that based on what I was describing, it didn't sound like I was really in labor.
I got the girls in bed and sat down with M to watch some TV (an episode of Glee!). Contractions slowed down and yet again I assumed we still wouldn't be meeting our baby for a while. I will admit to being quite frustrated at this point! I was frustrated that the contractions were painful and making me tired and irritable but not seeming effective. I was worried that M was sick. A part of me wanted to just head to the hospital, especially since we live an hour away-- I was afraid of getting there too late. I even texted my friend who lives 10 minutes from the hospital, and asked whether she would mind me staying the night. I waffled over whether to actually go, feeling discouraged that it would be a waste of gas. And I didn't want to be without M. By 7 PM when nothing had been happening for an hour, I decided to stay put at home for the night.
When I laid down to go to sleep, the contractions picked up again and were coming every 10 minutes... then every 7.
At around 11 PM I rolled over in bed and said to M, "These contractions aren't slowing down. I think we should just go to the hospital." He was still feeling a little sick and not sleeping, so he agreed. I called my OB again and sort of insisted on coming to the hospital. After hearing me breathe through a contraction during the phone call, she agreed.
So we called Auntie Bethie and she came to stay with the girls. We headed off to the hospital. I texted my Mom before we left to let her know we were headed in, but still didn't know if this was the "real thing".
I was apprehensive that things would slow down again, but much to my delight, I continued having contractions every five minutes or so throughout the car ride to the hospital. M was, thankfully, feeling a little better by that point, but it was still a pretty quiet car ride with him having just emptied the contents of his digestive system, and me contracting pretty frequently. My spirits were good though... it was go time! Finally!
We arrived at the hospital and M parked the car while I walked up to the birth center. No contractions as I was walking up, thankfully! I got checked in and the nurse gave me a gown to put on. While I was changing I had two contractions... I was glad that the nurse saw that, because I wanted everyone to believe that I really was in labor!
The doctor came in to check my cervix... moment of truth. Would we get sent home?
8 cm dilated! (at 10 you start pushing!)
What a relief to hear that!!!! After so many hours of waffling and not being sure. I was not crazy. These were real contractions. It just seemed that my body had wanted to do things reaaalllly slowly... like, over the course of two days.
In labor with C, it only took me an hour to dilate from 8 cm to 10. I was hopeful that we would meet our baby girl soon!
To be continued....
Here's the link to part two.
(As always, I will be discussing some labor details in this post... skip it over if you're squeamish...)
So to really begin at the beginning I will have to go back to the wee hours of Sunday morning, September 20. I wrote about having contractions Friday night into Saturday the 19th. Well, the same thing happened early Sunday, too. L came into our room at about 3 AM Sunday, snuggling up next to me and saying that Daddy had just called her over the monitor and told her it was morning. I suggested that maybe she had dreamed it and asked her to go back downstairs and try to go back to sleep. After that, I had about two hours of painful contractions (*not* Braxton Hicks but what felt like real labor contractions) spaced about 10 minutes apart. I started planning how I would call Auntie Bethie and ask her to come over to be with the girls, M would contact one of his substitutes on call to handle his youth group meeting that day, and I could call my Mom to come and be with me for the birth. It really felt like the "real thing" just as I had thought the previous night, and it seemed like a perfect time to have the baby-- on the weekend when M was already home and our helpers were available. Gradually, however, the contractions began to feel less powerful and eventually slowed to a stop around 6 AM. I wasn't surprised. These false alarms seem to be the way things go for me! I was awake, though, and got up to make some coffee. C was awake not long after that and we got some breakfast together.
We all started to get ready for church and left together. M was busy busy with youth group all morning so I handled dropping the bigger girls off for church school and sitting in the service with C, all while contracting here and there. I'm actually really glad we made it to church that morning because there were many words in the service that I needed to hear, and that struck me as really providential when I look back on it all. The biggest example of that was that the opening hymn for the service was "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" which was the opening hymn for M's and my wedding-- a song which is very special to us both. As I sung I just got the feeling that it would be a special day. The first scripture reading was the Proverbs passage on "a wife of noble character"... hmmmm. It felt a little bit like I was being prepared for some tasks that lay ahead of me. ;-}
There was a church picnic following the service and although M and I were both feeling particularly exhausted we stayed for a while and socialized and had some food. Afterwards we brought the girls home and all laid down for a rest time. It was then that M began to feel very sick. After I got up from rest time, I saw him in his yard work clothes, getting ready to go outside and weed-whack the lawn. He looked white as a sheet and I told him he really didn't need to do any yard work now. But he insisted, I think because he knew the baby's birth was imminent and it was just one of those things on his mind to get done before "go time". He probably was thinking it wouldn't get done for a long time if he didn't do it that day! Anyway, he went outside and weed-whacked the lawn, and raked up about half the apples in our yard before he had to run back inside and got sick in the bathroom. I'm sorry to say that he spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening on the bathroom floor with food poisoning.
I was so tired from being awake in the night with contractions for the past two nights, I just vegged out on the couch with the girls while M was sick. We watched The Silver Chair and some episodes of Mister Rogers. Then we had cereal for dinner!
Contractions started to pick up again as I was giving the girls a bath. M tried to help but he was looking awful... he asked to go back to bed and I agreed he should. As the contractions continued and I was getting the girls bathed I multi-tasked and texted my Mom and sister-in-law, just to let them know what I was feeling. In case things suddenly picked up I wanted them to be in the loop. My Mom suggested I call the doctor and let her know what was going on. So I did, and the doctor said that based on what I was describing, it didn't sound like I was really in labor.
I got the girls in bed and sat down with M to watch some TV (an episode of Glee!). Contractions slowed down and yet again I assumed we still wouldn't be meeting our baby for a while. I will admit to being quite frustrated at this point! I was frustrated that the contractions were painful and making me tired and irritable but not seeming effective. I was worried that M was sick. A part of me wanted to just head to the hospital, especially since we live an hour away-- I was afraid of getting there too late. I even texted my friend who lives 10 minutes from the hospital, and asked whether she would mind me staying the night. I waffled over whether to actually go, feeling discouraged that it would be a waste of gas. And I didn't want to be without M. By 7 PM when nothing had been happening for an hour, I decided to stay put at home for the night.
(I felt compelled to take some belly pics after I put C to sleep, wondering if these might be the final ones. Sorry for the poor lighting in her room! She was literally asleep on the bed right next to me as I took these pics!)
When I laid down to go to sleep, the contractions picked up again and were coming every 10 minutes... then every 7.
(a shot of my contraction timer app for iPhone that night)
So we called Auntie Bethie and she came to stay with the girls. We headed off to the hospital. I texted my Mom before we left to let her know we were headed in, but still didn't know if this was the "real thing".
I was apprehensive that things would slow down again, but much to my delight, I continued having contractions every five minutes or so throughout the car ride to the hospital. M was, thankfully, feeling a little better by that point, but it was still a pretty quiet car ride with him having just emptied the contents of his digestive system, and me contracting pretty frequently. My spirits were good though... it was go time! Finally!
We arrived at the hospital and M parked the car while I walked up to the birth center. No contractions as I was walking up, thankfully! I got checked in and the nurse gave me a gown to put on. While I was changing I had two contractions... I was glad that the nurse saw that, because I wanted everyone to believe that I really was in labor!
The doctor came in to check my cervix... moment of truth. Would we get sent home?
8 cm dilated! (at 10 you start pushing!)
What a relief to hear that!!!! After so many hours of waffling and not being sure. I was not crazy. These were real contractions. It just seemed that my body had wanted to do things reaaalllly slowly... like, over the course of two days.
In labor with C, it only took me an hour to dilate from 8 cm to 10. I was hopeful that we would meet our baby girl soon!
To be continued....
Here's the link to part two.
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