2-24-14. Otherwise known around here as Finn's due date. It came with still no signs of active labor, even though my body had been trying sooo hard to go into labor for the previous 5 or so days. I had certainly reached that point that most pregnant women do; I was done and ready to have this baby already. Luckily, I had an appointment to see my doctor that afternoon and I was pretty sure labor would get going once she had examined me. (And then I kept thinking, what if it doesn't?! What if I had to endure another day of mild contractions, pressure, back pain, weird end-of-pregnancy twinges, etc.?) Ahhh, but thankfully Dr. C told me I was dilated to 4 cm, stripped membranes and sent me on my way with hopes of seeing me later that night. Well about 30 minutes into our hour long drive home from Scottsdale I had a contraction at 4:45. I remember because I looked up at the clock on the dashboard. Then about 15 minutes later I had another one. Not wanting to get my hopes up since I knew these could fizzle out, we stopped at a few stores once we got back to CG to look for a birthday present for our nephew and pick up some takeout for dinner (Chipotle for me, Panda for Cam).
We went home to eat and get the kids ready for bed, and the contractions kept coming. It had only been about an hour since I had that first "real" contraction but I knew this was going to be IT so we had our "team" on standby. Ginger was already at home with the kids and Matt was coming to stay the night with them and take Addie to school in the morning. We tried to go about our normal bedtime routine. I wanted the kids to be asleep before we left for the hospital but as long as I was up and moving the contractions kept coming and were kicking up in intensity and I was nervous about how fast he might come (even though I had "normal" length labors with my other 2, and even though I knew the contractions were going to get a lot worse, I couldn't stop thinking about everyone's 3rd-babies-come-faster-warnings I kept hearing). So we kissed the kids goodnight and left for Scottsdale again around 7:30ish.
We got checked into triage and they hooked me up to the monitors and checked me again. Still at 4 cm and the contractions were more irregular once they made me lay down, surprise, surprise. The nurse talked to me in this irritating mother-ese like I'd never done this before, "Well, since you haven't progressed any since your appointment and your contractions are slowing we're going to have you walk for an hour and check you again. If you haven't progressed, we'll probably have to send you home...". I just smiled and said, "Ok", but I really wanted to throw something at her and tell her I was in real labor, I was NOT leaving, just call my freaking doctor already, admit me, and let's get this thing going instead of wasting my time by making me walk around! Dr. C had already told me she wasn't going to let them send me home and she would break my water once I got to the hospital in labor. But now I was going to have to play their game.
Sooo...I walked, ahem, practically ran, around the halls. My mom arrived during this time and said I was setting the pace for all the pregnant ladies as I kept passing them in the halls during this little jaunt. I definitely had lots of contractions while walking but when I got back to triage around 10 pm I wasn't sure I would have progressed and my doc would have to convince them to let me stay. But, as the nurse checked me I saw her eyes go up in surprise and she said, "Well, you're a 5." She went to call Dr. C and I did a triumphant little dance when she left the room.
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| Waiting in triage. |
The plan was to get me into a room so I could get an epidural, break my water, and have a baby. :)They didn't have a room/nurse ready yet so they told me I could walk around awhile longer. Ginger got there during this time after making sure the kids had fallen asleep (not an easy task, they were too excited that their brother was finally coming!) and that my brother was settled. Erica also got there and my birth posse was complete. I got into my L&D room sometime around 11:30, I'm a little hazy on the exact times as the contractions were getting stronger. Margo, my awesome L&D nurse got me all settled then told me the anesthesiologist got called into an emergency c-section and wouldn't be available for another hour or so to do an epidural. I remember thinking, Ok, that's fine, I will be fine. Aaaand the contractions kept getting stronger and then I started shaking uncontrollably and my brain went right back to nursing school, "Hmm, this could mean transition". Then I started panicking a little bit that I might not have time to get the epidural and I knew the contractions were going to get a lot worse before they got better. Margo checked me and I was a 6. So, not transition, just the labor shakes.
I breathed through the horrific back-on-fire labor my body likes to torture me with until I got the epidural around 1 am. Whew. Then Dr. C came in (it was her emergency c-section so she was already there) and broke my water. She decided to stay at the hospital so she hung out with us a bit, and even snuck my family into the doctor's lounge to score some snacks when she caught them foraging for vending machines in the middle of the night. She's so great!
By 2 am I was 7 cm, and at about 3:30 only 8 cm and contractions slowing down.... They decided to hang a small bit of pitocin, and by 4 am I was 10 cm and ready to push! Dr. C and Margo got the room ready for delivery and I started pushing at 4:10 and at 4:22, our beautiful boy made his appearance in this world. I was at the perfect angle to be able to see him being born, something I hadn't experienced with Addie or Gage's births. It was amazing. As soon as I saw his perfect little face, I remember saying, "Oh he looks like Gage!", and then there he was, with me.
There are just no words to describe how I felt once he was here. Leading up to his birth, I could not picture what it would be like once he was here, and then, once he was on my chest, it just felt...right. Perfect. Like, of course, yes, here is our amazing son, how did we ever live without him before this moment? Instant love, joy, and peace.
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8 pounds 2 ounces
20 inches long |
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| Proud Grandmas |
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You can't even see the baby, but their faces say it all!
My awesome doctor in the background :) |
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| Meeting Auntie |
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| Loving our new sweetpea |
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| Finn James |
3 weeks have gone by since the addition of our beautiful baby boy. We have been adjusting to life as a family of 5 and getting in all the newborn snuggles we can before this stage is over. Next up, a post about meeting his new siblings!
