My very long, uncensored birth story!

Well after I had my membranes stripped I felt completely normal-I was just sure it didn't work! Around 6, after getting home from work I started feeling pretty nauseous and had some diarrhea. I also started bleeding....it was bright red and stringy, which from reading online sounded like my 'bloody show' meaning labor was most likely hours to days away. I planned on coming home from work and getting some stuff done around the house but I ended up just crashing. Jeff went to softball and said he would keep his phone on incase something happened. Around 10 Jeff got home and we went to bed-I started having some major back pain. It was really intense and continuous-I figured it was from the stripping and not real labor since I wasn't having contractions. I only got a few hours of sleep on Tuesday night because I was in such bad pain-but finally around 4 I realized I should take some Tylenol (DUH!) and that helped the pain and I got some sleep.

Wednesday morning (the 12th) I woke up and got ready for work. Jeff and I were both crabby from lack of sleep, plus I was running really late for work. Jeff was also and didn't have time to shave-I told him he better because I really felt like I was going to go into labor today. He said "oh geez...your so dramatic!". So off to work we went.

When I got to work (right at 8!) my coworkers were talking that I was probably in labor and wasn't coming in, haha. However, I was having contractions but they were very irregular-anywhere from 3 minutes apart to 8 minutes and only lasting about 30 seconds. I told the gals I worked with and my boss-they completely understood and told me just to do what I could. (And of course-they were all soo excited and thought I was going to have this baby any minute!). Around 9:30 I decided I need to walk, I was just uncomfortable and couldn't sit any longer. I walked around the building for awhile but that was hard-everyone kept stopping me to chat and what not. Around 10 I called my OB office and talked to a nurse...she said I maybe in labor and I may not be-that I could go to the hospital, wait it out or come in and get checked. I didn't really know what to think so I called my OB's cell. He said the same thing...I probably wasn't in labor and he thought it would be best for me to walk around for a few hours and if my contractions got worse to go to the hospital, but he thought the walking would most likely make them stop. I was about in tears at that time-I KNEW I was in labor, granted I wasn't in pain, but something just told me that this was different. So around 11 I called Jeff and told him I was going to the mall to walk around and see what happened (it was raining outside so I couldn't walk out there). I told the ladies at work that I may be back, may not but I would keep them updated.

Jeff and I got to JC Mall around 11:45 and we walked for about 30 minutes, the contractions were regular but not incredibly painful. I could walk and talk through them-but they were different from before. Jeff was in good spirits and kept saying that we needed to eat so he could go back to work! Haha-he just didn't quite get it that this was labor. So we ate some Taco John's and walked for another 30 minutes...finally Jeff said, "ok, let's just go to the hospital and see". We were just sure they would send me home-atleast to labor at home for awhile, but we thought we would just check in case.

At 1:30ish we arrived at Methodist West (the new hospital w/o the NICU) and I was taken to triage. I wouldn't be admitted until they determined I was definitely in labor. I was checked...still at 3cm, 90% effaced-which was the same as Tuesday. My contractions were regular though and pretty strong so we went to walk the halls, then used the labor ball. I was checked again around 3 and was at, maybe 3.5cm but the nurse said she felt like I was in labor and called to talk to the on-call OB. (I was going to call Dr.M but I was frustrated that he said I wasn't in labor, plus I figured if I was in labor I wouldn't deliver until early in the morning on Thursday so I didn't want to pull him away from his family when he wasn't really on call so I just let them call the on-call OB.) Dr.G (an OB I never met) said I could be admitted.

We were both in shock!! We were going to have a baby! The back labor was getting intense (or so I thought at the time!) so the nurse said I could take a bath. I was checked again and had a nice fore bag, so Dr.G said he was going to come over around 5 and break my water. Jeff went home around 4 to get the hospital bag and shower & shave. I soaked in the bath which helped with the back labor. Dr.G got there around 4:45 so the nurse helped me out of the tub and I called Jeff to tell him to hurry up! I asked that Dr.G not check me/break my water until Jeff was there. So at about 5 Jeff arrived and Dr.G came in. My contractions were about the same, stronger, but still 3 minutes apart. Dr.G said that I was 4cm and fully thinned (and finally in active labor!). He broke my water (which I didn't even feel-barely any water even came out at first). I decided to labor on the ball for a bit longer.

After they broke my water-the contractions came on STRONG and fast. They were right on top of each other, not giving me a break. They also jumped from 20 to 100 on the monitor, so they didn't build up like before. I was doing my best to breathe through them, Jeff rubbed my back but they hurt so bad. Jeff asked if I should get the epi but I said I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. After a few more minutes, they were increasing soooo fast that I decided it was time. We told them nurse and they said I could get it in about 30 minutes....ugh WHAT?! Those 30 minutes were a blur to me. I was in my own world breathing and sitting on the labor ball. They had to get an IV in my arm so I was hydrated enough for the epidural. Jeff rubbed my back and reminded me I was doing great. Right before the anesthesiologist came in they asked me to go use the bathroom....that was hell. I couldn't walk because the contractions were on top of each other and it was so hard to pee, but I did it! I just concentrated on being pain-free soon. I got back to bed and Jeff held me while Dr.A did my epidural. He talked to me alot and asked questions-but I just kept breathing and had my eyes closed so I think Jeff answered most of them for me.

Once the epidural was in (at about 6:15) I felt a million times better. There was a small part on the left side that the epidural didn't numb so they had me laying on the side to help that part get numb. The pain was bad there-but eventually that side went numb to and I told Jeff I was in heaven! I asked if I could take a little nap-I was exhausted from no sleep and the contractions and the nurse said I could, Dr.G was just going to check me again. Dr.G came in at 7:15 and checked me, he said "She's fully thinned, 9-yup, she can start pushing". I said "Uh-like 9 CENTIMETERS?" Yes....I was ready to push! Holy cow!! That was soo fast, I couldn't believe my little girl was going to be here soon! I thought I wouldn't deliver her until early Thursday morning (although my nurse kept saying she thought she would be born on the 12th). So I pushed a few times, but had a hard time telling when I was having contractions. The nurse said I could let her 'labor down' meaning she would just come down the birth canal on her own a little. She said to let her know when I felt pressure. (I think at this time they turned off or lowered my epidural, because I started feeling pressure right away) I didn’t tell the nurse I felt pressure though because I wanted G to move down on her own as much as possible. The nurse came back around 8 and checked me again…she said G was much further down and I could start pushing. Pushing was pretty easy at first, the pressure wasn’t bad and it helped me to focus on pushing (however-I keep whispering to Jeff that I felt like I was going to poo on the table!! He kept reminding me to not focus on that-focus on G coming out!) At about 8:15 I could start seeing Gianna head (I was using a mirror to help me focus on pushing) and I told the nurse I hoped she would be here by 8:30, but at 8:30 I was still pushing. Soon after though everything was a blur, at about 8:35 I started feeling tons of pressure and it was incredibly painful/uncomfortable. Dr.Gisi was called in and a ton of nurses came in and started setting stuff up. It felt like hours, but really for about 10 minutes I closed my eyes and just concentrated on pushing. In between I cried into Jeff’s shirt about how much it hurt and how I didn’t think I could do it. I could feel Dr.G stretching me out for her head. Jeff was awesome though and kept saying “your doing good-I can see her head!” The instense pain was when her head was coming out completely and then her body. I couldn’t see anymore because they had move the mirror but I think that was good. All the nurses that surrounded me kept saying how great I was doing and she was almost here. I looked down and could see the very tip of her head and then the next thing she was brought to my chest. Jeff and I both cried and just stared at our little girl. She was beautiful, perfect, amazing!! I was in heaven and it felt sooo surreal. I kept saying, Hi baby girl and rubbing her. She was crying for awhile and then was just looking at me and Jeff. They left her on my chest for about 5 minutes and then asked if they could clean her off or if I wanted to hold her awhile longer. Jeff answered for me-he said, “Clean her off so I can hold her!”. So they took her over to the incubator and cleaned her off and took her vitals. She weighed 7lbs11oz, 20 inches long, scored 8 and 9 on her APGAR tests and then daddy cut the cord. It was so awesome just to lay there and watch them. Dr.G was stitching me up (I had a 2nd degree tear because she came out so fast, but it was almost all internally)-and I could feel each stitch . It was painful but I just concentrated on my little family in front of me. I asked what time she was born and the nurses said 8:47. My placenta was also delivered and was definitely bilobal and Dr.Gisi said it was more marginal than velementious cord insertion. (Dr.Drake wanted us to have it checked because she said with G’s growth being so good she thought maybe they were wrong….but it just looks like the placenta issues didn’t really effect her!). After the nurses were done with Gianna we held her and the nurses took some pictures. We decided to wait awhile to call family-we just wanted some us time! I asked my nurse when I could nurse her and she said whenever I wanted, so we tried nursing. G did pretty good but wasn’t quite interested in it yet so I decide to try a little later. So the nurses finished cleaning everything up and left us to enjoy our little girl….

Stayed tuned for after delivery-72 hours story J