Gabriel's Birth Story, Part 1

*I have been working on writing this for weeks... babies keep you busy! Gabriel is 5 weeks old already!!!* These posts are long because it is so important to me to document all the details of my labor & delivery-especially since the events leading up to and after Gabriel's birth are quickly turning into a big blur. Thankfully Perry jotted down notes. So here we go!

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I planned to work up to my due date or until I went into labor, whichever came first. I figured 12-hr shifts with all the walking I do might actually help stimulate labor! Both Perry & I were a little nervous that I would either 1) go into labor at work, requiring Perry to come pick me up at one hospital and take me to another, or 2) go into labor after working 3 nights in a row and be exhausted. Perry's prediction since the beginning of my pregnancy was that I would not make it to my due date; his guess for Gabe's birthday was 1/12/12. For my second-to-last week of work, I was scheduled T-W-Th (January 10th-12th).

Tuesday night at work was uneventful. Wednesday night (technically early Thursday morning, the 12th) I lost my mucus plug!! Other than that, nothing seemed any different. Before leaving for home on Thursday morning, my manager called a meeting with all the night shift RNs. As we were getting ready to leave after the in-service, the discussion turned to the 2 nurses who had called out for that night. I jokingly said "Let's hope I don't go into labor tonight, then you'll be three nurses short!". My manager's response was "Nah, first baby. You've got time left. I'll see you next week!"

I was home, in bed & asleep by 9:00am. Around 2:30pm, I woke up to pee and felt a different kind of pain with a contraction {I had been having uncomfortable, but not painful, Braxton-Hicks contractions for a while}. It felt like a really bad menstrual cramp in my lower abdomen and pelvis. I crawled back into bed but several more came at regular intervals, every 8-10 minutes, so I tried a few things to see if they would fade away: I drank a glass of water and changed positions. No change. I kept coming out of our room and talking to Perry but he said "try to get more sleep" since I had to work again that night! After about an hour of consistent contractions now about 5-7 minutes apart, I asked Perry if we could just go for a walk to see if that would change anything. I don't think it had hit either of us yet that I might really be in labor!

Perry kept track of the timing so I could clear my mind and just walk. We barely made it two times around the block; my contractions were 2-4 minutes apart and increasing in intensity! When a contraction started, I would stop walking and lean down on my knees. Perry noticed I would rub my thigh in rhythm with my breaths- kind of funny! He tried to make jokes to see if I was in early or active labor; he remembered from our labor & birth class that I would be "smiley" and excited in early labor, but not so much in the active stage! We walked back to our house but I was starving so we decided to go to Zaxby's drive-thru to pick up lunch... What were we thinking?? I called work on our way there, and in between contractions, let my supervisor know that I was not coming in that night... making them even more short-staffed! My manager jinxed it!

We hurried home and immediately called my doctor's office. This was around 5:00pm. The MD on call was the one male doctor in the practice. Perry & I both spoke with him on speakerphone and told him my contractions had been increasing over the past two and a half hours and were now 2-4 minutes apart. He advised us to head on in to the hospital. It's time to go to the hospital now?? We were really excited but feared it might be a little early- neither of us wanted to be sent home after getting checked! It just didn't seem real yet.

An hour later, we left for the hospital. I started a load of laundry, started mopping the kitchen floor, had Perry start washing the dishes in the sink, and generally started trying to clean up the house like a mad woman! The only thing that got finished was Perry vacuuming the house. I did manage to take a shower- and shave my legs! That was a challenge, though; when the pain of a contraction hit, I had to stop and hold on to the towel bar. The warmth from the shower didn't seem to help much. Thankfully, Perry planned ahead and made sure our bags were packed and everything was already loaded into the car. We just grabbed a few last minute items (pillows, laptop, camera, cell phone, chargers, etc) and off we went!

I don't really remember the ride to the hospital. I'm pretty sure we made record time. We got a front row parking spot and walked in at 6:30pm. Perry led me to the security desk so I could lean on that while he grabbed a wheelchair. He completed all the necessary paperwork to get me registered & I was given a patient ID bracelet. Thankfully the lady was understanding because I had to stand up and was invading her personal space was leaning over her desk! I could not tolerate the pain sitting down. With Perry supporting me on one side and the lady on the other, we headed back to Labor & Delivery. As the security doors opened, we saw a large group of people gathered in the hallway. I said "It's a tour night, isn't it?" Thursday evenings and Saturdays are when the tours are held for expecting parents- I remembered that from when we attended ours just the weekend prior! Just as we passed the group, a contraction started. My initial thought was "Oh no... I'm not going to make it" (to our hospital room). I tried to keep walking to at least get around the corner but had to stop and brace for impact still in direct view of the tour group! Perry later told me that some of the pregnant women looked a little scared. I think at this point I was still just moaning & swaying side to side through my contractions, but I was "in the zone" enough that I was not the least bit embarrassed to have 20 strangers watching me!

The contraction ended and we got settled into our delivery room! My nurse, Amanda, was fantastic! She was new to the hospital so another nurse, Lisa (who was also great) was orienting her. Before I was officially admitted, they wanted to put me on the monitor to see how often and strong my contractions were. They were strong & consistent! My nurse checked me: I was 4cm dilated, 75% effaced, and -2 station... so we were definitely staying!!!