Since the beginning of my pregnancy I've said that Baby Hart was gonna come a bit early. I just thought he would, and of course, wanted him to. But, facts are facts, and almost all first time mommies go a week overdue and have to be induced. So even though I thought and said he'd come early, I knew my chances were that I'd see 41 weeks of pregnancy.
So when my water broke at 1:37am a full ten days before Baby Hart's due date, I was.... surprised;) If you'd been a fly on the wall (bless that poor fly's heart) you would have never thought I said he'd come early. You wouldn't believe that I thought that. I was a bit less than calm and prepared acting;)
Let me back up a bit. For a while now I've had a "To Do Before Baby" list. That list has been pretty much done except for one more thing- to deep clean my whole house. I hadn't nested so my house was not quite in ready-for-having-a-baby shape. So I had a list. On Monday, I was gonna start in the kitchen of death and grime and work my way room by room, finishing the whole house, top to bottom, on Wednesday. Then I'd be alllll ready for the baby. My doctor was also out of town on vacation till Wednesday, so I specifically wasn't doing any of the natural-ways-to-induce labor. I had to clean my house, get my doc back in town, and then I'd start walking miles, eating alfredo, and goodness whatever other "get-this-baby-outa-me" trick.
So on Monday I began cleaning my kitchen. By the end of the day I had the cupboards halfway done and was nowhere near where I needed to be on my cleaning schedule. Jason came home to find old ripped out contact paper all over the kitchen floor and dishes all over the counters. I asked him to order pizza (he didn't object;)). Jason looked around the kitchen and stated that we might want to get the kitchen a bit more together in case my water broke. So while he went to get the pizza, I put the kitchen back into a manageable shape and thought about all I would desperately need to get done on Tuesday.
While we ate our pizza, my back was hurting me, which really was not a big deal to me at all since being in my 9th month of pregnancy meant constant back troubles. This pain was a bit different though, as it came and went and just felt... different. Still, I thought nothing of it except that I prolly needed to do some prenatal yoga. So as I got down into cats cradle, Jason looked at me and said "Are you sure you're not having contractions?" I informed him that of course not, What To Expect said contractions started in the top of my belly, and this was my lower back. We went to bed that night, and as I lay there all I could think about was how I needed one more day. One more day for my doctor to arrive back in town. One more day to clean. Oh, how desperately I needed to vacuum. I finished reading my book on breastfeeding, and fell asleep around 12:30am.
At 1:37am I woke up to my water breaking. My first thought was no, this was not happening. I needed one more day. As I sat up, the water came out even harder and I realized no, I was not getting one more day. This was really happening NOW! I reached for the lamp, and Jason looked groggily at me. "Jason!! JASON!!" I was panicking. He asked what was wrong, and I told him my water was breaking, which he of course then noticed. I then declared "But I haven't vacuumed yet!!" :) Jason then said "Well we can just sleep till 7 or 8 and then go to the hospital." I asked him if he was in the same birth class I was. We had to leave NOW!
I raced to the bathroom and tried to situate things. Note: when your water breaks, it doesn't gush and stop. It's like the stinkin' energizer bunny that just keeps going. I came back to the bedroom, "situated", and we began grabbing our hospital bag and the list of last minute things we needed to pack. I told Jason how it was weird I wasn't having contractions, and they'd prolly have to put me on pitocin. By 2:20am we were driving down the road heading to the hospital:
I was pretty much in shock. We got to the hospital and by now my water was leaking through my "situated-ness" and was landing on their nice hardwood floor;) We checked in with the receptionist and were sent to triage. I was all smiles and happiness and shock. "My water broke!" I smiled and waved to the nurses. They didn't take me into the let's-make-sure-she's-really-in-labor room since it was pretty obvious. So into my birthing suite I went. This hospital was glorious. I knew it would be nice, but over my time there it way exceeded my expectations. From this moment that I walked into my room, I never left it until we left with the baby. Everything was taken care of in there! We got in the room, and the nurse asked if I was having any contractions. Nope, I said. She checked me and hooked up the monitors, and surprise surprise, I was at 3 cm and was indeed having contractions! Being able to see the contractions on the monitor, I realized they were that bit of come-and-go back pain I was having! Well, great, so far so good. Contractions I didn't even realize I was having made me happy. The nurses asked me about an epidural and I said I was just gonna see how long I could go without getting one, but I was sure I would at some point. My blood pressure was a bit high, so they left me all hooked up to the monitors (they have a wireless option, that would have left me able to walk the halls and such, one of the reasons I wanted to wait for the epidural). So I was a bit bummed about having to be hooked up, but it was alright.
After the nurses left, the contractions started to feel more like the contractions I had imagined- cramps, really. I could handle this still. They got more intense and uncomfortable; thankfully the nurse came back in to check my blood pressure, which had gone down, and I was given the wireless monitors and freedom to roam. I began walking the floor of my room as the pain got worse and worse. The nurses came back in again, smiled, and noted my changed state... not quite so smiley and calm anymore;) They brought me an exercise ball and showed Jason how to rub my back. At first these things helped. Then, as the contractions got worse and worse, walking around the room was all I could stand. By 5am the pain had gotten bad enough quickly enough that I knew it was time to order the epidural (it would take at least 45 min to get it, since they needed to get 2 bags of fluids into me). The nurse came in to check me and I was at 4cm which further confirmed my decision to get the epidural. They started the fluids, and the next hour was the most painful and gross of my life. Each contraction was a ton worse then the one before, and they were right on top of each other. The whole "getting a break in between" was not happening for me! Jason kept trying to crack jokes and I got to the point where I officially "SHHed" him;) When they brought the epidural to me at 6am and checked me, I was at 7 1/2 cm! That definitely made me feel better about all the pain I was in! Getting the epidural was quite the trip, as I had to sit hunched over, perfectly still on the edge of the bed- NOT easy! But thanks to a death grip on my hubby's hand, and a precious nurse who held me and talked me through it, I finally I got the drugs in me.
Ahhhh relief! Now I was the one crackin' jokes and having a good time with my half-numbed body resting comfortably in bed;) It was great to see the mega contractions of death on the monitor and no longer be able to feel them at all! Back to the happy place of contractions I didn't even realize I was having;) The nurse had to leave at 7am as the shift changed, and informed us we'd have a baby by 10am since things were plugging along so quickly. I was still in some shock that I wasn't still sleeping in my bed or vacuuming my house, so the thought that I'd be holding my newborn in just a few hours was both terrifying and thrilling. Since I was feeling so great though, and the room was a lot more pleasant than it had been the last few hours;) we decided to take a lil video of the room:
I can now quickly sum up the next several hours by stating that my body took a break. A big break. There was definitely no baby by 10am, and hardly any progress from my body either. I was dilating at a snails pace. Actually, the doctor (not my doctor, who was in Rhode Island- I had been told 5 different doctors' names I was having, but it ended up being Dr. Child's that I got, and he was fantastic; and it was super sweet when my doctor called me from Rhode Island to see how I was doing!) nicknamed me "turtle". He'd come in the room and be like "Hey turtle!" LOL. If I didn't have that epidural I'm sure I would have punched him in the face. Thanks to drugs I thought it was a riot!!;) I was actually worried that the epidural had been the reason for my sluggish progress, but they said since I was so far dilated and was moving so slowly now that the epidural was not the cause. Basically, my body just thought it was done. I had thought by lunch time I'd be eating lunch holding my newborn, instead I got a popsicle:
The nurse that was on duty at this point came in to check me- I was around 8 1/2 cm- and asked if my doctor had ever said anything about my pelvis bone being too small to fit the baby's head. I said actually my doctor had said the total opposite and thought everything was going to fit just fine. Note: I get a lil sensitive in this area because throughout my pregnancy there's been some comments about how I would need a C-section because I was so petite. Actually, I've known women larger than me to need C-sections for the baby-not-fitting reason and people even more petite than I am to have no problems fitting things at all. So when the nurse said she had concerns of this I had two thoughts: 1. Ugh, I'd rather not have a C-section. 2. I really don't want to have a C-section for THAT reason. But, I knew that this was why I'd had no birth plan and all that mattered was getting my healthy lil baby boy in my arms. The nurse sent for the doctor to come check and I began mentally wrapping my head around a C-section. The doctor came and said my pelvis bone would fit the baby just fine- WOOT- but that the baby was turned to the side and time was a tickin' so a C-section was still a strong possibility. They gave me some pitocin and had me lay on my side hoping to shift baby and speed up things. A while later it looked like baby had turned a bit and I had dilated some more so things were looking up for a vaginal delivery. I had finally come to terms with a C-section but now released those thoughts and came back to terms with pushing this baby out.
At 5pm they came to check me and I had dilated up to 9 1/2 cm. They wheeled in all the birthing equipment and said they'd be back in 1/2 an hour to start pushing. The nurse explained that it would probably take a good 2 hours to push since at first I'd have to figure out how to push since I couldn't feel anything. So for the next 1/2 hr I got in the "get ready to push" mental zone. The nurse came at 5:30, checked me, and I was still at 9 1/2cm. I'd also been having a bit of a fever all day, and it had spiked up to 100.4. She texted the doctor "no more progress, fever's up" and he texted back "prep her for a C-section". Not gonna lie, though I truly just wanted a healthy baby in my arms, I almost started crying at this point, as they wheeled all the birth equipment back out of the room. 9 1/2 cm... SO close!:/ I tried to stay calm and again wrap my mind around the surgery that was about to happen. The nurse left, and came back in a few minutes later to say that there was an emergency C-section that just took precedence and the doctor said we mine as well try pushing some in the meantime. I was grateful for the opportunity to try pushing, but also told the nurse I just didn't want to end up pushing for 2 hrs and then still end up getting a C-section. But she assured me that we'd only try a few times to see what kind of "pusher" I was and if we could make any progress.
I've never been so determined in my life. All the prenatal yoga and kegels were gonna help now, or never. I pushed for the life of me through a few contractions, and the nurse was quite pleased. She texted the doctor that I could push well and had made some progress, and he said he would come in, and we'd give it a try.
So back in wheels all the birth equipment (deja vu) and in comes the doctor and all the other nurses and staff to be ready in case this actually works. The doctor explained that he would have to use the vacuum some when I pushed since the baby was still a bit turned and I hadn't quite made it to 10cm. I pushed a couple times without the vacuum (such an intense experience- takes all the strength of you and all you hear are all these people cheering you on and yelling PUSH!) then the doc tried with the vacuum. After that next push, the doctor asked if I wanted to feel the baby's head. In kind of a daze I said, no, I had to keep a hold of my legs so I was ready to push as soon as the next contraction came. All the nurses and the doc exclaimed no, feel the baby's head! I looked around dazed and confused, then looked at the doc and said "Wait... does this mean I'm not having a C-section??" He smiled super sweetly and said no, I was not having a C-section:) I reached down and felt my sweet boy's head and that was all the more motivation I needed. I pushed on the next contraction and out came my baby's head! I hadn't even known- I my eyes squeezed shut and was in the PUSH-zone and heard Jason go "I see his head!" I opened my eyes and Jason had the most amazing expression on his face, as he again said "Em, I see his head!" I looked down and there was my baby boy's head and sweet face! The doctor said to give it another half push, and then there was my whole baby boy! He had a head full of dark hair and was the most precious, adorable thing I've ever seen. I couldn't stop saying how cute he was;) He was just so cute... did everyone see how cute he is?? Excuse me, nurse, do you see how cute my baby is? Jason, look at how cute he is!!:)
And so Silas Lloyd Hart came into the world, at 6:20 pm, 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 19 3/4 in. long:) They had to take him right over to get cleaned up, since he had already gone a lil potty inside of me. The doctor stitched me up (and stitched... and stiched...:( ) and I was hit by how exhausted and absolutely starving I was. I couldn't hold the baby for a bit cause I couldn't stop shaking:/ So Jason held him right by me:
When I finally was able to hold my Silas myself, it was the most incredible, powerful feeling ever:
The rest of our time at the hospital was wonderful- I've never been so tired and in so much pain, and yet never, ever been happier! One time, as I was hobbling back from the bathroom, I looked at Jason and said "I'm having so much fun!" at which Jason looked at my barely-able-to-walk-self and said "Why??" LOL:) The hospital was great- the nurses were all super; we were given a "Serenity Time" from 2:30-4:30 each afternoon which meant no visitors and family time for just the three of us; I had a menu I could order off of whenever I wanted; etc. We were surrounded by friends and family that loved us and our Silas. And we had our new, precious boy in our arms!
Our amazing Silas!!!
Breakfast of prettiness:)
This was the nurse that was there when we first got there, who helped so much through the worst of it, and got me through the epidural!:)
Jason's parents, who headed in from Iowa and have helped us a ton since we've been home with him!
Our fantabulous friends from Ohio, who headed in that morning to come be with us and meet Silas! We thought when they got here, we'd have a 6 hr. old ready to meet them, but they ended up having to wait a couple hrs. still in the waiting room for his arrival! They were such a help and encouragement to us!!
Our family!!!:)
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