In the end Calvin was born quickly- a little too quickly- within 37 minutes of checking in at the hospital. It was intense and awful and traumatic and then wonderful in just 37 minutes.
However, Calvin's labor story started 2 1/2 weeks earlier on January 21st. I woke up at about 3:00 in the morning with strong contractions and started timing them. After about a half hour I woke up Mike and we decided to call his mom to come over and watch the kids. After 2 hours of contraction 3-5 minutes apart we drove to the hospital.
Once we got to the hospital my contractions slowed. Once the doctor got there they really slowed. Since I was barely 37 weeks along the doctor wanted me to progress on my own without any Pitocin or other help. We walked around and waited. I was tired and frustrated. In then end we were sent home (and got an extra hospital bill as a result). No one tells you how demoralizing it is to walk past the nurses station with your bags still packed and no baby. It's demoralizing- especially when this is baby #4 and you're supposed to know when you're in labor.
Fast forward 2 1/2 weeks, past all the contractions and uncomfortable waiting, past all the questions from friends and family wondering if you've had the baby. I woke up Sunday morning a little before 7am and quickly realized I wouldn't make it to my scheduled induction the next day. (Induction was due to a gestational condition I have with low platelet count.) Michael was just heading out the door to a church leadership meeting. Here's the run down of the morning:
"Keep your phone close. This is it," I warn.
"Ok, just send me a text."
8:10- I text Mike, "U need to come home. We need to figure out what we're going to do. Contractions 7 min apart."
8:17- No answer; I call Mike, "Come home now! Contractions 2-3 minutes apart!"
8:25- Mike gets home. We can't get a hold of any of our standby people to take the kids (everyone is headed to church).
8:45 Mike finishes getting kids ready and drives them off to church hoping someone will take the kids when he gets there.
8:48 I text a few friends at church, "In labor. Mike's taking kids to church can one of you watch them until 12? Mike's bro Matt will pick up kids at church then. He's on his way right now."
8:50 All three friends respond and take kids from Mike.
9:05 Mike gets home and loads the car, arranges details with Matt to pick up kids.
9:20 In between contractions I drive to the church to drop off the van. I barely make it before another one starts.
9:25 Mike drops off van keys to a friend and we're off to the hospital.
9:37 I haven't had a contraction during the drive to the hospital. I begin to think I should wait in the parking lot for more contractions before heading in.
9:40 Turning into hospital I have a huge contraction and start screaming- make that SCREAMING!
9:43 Walking into hospital, another big contraction, no screaming but I have to stop walking and hold onto a chair.
9:50 We make it to Labor & Delivery on 4th floor, another contraction while filling out paper work. I begin crying and they decide to take me straight into the delivery room. The 37 minute countdown starts! The rest was a bit of a blur but went something like this:
- Male nurse checks me (kind of weird but not caring too much at this point) I'm at a 5
- 2 more contractions
- My water breaks while standing in the room (the male nurse is still asking me admittance questions... I not so nicely tell him to stop.)
-Yelling for my platelet count and epidural, "This was not my plan. I need the epidural. PLEASE! This was not my plan..." A new nurse responding, "How about a new plan? We're going to have a baby!"
- Continuous contractions and then yelling I have to push
- New nurse somehow gets me over to the bed and checks me- I'm fully dilated and she tells me I can push with the next contraction.
-Doctor still hasn't made it to the hospital so the on site doc comes in. Low and behold it happens to be Dr. Buss who delivered Camille. I'm relieved to see a familiar face and contractions pause for a moment so I can get ready to push.
-1st set of pushes, more screaming. "I need to bite something!" No response from anyone. (I'm pretty sure everyone was laughing at that one though.)
-1 more set of pushes
- 7 minutes of complete awfulness later, Calvin was born and it was all worth it!
8 comments:
Ahh! What a great story! This is Savannah's labor. Only differences were that we had Cooper with us at the hospital and Christy came to our room to get him, and she was born 45 minutes after getting there.
My placenta was seperating and there was blood everywhere so they held me at a 9 to put in an epidural in case the Dr decided to c-section me. So same chaos, but an epidural for the pushing!!!
Way to go! I also was yelling, this was not my plan and I was scheduled to be induced the next day!
We must be best friends to have similar experiences. ;)
He is beautiful and I love his name! How are you doing with 4 kids!
Yeah! You finally posted something. Glad you got the story written down. Love those pics of him. I hadn't seen those. I miss holding him!!! He'll be big when I see him in of couple months. Love to all!
Never a dull moment! Wow- I'm glad he is here safely. He is soooo cute! It sounds like you've got a story you'll never forget and I'm glad you survived it!
You are now in the club with me! It's called The "my-birth-plan-is-an-epidural-what-the-heck-the-baby-is-coming-out-and-I-feel-possessed-because-my-body-is-out-of-my-control" club. Giving birth without medication was the worst experience of my life. BUT, the results were worth it and now we can both wear that "badge of honor", even though we never sought after it! Well done!
congrats! he is so beautiful! sounds scary and awful, but I am so glad that it turned out perfectly! Wish we could be there to meet him! What a beautiful family you two have created!
Oh man Nikki! You have written my nightmare, heck with the happy hormones and super woman feelings after birth! I'm so glad it all turned out OK and you see it with such great perspective. He is a very handsome boy - well done!
also, don't you LOVE the questions when you are pain. I often wonder WHY we pre-register since they do it all again when you re in labor:)
Oh...my...wow! Epidurals and I are very best friends. Way to go without one! My crotch hurts just thinking about it! Ü He's 100% adorable- love him to death! Take care!
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