Oh Baby!

Wow! The intensity of the last two days would be impossible to describe with words alone. Amazing, I guess that's a start. It all started....

Sunday 10:30 pm: We had spent the afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. An early celebration for Tea's birthday. The King was ready to crash for the night but I was feeling a little antsy. I had eaten some jalapeno cheese and was feeling a little sick to my stomach. I decided to hang out on the couch for a bit.

Monday 12:30 am: My queasy stomach graduated to light contractions. Nothing to time or to start waking anybody up over. I stayed on the couch channel surfing. I was absolutely exhausted but couldn't sleep.

2:30 am: I realized this could be the real deal. Contractions were now coming about 5 minutes apart and lasting between 30-45 seconds. Nothing I couldn't walk or talk through, but becoming more uncomfortable. I decided to wake the King and take a shower.

3:00 am: I called my Mom and told her I was ready to go to the hospital. She had her neighbor come over to watch her girls and her and my Step-Dad headed our way.

3:30 am: The King, my Mom, and I left for the hospital (about 2 minutes away.) We arrived and I was checked in for observation. I had no previous cervical examination so there was no way to determine if there had been any change. I was 50% effaced and dilated 2cm's. This came as bad news. I was uncomfortable and was hoping to be a lot further into the process.

4:30 am: I was checked again after an hour of observation and a steady labor pattern. I was 50% effaced and 2cm's dilated. I couldn't believe it. The nurse called my doctor and told him that while I had not progressed during the observation period she was certain that I was in labor and asked him to approve an additional hour for further monitoring. He was okay with that and the King and I went for a walk to try and get something a little more serious started.

5:00 am: Walking through the contractions had become more difficult. I decided to get in the jacuzzi tub and see how that works. I enjoyed the tub, but was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable.

6:30 am: The nurse checked my cervix again. 50% effaced and 2 cm's dilated. I was booted from labor and delivery and instructed to go to my 10:45 OB appointment as originally planned. The King, my Mom, and I left the hospital. My Mom and Step-Dad went home and I tried to rest.

7:30 am: I cannot walk, talk, or rest through a contraction. I was finding it very difficult at this point to keep my spirits up as I could not understand why there was no progression.

8:00 am: I called my Mom back and told her I was going to go back to the hospital. My contractions were much stronger and I did not feel as though I could wait until 10:45. The King and I woke up the girls and we all drove to my Mom's house. After dropping the girls off, we headed back to the hospital.

8:30 am: We were back at the hospital. The night staff had gone home and I had to retell my story to the day shift. I was taken back to a room and my cervix was checked once again. To my relief I was now 5 cm's dilated with a bulging bag of waters. My doctor came immediately and ruptured the bag (the King was still down in admissions it happened so fast) Once my bag of waters was broken I immediately progressed to 6 cm's.

9:00 am: I was given an IV and Stadol and was feeling much more relaxed. The Doctor felt fairly confident that this would be a quick labor and I opted to pass on an epidural.

10:00 am: My contractions had slowed down and lost intensity. I was still 6 cm's dilated.

10:30 am: The contractions continued to slump and there was now talk of Pitocin.

11:00 am: I decided that if there was going to be Pitocin involved I wanted an epidural. Just the mere mention of Pitocin and my contractions became stronger again and I wanted the epidural NOW!

11:30 am: I had my epidural and although I was feeling a lot of pressure, I was definitely a lot more comfortable.

11:45 am-12:30 pm: Things started to get a little crazy. For reasons unknown at the time the baby's heart rate dropped. I was put on oxygen and had to change positions several times. My cervix was checked again and I was mistakenly thought to be 10 cm's dilated. The Doc was called and we began the pushing phase.

12:45 pm: By now it had been established that when pushing began I was only 9 1/2 cm's dilated. A small lip of cervix would not budge. I pushed and pushed and pushed. Nothing changed. The Doc went back to the office, the Pitocin was increased, and I was instructed to rest and hope for the contractions to do the work.

1:00 pm: My epidural completely wore off. I cannot describe the amount of pain I was in. I tried breathing through contractions, resting, begging for mercy, none of which worked. At this point I was definitely letting the nursing staff know that I wasn't happy. I demanded a C-section or a vacuum delivery, both of which I was of course denied.

1:44 pm: Feeling hopeless I began to beg to try pushing again. The nurse checked my cervix and I had not completed dilated. She agreed to let me try a practice push with the next contraction. I felt the contraction begin and started pushing right away. I couldn't control the urge and continued to push despite the nurses urging me to stop.

1:46 pm: It all ended with Baby Bradlynn being born right onto the bed with no doctor in sight. It turns out she had an extremely short umbilical cord which was the cause of the drop in heart rate and the reason she was not descending.

1:47 pm: I was officially the happiest person on earth. Labor and delivery was over and I had a beautiful healthy brand new baby girl!

We're both home now and feeling great. The rest of my hospital stay went good and the girls are adjusting very well to the newest little addition. I am sure things will be pretty crazy for a while, but I am relieved that we are moving on to the next phase!