I was completely miserable. I can honestly say as I wrote my last blog post about being "done" with pregnancy that I was crying my eyes out. I was not sleeping and i wasn't happy and myself even when I was awake. My doctor's appointment two days before that, I was pretty much blown off my doctor and told to come back on Monday. They would "try" to get me in to be induced on the following Friday, but it just depended on how busy they were. First come, first serve apparently! Anyway, I had been having contractions off and on for a few weeks, but on Friday, I wasn't having any pains at all. To get my mind off of things, we went in search of an Easter dress for me. I had waited until the last minute in case I went into labor.
Saturday morning rolls around and I'm still feeling no pains, so we woke early and hid our eggs in the yard for our Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. We walked all around our neighborhood with the kids collecting Easter Eggs.
We were back home by lunch and Chris grilled us some cheeseburgers and cooked fries for lunch. After everyone laid down to take a nap, I decided to go get a refresher on my pedicure. When I came home, I sat outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. That's when I started really hurting. I thought it was just the way I had been sitting outside. My stomach was always so tight and sometimes when I sat for too long, it would become uncomfortable. The kids started waking up from naps, so we headed out front to clean out the flower beds. We needed to get rid of the old mulch and weeds so Chris could get some new mulch over Spring Break. I was also trying to keep my mind off of being pregnant because I was just THAT miserable. Chris had mentioned going to the movies, but I just wasn't sure I was up to that. Even weekends were not that fun anymore.
After finishing that up, Chris came in to take a shower. I started on our potatoes for supper because they take the longest to make. After putting them in the oven, I decided to take a long, hot bath because I was still really hurting in my back. I knew I had a good hour before the potatoes were done so there was no rush. Chris finished up the steaks and we sat down to eat. My pain intensified like nothing else. I could barely eat supper. After supper, Chris told me to lay down after I took some Tylenol while he gave the kids a bath. During that 10 minute bath, I finally worked up enough nerve to time the pains I was having. I completely freaked out when i realized they were 5 minutes apart. I had never gone into labor on my own, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Not to mention, I was having absolutely NO pain in my stomach. All my pain was in my back. I decided to call the doctor. Imagine my disappointment to find out the doctor on call was the one who blew me off on Thursday. He proceeded to do the same thing with my complaints on Saturday night. He said I was having some disc pain, common with the more pregnancies you've had, etc, etc.
I tried to take another hot bath, which is what the doctor suggested, but during that time, my pain was getting worse and starting to be felt in my stomach. They were also coming every 3 minutes by this time. I told Chris that I felt like I really needed to go. I was just so nervous that we'd get to the hospital, dragging 3 kids out at night, and it would be nothing. I called the doctor again and by the time he called me back, I was having a pain so bad that I couldn't talk to him. Chris talked to him and told the doctor that I needed to go. So, off we went. I got to the hospital around 10:15. Much to my surprise, I was already dilated 5-6 cm! The nurse admitted me and did all the necessary paperwork. I was checked again after that and I was already 8-9 cm. I was so excited because the pain was nothing like I remembered it. I was having nothing but back labor though and the nurse moved me around in some crazy positions because Hattie was not lowering by this point because of her position. Finally after staying at 8-9 for an hour (yes, hour!), she dropped and I had her at 12:23, weighing in at 9 lb, 3 oz and 20.5" long. The first things said about her was how big she was and how much hair she had.
The only difference from my other babies' births, after this point, was her sugar was only 20, so she had to be removed from the delivery room and taken to the NICU. It was a very hard thing to be in the hospital and not able to hold your baby whenever you wanted to. I feel like I missed out on a lot of good bonding time right after birth, but I tried to keep everything in perspective. When you go in the NiCU and see babies who are only topping 3 lbs after being in there for a while already and you have this 9 lb baby who just needs help regulating her sugar, it makes you grateful for the hand that you've been given, even if it's not the one you wanted. So far, she's been an excellent baby and I couldn't ask for a better baby!
1 comment:
She's beautiful Erica, and I'm so glad she's here and you both are healthy! What a wonderful family you have!
Post a Comment