I think I may have been the most miserable sounding impatient pregnant women on the face of the earth those last few weeks :) In my mind she was not going to come and I was already preparing myself to have to induce her which I didn't want. Let me step back and also say that this has probably been my most prayed over pregnancy thus far. So many sweet people in our lives that have pour prayers and blessings over Hannah and my pregnancy.
So anyway there I was Saturday so sure that I was going to have to go in on Wednesday and make the decision on how to be induced. I had stressed about it because I"m not an induction fan. I prayed that i wouldn't have to be induced. Well that evening I had had a few contractions. Nothing crazy and let me add that I had had a TON of false labor the week before so really I was not taking anything very serious. Kyle noticed them and even made a comment like "should I just go to bed now?" I just laughed and told him they were probably not real and went on. We were watching a movie and I fell asleep on the couch at some point. Around 1:30 I woke up and realized I was still contracting but more on a regular basis. Even then I was still warry of it not being real labor. But I was wide awake so I got up and started doing some things just in case it was. Finally they were coming pretty regular still nothing horrible so I sat on the edge of the bed. Kyle said "are you in labor?" and then I did my normal I'm in denial labor thing and said " I don't know but I might be. I mean if we go in too early they won't admit us and I don't know if we should wake up your mom at 2:30 in the morning if it's nothing but I just wanted to let you know that" lol Kyle knows me so well and hopped out of bed. I went back out in the living room and he walked out dressed and had already called him mom. Good thing my hubby is so wise and takes charge because right then my contractions started getting crazy. I mean awful. I distinctly remember sitting on the ottamen by the couch breathing through it thinking "oh my goodness Sue better be on her way fast!" and let me add she lives almost 45 min away! Well the rest was a little bit of a blur because they were 2 min apart and a min long and all I could do during them was breath, moan, and try with all my might not to cry.
As soon as my mother in law showed up in the drive way we were out the door I have never had such a since of urgency as I had to get in that truck and get to the hospital. And it seemed like it took forever. I know Kyle was flying because in all actuality we got there fast. But all I can remember in feeling like I was dying sitting in that seat and being so afraid. When I am in active labor/transition I use the vowel sound "o". That is one of my coping techniques. lol You can imagine how many loud "o's" that filled that truck. I had already decided I wanted a epidural before I delivered. I didn't mind laboring and wanted to wait a bit but had no intention on ever feeling another baby come out of me again. Did it once that was enough. I had a slew of other reasons also that I wanted one but this was one of the main reasons in my mind:) So the entire drive I knew how intense and awful the contractions were, I knew I was in transition and was so scared we would be too far gone when we got there to get the epidural. Kyle even recognized it and told me to prepare myself because he thought we would be almost complete upon arrival as well.
So we get there and had to go in the ER because it was after hours. We had to stop at least three or four times just in the parking lot to get through contractions. That is when I felt like I was going to push her out right there. Oh yeah, it was def. crazy. Tons of pressure and I remember telling Kyle "we have got to get in there because I feel like I need to push out here!" So we get in finally. Let me tell you I have never thrown my clothes off or a gown on so fast in my life! Trying to time things like moving between contractions that are on top of each other is rough! But finally made it in the bed and the nurse checked me. Almost 8cm! But there was hope, could they make it down fast enough for the epidural??? They said they hoped so and so did I. So they called for the Dr. while trying to get a IV in my arm. The thing is that when I come in so far in labor , it makes my veins (which are not really big anyway) totally hard to work with. They tend to blow really easy. So yes, they were having quite the time finding a vein to put the IV in. But I knew they had to do it before I could get the epidural so I didn't care one bit where they found one and they finally did, in the side of my arm. Again like I said, that moment could have cared less. Finally, after that the Dr. came in and in a nutshell he gave me the fastest epidural that I have ever had! He even let me stay laying down because I could not sit up. So as he was doing that my Dr. came in. :) I was so happy to see her. So I laid there waiting for the epi to take effect. My amazing Dr. had a seat and we chatted while waiting for it to work. lol She said if I uncrossed my legs or she touched me she was sure I was ready to deliver. So we just stayed there to give me time to get numb. Finally after what seemed like forever (it was really only 10-15 min) I was super comfortable. Still could move my legs which I was very thankful for!
More to come soon it's amazing how exhausting remembering and writing about a birthing experience can be!
