since aa and i have very few moments to ourselves, we decided to drop k off at school and set out to celebrate my birthday all day long! a couple of things happened that morning...1. my mucus plug (sorry, tmi...i know!) was lost and 2. i heard "i gotta feeling" by the black eyed peas and it ran through my head all day.
after we dropped off k, we went to starbucks to decide how we would spend our day together. i decided to splurge on a chocolate old fashioned donut since it was my b-day! :) we decided to go see a movie, since we rarely had the opportunity and knew that it would be even harder with "rolo" on the way in 10 days (give or take). we headed to bridgeport to see the informant (with matt damon...i recall it being pretty good). before we went into the movie, we stopped by the at&t store because i had been wanting to get a memory card for my blackberry so that i could take pics of rolo when he or she was born.
as we watched the movie, i started paying attention to the tightening in my stomach...but wasn't entirely sure that i was experiencing contractions. i really had convinced myself that i would not go into labor, since i was two weeks overdue, on pitocin for 25 hours and then c-section with kellen. but...there was a small part of me that thought, hmmm...this is interesting. we finished the movie and decided to go enjoy a nice lunch at meriwether's before my doctor's appt at 3pm. lunch was yummy. saint cupcakes was conveniently nearby and since it was my birthday, we picked up some cupcakes for after dinner! toasted coconut cream for me of course.
we were set to discuss our plan for this baby at the doctor's appointment. we had been trying to figure out if we just wait to go into labor and try for a vbac, induce in hopes of a vbac or schedule a c-section. just like with kellen, i really struggled with picking the birth date by scheduling something - i SO wanted it to just happen. the good news is that i had progressed from 1 cm to 3cm at that appt. i told her about the plug and about the tightening/contractions and she was hopeful that my body was showing signs of going into labor on it's own and thought that a vbac was a strong possiblity. with that, we decided to just let my body do it's work and if nothing happened by monday, november 2 (2 days past my due date of october 31), we would go in that day to either induce (if things had progressed and with the option to call it at any time to go for a c-section) or just go for a c-section. feeling great about our plan, she gave me a hug and said she'd either see us at the next appt or hopefully sooner!
immediately after we left that appt, the contractions started stepping it up...but i was still unsure about what i was actually experiencing. not wanting the day to end, aa and i headed to hall street grill for happy hour. aa had a beer or two and i had tempura green beans. we finalized our a girl middle name, should we have a girl and confirmed the spelling. we started timing the contractions. they were 2-3 min. apart and started to become uncomfortable. i still didn't believe i was in labor and we continued on to new seasons to buy groceries for my birthday dinner. as i walked into new seasons, i actually had to stop and catch my breath with each contraction - i still did not believe i was in labor. but, we decided we should hustle, get kellen at school and get home. just. in. case.
aa made dinner - halibut parmesean. i checked my facebook and at 6:11 posted his status update: "feels VERY loved by all her friends and family! Thanks for the bday wishes...had a great day...movie, lunch and happy hour with my hubby. now my boys are making me dinner and st. cupcake for dessert. it doesn't get much better!" if only i knew! the contractions continued still around every 2-3 minutes and quite painful - but i still thought this can't be the real deal. so i ate the whole dinner and the cupcake. we put kellen to bed and i called my sister to tell her she might need to be prepared to come over. i then called my friend andi and described the situation - plug gone, contracting through the day, in pain now...could i be in labor? yes!
it was about 8pm. from here, we decided to get serious about timing the contractions. i laid on the couch and for about 45 min we timed them...they were anywhere from 1-2 min. apart and this is where i realized i might be in labor. for real. i had aaron call the hospital to describe my situation. they made me talk despite my having to breathe though each contraction every minute or so and after describing my situation they said that i better hurry up and get to the hospital because we were having a baby! ah!!!!!!!!
my sister was called. i took a shower. packed a bag and waited for my sister to arrive. she showed up. took some pictures of us and we hit the road. time is about 9:45pm. about 2 minutes away from our house, i realize i forgot the special paper that i had intended to bring for the baby's footprints. i insist we turn around and get it. back on our way and aaron is driving in the right hand lane on 217 with cars passing us. i am clinging to the handle and ask him why tonight he decides to follow the speed limit. all i remember thinking/saying is that i wonder how quickly i can get an epidural and that i can't think clearly to decide if i really want to go for that vbac until i get an epidural!! we arrive in the ER parking lot and i go in and am immediately placed in a wheel chair. aaron comes along toting our 50 pounds of crap - but forgets the paper!!!
we arrive in labor and delivery around 10:15-30pm. they confirm just by my demeanor that yes i am in labor and i ask for an epidural immediately. they start doing their business of setting me up, prepping for epidural. dr barrett arrives and she is excited. the anethesiologist arrives and begins putting in the epi. dr. barrett sits and watches the monitor. once the epidural is in she tells us she wants to do an exam because she saw the babies heartrate go up quite a bit and she wants to make sure everything is good. instantly she says something is not right - she feels something and believes it is a tear on my cervix. she continues to check it out and within minutes she says the vbac is off and that we need to get the contractions stopped and baby out. (by the way...only dilated to four - seriously...was so painful and only to four!!!) we could tell that things were quite serious, but i was never worried. i was given a shot to stop the contractions and things were pretty frenzied. i was watching the clock very closely now because it was approximately 11:30pm. i ask if she thought the baby would be out before midnight and she said absolutely. hmm...selfishly i think to myself...i don't want to share my birthday! i also have doubts that it will happen because the second doctor had not even been called at that point and he would still need to arrive!
by 11:40 i was being wheeled to the OR, aa had his scrubs on and i was all prepped and just waiting for the oncall dr (dr davis) to arrive. he flew in and true to her word...our baby was delivered at 11:57pm on wednesday, october 21, 2009. SHE was beautiful!!! she weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. i could hardly believe it...she was a she! what fun it was to not find out. tonight was a good night. even though the vbac was not accomplished...i couldn't be happier with the way things happened. it was thrilling to experience going into labor and it was meant to be because it just happened. my baby girl was meant to share a birthday with me (by the way...i share my birthday with my uncle who is 9 years older than me. so that means my grandma, my mom and i have all delivered a baby on oct. 21st! crazy!).
while baby girl was being measured and cleaned...i was being examined and then the tear was confirmed and repaired (so thankful for my wonderful doctor...disaster averted!). aaron and i enjoyed our baby girl in the wee hours of the morning. aa finally needed to get some sleep, but i was on pure adrenaline and couldn't take my eyes off of her. she ate right away and slept peacefully in my arms. pure bliss. {oh and it was a good thing that i stopped and got the memory card for the blackberry! text and picture announcing her birth was sent out!!}
we had a very quiet hospital stay due to h1n1. i was only allowed two support people - aaron and jan (who was wonderful to skip a family wedding and stay with our boy!). i missed my boy terribly and felt awful that he couldn't come to the hospital to see his baby sister. i was able to see him one time during the stay - we met in the cafeteria and i couldn't believe how big he had suddenly become! four days later we arrived home as a family of four. what a ride this last year has been! i couldn't be more thankful for my sweet baby girl.
happy birthday to our maya girl! we love you baby girl!
1 comment:
what a perfect story! i knew most of the details but it was fun to read through and remember all the little events. i totally remember you posting that on FB too!! happy birthday to maya and to you!
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