| | Our youngest and our oldest :) There's so much to fit into one entry! I'll do my best, though. Sorry if I'm sparse on the details ;) Shortly after I posted on Tuesday night, I had the third of three "interesting" pre-labor symptoms. I was beginning to wonder if something was cookin'. After a call to my doctor around 10pm (just to see when I should come in "if" something happened soon), I went upstairs to take a shower and go to bed. I finished packing my hospital bag, just in case. Ran a load of laundry, just in case. Kissed the girls goodnight and explained that one morning I may not be there and Aunt Sissy might be getting them up (glad I got that in!). I took a shower, blow dried my hair, got in my pjs. At almost exactly midnight, just as I was coming to bed, my back felt that all too familiar feeling. I laughed a little under my breath. Sam asked me why I looked like that, and I told him we might have an interesting night ;) I went to bed and decided to try to sleep. Five minutes later... another one. Light enough, but not easy to ignore. Kind of like last Wednesday morning. Except they got a little stronger. Then a good one. As a general rule, I get about 4-5 "warning" contractions before they really start gaining intensity quickly. So about 25 minutes after the first one, I was beginning to wonder if we should bunk the doctor's advice to get a whole hour of contractions in before leaving home. After the last one made me breathe through it, we decided to get dressed and head for the hospital, even though we were shy of the "five minutes apart for one hour" rule. We left the house around 12:40 am. We drove through the snowy subdivision and I remember saying, "It looks really pretty". The roads weren't really bad, Sam just had to take it slow. After the warning contractions, I have about 30 minutes of pretty painful, but not horrible contractions...about like a mid active labor phase? Then, they quickly get past the point of easy control. I don't spend a lot of time in "early" and "active" labor contractions. We had a smooth trip all the way through until we were about 200 yards from the exit for the hospital. There, the traffic stopped. Completely stopped. My contractions were getting intense enough that I was having to focus on relaxing, breathing, and NOT counting the minutes between. I'd guess about every 3 minutes, though. Husband noticed that there was an ambulance 3 cars ahead, so he got out just to ask them if they were empty - just in case. They were. LOL - I know, you're hoping I gave birth right there on the highway in a parked ambulance, but I didn't. About 2 minutes after talking to an EMT, the traffic got going and we were through. We got to the hospital around 1:30 am. Ninety minutes into labor, and definitely in the thick of it. It felt like the end of active labor... Triage kept me longer than we recommended. I was only 4 cm when we got there, but I could tell from the intensity that these "weren't no early labor contractions". I told the nurse I dilated quickly... dilly dally dilly dally. By the time I got to the labor and delivery room at 2:15am, I had been having some serious contractions for a while. I don't remember a lot about triage, because I was in my zoned-out natural birth mode. I'd been breathing through them for a while, and like I said - I could tell they were getting really strong really quickly. This is the third baby now where contractions felt like 7 or so regardless my actual dilation. I measure four centimeters but the contractions feel like 7 or so. I measure 6 centimeters but the contractions feel like 7 or so, etc. The very, very good thing is, that those contractions get things moving and keep them moving. When I got to L&D, 2 hours and fifteen minutes into labor, I felt like I was in transition. You know that I-am-relaxed-and-in-my-zone-but-there-is-still-no-way-I-am-not-getting-drugs kind of contraction? The nurse could tell how strong they were from the monitor so after a while she checked. When I had arrived at L&D I was 4.5cm, 45 minutes later I was at 8. Praise the Lord! I kept saying it over and over out loud. The nurse called for the doctor. The last 10 minutes I could literally feel the baby moving down with each contraction. With each one it felt like I could feel him slide down a little more. Each time I held a loooong exhale and mentally chanted "C'mon, baby, c'mon" with the counts of my breath. If I kept thinking that a baby was at the end of the tunnel (sorry for the analogy), it helped. Thanks be to God alone, I was still firmly in my mode. I remember realizing that certain muscles were tight and praying through relaxing. It's such a wild ride, childbirth. The nurse checked me again, and casually asked how many pushes I gave with the last baby. "One". She remained calm and said something like, "Oh, okay, you're close...." pause.... nurse (loudly) calls doctor again. Then there was that thrilling hustle and bustle where tables get converted and nurses multiply and a doctor runs in putting on gloves. Then I said, "Can I push yet?!" They told me to hold on and I saw the doctor over by a table. I told them I couldn't wait. The doctor wasn't where he was supposed to be yet, and I just knew the baby was gonna land on the floor if someone didn't hustle and get in position. "I'm pushing!" I half yelled, and I tried to hold back, but you gals who have been there know that's not always easy. Whew - no baby. The doctor was set. I waited for the next contraction - one big push and.....man! The baby came out all at once. LOL, I'm glad that doctor got his hustle on when he did ;) I looked at my dear husband. All smiles, he said, "It's a...." Then he had to wait for the doctor to get out of the way so he could see! LOL. "It's a boy", he said sweetly. What a wonderful smile my Sam has.
Samuel David. And there he was, on my chest, all new and precious. All new and precious. Our youngest. Our son. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Two days under 6 years from that eventful night, I had a very similar cold, February drive in the dark. On February 16, 2001 my labor started with a bang at 3:30am. Six hours later, my firstborn - Hannah Cathryn - entered our lives and our hearts. Our oldest. Our daughter.
We had a wonderful party for Hannah on Friday night. I was so thankful to be able to keep her birthday plans, despite the "eventful" week ;) She was such a joy all evening, bubbly and excited - and six. Six. Oh, y'all, it goes so crazy fast. I swear I rock each new baby a little more... someday it'll be the last one. For now, though, we have four beautiful, precious blessings entrusted to our care. God have mercy. Lord give grace. Father, thank You so much. Thank You so much. |
