9:00am-4:00pm: I worked all day . . .feeling and little tired and crampy but otherwise okay.
6:30pm: After work, Hunter and I went to Chili's with Lindsey Paul and Chris for dinner and had a great time. . .no idea that I was about to be in labor! In fact. . .I was probably in the earliest stages of labor already at that point.
9:00pm: Feeling "off" I decide to take a shower and go to bed early. Hunter came into bed around 10:30 or so.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008:
2:00am: I can't sleep, I feel crampy and uncomfortable. I decide to go lay on the couch in my "happy position" . . .laying on my side with pillows all over the place. I lay there staring at the clock on the cable box and come to realize that the crampiness was coming about every 15 minutes . . .hmm, I wonder. So I lay there for an hour or so watching the clock and figuring out that things weren't slowing down or stopping.
4:00am: I pull out the laptop and log onto contractionmaster.com. I'm a nerd, I know. . .it was actually very helpful though! Come to find out, contractions or "cramps" as I was still calling them, were coming every 5-8 minutes. I finally decide I should wake Hunter up and have him call into work (he was supposed to go in at 6am). When I woke him up he asked, "Are you okay? Is it time?" I then told him that I was crampy and they were picking up speed, but I still wasn't sure it was real. He called into work and started getting bags together. I helped him get everything ready then we sat on the couch. I told him at that point that the contractions were 5 minutes apart and had been for about an hour. He freaked out and told me to call the doctors office. I told him I wanted to wait until 8am because the office would be open and I wouldn't have to go straight to the hospital if this wasn't real labor. I wasn't in that much pain, I would grimace with each contraction and that was about it. Hunter won the argument, lol.
6:00 am: I call the after-hours number for my doctors office and they tell me to go ahead and go to the hospital.
6:20am: We are on the road heading to North Austin Medical Center. Mind you, at this time in the morning, traffic was starting to pick up and the hospital is about 15-20 miles away. I called my boss on the way there to tell him that I wouldn't be in, but that I still wasn't sure if things were really happening. . .I'm crazy, I know. By now, the contractions were lasting longer and getting more uncomfortable. I was gripping the door handles and trying to breath through each one. (I also sat on a towel in case my water broke)
6:50am: We arrive and get sent to the triage room in the hospital to be checked (they want to make sure you are in labor before they admit you). I got into a gown and went to the bathroom. As I was sitting there waiting for a nurse to come in (we waited about 10-15 minutes), I looked over at Hunter and calmly said, "I think my water just broke." The nurse walked in a few minutes later and I told her, she looked and said, "okay . . .we can go ahead and put you straight into a room now!"
7:30am: I get put in a birthing suite and hooked up to a fetal monitor and IV. After all this time, a nurse finally checked me and said that I was 7 cm dialated! I couldn't believe I was that far already. I told Hunter to get on the phone and call and text message all our family and close friends, I was finally convinced that things were happening now...haha. The nurses asked if I wanted an epidural and I said I wanted to wait just a few more minutes, I was still tolerating things well. I was feeling a lot more pressure and having to "push up" with my hands to get off my bum with each contraction. I also wanted to stay sitting up, leaning back in the bed made everything harder to take. They rolled in the epidural cart and I said I wasn't quite ready for it yet. The nurse checked me again and I was fully dialated!! Out the cart went and I looked and Hunter and said, "uh oh! I guess no epidural for me!." 8:00am: Ready to start pushing. Hunter's now sending out new messages to everyone that I'm starting to push. Family is freaking out and trying to rush to the hospital. Dad (Papa) is on his way to Minnesota and is cussing at Hunter via text message, we thought he would have time to make a quick trip and come back. . .we were still 2 weeks from the due date. Oops, lol.
Pushing starts. I have no idea what I'm doing, but with no drugs at all, my body seemed to know what to do and I was just along for the ride. The nurses let me have total contral, I pushed when I wanted to, rested when I wanted to. I was almost in a trance, in between pushing I would lay back, close my eyes, and totally relax. No pain, just pressure which was relieved by pushing. Things moved slowly . . .expected with the first baby. After about an hour of pushing the doctor came in to deliver. I was getting tired . . .I remember looking at Hunter and saying, "I don't think I can do this." After another 20 minutes or so the doctor recommended having an episiotomy to help things along. . .I was going to tear anyway she said, it would just take longer. After a few more pushes, I told her to do it. Felt nothing, not even the numbing shots. I remember hearing everything and knowing what she was doing, but the pressure down there already had everything numb.
9:30am: Episiotomy performed and a few more pushes . . . Hunter is really getting excited and can see the baby, he was a great support the whole time!
9:40am: It's a . . . .they pull baby out and turn her around to put her on my tummy and ask, "What is it mom?!" I look and say, "It's a girl!!!!!!!!!! It's a girl?! It's a girl!!!" The relief of being done, the pleasure of looking at this new life and the excitement of finally being a mommy . . .I cry and laugh and share this special moment with Hunter who is also teary eyed! They bring Avery (luckily we had a girl name picked out!) to the warmer and start cleaning her up and suctioning her out. Meanwhile, I was bleeding more than normal and the doctor was trying to figure out why. The doctor and nurse start mashing on my stomach to get everything to shrink and stop the bleeding (this is normal by the way. . .just a little more of it for me since I was still bleeding). For the first time in this whole process, I am in SERIOUS pain! I am begging the nurse to stop mashing on my stomach and crying. They ask if I want pain meds now and I am more than ready for them. I actually regret this now . . .you'll see why.9:50am: I send Hunter out to tell the waiting family members (Mike, Pam, and Nikki). He comes back in as they are finishing their mashing torture. Bleeding is stopped, or back to normal, and I am stiched up and finally done. They bring Avery over to me and Hunter and I just stare at her, amazed by how perfect she is. We have a baby!
10:00am: Hunter brings the family in to meet Avery and calls/texts messages everyone else. We have 15 minutes or so to meet and greet, then every goes out to wait for us to move to postpartum. I don't wait for the nurses to come back, I go ahead and nurse Avery for the first time. She latches right on and I feel complete! The nurses come back as I was finishing the first nursing and ask me to get up and walk into the bathroom to get cleaned up. I get up with help, walk into the bathroom, and . . . . . .pass out. Blood loss and IV pain meds was the wrong combo to have someone get up and walk to the bathroom after childbirth! Luckily, the nurse caught me and after several minutes and smelling salts, I came around. Scared Hunter!! I woke up and right away said groggily, "my foot hurts!" I rolled over my left foot and it was throbbing. They get me in a wheel chair and off we go to post-partum. This is all a little fuzzy for me between the IV meds and passing out.I pass out a few more times that day with bathroom attempts (rolling over on my left foot again!). I was worried it was broken. Ouch. Luckily it wasn't and everything was fine. I was weak and pale but good. Avery was perfect and nursing was going well. Lots of people in and out to meet Avery and congratulate us.
We sent Avery to the nursery the first night for 3 hours so Hunter and I could get some rest. On Thursday (July 3rd), Avery's doctor wasn't sure if he wanted to release us because she had lost 9% of her birth weight. . .so we fed her with 2 little bottles of formula and they let us go later that afternoon with instructions to supplement after each feeding.
Finally home, I put the formula bottles as close to the trash as possible and never look at them again. Avery nurses like a pro, my milk came in, and she never had another drop of formula. Pam stayed for a few nights and cleaned and cooked for us. . .such a huge help. I don't think I could have managed without her. I was able to focus solely on Avery and resting.
We are blessed with a happy healthy family and a bright future!!
