I went into labor at 5am on Monday morning, which was totally unexpected. Olivia's due date wasn't until May 23rd and I fully expected her to come closer to that date. In fact, I wasn't planning on leaving work for another week because I was sure she wouldn't come early. So when I started feeling contractions early on Monday morning I was sure they were Braxton Hicks contractions and that they would dissipate by the time I left for work. But I couldn't sleep so I decided to get up and take shower, hoping the contractions would go away. The warm water felt nice on my body and helped eased the tension that was starting to build up in my lower back. After I got out of the shower, I took a walk around our living room and drank a few glasses of water. I still had every intention of going to work that day since this couldn't really be the real deal - we still had 2 1/2 weeks.
Since I couldn't explain the damp pants and the contractions weren't going away, I decided it was time to wake up John. I think my exact words were "Honey, something just happened and I'm not quite sure what it was." And to that, John responded by jumping out of bed, grabbing the cell phone and starting to time the contractions. For the next few hours John timed while I breathed through the contractions and tried to find positions that took the pressure off of my lower back. The position that seemed to work the best for me was getting on my knees and leaning over the end of the couch while focusing on my breathing. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasting around 45-60 seconds. Layla was so confused during all of this. She stayed right by my side, like she knew I was in pain and wanted to make sure I was alright.
At 8:30am I decided to call my doctor's office to ask what I should do. I know it sounds weird, but I still wasn't completely convinced that this was the real deal. Well, the doctor was convinced and told John that we should go directly to the hospital. John grabbed the bag and the car seat and I grabbed a towel to sit on in the car, just in case more liquid starting coming out.
We made it to the hospital at 9:15am, checked in and then waited, and waited and waited some more. We ended up waiting in the waiting room for more than 2 hours. I'm sure I was quite a sight, hunkered down in the corner, breathing loudly every few minutes, and holding John's hand with my super-human death grip. And then all of a sudden it happened - a large gush of water started flowing down my leg and my pants were completely soaked. Yep, my water completely broke in the waiting room at the hospital. We were called back just after that. :)
It took a while for the nurse to get me hooked up to the monitor, ask me way too many personal questions, and get me ready to transport up to the Labor & Delivery floor. I can't remember exactly what time we made it up to the labor room, but it was probably around noon. I asked if I could get in the bathtub and after they got me all hooked up with the wireless, waterproof monitors John helped me take a soak in the tub. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was a really nice reprieve and the warm water felt really nice.
After the tub, it was just plain labor for the next few hours. I spent the whole time squatting on a yoga ball and hanging on to John's hand with super-human strength. It was the best position for me because I could brace against the floor and the ball during each contraction and then I could pull my body up using John's hand which took pressure off my back and abdomen. Around 3pm the nurse measured me at 7 centimeters. I had been in labor for 10 hours without any medication and the pain was really starting to escalate. The doctor came in and checked me and it looked like my body was starting to stall out at 7 cm. We started talking about options and I decided to get a dose of pain medication through my IV. I was hoping that the medication would take the edge off the pain and allow my body to progress. Unfortunately, the meds had no affect on the pain and instead made me extremely drowsy (a side affect we learned about after the fact). So my next option was to get the epidural. I really wanted to try and labor without the epidural, but at this point, it was our best option to get through the pain coupled with the drowsiness. So the guy came in and gave me the epidural and I immediately fell asleep. I slept for 2 hours and John got a break from my death grip. Then we just hung out for a few more hours while my body progressed to 10 cm.
At 8pm I was ready to start pushing. They had to cut my epidural dosage in half so I could start to regain feeling in order to push more effectively. Once I could feel the contractions again, we started pushing. And pushing was a lot of work. It took focus and determination to push with all my might. John was so great during the pushing. He kept encouraging me, telling me I could do it and helping hold my legs. I'm so glad he was there by my side the whole time.
After 2 1/2 hours of pushing, we finally laid eyes on our precious baby girl for the first time. She came out, gave a sweet cry, and then settled onto my chest. It was so amazing to be finally be staring at her after 9 months of only feeling her. And she was so beautiful with the cutest face and the softest skin. John and I both cried. We are so thankful that God has blessed us with a beautiful daughter.
