Hellobee

This post was originally written on May 10, 2009.

When the clock read 4:00 am, I realized I had to pee. But when I decided to finally go and do it, Mr. H&S had already beaten me to the punch by getting up before me. So I sighed and rolled over a little. I got a bad menstrual-like cramp, and I felt a tiny little pop sensation and a small gush of fluid came out. I thought “oh crap!” and literally dove off of the bed. I stood up and SPLAASSHH… my water broke! All over the floor next to the bed.

They always say it’s a gush of fluid. Ha! I stood there for at least over a minute with the “faucet” running on high. It continued to gush like that throughout the rest of the labor. Who knew there was that much fluid!? I screamed several times for Mr. H&S, so he rushed in and brought me a towel. I’ll fast-forward now through my shower, peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and the arrival to the hospital where we settled into the labor and delivery room (Room 2! It was my favorite and I didn’t even ask for it!).

My contractions had started and they were starting to hurt, but they weren’t all that close together yet. I labored for a while until the doctor decided to augment the labor with Pitocin, just to get things stronger and closer together. Well the contractions instantly hurt WAAAAAAAAAY more than before. And so commenced the movie version of labor where I screamed, yelled, and panted. I used my breathing techniques as much as I could, but soon it wasn’t enough and I simply lost control. I was wailing, crying, and begging for God to kill me. In other words, I was the picture of tranquility.

They finally turned down the Pitocin to give me a little break, and in came the anesthesiologist with my beloved epidural. Just in time! Let me tell you folks, it was heaven. I’d been worried thinking that it would hurt. Needle to the back, right? It seemed like it would be such a hellish experience. Well, I leaned forward gripping the nurse with the fear of God in me, as I was sweating through more contractions and scared to death what the needle would feel like.

Well, it was such a non-issue. If you’ve ever had Novocain in your gums during a dental procedure, then you know the little pinch of the needle in your gums. It felt like that for me. I’m not saying it will feel like that for everyone — they told me it depends on your body type and fat content, etc. But, it was a little pinch. And then it was over… so easy.

The edge came right off of the contractions as I lay back in the bed. Soon the bed started to feel warm, like a heated massage bed, and the sheet on top of me felt heated as well. I felt like I was at a spa and felt so relaxed. It didn’t change my mental state – just my physical body felt so much better. My body hadn’t felt so pain free in months. I was already dilated to five centimeters when I got the epidural, so things were progressing quickly. I was at 2 cm when I first got there (not bad from having been completely closed the day before!).

To recap, we arrived at the hospital at about 6:00 am, and my body was in heaven by 10:00 am. They then cranked up the Pitocin again and off we went! I was fully dilated to 10cm by 1:00pm or so. The nurses were shocked. They said the Pitocin was so low — it goes up to 60 or something, and they’d only gotten up to 8 for my dosage, so they had expected me to have a much longer labor.

Off they went to gather all the materials needed for the actual birth, so I just waited there on the bed joking around with Mr. H&S and the lovely student nurse named Kristen. I was her first labor! She was so sweet and we had fun laughing and sharing stories.

It finally came time to push and I could sort of feel the contractions happening (there was a tightening sensation that didn’t hurt, but cued me that I needed to push). I spent the next half-hour pushing as the nurses and Mr. H&S cheered me on. Again, this didn’t hurt. It was just exhausting because you hold your breath for so long with each push, and you do 3 full pushes with each contraction. The longer the push, the longer you hold your breath.

Phew! Finally the head was starting to crown so they were screaming for the doctor — he was tending to 2 other labors at the exact same time. He came running in and they got him all dressed for the delivery. As he was dressing, he looked down and said “Oh! This baby is going to FLY out!”

So, with another strong push, I felt a small release and they yelled “the head is out!!! She’s got dark hair!”.

The doctor told me to give a tiny gentle push since her little fist was jammed into her neck. So I guess I delivered the head and a hand first. Once the hand was pulled free, he coached me to give another gentle push, and the rest of her body came out. It was so amazing and incredible. I’ll never forget the sensation.

At my request, they put our beautiful Paige on my stomach and we all wiped her off with blankets. I remember looking up at Mr. H&S to see him in tears. I was crying along with the baby. I vaguely remember them clamping the umbilical cord and telling Mr. H&S where to cut as I was staring down at our daughter. What a set of lungs she had!

They picked her up to put her in the warmer and check her vital signs while I watched from the bed. I saw her pink right up and I felt so relieved. Her first Apgar score was an 8, and her second score minutes later was a 9. Wow! She lived! She made it through all 10 months! She defied the odds of my crappy uterine shape, my folic acid issues, and her own umbilical cord abnormality. Nothing can explain how utterly relieved and ecstatic we felt. After all the worry about her possibly coming too early or needing a C-section, we’d delivered her in a more traditional way and so close to her due date! A true miracle!! I cannot and never will be able to capture my gratitude for her.

Paige Rosalie arrived on April 28th, 2009 at 2:20 pm. She was 20.5 inches long and weighed in at 7 lbs. 4.5 ounces.

Here I am as Paige was placed on my belly right after she came out. Sorry, it’s a little bloody arm there!

Our first family portrait while I was still finishing labor (more on that to come!).

Her first feeding with Mama!

Her first feeding again!

Family portrait!

Daddy and his little girl!

She loves her Daddy!

And finally, her face (sort of). Yummy hand!!!

She’s trying to focus and was looking all around. She went off for her first sponge-bath not long after this!

Of course my labor story doesn’t end here…

….to be continued.