Disclaimer: this is a birth story, so there will be talk of some tmi stuff . . . Having a baby is not rainbows and sunshine. Be prepared for a long read, I wanted to record I all the details.
It all started on Wednesday December 7th, it was a pretty normal day, I went to work as usual. I WAS super uncomfortable and tired from lack of sleep (I was 38 weeks anyway) but I always felt that way so I didn't think anything of it. I had one contraction during my whole 10 hour shift that day, and it didn't hurt so no big deal I kept thinking. I was supposed to have an OB appointment the next day, but I wasn't hopeful because the previous weeks appointment revealed I was no where near being close to delivery. So I had texted jacob earlier in the day saying I wanted to go to chandler mall and walk around, not to put me into labor, but to get some things going so my appointment wouldn't be disappointing.
When I got off at 6:30 I came home and while jacob was getting ready so we could leave I started having contractions. I had 2 of them close together so I started timing them, I just figured they were Braxton hicks again. During the car ride to the mall I had a few more contractions. My timer revealed that they weren't consistent, though they were close together. We got to the mall and jacob was really nervous, he kept saying, "you're in labor, we shouldn't be doing this." But I shrugged him off saying I wasn't in labor, and I actually was feeling really good despite having contractions (they were uncomfortable, but not painful). While walking around the mall I stopped timing the contractions because they weren't consistent. They were coming every 10 minutes, then every 7 minutes, then back to 10 minutes, then back to 5 minutes. So I convinced myself it was just false labor (I had no idea what to go on since I'd never been in labor)
we left the mall and I was starving so jacob got me some In 'n' Out (yum!) we got home and I ate all of my food, I wasn't having contractions anymore so I still wasn't nervous. We put Ellie to bed and just relaxed, I told myself I would clean the apartment tomorrow (my day off) and get the rest of the bag packed. Around 10:30 jacob and I did our scripture study and I went to sleep while jacob stayed up kneeling at the side of the bed looking at Facebook, and doing some personal scripture study.
I was asleep for almost and hour when I suddenly woke up with a painful contraction. It felt like a huge cramp in my lower abdomen. Jacob was still in the same spot so I grabbed his arm until it passed. He gave me a wary look and I said "no big deal, I'm sure it won't happen again." I didn't mention to him that I was feeling an insane amount of pressure "down there", I got a little uneasy but I tried to go back to sleep. Not even 5 minutes later I had another super painful contraction, I grabbed Jacobs arm again and breathed through it, all the while the pressure I was feeling got more intense. When the contraction ended, I suddenly felt like I was peeing my pants, and then it felt like a water balloon popped between my legs. I knew what it was. "Oh crap!" Was all I said, and Jacob looked at me and said, "your water broke didn't it?!" I said yes and he started flying into action; calling family, throwing things into the hospital bag, and taking things to the car.
I got off the bed and waddled toward the bathroom and took off my wet things and sat on the toilet to let the water go into it and so I could check and make sure the fluid was clear (it was) I sat there for a few minutes until jacob came back from the car. I had him get me some dry undies and pants and then started grabbing last minute items, stopping every once in a while to breath through a contraction. They were hurting now and coming about every 3 minutes. I told jacob to stop rushing and that we didn't have to go to the hospital right now because I read you're supposed to be having contractions consistently for an hour before heading to the hospital, but jacob said "I don't think you're supposed to wait when your water breaks, we're going." I tried calling my doctor but no answer (I expected that because it was now 11:30pm)
Jacob took the last of our things and the car seat down to the car and while he was down at the car my mom showed up to stay with Ellie (who was still sleeping amidst this chaos) I asked my mom why she was here by herself and my dad wasn't with her (our plan was to have my dad watch Ellie so my mom could be there for the delivery) she told me my dad came home from a business trip earlier and had come down with a sore throat and cough so she was going to stay with Ellie instead. My heart sank, I had wanted my mom to be there to help me through this because I had no idea what to do. Jacob came back and hurried me out the door even though I started having a contraction and needed to stop and breath. He got me down the stairs and ran to pull the car closer while I slowly hobbled after him.
Jacob drove like a mad man, he thought he needed to speed to get me there in time. On the freeway, he sped up to 105mph. I was freaking out because the urgency was making me hyperventilate. I shouted at him to slow down. He didn't. I had a contraction and in the moment of pain I begged him to slow down, I said that it would be no good if he got pulled over because then we'd be even more delayed. I reassured him that she wasn't coming out this instant and that we had time. He finally slowed down to around 75mph. We got to the hospital and jacob dropped me off at the entrance so I could check in while he parked. I got up to the door and it was locked since it was after 8pm. I rang the bell and no one answered. I tried again and still no answer. I was thinking I had the wrong entrance or something. I had another contraction and bent over to get through it. Jacob ran up at this point and asked why I wasn't inside. I pointed to the call button and told him no one was answering. He hit the button and finally someone answered and let us in. While we were checking in the attendant was having trouble finding my records (I hadn't pre registered yet but my drs office should have transferred that info weeks ago) I was standing in the room having still having contractions, so the lady hurried up and had someone take me back without banding me. We got to our triage room and I got into my granny suit. The nurses started an IV and asked started asking questions, they asked if I had any complications during Ellie's birth and I told the no she was only c-section because she was breech and everyone froze, I quickly told them I was wanting a VBAC and they relaxed, they were afraid they should be prepping the OR for a repeat c-section.
The contractions were getting pretty intense, but I just held Jacobs hand and zoned everyone out, concentrating on my breathing, and I was ok. Jacob was watching the monitor and would let me know when a contraction was coming so I could grab his hand, then he would let me know when it peaked and then when it started going down. This helped me a lot so I knew when it was going to end. A nurse told me she was going to check how dilated I was. While she was checking me I had a contraction and let me tell you, having someone's hand up inside you while having a contraction, was not pleasant! I wanted to shout mean things at the nurse for not waiting to check me after a contraction. But I didn't say anything, just yelled in pain. I was at a 3 and counting.
We were taken to labor and delivery and our room was at the very end of a long hallway. When we got to the room, the nurses informed me that the anesthesiologist was on the same floor prepping someone for a c-section, and that when he was done he could come give me my epidural. I hesitated because I was only a 3 and didn't want to get it too early, but the nurse reassured me it would be better to get it now while he was close, than wait until later when he wasn't close by. She also told me that I was progressing very quickly and that I would be ok. So I agreed, still a little hesitant. While waiting for them to get there they got me started on antibiotics since I was strep b positive.
About 20 minutes later the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural, they made jacob sit down in front of my so he wouldn't pass out (apparently they'd seen too many queasy husbands keel over haha) I grabbed onto his arms and held on tightly because I felt a contraction coming on. He put the epidural in and it hurt a lot! But I was grateful I was getting it now instead of when I was writhing in pain. I got settled and the nurse told us to try and get some sleep (it was about 1:30am at this point) before the nurse left though she put a peanut ball between my legs to help me dilate. Jacob conked right out on the couch they had but I was too uncomfortable to be anywhere close to sleep. Also, since our room was at the end of a hall, there was a laundry chute in the wall and every so often we'd hear a loud thumping noise as things went down it. I just enjoyed my time waiting. It was relaxing to not feel any pain from the contractions, but I could still feel the tightening and I could feel her moving downward in my pelvis so I knew I was making progress.
I got checked around 3:30am again and I was at 7cm. The nurse couldn't believe how fast I was moving since this was my first labor. She changed my padding (I was still leaking water) and had me switch sides. Then she came back around 5:15 to check again and I was at 10cm. Jacob woke up when he heard her say that and came over by me. The nurse paged the dr on call (my dr was scheduled to come in at 7am but baby was coming fast) the nurse had me do a couple practice pushes then had me stop because she was right there ready to come out. I could feel her too, it felt like I was holding a bowling ball down there. The dr came in to check and the nurse told him I was ready, he said I would have to wait because there was another woman a few rooms away also ready to go, but she didn't have an epidural so she was yelling. I told him that was fine (I wasn't quite ready in my mind! Things were happening too fast!) it didn't take very long, about 15 minutes and he was back. Then the pushing began. It only took about 3 pushes and then he told me that the next push she would be out. I put everything I could into that last push and at 6:15am, I felt her come out. The first thing I noticed was that she was TINY, and then she started crying, and then I started crying. I was in shock how everything happened so fast yet at the same time it happened so smoothly. After she got her nose and mouth suctioned, the dr laid her on me and the nurse started toweling her off. I looked at my baby, my tiny baby, and I was so in love. She had big beautiful eyes that were staring around and I laughed at her expression, she had a look on her face that was like, "what just happened?!" After she was cleaned off, jacob cut the cord and Harper and I had some skin to skin time while the dr cleaned me up. I did tear and needed some stitches, so I was glad I couldn't feel anything! Once he was done and they cleared everything, the nurse took Harper to do her tests across the room. She weighed 6lbs 5oz and was 20 and a half inches long. Much smaller than Ellie who was 7lbs 1oz and 21 inches. Everything looked good with her so she wrapped her up and jacob got to hold her for the first time. He held her for a while and then handed her back to me so we could try breastfeeding. She didn't seem too interested though so we said we would try later. So I just held her and looked at her. I still couldn't believe that she was here. 10 days early and we were not prepared at all but so glad she came. They say your heart grows bigger every baby you have and it's true. I am so grateful that I was able to have a smooth and successful VBAC
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