birth story - part two

see  birth story -part 1 here.

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we got home and i was exhausted from walking all over town. i sat down at the computer to mess around on facebook while brandon made me some spicy, labor inducing dinner.
since our last appointment at the hospital, i figured out what contractions actually felt like and they seemed to be happening pretty frequently at this time. they didn't hurt, but more of a tightening of my entire stomach on a semi-consistent basis.

over the next hour, the pain started to set in. about every 20 minutes, i would have a slightly painful feeling during each contraction. i quickly realized that they were becoming consistent. i told brandon, who immediately didn't believe me. other than the obvious feelings of pain i was having, i had another "feeling" too. a mother's intuition, if you will. i knew tonight was the night and i was happy, excited, terrified, nervous, anxious....just to name a few. we timed a few more and called the number that our doctor gave us. the nurse we spoke with had me lay on my left side, and gave me specific instructions to time how long each contraction was, from beginning to end, how much time in between and tally how many times the baby moved. seriously? i can barely remember my address these days....this is a lot to ask of a very frazzled, pregnant lady!

we got through the next hour and things were getting crazier by the minute. i tried to take a hot shower to ease the pain a little (since at the time, we were living in a house that didn't have a tub...ugh), but the hot water ran out on me mid-shower, so i had to get out. annoying. by this point, it was 10pm at night and we called the doctor again, since contractions were getting closer and closer. i was so thankful that Dr. Lines was on call this weekend and we were able to speak directly with her. she told us to come into the hospital at 11pm. i finished packing my over night bags, grabbed random items i thought i needed (like three different types and textures of loofahs??! what was i thinking??) and had brandon call my mom. i can't re-call much of the phone calls, probably because of some pretty painful contractions that were happening. in fact, now that i think about it, i had brandon call my friends hannah and rachel too, to fill them in, because i was at the point of "i can't talk right now....too. much. pain......".

i remember haphazardly cleaning up the house before we left. throwing shoes in the closet, putting dishes in the dishwasher and pausing in between to lean over the kitchen counter to breathe.

our trip to the ER was a quick 5 minute drive, thankfully. there must have been quite a few emergencies in ames that night, because out of the seven parking spots that were meant for ER patients, the first six were taken. brandon dropped me off at the door, so i didn't have to walk. but i didn't want to walk in alone, so i waited outside the door for him to park. there was a group of drunk college kids that walked past me as i stood there with my giant belly and equally giant stack of pillows. i'm pretty sure they laughed at me, but at that point, acting cool in front of some dumb ISU guys was at the bottom of my list.

we got inside and walked straight to the labor and delivery floor. the nurses were expecting me, since i had already spoken with Dr. Lines and they led us to the very back corner room. the biggest, renovated room on the floor! it was nice, because that was the room that i would be delivering in and staying over night in. we didn't have to schlep our 5 bags and 16 pillows to multiple rooms. phew.

after changing into the glamorous hospital wear, brandon and i just sat there and looked at each other like, "what do we do now?" the nurse came in to check my progress and i was 4 centimeters dilated. so i had b call my mom and sister, so they could get their booties up to ames. this baby is coming soon!

my next thought was my birth plan. do they know it? will it be honored? am i going to wish i never made one?? i asked the nurse (whose name i forgot and wish i remember!) and she said it was in my file and all doctors and nurses have access to it. my birth plan was simple. i wanted things to be as relaxed as possible. no lights, no noises and please, no questions. i did not want to be asked if i wanted anything for my pain. my goal was to labor as long as i could without medical interventions. i made it very clear that i would be the one to ask if i needed anything. and everyone followed it beautifully. my nurse was amazing. she was so patient, calming and helpful. she showed brandon how to rub my back, since i was having a lot of back labor too. she waited for my contraction to end before ever saying anything. she just had this calming presence that made me feel at ease. i was very thankful for her.

about an hour after getting to the hospital, i started to feel nauseated. this is pretty normal for women in labor, but i feared the worst. i had jalapeno poppers for dinner...please, God, don't let them come back up. but they did:( twice. and to this day, i still think it's one of the worst parts about my labor experience. the burning of my throat took my mind off of the sharp stabbing pain in my abdomen for a little while. and poor brandon. he was trying his hardest to help me...but i laugh now, thinking back to our conversation between heaves. he had his shirt covering his his nose and mouth and was frantically asking me if i brought any spray. no, babe. i brought enough loofahs to share with the 7th floor, but i must have forgotten my body spray.  but thankfully we made it through that few minutes and i vow never to eat jalapenos while pregnant.

xoxo,
maggie


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gear up for part three...coming soon!