And then she was here!

…The LONG ending to our birth story, continued from the previous post.

7(ish) am. We get to the hospital and they tell us that all the labor rooms are full! We end up having to spend the next 3 hours in a triage room (could it have been any LESS private? I don’t think so.) with a nurse who didn’t bother to even introduce herself to us, much less explain what was going on or try to make us more comfortable. Needless to say, her bedside manner was a bit lacking the entire time we were there…

Oh, and did I mention the hospital is undergoing renovation work? Oh yes, we got to listen to hammers, drills, LOUD power tools of all kinds, all while trying to relax as much as possible. That was fun. And because of all this construction work, the power to the computers kept going out, so our oh-so-kind nurse had to ask me all the admitting questions three times, and that did nothing for her mood! Before too long though our new doula Pamala arrived and kept us busy chatting while we waited for a room.

At some point while we waited in the triage room, a doctor from the practice I’d attended during my pregnancy came and checked me out. Despite the contractions getting stronger, I was still only at 3cm dilated, which was not encouraging at all. But because of the Strep B they decided to keep me and get my IV started with the penicillin, even though I wasn’t very far along. I think at that point it really struck me that we weren’t going to be leaving without our baby girl!

Pamala suggested we take a walk around the hospital to get things moving along a little, so we did. We stopped by to say hi to the grandparents to be who were (somewhat patiently) waiting in the waiting room, and spent a half hour or so chatting and walking around. It seemed to work, too, because I had to keep stopping when the contractions came. Eventually we decided to head back to the triage room so Nurse Friendly wouldn’t come looking for us.

10:30 am. We FINALLY get a real room! The first thing we did was to get the water started in the tub so I could get in and try and relax a bit. That really helped to ease the contractions and made me feel better almost instantly. Although it was getting more painful, I was still handling things pretty well and we were thinking the Bradley techniques we’d learned in our childbirth class were really paying off. The worked at least for a while…

12:30 pm. Our doctor comes in and wants me to get out of the tub so he can check me and so they can put me on the IV penicillin again (not my favorite part!). He does the exam and tells me I’m STILL at 3 cm! I was pretty upset by that, and I started thinking I’d be there forever waiting for this baby. We decided to let him break my water to speed up the contractions, and the very next contraction was twice as strong as the last ones had been. That’s when things really started to get serious; no more chatting and laughing for me. The doctor also wanted to put me on pitocin and insert a monitor into the baby’s scalp to make sure she was doing ok. Of course we didn’t want any of that, so Rob (SUCH a good coach!) told him we wanted to wait a while and see what happened before doing any other interventions. The doctor agreed, and said he’d be back in an hour. I decided to get back into the tub.

1:30 pm. The doctor returns and I’m still in the bathtub. Contractions are much stronger and still about 2 minutes apart, and I don’t want to do anything but relax and breathe through them while in the warm water. Pamala and Rob sat there in the bathroom with me, talking to me and keeping me calm. They told the doctor I wouldn’t be getting out of the tub right then because it was helping so much with the pain, so he said the nurse could check me later on. It was apparently very important for me to be on the monitor ALL THE TIME, even while I was in the water, so the nurse kept coming in the bathroom to check and adjust the two monitors on my tummy. That was by far my least favorite part, and I think I even told her at one point to “get those damn things off me NOW!” Thankfully, she did. For a little while anyway.

2:30 pm. After lots of time in the tub and shower with Rob helping me through each contraction, I finally give in and let the nurse check me again. I was only at 5cm. From then on I stayed in the bed, changing positions to stay comfortable, and I use that term loosely here. Mostly I flopped from side to side trying to ignore what I was feeling. Rob could probably give you the details of this part better than I can, but I do remember telling him to shut up, and also that he needed a breath mint (love you honey!).  At some point I started feeling like I needed to push, so the nurse checked me again and I was only at 7cm, and so they wouldn’t let me push. Anyone who’s been there knows, when you have to push you HAVE TO PUSH. There is no way to describe that feeling, but it made me dry-heave, and that was the worst. I’ll spare you the details here, but know that this part was really not the best time I’ve ever had.

5 pm. I tell the nurse that I can’t help it any longer and I HAVE to push. NOW. So she checks me one more time and sure enough! I’m at 10cm! Time to push! HOORAY!! They let me do a couple of “test” pushes, and it’s quickly apparent that the doctor needs to come. NOW! She calls him and lets him know, and during the call she watched me push one time. After that one push she told him not to wait, at all, and to get there asap!

He arrived just in time for the final few pushes, and at 5:22, less than half an hour after I started pushing, she was here. They put her on my chest and Rob and I just stared. That was our little girl! Our miracle! And I have to admit, my first thought was, “Wow, there really WAS a baby in there!” Rob got to cut the cord after a few minutes, and he stayed right by her side as they weighed and measured her. It was the moment that changed my life, and of course we both cried. And so did she! For the first hour of her little life, Emily made plenty of noise to let us know she was here! We stayed in the hospital overnight and left after dinner the next day. While it wasn’t perfect, I would do it all over again tomorrow for her.  We’re both totally in love. :)

Here is a link to the picture gallery I set up. I’m sorry this took so long! I’ll also add it to the sidebar and keep adding pictures often, so everyone far away can keep up with us!