I had my last OB appt on Monday the 22nd. Monday night I had a ton of contractions, but they were random in timing and duration and were mostly in my lower abdomen. I could also talk and walk through them, so I knew it wasn't the real deal just yet, but I thought it was coming soon. So, on Tuesday morning I told B-man he needed to stay home from work because this was it! So, we walked the neighborhood and the mall trying to get things moving and nothing happened. In fact, I stopped having the contractions all together. Over the next couple of days a only had a handful of them. We were at a standstill. I couldn't believe it.
Then, on Thanksgiving night around 8 pm my stomach was hurting mostly in the upper abdomen. It kind of felt like I was getting sucker punched. I could still talk through them, but they seemed to be more organized in frequency than anything I had felt before. I still didn't think it was active labor though. BeBe went up to bed and B-man and I decided to start timing them. They were 8 minutes apart and then 3 minutes apart, averaging about 5 minutes apart over the next hour. It was becoming harder to walk through them so we finished packing our bags. I knew at this point that I was in labor, but I still thought I had a lot of time because they weren't as painful as I remembered with G-Boo. But, we're about 40 minutes from the hospital, so I wanted to make sure I got there in time. In fact I told BeBe and B-man earlier that night that I wanted 3 things to happen...1. get there on time 2. get an epidural and 3. have a fast delivery like I did with G.
Well, we arrived to the hospital about 11:35 and checked in to Labor and Delivery triage. There are 2 triage beds and they were occupied. I told them that my contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour and about 1 minute in duration. But, I guess I didn't look like I was in that much pain, because I waited in the waiting room for an HOUR before they called me back to triage. Imagine going through labor in the waiting room of your dentist office with 2 strangers and CNN playing on the big screen TV. I was so mad that I was having to do this in the waiting room. I hadn't been checked at all and there no medical professionals in the waiting room at all.
B-man went back up to the nurses station and they said, as soon as these triage bed are open we'll get her back here. Are you kidding me?? The contractions were coming a lot faster and were more intense and longer in duration. FINALLY, they called me back and when the doc checked me he said, "Oh, you waited a long time to come in...you're 8 cm!" I made it very clear that I had been in the waiting room for an hour already! They barely got me to a delivery room before my water broke...it was looking like I wouldn't get the epidural after all! They checked me again and I was 10 cm!
I was freaking out that I would do this without pain meds. I couldn't imagine how painful it would be to push a baby into the world! I kept saying, "I can't do it!" But the nurse and doctor were encouraging me that the baby was right there and I could do it. B-man was the BEST encourager. He just kept talking to me and patting me with a cold rag (by the way, I asked for a washcloth and all they offered was a brown paper towel...). It was time to push and I think I probably pushed through about 4-5 contractions and Maggie was here!!! And I have to say that the contractions without pushing were a lot more painful than pushing through the contractions. It felt good to push.
I immediately swelled with an "I am woman hear me roar!" attitude that I had just birthed our baby girl without pain meds and had endured active labor to the disguise of everyone else b/c of my "stoic" reaction to the contractions. Ha!
Lil Bit was beautiful and BIG! 3 oz bigger than her brother!
It was an amazing experience!!
B-man was so proud of me too!
So, in the end we got there at 11:35 p.m. and Miss Bitsy was here at 1:46 a.m.
I guess 2 out of 3 of my requests isn't bad...we made it on time and it was a quick delivery. And, as it turns out, not having the epidural was okay too.
I'm rushing to type this as my time is almost up...it's time for baby girl to eat. So, please forgive any grammatical errors.
4 comments:
You go, Mama!!! An 8 lb. 14 oz. baby with NO pain meds?! You are my hero!!!!! Sorry I forgot to give you the heads up that sometimes you have to get pushy if you aren't getting the attention that you need....I think the night shift must be sluggish. Thanks for sharing the story...I've been in Lowcoutry blog withdrawl but know how busy/tired you are!! Again, please let me know if there is ANY way I can help. G can have a playdate with M so you can have some alone time or Mama/Baby time. Can't wait to meet her! Lots of love & congratulations!
Wow! That is awesome! You should feel very proud of yourself. I'm so glad you had such a great birth experience.
Way to go Carolina!!!!! Woo hoo to natural birth!! I'm so glad you had such a "wonderful" experience... It sounds very much like my situation with James. I dilated too quickly before they could get me the epidural! Ha!! If you ever have #3, I'm going to bet you go natural again. Trust me, it's like a drug! :)
Love it. Be so proud of yourself!! Welcome little Bits! What a sweet, sweet one!
OMG!!!! I am so proud of you! What a strong woman you are! I'm so glad you shared your story. I feel like a big wimp, but I'm still so glad you shared ;)
And best of all ... I'm so happy that everything went well and that you and little M are healthy!
HUGS!!
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