sunday i started feeling braxton hicks contractions pretty often while at tanner's grandparents house. i knew they couldn't be the real thing, and they were totally irregular so i didnt think much of them.
monday i went to the doctor and he told me i was two cm dilated. he also gave me the option of getting induced that next wednesday, but i said i wanted to wait, and i got freaked out that wednesday was only two days away so i wanted to wait.... little did i know that wednesday would be the day anyways. braxton hicks continued.
tuesday i decided for fun to start timing the bh contractions. they went through stages of being consistent, but never stayed that way for too long. i was able to meet tanner for lunch that day at cpk off of 3rd street, and then we went to victoria secret to get me some pj's that button up the front, and stopped by locitain to get me more hand lotion. for one of the first times i decided to take a nap that day. i wasn't able to fall asleep, but im still greatful i was able to take some time to lye down and rest. that night i was looking through some old pictures, and i saw a picture that i took when i was 20 weeks pregnant. i remember back at this time i was so proud of my little bump and couldnt understand why everyone else couldnt tell i was pregnant. now looking back, i was obviously still little. so for fun, i put on the same dress (around 7:00 pm) and took this picture at 39 weeks, 2 days.
the reason why i look so tired in this picture is cause i was : )
8:00 pm i starting have a constant, incredibly intense pain in my back, and kept on getting really bad cramps. i thought this was odd, but didnt say anything to tanner cause i figured that it probably wasn't anything (even though i was trying to hold back the tears already cause it hurt so bad.... and hey, we were watching the season finale of american idol).
9:00 pm tanner and i went on a walk around the block. we were wondering if this was the real thing. deep down i felt like it was, but kept saying it couldnt be because my contractions came so suddenly and with such sudden intensity.
9:15 pm we start timing contractions. they are consistently about 3 1/2 minutes apart. over the next couple hours i had a few that were 6 min apart, and a few that were more like 2 min apart...at first i tried to use that to convince myself this couldnt be actual labor... but they kept coming.
10:45 pm i got in the tub to see if the warm water would help. it did for a couple minutes, but the pain was still killing me regardless.
12:00 am tanner gave me a blessing.
12:10 am we were in the car on our way to the hospital. tanner called to warn them that we were on our way. i was worried that the hospital was going to send us back home because i felt like my contractions were becoming more uneven...i felt like they were coming every minute or two.
12:30 am i was dressed in my hospital gown and in our room. they hooked up the different monitors to check my contractions and the baby's heart beat. they ask if i want an epidural, i said yes. they check to see how dilated i am. 2 cm. i felt upset that i am in all this pain and my body hasn't made any progress. over the next couple hours i realized why i felt like my contractions were uneven. instead of having one contraction, a break period, and then another contraction, i was having four to five contractions back to back, with one short break, and then another four to five. i wanted to die.
2:20 am i finally got an epidural. luckily i started feeling the numbing immediately.
3:00 am the nurse turns out the light and tells us to try to get some sleep. unfortunatly, i couldnt. it was a combination of knowing i was going to have this baby within the next 24 hours, the nurses walking in and out, and all the noise the different monitors were making. i was worried about how tired i would be when i had to push and hoped i could muster up the energy when the time came.
6:30 am tanner gets up to go to the bathroom. i was glad cause i had wanted him to wake up for the past couple hours. he noticed the paper that showed the level of my contractions has changed. it seemed as though they had essentially stopped. this was incredibly dissapointing, and i was waiting for a nurse to come in and say that they were either going to break my water or start pitocin.
7:50 am a nurse comes in and re-adjusts my monitor belt that was tracking my contractions. we now see that the only problem was the belt shifted, and that i had been having full on contractions all night. they were going to wait till my doctor got to the hospital to check how dilated i was to see what the next move should be...but they didnt think the doctor would be in for a while so...
8:00 am tanner went to go get a bagel at the cafeteria.
8:05 am my doctor came in and checked me. he said that my water had already broke (how i wasn't aware of this i have no idea...it will always be a mystery), that i was fully dilated and ready to push, and that the nurses should prep the room immediatly. i panic and call tanner to tell him to get back now.
8:15 am tanner is back and i start to push.
8:27 am baby eli is born in only 12 minutes of pushing. he came out with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck so i wasn't able to hold him right away but after they made sure he was okay, sort of wiped him up and wrapped him, i was able to hold him. i couldn't believe that this was my baby. he is beautiful. i loved him instantly.
the reason why i look so tired in this picture is cause i was : )
8:00 pm i starting have a constant, incredibly intense pain in my back, and kept on getting really bad cramps. i thought this was odd, but didnt say anything to tanner cause i figured that it probably wasn't anything (even though i was trying to hold back the tears already cause it hurt so bad.... and hey, we were watching the season finale of american idol).
9:00 pm tanner and i went on a walk around the block. we were wondering if this was the real thing. deep down i felt like it was, but kept saying it couldnt be because my contractions came so suddenly and with such sudden intensity.
9:15 pm we start timing contractions. they are consistently about 3 1/2 minutes apart. over the next couple hours i had a few that were 6 min apart, and a few that were more like 2 min apart...at first i tried to use that to convince myself this couldnt be actual labor... but they kept coming.
10:45 pm i got in the tub to see if the warm water would help. it did for a couple minutes, but the pain was still killing me regardless.
12:00 am tanner gave me a blessing.
12:10 am we were in the car on our way to the hospital. tanner called to warn them that we were on our way. i was worried that the hospital was going to send us back home because i felt like my contractions were becoming more uneven...i felt like they were coming every minute or two.
12:30 am i was dressed in my hospital gown and in our room. they hooked up the different monitors to check my contractions and the baby's heart beat. they ask if i want an epidural, i said yes. they check to see how dilated i am. 2 cm. i felt upset that i am in all this pain and my body hasn't made any progress. over the next couple hours i realized why i felt like my contractions were uneven. instead of having one contraction, a break period, and then another contraction, i was having four to five contractions back to back, with one short break, and then another four to five. i wanted to die.
2:20 am i finally got an epidural. luckily i started feeling the numbing immediately.
3:00 am the nurse turns out the light and tells us to try to get some sleep. unfortunatly, i couldnt. it was a combination of knowing i was going to have this baby within the next 24 hours, the nurses walking in and out, and all the noise the different monitors were making. i was worried about how tired i would be when i had to push and hoped i could muster up the energy when the time came.
6:30 am tanner gets up to go to the bathroom. i was glad cause i had wanted him to wake up for the past couple hours. he noticed the paper that showed the level of my contractions has changed. it seemed as though they had essentially stopped. this was incredibly dissapointing, and i was waiting for a nurse to come in and say that they were either going to break my water or start pitocin.
7:50 am a nurse comes in and re-adjusts my monitor belt that was tracking my contractions. we now see that the only problem was the belt shifted, and that i had been having full on contractions all night. they were going to wait till my doctor got to the hospital to check how dilated i was to see what the next move should be...but they didnt think the doctor would be in for a while so...
8:00 am tanner went to go get a bagel at the cafeteria.
8:05 am my doctor came in and checked me. he said that my water had already broke (how i wasn't aware of this i have no idea...it will always be a mystery), that i was fully dilated and ready to push, and that the nurses should prep the room immediatly. i panic and call tanner to tell him to get back now.
8:15 am tanner is back and i start to push.
8:27 am baby eli is born in only 12 minutes of pushing. he came out with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck so i wasn't able to hold him right away but after they made sure he was okay, sort of wiped him up and wrapped him, i was able to hold him. i couldn't believe that this was my baby. he is beautiful. i loved him instantly.
7 comments:
I still can't believe you're a mom. I'm so glad you put the detail and times of everything. It was neat to read. I can't wait to see him!
Wow, I love the story. You will read and re-read that post many many many times. You never forget but some little details get a little blurry. So exciting. Hopefully I will get to see him soon!
Love hearing about it all! I remember the back contractions - AHHH the worst! You look great in your 39 weeks picture. Seriously, like you are 32 weeks or something! You'll be glad you wrote this down. I read Izzy's quite a bit... not something I should probably do before I have this one if I want to say sane.
I'm so glad you shared that with us! I am always curious what people's labor stories are. I love to hear about this stuff. You are a champ, getting him out within 12 minutes of pushing! I have a gift for Eli, can I get your address?
Such an exciting time for you guys. These stories are always fun to read, thank you for sharing....You are amazing with pushing, 12 minutes!! Props to you :)I hope all is well. Congrats again!
Thanks for sharing your story! It is so amazing. Congratulations to you and Tanner. Your little boy is beautiful.
Meg, I need more pics of Eli! I know you are probably soooo busy with him, but when you get a chance...
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