On Friday August 18th, my mom came with me to my 38 week OB appointment. I had a final ultrasound to determine Avery's estimated weight, and a final NST, along with my first pelvic exam of this pregnancy.
During the ultrasound, Avery kept her hands by her face the whole time-- even with the ultrasound tech trying to get her to move around. So, we only got a picture of her foot. :) The ultrasound tech estimated her weight to be 7lbs 1oz. I was very surprised that she'd be that little at 38 weeks!
The NST went well. Avery moved when she should and her heartrate rose when she moved-- which is all appropriate. The nurses typically look for 3 sets of movements with increased heartrates in 20 minutes. However, the doctor was in process of a delivery, so everything was backed up, and we ended up having to have a 40 minute NST while we waited for nurses to be able to help get me hooked up/ unhooked/ labs done/ and to a room. They told me once the doctor returned that I'd be first priority.
The doctor arrived and did a pelvic exam. I was 1 centimeter. He said to head into his office to discuss options-- which is always what happens when it's the last appointment. In his office, he offered to let me come back in one week for another appointment-- which I promptly said "no" to. He offered to have me induced on Thursday the 24th. I asked if Wednesday the 23rd was possible (since my mom and husband took that day off of work because the doctor and I had been discussing the 23rd for weeks). He said technically I had to be 39 weeks and 1 day before they could induce-- so he wouldn't legally be able to induce me until August 24th. So we made plans to arrive at the hospital at 8pm on the 23rd, spend the night, and be induced on the 24th. He remembered how fast labor had gone with Noah (2nd pregnancy), and he scratched out part of the hospital orders where it said to administer a second dose of cytotec. He wrote to only give me one dose because he knew how fast I could progress. He handed me the orders and said to present them on Wednesday night to the Labor and Delivery desk. He said he'd see me Thursday morning, and off we went.
I was bummed about having to wait til Thursday. I had my eyes set on Wednesday the 23rd and was already taking off on Monday and Tuesday of the next week (since the doctor didn't think it was wise for me to work on those days). I debated changing my work schedule and working on those days anyway since I just knew I'd be so bored waiting for Thursday to roll around.
On Saturday, I helped out at Upwards Evaluations at our church. And by helped, I mean I came and sat and chatted while feeding my boys PBJs for lunch and letting them watch a movie in the church nursery.
On Saturday night, Aaron played computer games and I headed to bed early because I just didn't feel right.
On Sunday morning, August 20th, Aaron headed to praise team practice at 7:45. He usually comes back home around 9:00am, and during the time that he's gone, I try to give the boys a bath and get us all ready for church. So, I feed the boys breakfast and sit down with my own breakfast right as they are finishing theirs. When I'm one bite from finishing my toast, I experience a horrific pain in my abdomen. It came out of nowhere, immediately made my hands grasp the edge of the table and scoot myself backwards and look up at the ceiling. The pain lasted for about 20 seconds and I could have sworn I was about to pass out. It was barely 8:15am. I stood up-- leaving my toast-- and headed to the couch. The boys were watching a show and playing with toys and handing me books. I told myself that if I had another pain, I'd call my mom because I surely didn't want to pass out while home alone with the boys.
I tried reading a book to the boys when another pain hit. I rocked back and forth on the couch but eventually had to stand up. The pain stayed with me. I grabbed my phone and called my mom.
"Hello?"
"Mom."
"Yeah?"
"I'm in pain."
She told me she was quickly getting ready and would bring over her makeup and brush to finish getting ready at my house. She reminded me that Braxton Hicks contractions would go away if I changed positions. I told her how I had sat, stood, and walked through a pain and it didn't go away-- but I didn't want to believe it was a contraction.
While I waited for her to arrive, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and I moved clothes to the dryer. I experienced another pain while doing that. I kept touching my belly because contractions were supposed to make your belly tighten, but I didn't feel any tightening. It just felt like horrible horrible period cramps.
My mom arrived, grabbed a pen and paper, and turned her phone to a stopwatch. Then she sat on the couch and we waited. I didn't have another pain for 20 minutes. I felt foolish. She told me it wasn't foolish at all. She read a book to the boys and then a pain hit. Hard. I had to stand and pace. She watched my face and reminded me to relax the muscles in it. She coached me on breathing out my air and breathing in slowly. I sat back down when it was done. I told her I didn't think it was contractions. I told her I'd probably ask Aaron to stay home from that afternoon's Upwards Evaluations because I didn't want to be alone with the boys if these pains didn't go away. I had another pain right then and she placed her hand on my belly. She said "I don't think any of us will be at evaluations today." She thought they were real contractions.
I had probably seven of these pains before Aaron came home. He made breakfast for me and my mom. Michael got into trouble for being disobedient. My mom and I both finished getting ready for church. I packed snacks for the boys to eat during their Children's Church in the nursery. Michael rode with my mom to church. Noah threw a fit about putting on shoes and I had the worst pain thus far at that moment. Aaron, Noah, and I headed out to church. On the 15 minute drive, I had another pain. When we arrived at church, my father-in-law met us in the parking lot and helped get Noah inside so I could squeeze the daylights out of Aaron's hand because I was having another pain. I hobbled into church-- bent into the shape of a C. People would later tell me that my face was pale. I decided not to sit out in the worship center for songs because I was so uncomfortable. Instead, I headed into the Children's Church room for older kids so I could work on the lesson during song time-- yes, it was my and Aaron's week to do older kid Children's Church. The older kids room is connected to the nursery by a small bathroom. Anytime I had a pain, I'd hobble into the nursery and my mom would start her timer. During Children's Church, I made it through one or two pains while remaining seated. My mom would poke her head in from time to time to check on me. When I couldn't remain seated, I'd stand up and pace. Sometimes I'd look at Aaron and he would take over the teaching so I could hobble next door and sit in the rocking chair or pace in the nursery. My pain was written on my face. Sweet Noah looks up at me and says "Are you happy?" I said "yes, bud. Mommy just doesn't feel good."
We let Michael and Noah go into the older kids room and draw on the whiteboard since the older kids lesson was over. The pains kept coming, and my mom said we should go to the hospital to be checked. I didn't want to be one of those people who goes to the hospital and gets turned away. So I was planning on just going home. I had another pain and cried out because it was so bad. My mom hops up and says "ok, ok, Aaron!" She runs into the older kids room and says "we can't ignore these. We have to go to the hospital." She corrals the kids, brings them into the nursery, opens the nursery door and sends the kids to their parents and my boys to Aaron's mom (who they'd be staying with whenever we did go to the hospital). My dad was almost done with announcements. I still didn't really know what the plan was, but my mom walks into the worship center and loudly says "Bye" to get my dad's attention. She then says "we're going. We're going to the hospital." I wanted to cry. One because everyone was looking at me. Two because I wasn't prepared. My hospital bag was packed...but it was at home. The extra things I wanted to bring
on the day I'd go to the hospital were still at home. Aaron helped me get into our car. My mom followed us in hers. On the way to the interstate, my dad called and offered to bring my bag. I told him I was pretty sure I'd be sent home, so I'd wait until they admitted me before I'd ask for my bag. On the interstate, Aaron booked it. I had several pains on the way to the hospital and was glad that I wasn't at home enduring these. But I was still certain they'd send me home.
Fortunately, on Sunday mornings, the hospital parking lot isn't crowded. Both cars found spots and Aaron helped me get out of the car. The parking lot is catty-corner to the hospital and the front door is around the corner from that. It's quite a walk and I had a pain as soon as we started walking. Apparently, I make jokes when I'm in pain. I can't remember what they are, but I had mom and Aaron laughing as they helped me hobble through the lot. It was 11:45am.
Once inside, we went straight to the L&D floor. Once the L&D clerk saw me coming, she said "step right in here" and she opened up a side door to a little desk area. A nurse immediately came over and began asking me the questions they have to ask. During some of the pains, I couldn't even think straight and looked at my mom to answer the questions. Once most of the paperwork was filled out, they sent mom and Aaron to a private waiting room right off of the desk area and said they'd be back to get them once I was in triage. I stood up to get weighed and had to wait out a pain. It hit me that these really were contractions. I weighed 14 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I had done it! I had met the 15 pound goal my OB had set.
The nurse led me down the hallway to Triage which had three beds set up, all separated by curtains. I had to dress in a gown and leave a urine sample. Then she strapped the contraction monitor and heart rate monitor to me and had me lay in a bed. She said she'd do a pelvic check and then they'd leave me hooked up to the monitors for an hour and then they'd decide whether to admit me. She did her check and I asked if I was dilated at all. She nodded and said "yeahhh, you're probably going to be staying with us." She told me the doctor on call, and he was one of the doctors from the practice I go to, so I was pleased about that. She returned with Aaron and I heard her tell him "She's 4 centimeters, so we're going to talk to the doctor and she'll be admitted." Aaron sat beside me and I motioned for his hand when I felt more contractions coming. Soon, a charge nurse appeared and started unplugging monitors. She helped me stand up and said "We're moving you to a room." I hadn't even been in Triage for 20 minutes.
We walked down a hall to Room 469. She had more paperwork and Aaron was able to stay while the nurse began my IV. I asked if I could get it in my arm instead of my hand. She said sure, and found a vein on my wrist. As soon as she started inserting the needle, the vein blew. I've never had a blown vein before. I'm not sure if it was the blood loss from that or from my nerves at being told that a vein blew, but I began to feel faint. I asked Aaron to fan my face. I told the nurse I couldn't hear. She thought I meant that I could't hear the baby monitor. She smiled and said "I'll turn it up." I said "No, I can't hear in my head." She grabbed a washcloth and placed it around my neck as she finished up the IV further up my arm. Soon I felt better. I had to get a full bag of fluids in before I could get an epidural. Aaron started watching the bag. He said they put it on Max dispense and it was quickly dripping into the tubes. It was 12:45pm when I was officially admitted.
At 1:00pm, the doctor came in and broke my water. He also received a punch from Avery as he was doing a pelvic exam. I was 6cm.
At 1:30, they pulled the IV bag down and the anesthesiologist came in. Aaron knew I didn't want him in the room for that part, so he left to go eat lunch that my dad had brought. The anesthesiologist stayed in the room until we were sure the epidural would work. A little while after she left, the nurse knew I was still feeling pain. My mom and Aaron were back in the room at this point. My whole right side was still very much feeling the pain of contractions. The nurse rolled me onto my right side. Eventually, all I could feel was a hand-size spot on the right side of my belly, and my entire right thigh. The contractions were so bad, even though they were only in that hand-shaped shot and in my thigh. The nurse said I had a "hot spot"-- where the epidural works everywhere except for one place. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like it if I hadn't gotten the epidural at all. I'm not sure I could have made it. The contractions were enough to make me cry out. The nurse said they'd call the anesthesiologist to see if I could get a different medicine put in. The one shining factor was that Avery was handling it all like a champ. My mom was intensely watching Avery's heart rate and said she was staying strong through it all. That made me feel so wonderful.
At 3:00pm, the nurse did another pelvic check. I was 8.5cm. The anesthesiologist came back in. They said usually the anesthesiologists wouldn't come back in once someone was that far along, but they knew it wasn't my first pregnancy and they knew I was in pain. She inserted the strongest medicine she had (after I made sure it would have no affect on Avery) and I asked if I would still be able to push. The nurse said by the third baby, they really didn't even need to mom to push-- the baby would just come out. The anesthesiologist stayed until I was fully numb and I thanked her so much. The doctor had told the nurse to let me push at 3:30pm.
At 3:35pm, the nurse comes in and sets up the room to let me push (ie, took the bottom half off the bed, raised my legs in stirrups, etc). The nurse told me to push. I pushed. She waited for the next contraction and told me to push again. I pushed and she said "good, good, good. You got this." The doctor came in, got his scrubs on, sat down, and told me to push. I pushed. He had Avery's head. The cord was wrapped once around her neck. He got it off and said "push." I pushed, and out she came. He held her up, I was crying, and he said "You want her?" I nodded, and they put a sweet crying little girl on my chest. She had a head full of blonde hair! She was born at 3:49pm. She weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 20.5 inches long.
We got to hold her for an hour at least until they came to get her for her bath. My boys came around the same time, and while Avery was getting bathed, there was an emergency in the nursery and she was stuck there. The boys had to go home without seeing her and it crushed them. They came back the next day as soon as Michael was out of school. He absolutely LOVES her! Noah is coming around. :)
Our family is complete.
More posts to come. And of course more pictures.
Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba
