A Series of Thoughts: Maria's Birth Story Part 3

We left off here...a while ago. Now let's finish up this birth story. We are going to end with less detail but lots of pictures!

So, there I was waiting for my epidural to come and feeling pretty loopy.  I could still feel the contractions but the edge had been knocked off.  When the anesthesiologist finally came in, I was happy to see him.  My sister and husband had to leave the room while they placed the epidural but my nurse was great company.

After the epidural was in place, I was feeling pretty good.  I was able to rest but I knew this time was going to move faster.  She at this point broke my water and that got the contractions to speed up but at least I didn't feel anymore pain.  We all tried to rest as we waited for the time to come.

That time didn't take long to come and by early morning I was already feeling ready to push.  We called the nurse in because I wanted the doctor to start heading this way...I could feel that need to push coming and I didn't want her to miss it.  The nurse as I said was fantastic and she got me ready to go.  The doctor showed up JUST in time as I had already been feeling the need to push when she waked in and from experience I knew that I am an efficient pusher and that it wouldn't take long.  The nurse kept telling me to try some practice pushes but I told her we should hold off.  Once I finally did, she was shocked how right I was.  The doctor showed up, Special K and Fleasbyte got in their positions to help me and a couple pushes later out came Maria Anne!

She was perfect with all her little toes and fingers and such a beautiful face!  I got to hold her for a while and then she had to get cleaned up.  Even right after she was born, she was a confirmed daddy's girl...as she was fussing on the table until daddy put his hand on her and she calmed right down.  LOVE this picture!

I actually remembered this time to get a picture of Dr. T! She deliever both our babies and she is my favorite at the practice. I prayed the whole time I was pregnant with both of my girls that she would be on call when I went into labor! THANKfully it worked!

Our first picture with our babiest girl...love!

The best nurse ever!!!  I couldn't have been in better care than this woman!  She was a traveling nurse and not sure where in the world she is now but I'm so glad she was here when I delivered! She was amazing!!

Daddy and his babies girl!  Love them!

And then here are some more pictures from our hospital stay...

Carmen meeting her new sister for the first time.  She was instantly in love! 

Hope you enjoyed my birth story. I know this last one was rushed but life got in my way of blogging and I wanted to get this up before she is a year old!

A Series of Thoughts: Maria's Birth Story Part 2

We left off here with me heading to the hospital to hopefully have this baby girl! 

On the way to the hospital my contractions kept coming regularly and with a vengeance. The trip to the hospital thankfully is a quick one but it felt like it took forever. Before I knew it though, we were pulling up and Fleas was letting me out. She had to drive over a bit to get the car valeted because it was pretty late and the Baby Place valet was closed. I went to check in and the security guy offered me a wheelchair several times but I didn't want one...I wanted to keep contracting and sitting was uncomfortable so I just stood there, swayed, and waited for her. As soon as we got up the elevator and onto the Baby Place floor, my sister grabbed the paperwork, which after being there 3 times before during this pregnancy and twice with my first, we were pros at filling out. She had to help me this time because I was having trouble focusing enough to write my information down...another clue that this was probably it!

We got checked in and taken back to triage.  The nurse had me change into the hospital gown, lie down, and get checked.  This part is hands down my least favorite part.  At this point I was 3.5 cms and super soft.  She said they wanted me to stay in bed being monitored for 15 mins, walk for 45, and then she would check me again and at that point call and ask doctor what she would like to do.  I asked who was on call for the practice I go to and when she said Dr. T, I was thrilled!  Not only is she my favorite docor in the practice but also the one who delivered Carmen! I thought the triage nurse's plan sounded fine but told her that after being in pain and contracting for the last 2 weeks, I want an epidural and I wanted as soon as I could get it!!  She got us both some water and off she went.

I stayed in bed on the monitors and continued to labor for15 mins.  I was really having to work through the contractions and was happy when the nurse came back in and told me I could walk around.  I was ready to get things progressing and I told my sister that I can't go home...I was in too much pain!  She agreed and we began to walk the halls.  As we walked, I was struggling more and more with each contraction.  I don't remember this whole area of the hospital last time as I didn't walk around like I did this time.  

We waddled by the nurses station for the labor and delivery rooms and I noticed there was a younger male nurse.  I didn't remember seeing any men on this side 2 years ago.  I even commented to my sister how I didn't recall any male nurses back here.  We continued walking and stopped in the room with drinks for a quick drink.  I knew as soon as I got my IV, they weren't going to let me drink anymore so I wanted to get some liquid in before I had to resort to only ice chips.  At this point, I was really in pain and thought I was ready to waddle back to the triage room.  

We got to the room and still had 10 mins before she was coming to check me.  I tried laboring sitting down and decided that I was NOT going to do that again.  I kept changing standing positions and my sister helped me focus on my breathing and held my hand during each contraction.  Not sure I could have made it through this part without her as she kept me focused.  During both pregnancies, I found when I was going through a tough contraction I had to close my eyes and breath or I would start getting a bit panicky.  It felt like an eternity passed before the nurse finally came in to check me again.  She checked and said that I was progressing but not by much.  She asked if I had a procedure done when I was younger that may have left scar tissue on my cervix and I said yes.  This was the exact thing that prevented progress with Carmen.  She said she could break up the scar tissue now but didn't recommend it because I was already in so much pain she worried that it would progress me too fast.  She said they would wait until after I got my epidural.  I agreed to that!  Before she left the room to talk to the doctor, I told her to please tell Dr. T that I can't go home and that I am asking for pain meds NOW!!  I told the nurse that Dr. T would know I was serious if she shared that with her.  

Before having Carmen, Dr. T and I discussed at length trying for a med free birth and after 14+ hrs of slow progress and lots of pain, I got the epidural and couldn't have been happier.  After that birth and throughout this pregnancy, I had talked about trying to go med free again but after the 2 weeks I had just gone through...I was at the state where I wanted drugs and I wanted them NOW! 

The nurse went off to call the doctor and ask her if I was to be admitted or not.  My sister helped me continue to labor.  Not 5 mins later, the young man I had seen at the nurses station knocks and comes in and through the door I hear the best words come from the triage nurse, "She said to admit you!!"  Relief came over me as I couldn't imagine that I wasn't in labor or that they could possibly send me home!  

The nice young man, who had a southern accent and manners, proceeded to set me up to put in my IV.  He asked if I minded and I said go ahead but please promise me that you'll get it in one try!  2 weeks prior to this, the nurse had blown a vein in my arm so bad that I still had a bruise to show him.  He said he would try his best and I wanted to kiss him when he did it quickly and in one try!  He started my IV and got some of my vitals as we waited for another nurse to come take me to labor and delivery.

When the nurse arrived she asked if I wanted a wheel chair to head to my room or walk. After experiencing what it felt like to contract sitting down I declined and said let's walk. She looked at me in shock and asked again and I said no wheel chair lets go!  As we started a contraction came on and I had to labor through it...the nurses at the station asked the one helping me why I wasn't in a wheel chair and she giggled and told them I said let's do it!  That made me laugh.  We walked/labored as fast as we could over to my l&d room and got me settled in.

My labor and delivery nurse came in and introduced herself.  She was my favorite person all night!  She started asking a bunch of questions and got me into bed and back on the monitors.  One monitor for the contractions and one for the baby's heartbeat.  I tried to answer everything as quickly as possible and was just trying to get her finished and get her to get me meds!  She said she was going to go put in my order for my epidural and I quickly asked "Can I please have something now while we wait for anesthesiologist?"  She said she would check to see what orders the doctor put in and she would be back. 

By this point, my sister had already called Special K and put into motion the plan.  My niece Surfer girl had headed over to our house and my husband was on his way.  I was looking forward to having him with us.  He showed up just in time for the nurse to come in and start me on the meds through my IV. She had warned me it would make me loopy and within mins I felt high but it helped.  Special K took out his phone and recorded me all loopy!  We all were chatting and laughing and excited that baby was coming!!  I was happy to know my epidural was on it's way!  Check out this smile while I was in labor.  Can't remember if this was pre or post epidural but I know there was meds in me. :)

Please come back soon for the final part of this birth story, when Miss Maria finally joins us.

A Series of Thoughts: Maria's Birth Story Part 1

Our birth story has been something I've gone back and forth on sharing.  I had been wanting to share Carmen's birth story for so long but wasn't sure how to go about it.  One of my favorite things to read on other mommy blogs are their birth stories so I decided to finally jump in and share Maria's while it's still fresh in my memory.  I will warn you now...I can never be straight and to the point so I'm going to break this up into several parts to bring you along on my journey to having my babiest girl Maria Anne.  I may go back and share Carmen's as well since I still remember the details and I wrote it out but haven't posted publicly.

For those of you who were following along with my pregnancy, we ended at this post at 37 weeks...a week before Maria decided to join us.  We left off with me ready for her to come! I had finally given her the eviction notice but she wasn't ready.  That week I spent walking almost every day and generally trying to move things along.  I wasn't able to do much and mainly I would get the contractions going but once I took a shower, relaxed, and sat down they would slow and usually go back to just braxton hicks.

The week of March 25th was Spring Break for all my sisters(yes they are all teachers here) and many of them were planning to travel.  My sister G was flying out to Colorado Monday afternoon to drive back with her daughter, and my sister Fleasbyte was planning to leave Tuesday morning to drive around FL to check out colleges for her daughter.  These were the 2 that had jobs to do...so I did some stressing about what if this baby comes while they are both gone!  Aunt G's job was Carmen while I was in labor...but I was mostly concerned about Fleasbyte being gone since she is pretty much my doula...and a great doula at that!  She was there with Special K and I during Carmen's birth and she was such a great support for both of us.

The weekend started with one goal...get this baby out before Monday or she was going to have to stay put until Friday when they would all return.  I had the ok to move things along from my doctor, however, as with Carmen the most I was willing to do was walk her out.  Operation Waddle This baby out was in full effect, yet it was not successful in the way I had hoped.  I would waddle around the lake by my house and get home and be contracting and in lots of pain for several hours but it wouldn't push me into labor.  I would end up very sore and exhausted but with no baby.  After trying to keep labor at bay for 2 weeks I was ready yet she wasn't.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;...Prov 3:5-Prov 3:6

I knew in my heart God had a plan for this baby and knew her birth day was already planned but I had to have faith in his timing not mine.  This has been the theme for Maria's whole exists for me really.  Even before we got pregnant, I was praying for her and wanting to know when we'd get pregnant but I had to rely on God's plan in my life and wait as patiently as I could for him to show it to me.  So, here we were again...God teaching me a lesson in persistent, patience and trusting in his plan.

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD....Psalms 27:14

That Monday March 25th came and I decided since labor had not started that I had to just let it go and get some rest.  I was exhausted from the 2 weeks I'd been contracting and in pain and I knew that if this baby was coming soon or not for another 2 week I had to give my body a real break and rest.  The plan for Monday was to lay around, knit, and try to get some sleep.  It started out pretty well.  As it had been routine, daddy got up with Carmen and they said their good byes to me as I slept in and tried to sleep as late as my body would allow.  My sister G called and asked if I wanted to go to Walmart with her just for a quick trip to get out of the house.

It was a short trip and we didn't walk around too much.  We were in, got what we needed and got out of there.  However, at this point I looked like a freak show that was about to POP so everyone had to either look at me strangely or say something.  It was interesting because people would look at me waddling around and you could tell they either wanted to say something or would blurt out the first thing that came to mind and then feel bad for saying something.  I don't know how many times I was asked how far along I was and looked at in amazement when I said not due for another 2 weeks.  I understood their need to say something...it looked like Maria was about to fall off my body!  I was a freak show!

After we got home from Walmart, I set up my spot on the couch...I had already worn a good indent into the corner of our couch from spending the last 2 weeks hanging out there.  I spent the afternoon watching TV, knitting, and catnapping.  My sister G boarded a plan that afternoon and was off on her CO adventure to drive her daughter back.  My other sisters Fleasbyte and CZbrats drove her to the airport that afternoon and then went shopping and had dinner before they returned from Tampa.  They all asked me not to go into labor while they were on the other side of the Howard Franklin bridge.   I told them I would try and stayed on the couch.

At around 3:30pm, I dragged my large body off the couch and went to pick up my girl Carmen from daycare.  I brought her home and we hung out while waiting for her daddy.  He arrived and we ate dinner and during dinner my contractions started back up.  He told me to go lay down and again as it had become the usual, he did bath, books, and bedtime with Carmen.  As I laid on the couch, the contractions kept coming.  I was concerned because they had come on after doing no activity.  They were about 4-5 mins apart at this point, which wasn't unusual but always concerning, and so I decided lets take a shower and see if they slow or hurt less, which had been doing the trick to make them go away.  They didn't slow or change at all but started to intensify.  I texted Fleasbyte, who lives across the street, and said "You are going to think I'm joking but I think we might have to go in to the hospital tonight...going to lay down and we'll make the call in 45 mins"  She replied with she's jumping in the shower and going to be ready.

I then laid back down on my spot on the couch and the contractions started to intensify even more!  I was having to really breath through them and I was timing them and they were on average 4 mins apart.  Special K as usual was giving me space and just kept checking on me.  After about 30 mins, I knew it was time to get going and called him back in from the 3rd bedroom where he had set up shop and texted my sister "let's go NOW!!"  I remember standing with Special K and laboring through a really bad contraction and my sister walking in.  I saw the concern on their faces and they knew it was go time to!

We had decided during our first labor scare that Special K would stay behind with Carmen until I was admitted and then he'd start the process of getting my niece Surfer Girl, originally my sister G, over to the house to stay with Carmen and he'd join us.  Only one person was allowed with me in triage and Fleasbyte is better at the waiting game than my husband so she won out as the person to hang with me until they admitted me.

After saying my good bye to Special K and getting a bit teary eyed...which I knew was another sign this was it.  We waited until another contraction was over and then we rushed me out the door and into the car and on our way to HOPEFULLY have this baby!

...the next part of this story can be found here.