Emelia was born on Monday, November 22, 2010.... Here's how she came into this world thus changing my life for the better forever!
Sunday, November 21st.... my mom's birthday and also the 2 year anniversary of my brother Zach's passing away. I woke up around 9am feeling lazy and tired. Nine months, almost 10, pregnant is exhausting! I go about my morning as usual... go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, grab the latest book I'm reading and hunker down on the couch as I wait for time to tick by until getting ready for work. Around 10am I started feeling funny... like cramping in my lower abdomen. Nothing strong or worrisome... I though maybe I had to go to the bathroom soon. As the day wore on further, the cramping didn't go away, but it wasn't painful or anything either. As it got closer to time to go to work, the cramps were a little stronger and that's when I first started thinking "Hmm, contractions?" I got ready for work and went in as usual. The girls at work were great! Knowing it was my last day before maternity leave, they had gotten together and planned a little pot luck for me. I also got baby gifts and flowers. I was touched. Throughout the night at work, I had decided they were contractions when they were strong enough at times to catch my breath and break out a sweat now and then. I was happy!
The Thursday prior I had my weekly appointment with my midwife, Kathy. When she checked my cervix, that sucker was closed up tighter than Fort Knox! I was scheduled to be induced that Monday to ensure this baby came before or by my due date, which was that Saturday. I had gestational diabetes and they wanted to make sure I didn't go overdue and risk a large baby. My midwife had explained the measures they would need to take to ripen my cervix before they could start pitocin and contractions. I was super bummed when she said "I'm not on call until that Wednesday and I think you'll still be pregnant then." Apparently, it can take days to ripen a cervix, if it even cooperates. Ugh!
So when I started feeling contractions that Sunday, I was THRILLED!! The girls at work thought it was great, they were all so excited! Even the residents I care for were excited. (fyi: I am an RN at a nursing home). I made it through the night at work... I was lucky to be orientating another nurse so my time on my feet was limited. Thank goodness! As the night wore on, my contractions were getting pretty strong. On the way home I was getting worried they were getting so strong and pretty regular, about every 5 minutes. We live an hour away from the hospital, so I was anxious that things were progressing! I should mention that I did check my urine for a UTI just to rule that out! :)
When I got home and told my husband what was going on, it was more of an update really, he was pretty nervous. I called the hospital labor and delivery nurse, explained everything including my scheduled induction in the morning as well as the distance we lived from the hospital. The nurse didn't seem too concerned, told me to try and relax as much as possible, get some sleep, take a warm bath, and wait it out until the morning. I tried all of that... in the bath, I tried reading, but the contractions were coming every five minutes or sooner. I then laid on the couch for a while with the dog curled up next to me knowing something was going on. Finally, at 2:00am, I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I went in and woke up John.
We were on the road by 2:30am and it only took us a little over 1/2 an hour to get to the hospital. Amazing how little traffic there is at that time of the day. The ride in the car sucked! The roads were already starting to buckle from the cold weather and if I was having a contraction and going over those bumps it was very painful!! I was so glad when we got to the hospital. John complained all the way there! I had installed the car seat on the driver's side and the front seat couldn't go back far enough to give room for John's long legs, he was tired, he had a headache.... All in all, I think he was stressing out quite a bit!
We got there, got in the room and settled in. They took my blood pressure and all that just fine. They went through all the paperwork I would need to fill out after the baby was born. They do it before hand when the mom can still concentrate!! :) They hooked me up to the montior for the baby's heartbeat and my contractions and everything was looking good except one thing.... the contractions had decided to practically stop! Oh no! I had been told that our midwife was on call until 8am that morning, which I was glad for. I trusted her that she trusted the on call midwife Rebecca that day for the delivery, but I like my midwife and was glad she would be there at first. She came around 7am.
They had to hook me up to an IV right away so I could receive IV antibiotics. I was strep B positive, no big deal. They took blood, too. When they first put the IV needle in, they let my blood just flow out for a few seconds until the lab tech could get the syringe hooked up...it was creepy seeing my blood running out like that all over the bed and floor!! They checked my cervix, too, when we first got there and it was dilated to about 2cm and 80% effaced! Quite a big change after only one day of contractions! I was thrilled!!
The contractions stayed pretty irregular all morning. When our midwife came in, she suggested I get in the jacuzzi tub since at home in the bath that seemed to speed up my contractions a little. I had been told by some other moms that they did the jacuzzi but didn't like it because they couldn't have the water very hot so I didn't want to use it. Kathy told me I could have the water as hot as it could go if I wanted. So I sat in the tub for a good hour and a half, it was amazing! Even with contractions going on, it was so calming to have the water jets on me and nice hot water! It didn't really speed up the contractions any, though, so they started pitocin after I ate breakfast.
That's when the contractions started getting really strong, which was what we wanted so they would do their job on my cervix! At this point, I had been awake for 25 hours straight and had gone to work in the middle of that, too. I was getting irritated and mad and all I wanted was a little rest. I told the nurses I wanted the IV pain medication we had planned on me getting... Nubane. They wanted me to wait because the first dose works the best for pain relief and they suggested I use it later on. I said I didn't care, I wanted it. And boy did that ever help!! I slept between contractions from 11am until noon. They were coming about every 5 minutes, but I felt so rested, it was great! I also sat in the recliner chair. During that time, apparently it had been raining and thundering outside.... I never even knew it. John slept off and on sitting on the little couch in the room. It was peaceful. Around noon I woke up feeling pretty rested and could listen to the heartbeat of my baby going strong! I flipped the news on, just for something to do, when all of a sudden there was a gush of liquid! I felt like I literally peed myself. I called the nurses in and said "Either my water just broke or I peed myself." We all got a chuckle! They helped me up and to the bathroom.... turns out my water broke! Cool!
Oh, I should also mention that I had a student nurse from Viterbo there named Gabby. She was so nice! I had agreed to the student a few weeks beforehand and we actually had to call her that morning when I went into labor. She had actually just gone home shortly before my water broke because the nurses thought it would be a while. They had to call her back! :) They got me back into the bed and the rest was kind of a blur after that!
My water broke at 12:15pm. My baby was born at 4:21pm. I pushed for 1 1/2 hrs. When they checked me after my water broke, I was only dilated to 3cm! Needless to say, my labor sped right along after my water broke!!
John was amazing! He never left my side once labor kick started! He gave me water, ice chips, and wiped my face with a cold wash cloth. The nurses and midwife did excellent at coaching the both of us throughout the whole process! When it was time to push, which my body decided for me, John did great! He supported my back with every push and gave me ice chips and the cool wash cloth in between.
We also had agreed to have a resident doctor be there for the delivery as well. His name was Dr. Brock Millet. He was great! Way back when, I had said I only wanted females in on the delivery, but he just seemed cool and it didn't bother me as much. He was one of the best people in there. Every time after I pushed and I would ask "Can you see the head yet?" most of the people would say something to avoid answering the subject but not Dr. Brock.... He was 100% honest and would say "Not yet. But you're doing great!" He was amazing!!
When the head finally did start coming, the nurses asked John if he wanted to see his baby. He wasn't planning on looking, but he actually did! How exciting. Afterwards, he would talk about it... He says "I didn't want to say anything because I thought 'how come she's having so much trouble when its just a tiny little head'. Then when the baby was almost out and I looked again, I realized the head was A LOT bigger!" :) I was pushing with every contraction, but at one point, with the head half out, I decided I was pushing only one more time no matter what! With the next contraction, I pushed and then the contraction ended and I kept pushing... The midwife did great, she instructed me on how to push even without a contraction!
Once the head was out, that baby flew out!! They barely had time to suction her mouth and nose and she was wailing.... It was the best sound I'd ever heard! Right away Dr. Brock and Rebecca the midwife said "It's a girl!" I laid back down and looked at John and said "Oh my God, it's a girl!" And we kissed. It was a magical moment! Then they asked him to cut the cord, which he did. He claims the scissors he had to use were extremely dull, making it difficult. When he got through the cord, it sprayed blood from floor to ceiling, including on the doctor!! :) We all got a laugh!
Because I had amniotic stained fluid, they had to take the baby under the warmer right away to make sure she was breathing ok.... Which she was! John, the new daddy, got to hold her first and bring her to me. It was so precious!!! It was the most amazing moment of my life seeing that baby in her daddy's arms and then holding my daughter.... there are no words to describe how immensely amazing it was!!
We named her Emelia Barb and she weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. She had a ton of hair 10 fingers, 10 toes! She was perfect in every way!
My mom and brother had arrived shortly after 8am and waited all day for the baby to come. I made sure to text her right away so she didn't worry.... I simply texted "It's a girl!" and she replied "Yay! R u ok?" Just like mom to worry about me! :) I am glad she respected my wishes not to be in the deliver room with me, but I was sooooo happy she was there in the waiting room!
Once the doctor was done with his end of things, and the room chaos was calm, my mom and brother got to come see Emelia first. It was great! The next visitor to come was John's Aunt Ruth. Then Krista came with her family, followed by Mike, Carol, and Grandma Emmy; next came Pete & Suzie and even Kris and Shannon came. By the time our company left it was nearly 9pm! John and I just laid there looking at our amazing little girl!!
And that's the recap of the most wonderful night of my life!! I know it's a long tale, but great days are often retold in long accounts. Below is a picture of Emelia on her birthday!! :)
