I woke up Friday, December 4th with some dull cramps. I didn't think much of it as I'd had some cramping each night for the past week or so. Around ten o'clock I laid down on the couch thinking they would go away with some rest. They continued and I noticed I'd get a cramp every ten to twenty minutes. They weren't really painful though I started to wonder if they were contractions. Around 11:30, Aaron and I decided to get some Christmas shopping done as we both had the day off. I thought, if they were contractions, they would increase and if they weren't- they would go away. The cramping continued and around 4:00 in the afternoon- in the Kohl's parking lot, we decided to head over to the doctor's office in case I was in labor. We really thought we would be told they were only Braxton Hicks, and be sent home to rest it off- especially since we'd had an uneventful appointment with Dr. Robison the day before (at which he told us he had tithing settlements all weekend so hopefully she wouldn't be born then) We decided we should install the carseat that weekend to be on the safe side.
We headed over to the doctor, where Dr. Baker told us I was 3 cm dilated, 100% effaced, in labor, and to be admitted upstairs right then because we were having a baby that night! We were shocked and it really didn't feel real! We called my mom, who was also shocked since it was still 2 ½ weeks until Maya's due date but said she would be right over. We got all checked in and hooked up to the IV and monitors. The contractions were still fairly mild but brought a lot of back pain with them. Around 5:00 when the office closed, Dr. Baker came up and broke my water. From there, the contractions really started to pick up and I progressed to 31/2 cm. Around that time, I asked for the epidural since I knew the pain was going to get a lot worse very quickly. My mom arrived, and Aaron went home to grab my partially-packed hospital bag, the car seat, and camera. I got the epidural, which was not as painful as I'd thought it would be...only about an hour after I got it, I realized I was still feeling pain with each contraction and the epidural was not doing its job. The (awesome!) anesthesiologist came back in, removed the line, and started over. He upped the dose quite a bit and before I knew it, I was completely numb from the upper abdomen down. After the second epidural, I was REALLY tired but had had a hard time going to sleep with all of the excitement going on. John, Aaron, and my mom hung out in the room and watched the monitors- telling me when I had a big contraction- which was weird because I couldn't feel a thing. Around 9:30 or 10:00, the nurse came in to check me- and wanted to start Pitocin as Dr. Robison needed to have her delivered by 8am- but she said I was at an 8 already and that our baby would be here very soon! The whole thing was going by really fast, I was still getting used to the idea of being in labor...I tried to get some rest and the nurse said she would be back in about an hour and a half to see if the baby's head was descending but to call her if I felt any pressure (really though, I couldn't feel ANYTHING). John, mom, and Aaron kept themselves busy by reading and watching the monitors. A while later, the nurse came back in and said the head was very low and that we could start pushing! We tried for about 15 minutes and then called Dr. Robison in. He got all prepped and we started pushing again. Her head was visible and everyone commented on how much dark hair she had. It was pretty tiring since I couldn't feel to push and after a while, the doctor suggested we use the vacuum to help her out if she didn't come out with the next contraction. Luckily, she did! My mom said “Heather, she's out!” Maya started screaming right away and they put her in my arms. Aaron cut the cord and then they took her to do her assessment. I told Aaron he could go over and be with her and my mom said- “Get your camera out!” He went over and held her hand- that seemed to calm her down a bit. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 1 oz. & was 20 inches long- a tiny little thing. I couldn't believe she was here and kept thinking how beautiful she was! >
2 comments:
Wow, what an amazing story! I got all teary-eyed! I really can't wait. Did you cry? Did Aaron cry? How did you feel about having your mom in the room with you?
Thanks Misty! I got a little teary-eyed after she was born, but mostly we were just surprised she was already here =) It's interesting- I thought all through the pregnancy that it would be weird having anyone but Aaron in the room, but when it came time I honestly didn't care who was in the room- modesty flew out the window in all the excitement. I am so excited for you two- it's such an amazing, life-changing moment.
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