We returned to our apartment after a long day of helping our Montana family move. (Well... My husband helped them move I mostly got a tan.) And then sitting around and talking and catching up. With questions like "You look like you're going to pop! Is she coming soon?" Nope, three weeks to go until we meet our little girl.
We get to sleep and I am up with (TMI) loose bowel movements and a bit of nausea... Maybe I just got too much sun or was on my feet too long, NBD.
The entire day I was up off and on with menstrual like cramping and now I am thinking "Maybe I shouldn't have moved the bookshelf into our room by myself." They began coming randomly, some 6 minutes apart, others 20, and then back to 6. With no pattern forming I decided they were false labor pains and that I was probably just dehydrated.
Now it is 7 PM and I am keeping track of when these "Practice" contractions hit.
7:48, 7:55, 7:58, 8:02, 8:06, 8:15, 8:24 .... So of course like any grown woman, I call my mother who is 1100 miles away in Arizona. She is a nurse so aside from just being my go-to for life, she actually knows what she is talking about in the medical department. While on the phone she is sort of keeping track, in a 5 minute conversation I had had two contractions. She suggests that I call the Doctor and be seen, just in case. We get off the phone and then 8:55, 9:00, 9:11... I finally catch a longer break and call the Doctor. All the while a couple more hit as she asks if I can talk through the pain.
Of course I can talk through it... I have to. I don't want to, but I have to.
She suggests I wait an hour and if they get worse to call again and come in to Labor and Delivery. I'm three weeks early and they are probably false labor pains. Of course they don't exactly get worse, but they don't get better either. I call back and tell them "This hurts, I am coming in."
Now 11 PM
The usual routine. Whats the pain on a scale of 1-10? Can you try and pee in this cup? (Dude... I can't see down there, so I will go with NO I CANNOT PEE IN THIS DAMN CUP!) Seriously if you can, go you, cuz I missed, lol!
They check my cervix and I am only 2cm... Well that's one more than I was on Wednesday, so that's good I guess. They conclude that I am probably dehydrated and have me down a lot of water and walk around until the pain passes. They'd check again in an hour.
The pain was so bad I could not walk around the room as much as I tired and with each contraction I wanted to puke, so the water remained on the table. When they came back in the room I was curled up on the bed, forgetting how to breathe through the pain. In through my nose... and apparently hold until it passes, yeah don't do that you'll get dizzy.
They check again and I am close to 4 cm after an hour. "Well, we are admitting you and you'll probably have your baby by tomorrow morning. Are you going to want an epidural?" YES PLEASE!
I get the epidural and it unfortunately slows down the dilating process, I don't care at this point since it helps me fall asleep for a little while.
May 29th
I wake up at 5am and they check again; looks like you're a 6 now! Our family in Montana come in to visit and the mom will be staying with me during labor while my mother is on Facetime. My husband and Montana Mom's husband go to our apartment and collect things for the hospital bag that I was not prepared for. We call them quickly and tell them to hurry back because they check again and I am at an 8 but my water hasn't broken yet.
The doctor breaks it and the rest is a bit of a blur. My husband up by my head refusing to look anywhere but at my forehead and trying to ignore the poop, who we call our Montana mom next to him holding one of my legs, the LD nurse to my right, and the Doctor who realizes after 23 minutes of pushing that she should probably get her gloves on because here comes the baby.
The epidural was amazing however, it prevented me from feeling where to push. Apparently I was doing it right, but I still couldn't tell. It all happened so quickly that before I knew it...
At 1:35 PM Ryleigh Arya was born and I was crying uncontrollably. Looking at my husband, looking at our baby girl covered in yucky stuff. The most beautiful gross little alien I have ever seen. And at 5 lbs 15 oz and 19" long, she's mine.
