Sunday
Nov. 7th -
I had told Greg that I wasn't feeling so hot. I had gone to Target that afternoon to pick up some food to take to a friend's house for dinner and picked up a multitude of cleaning supplies. I figured we had two weeks left to get things in order and I wanted to clean, everything. That afternoon, since I had been pestering Greg to do my belly cast, he obliged and we created art in the kitchen! Good thing we did it then! Afterwards I had a "boo-hoo" moment with Greg because I was sad that we ONLY had two weeks left of just being "us." I knew things would change and I would be loving Cameron and being a mommy, but I was sad. I was selfish and wanted more time with just us. Greg assured me that we had AT LEAST two weeks left and we would be fine. Later that evening we went over to our friend's, Joel and Hillary's, house. Hillary mentioned that she though Cameron had dropped, or that I was carrying lower than before. I hadn't really noticed.
Sunday night -
I hadn't been sleeping well in general. My nights had been consisting of tossing and turning, with burning hip pain radiating down my femurs and belly aches. A couple times when I was awake, I noticed the lightest of cramping, but thought nothing of it. Maybe those were my Braxton Hicks contractions that I didn't think I'd had before.
Monday Nov. 8th -
I got up a little later than usual, since that day I was supposed to go and take a test at a testing facility to keep my Series 6 license up to date. Greg was teaching a class in Vail that day, so he left early. I got my day going and showed up to the testing facility south of Denver in the DTC. I knew that the test was going to take a while, so I decided to go to the bathroom before I started my test. Well, when I did, I noticed I had 1) lost my mucus plus and 2) had my "bloody show." I called Greg (I knew he was teaching, but figured it was important!) to let him know what was going on. I told him that I was going to continue to take my test and I would let him know if anything changed. At that point, I didn't think labor was imminent! Boy was I wrong.
I went upstairs to the testing facility and joked with the little Russian lady that checked me in about having two weeks and a day left. I started my test at around 8:30. I got through three of the four sections of the test with what I know now, were two contractions. I had one that felt "funny" at around 10:30 and right after I had a nice little gush of water in my pants. I KNEW I hadn't peed my pants. I promptly got up and let the testing lady know I needed a bathroom break. I made my way to the bathroom, only to confirm with myself that my water had broken! I walked back to the testing lady and let her know I needed to leave because my water had broken. I have never seen such surprise on someone's face. It was classic! She then proceeded to tell other women that worked there what happened. It was comical to see people panic slightly. They wanted to know if they needed to call anyone for me or get me a car ride somewhere. I calmly told them that I'd be alright and that I'd be back at a later date to retake my test.
I called Greg at 10:39 to let him know what had happened. He asked if I was sure, but being my first pregnancy, I wasn't positive. I called the midwives. I called worked. I called my mom. I called my dad. I called Kelly. And then I drove myself home, all 40 minutes.
When I got home, I started packing my hospital bag. I hadn't done that yet because I didn't think I'd be going early, I thought I'd be going late! I talked to the Angela, the midwife on call, and she suggested I eat lunch before I come in to get some good calories in. I ate some food and then took a shower to make myself clean and presentable and to relax. I called Greg while I was packing and had a few more contractions while we were on the phone. I told him that Angela had recommended he start heading home from work.
I got to the hospital around 1:30 and checked myself in. The shift nurse came in and put the fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor on me to make sure I was actually contracting. She did a litmus strip test on the fluid I was leaking and it came back negative for amniotic fluid. So, she had Angela, my midwife, come and do an internal exam to collect fluid. It "ferned" confirming that my water had in fact broken. So Nurse Kathy started my IV and I sat back through a few more easy contractions while I waited for Greg to arrive.
Here's where everything starts to fly by... and where I don't remember a whole ton of details.
Greg and Kate arrived to the hospital at around 2:30. By then my contractions were getting my consistent and more painful; completely manageable though! At 3:45 Angela did her first official internal exam on me. She reported I was at 6 cm. and 100% effaced. We were all blown away! Her prediction for Cameron's arrival was 6:00, I think. (I'll check with Greg, I know he remembers and her guess was really close. I also have to mention that the other midwife, Gina, at my last appointment, Friday the 5th, guessed Cameron weighed 7 lbs.)
I sat on the toilet and had a couple of bad contractions. I wanted to relax, so I got in the tub. BAD IDEA. I got out of the tub at around 4:20 and ... I was now at 9 cm. Do you know what that meant? I was in my "transition" phase (OW! OW! OW!) and it was too late for an epidural.
I'm sure you know that I had mentioned that I wanted to do this naturally, but hadn't ruled out an epidural. At that point I was PLEADING for an epidural. In-between contractions all I could say was "please, please, please?" Angela kept calm and did her best to keep me calm. Kate took pictures from the "wrong" angle... and Greg rubbed my shoulder, only to have my snap at him and say "don't rub me!"
I labored leaning over the back of the bed for ~30 minutes and Angela told me to try to start pushing at about 5:00. All I remember from my first push was saying "I'm peeing! Sorry!" And getting a little laugh. After that I used the birthing/squat bar and pushed for ~20 minutes in that position. Angela thought his head was getting caught up on my pubic bone, so she had be lie back in the usual birthing position on my back. I pushed a couple more times and at 5:27 our little miracle arrived! He was 7 lbs. 3.6 oz. and 19 in. long!
I couldn't believe it! I had done it. I cried. Kate cried. Greg hid his tears.
It was AMAZING and quite the whirlwind of a day.
I had told Greg that I wasn't feeling so hot. I had gone to Target that afternoon to pick up some food to take to a friend's house for dinner and picked up a multitude of cleaning supplies. I figured we had two weeks left to get things in order and I wanted to clean, everything. That afternoon, since I had been pestering Greg to do my belly cast, he obliged and we created art in the kitchen! Good thing we did it then! Afterwards I had a "boo-hoo" moment with Greg because I was sad that we ONLY had two weeks left of just being "us." I knew things would change and I would be loving Cameron and being a mommy, but I was sad. I was selfish and wanted more time with just us. Greg assured me that we had AT LEAST two weeks left and we would be fine. Later that evening we went over to our friend's, Joel and Hillary's, house. Hillary mentioned that she though Cameron had dropped, or that I was carrying lower than before. I hadn't really noticed.
Sunday night -
I hadn't been sleeping well in general. My nights had been consisting of tossing and turning, with burning hip pain radiating down my femurs and belly aches. A couple times when I was awake, I noticed the lightest of cramping, but thought nothing of it. Maybe those were my Braxton Hicks contractions that I didn't think I'd had before.
Monday Nov. 8th -
I got up a little later than usual, since that day I was supposed to go and take a test at a testing facility to keep my Series 6 license up to date. Greg was teaching a class in Vail that day, so he left early. I got my day going and showed up to the testing facility south of Denver in the DTC. I knew that the test was going to take a while, so I decided to go to the bathroom before I started my test. Well, when I did, I noticed I had 1) lost my mucus plus and 2) had my "bloody show." I called Greg (I knew he was teaching, but figured it was important!) to let him know what was going on. I told him that I was going to continue to take my test and I would let him know if anything changed. At that point, I didn't think labor was imminent! Boy was I wrong.
I went upstairs to the testing facility and joked with the little Russian lady that checked me in about having two weeks and a day left. I started my test at around 8:30. I got through three of the four sections of the test with what I know now, were two contractions. I had one that felt "funny" at around 10:30 and right after I had a nice little gush of water in my pants. I KNEW I hadn't peed my pants. I promptly got up and let the testing lady know I needed a bathroom break. I made my way to the bathroom, only to confirm with myself that my water had broken! I walked back to the testing lady and let her know I needed to leave because my water had broken. I have never seen such surprise on someone's face. It was classic! She then proceeded to tell other women that worked there what happened. It was comical to see people panic slightly. They wanted to know if they needed to call anyone for me or get me a car ride somewhere. I calmly told them that I'd be alright and that I'd be back at a later date to retake my test.
I called Greg at 10:39 to let him know what had happened. He asked if I was sure, but being my first pregnancy, I wasn't positive. I called the midwives. I called worked. I called my mom. I called my dad. I called Kelly. And then I drove myself home, all 40 minutes.
When I got home, I started packing my hospital bag. I hadn't done that yet because I didn't think I'd be going early, I thought I'd be going late! I talked to the Angela, the midwife on call, and she suggested I eat lunch before I come in to get some good calories in. I ate some food and then took a shower to make myself clean and presentable and to relax. I called Greg while I was packing and had a few more contractions while we were on the phone. I told him that Angela had recommended he start heading home from work.
I got to the hospital around 1:30 and checked myself in. The shift nurse came in and put the fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor on me to make sure I was actually contracting. She did a litmus strip test on the fluid I was leaking and it came back negative for amniotic fluid. So, she had Angela, my midwife, come and do an internal exam to collect fluid. It "ferned" confirming that my water had in fact broken. So Nurse Kathy started my IV and I sat back through a few more easy contractions while I waited for Greg to arrive.
Here's where everything starts to fly by... and where I don't remember a whole ton of details.
Greg and Kate arrived to the hospital at around 2:30. By then my contractions were getting my consistent and more painful; completely manageable though! At 3:45 Angela did her first official internal exam on me. She reported I was at 6 cm. and 100% effaced. We were all blown away! Her prediction for Cameron's arrival was 6:00, I think. (I'll check with Greg, I know he remembers and her guess was really close. I also have to mention that the other midwife, Gina, at my last appointment, Friday the 5th, guessed Cameron weighed 7 lbs.)
I sat on the toilet and had a couple of bad contractions. I wanted to relax, so I got in the tub. BAD IDEA. I got out of the tub at around 4:20 and ... I was now at 9 cm. Do you know what that meant? I was in my "transition" phase (OW! OW! OW!) and it was too late for an epidural.
I'm sure you know that I had mentioned that I wanted to do this naturally, but hadn't ruled out an epidural. At that point I was PLEADING for an epidural. In-between contractions all I could say was "please, please, please?" Angela kept calm and did her best to keep me calm. Kate took pictures from the "wrong" angle... and Greg rubbed my shoulder, only to have my snap at him and say "don't rub me!"
I labored leaning over the back of the bed for ~30 minutes and Angela told me to try to start pushing at about 5:00. All I remember from my first push was saying "I'm peeing! Sorry!" And getting a little laugh. After that I used the birthing/squat bar and pushed for ~20 minutes in that position. Angela thought his head was getting caught up on my pubic bone, so she had be lie back in the usual birthing position on my back. I pushed a couple more times and at 5:27 our little miracle arrived! He was 7 lbs. 3.6 oz. and 19 in. long!
I couldn't believe it! I had done it. I cried. Kate cried. Greg hid his tears.
It was AMAZING and quite the whirlwind of a day.
