Happy Happens: My Story

As my pregnancy was nearing full term, I started wondering what "my story" was going to be. Everyone has a delivery story, and everyone's is totally unique and different. I listened and read many women's stories to get some concept of what to expect and what I learned was to expect the unexpected ha!

Around 37 weeks, the baby got lower causing some new pains I hadn't felt before. This made it more real that labor and delivery was really just around the corner for reals and the excitement and anxiety set in. At every Dr. appt I made sure to ask where the head was and got all pre registered at the hospital and took the tour and everything. I'm glad I tried to gather as much information that I could, but the real thing is just such a totally different and amazing experience.

At my 39 week appointment (on Oct. 30) I was only dilated to a 1 and like 0% effaced and had only had about 3 or 4 true contractions by then. We figured Lilah was just staying cozy and that it would probably be a while before she came. We set a date to induce me for Nov. 13 (I was due the 6th) to make sure she didn't get so cozy it'd be dangerous. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't progressed at all and just accepted the fact that I'd have my baby in my belly a few more weeks, ugh!

The very next morning (Oct 31) I woke up at 5:30 am and had to go to the bathroom. I crawled back in bed but continued to have cramps like I still had to go potty. I recognized that these might be contractions and started timing them with the app on Keith's iphone. They were exactly 5 mins apart and sometimes less! I sat in my rocking chair and played on the internet while I kept timing them to see if this was a fluke or not. Around 7 am, they were still totally consistent so I woke Keith up to tell him not to go to work that day, just incase this was for reals. I took a shower, got ready and ate breakfast and those contractions got a little more intense and were about 4 mins apart by now. About 11am we decided to go to the hospital just to see if anything was really happening. We got into triage around 11:30 and I was still dilated to a 1. They had me walk around and monitered everything for a couple hours until my Doc came in. They almost sent me home to labor myself some more but tried stripping my membranes first (icheewahwah!!). The contractions got stronger so they admitted us around 2pm to Labor and Delivery! My Doc came back around 3 and broke my water to try to get me dilating since I was just a 2 still. Until this point I naively thought that contractions were easy and that I could totally do it without meds. Oh my sweet sassy molassy was I wrong! I have never felt anything like those contractions that came after my water had broken! I can't even describe or really remember exactly what they felt like but I remember thinking the sensation was just so overwhelming and powerful, like being drug under the waves in San Diego and not being able to come up for air. After the first contraction, the kind nurse told me it was time for my epidural and I agreed completely!! I got the epi. at 3:30 and it was not near as bad as I thought it would be. They put me on a bit of pitocin (sp?) later and just had me relax and labor numbly while Keith and I watched Shirlock Holmes and Monsters vs Aliens on tv. Around 9pm (yeah I went reeeally slow) I had a crazy back spasm. It was right at the site of the epidural on my right side and made it hard to breathe. The anesthesiologist looked at it and nothing was wrong so we just accepted that it was a combo of tension and that the local anesthesia wore off from the site. I didn't get to a 10 until about 11pm and started pushing at 11:15. This was very uncomfortable. I was so hungry and tired from being up since 5 and couldn't get a full breath of air because of my back and the baby wasn't coming down. I was very frustrated and discouraged for a whole hour, but kept thinking "I have to get her down so they don't send me to do a c-section." The second hour I made a lot more progress and could actually feel it getting close! My back also magically calmed down and I could actually breathe again which gave me a second wind. Around 12:50 am the Doc came in and a couple more nurses who were much more energetic than the one I'd been pushing with before. I got excited that if the Doc was here, I must be close so I gave it everything I had left with the nurses yelling at me to "Get angry with it!" on each push haha! Finally at 1:11 little Delilah made her debut (7lbs 7oz 21 in)! Keith says the look of relief on my face was priceless! He got to cut the cord and they laid her on my abdomen. She took a minute to figure out her lungs but then quickly got the hang of it and gave us some good cries. It was a surreal experience to have called a whole new person into existence and was so amazing to go through. Keith wasn't the least bit squeemish and helped me the whole long day and night!

The last 2 weeks have been so special getting to know our little Lilah. She is already so smart and strong and brings such a wonderful spirit into our home. It is busier than I ever imagined with seemingly endless feedings and diaper changes, but is truly rewarding and so much fun! We love our little girl!