At 37 weeks, I went in to the OB and saw the midwife. She told me that I was 3-4 cm dilated and basically could have the baby any day. So, I got myself prepared for that potential. I had been having contractions for a while and they continued, but the contractions weren't painful or regular.
I texted a friend to tell her congratulations that she was pregnant, and she told me she was 3 cm dilated for the last 3 weeks of one of her pregnancies. I started to realize that I might not go into labor any day, and started to fear that I would go past my due date.
My 38 week checkup, that midwife said I was only 2-3 cm. Still no contractions that led me to believe that anything was going to happen, but was still having them. They just always led me to wonder when.
Three days before I was due, I woke up in the middle of the night having contractions about 20 minutes apart. Many people told me that labor with my second would be faster than my first, and I wanted to make sure that Esther was taken care of just in case. My parents came over and waited. I squatted and walked some. I eventually went and tried to take a nap, during that time, my contractions stopped. Frustrating. Scott took the day off work just in case and both my parents ended up going to work after a very non restful night of sleep.
Nothing happened that day that led me to believe that delivery was imminent. Talk about frustrating.
The next night, I woke up at about 1:30 with more contractions. What is up with the middle of the night contractions? Thankfully, I was able to make myself go back to sleep. The next day, I kept having contractions about 20 minutes apart, and these were a little painful, not horrible. The contractions continued all morning, but didn't progress. My mom came out and took Esther, and Scott and I went to walk laps around the yard. 68 degrees in December in Ohio? Made nice lap walking weather. My contractions would come about every 5 minutes out walking, then we would come inside sit down and they would slow down to about 20 minutes. About 3, I was just ready to have this baby and Scott was focused on the fact that some contractions were about 5 minutes apart, and he convinced me to go to the hospital. We stopped at Arby's to get food on the way. Probably a good sign I wasn't ready to deliver!
When we got to the hospital, contractions really slowed down, but I had progressed to 5 cm. I was a little discouraged because I knew I had a while to go yet, and I just wanted this baby to be here. I was tired of waiting! They said they would keep me because I had progressed and they thought this was the real deal.
They asked if I wanted an epidural. I told them that I really didn't but would sign the paperwork just in case. The anesthesiologist that came in was who I had for Esther and I really liked him. I had said if he walked through the door, I would be more likely to get an epidural.
The doctor who was on call came in to check on me. He decided to break my water in order to get things moving. I was a little nervous about having my water broken since my water broke with Esther and I didn't go into labor for a while. Shortly after the doctor broke my water (I was surprised how much water there is in there), I started getting more intense contractions. This felt promising. The doctor told me he wouldn't predict when the baby would come by, but that I would have one by midnight. It was currently around 5pm and I thought that was a long ways away. I just wanted the process to be over.
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| I look unimpressed by this goopy baby... |
About 7:15, the nurse still hadn't been in. I told Scott that I was starting to feel some pressure, but I didn't really know what I should be feeling since I had an epidural with Esther and couldn't feel anything. Scott went out to get the nurse. She came in and told me to get in the bed to check me. My contractions were pretty close at this point and I wasn't sure I would be able to make it into bed.
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| One proud daddy |
They put the foot of the bed down so that I could just sit in bed, but then it took away my chair to hold on to. I grabbed Scott's hand. He told me later that I was twisting his hand. Gotta get him in on the pain!
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| The meeting of the sisters |
Shortly after, the nurse told me that I could practice pushing until the doctor came in. I really had no concept of pushing since I hadn't felt anything with Esther. She told me that I was only pushing through my face. Second time, I had more of an idea of what I was doing. I think I pushed 4 times before baby came out. My second to last time I pushed, they thought that baby might come out. She didn't and I remember feeling like this huge thing was stuck inside and it hurt. I looked up at the doctor and asked him if this was the ring of fire. He said it was and then I finally got to push again. Seemed like those two contractions were super far apart. Of all contractions! Once baby was out, the doctor was laughing about the fact that I nonchalantly asked if that was the ring of fire.
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| First of many kisses |
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| My precious girls |
