So here we are, 4 weeks later and I still can’t believe that I have a baby! I have been trying to right this post for 3 weeks!
It all started Tuesday, the 28th, my second due date. I was originally given the 27th at my first appointment at 8 weeks based on my last period and my cycle length. I have a 27 day cycle. I was then transferred to a different midwife at my 12 week appointment and she changed my due date to the 28th, based solely on the fact that you usually pass your due date with your first. So on the 28th, I got up early, at 7:30 to shower and get ready. I had a nail appointment at 8:30 and Daryn had just started a new job downtown so we figured I would drive him so he didn’t have to pay for parking. I know, what were we thinking? I dropped him off just before 8:30, went and got my nails done, headed up to staples to get baby shower invitations printed. I probably walked around that store for over an hour waiting for the girl to figure out what she was doing. After that, I headed to the chiropractor for an adjustment. Then a quick stop at the grocery store to grab some milk and of course oranges. I got home at about 11:30/12ish, sent a text to Daryn joking about how we never considered how he would get home today if something happened… haha, so funny… and then I decided to lay down and have a nap. Just after 2, I remember feeling stronger menstrual cramps that I tried to ignore because I was so tired! Then I felt a little trickle. I figured discharge. I’d had so much lately and it has felt like that before as well. After the second trickle, I started to kind of wake up more. After the 3rd, I figured I better get up and check things out. As soon as I stood up, it kept coming and by the time I got to the bathroom, my pants were soaked. I could’t believe it! I called Daryn, he didn’t answer but texted me right away. My phone in the last couple weeks had been randomly deleting contacts too, and it had deleted the contact for the midwife!! I just remember thinking I hate you iPhone! Luckily Daryn had her number saved in his phone too. I called Rashmi and because at my appointment the day before, baby had moved her head back out of my pelvis, she wanted me to stay laying down until she could come out and check me. Just incase the cord slipped down in front of baby’s head. And when she got to the house, the front door was locked and because our house is basement entry, I had to get up, go downstairs and unlock the door. Daryn got home shortly after Rashmi got to the house, his sister picked him up from work and brought him home. Rashmi checked me out, I was only 1cm dilated but baby’s head had moved back down so we didn’t have to worry about the cord, phew! Rashmi told me to take it easy and get some rest, make sure I ate, etc. She said most people who’s water breaks have their baby within the next 24 hours. I was so nervous and so excited! She left and told us that if nothing had happened by morning, she would check in with us again. Daryn’s mom, sister, and his cousin who lives in out basement suite all came over to hang out. In hindsight, I wish I had kicked them out earlier. If I’d know what was a head, I would have tried to sleep all evening. We ended up ordering pizza and watching the food network all evening. I had the odd contraction, nothing painful or even noticeable to anyone else… hindsight, ones I could have slept through! Everyone left around 9, Daryn and I watched a little more TV and then at 1030 decided we should get to bed incase something happened in the middle of the night. We got into bed and I remember saying to Daryn that tonight was the last night we would go to bed in our bed, just the 2 of us. That was when I actually started to feel scared. Not knowing what was ahead for us was a scary feeling. Daryn fell asleep fairly quickly, I had a harder time, finally started to doze off when my contractions started to get a little stronger. I tried to sleep through them and between them until about 1:30 and then I couldn’t sit still during them. I woke Daryn up at 2 and we started timing them. We had been told to call when the contractions got to a frequency of every 5 minutes, lasting for 1 minute, for a whole hour. They were pretty inconsistent for the first little bit, and finally around 4, they started to get closer together. We thought this was it! Daryn packed the car up, we got dressed and we called Rashmi. She suggested to make sure we were in active labour by going in the shower, I guess sometimes if you change things up while you’re in early labour, it will scare the contractions away. So around 5, I went in the shower. My contractions starting coming every 3 minutes and lasted for 30 seconds. We weren’t sure what that meant, so we called Rashmi back. She thought I might still be in early labour but came out to check me again around 6, this time, only 2 cms. I couldn’t believe it! Contractions again started to come infrequently, so she said again, call her when they got back to the 5-1-1 and try to get some rest. Totally easier said than done! We laid on the couch and I tried to sleep between contractions, I think I maybe dozed off a couple times. Daryn made us some french toast a little later on, and I tried to lay down and sleep between contractions. By lunch time, they were starting to come closer together again and I couldn’t get comfortable, so we called Rashmi again. She suggested a shower again. It did the same thing, brought them closer together, but they were shorter. We called her back and she again came out around 2 and checked me, but because my cervix was still facing backwards, she couldn’t really tell how far I was and it was so painful for me when she tried. But it wasn’t much more than it had been that morning. This time she suggested we call when the contractions got to 4-1-1. And again suggested I get some rest. The next few hours were agonizing, I had some luck with certain positions, for a little while Daryn would sit with a stack of pillows on his lap and I would lay across them during the contractions. But it eventually got to the point were nothing helped and I was in so much pain that I was getting agitated. Walking didn’t help, definitely couldn’t lay down because the contractions were coming in my lower back. By about 5, I think we’d both had it. Contractions were mostly coming every 4 minutes, I’d have the odd one that would give me a little bit bigger of a break, but they intensity was very strong. and I was exhausted. We called Rashmi just after 5 and explained what was happening. She suggested at this point that we maybe head to the hospital, she could check me again and we could go over some options for pain management so that I could get some sleep and be rested for the next phase. I really had wanted to try and avoid any of that, I didn’t like the idea of being numb and not being able to feel anything. Daryn’s mom came with us so that he could drop us at the front and go park the car while she walked me up. We got to the hospital I think just after 6. Rashmi checked me and I had finally made some progress, 5 cms! She gave us a couple different pain options but recommended the epidural so that I could get some sleep, I guess some of the other options didn’t last as long and we weren’t sure how much longer we had. So they called the anesthesiologist. Waiting for him was agonizing, I’d never thought I’d want pain medication so badly but I could hardly handle it, I could barely breath through the contractions and the laughing gas the gave me really only helped me steady my breathing. I’m not sure what time the anesthesiologist showed up, I want to say like 7/730ish but just before he got there I all of a sudden has this urge to push or go to the bathroom or something, I remember Rashmi saying maybe we didn’t need the epidural and she checked me again. 7cm! We went a head with the epidural in the hopes that I would be able to sleep. I don’t really remember much about getting the epidural, I remember them taping stuff to my back and putting something that was cold on my back. Daryn said afterwards that the was the closest he had ever come to passing out. He hadn’t eaten anything since lunch time, and just all of a sudden got really hot. After that, they had me lay down and try and sleep, I didn’t at all. I could still feel the contractions although much lighter, and after every contraction, a nurse asked me to rate the pain. And thankfully I could still feel my legs! I had been under the impression that you were completely numb and couldn’t feel your bottom half with the epidural, not the case for me I guess! But I made sure I kept moving my legs, just incase! They had to top up the epidural once around 9 I think as the pain had come back full on by that point. By about 10, I also again had the urge to push. Rashmi checked me again and I was 9cm, she told me I could do little pushes with each contraction. An hour later, I was still stuck around 9/9.5 cms. Daryn was starting to get frustrated too, I remember him saying to me that maybe it was time to do something else, I think he was thinking c-section, and my response was like what?! It hadn’t even crossed my mind that it would be necessary. My midwife consulted with the OB, I’m not sure if the concern was that it had been too long or what, but the OB came and because she could see the head, she gave us the go ahead and said everything looked good. I pushed for almost 2 hours, between just before 11:30 and 1:19 when she was finally born! 7 lbs, 9 oz and 21 inches long! I had pushed on my back, sitting up pulling on fabric that was attached to a bar, and then on my side with my legs on a bar and with each contraction I would have to pull my leg towards me and push. I was so tired through the pushing I remember saying to Daryn that I didn’t think I could do it anymore. I also remember asking Rashmi how many more pushes I had to go and she was always hesitant to answer me! I was just so desperate to be done! I remember the ring of fire, which in all honesty, was not nearly as bad as the pressure I felt elsewhere between pushes. That was the hardest part I think! Daryn was amazing through all of it, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. He held my hands, fed me water and juice, put a damp cloth on my head and neck. He had originally said he hadn’t wanted to watch but ended up watching and says he is glad he did. When she finally came out, she had the cord around her neck a little bit so Rashmi cut the cord right away and put her on my chest. I remember thinking that she looked so big! My mom had all 8, 9, and 10lb babies except for myself so I was fully expecting her to be over 8 lbs! The only complication with my delivery was my placenta, it wouldn’t come out on it’s own, I got to hold my baby for a couple minutes before they took her, she was having a little trouble filling her lungs, and later, Rashmi told us she felt like the nurse was over reacting slightly. While they worked with her, getting her cleaned up and what not, they were trying to get me to deliver my placenta which would not come out, they ended up me oxytocin to try and get contractions going to get it out and that didn’t work and was painful all over again! I was so sore from laying on my back and on my side that all I wanted to do was stand up. They waited almost 2 hours and still nothing, finally they OB came again and I ended up going up to the OR to have it manually removed, which they put me under for. I woke up with the worst sore throat ever! By the time I got back down to see Daryn and the baby, it was almost 5! I finally got to snuggle my baby! I am disappointed that I missed when she was weighed and measured and we didn’t get many pictures right after she was born, I kept telling Daryn to take pictures, he took about 4 pictures after I went up to the OR. Daryn’s mom had waited at the hospital that whole time, almost 12 hours! She was able to come see baby just after I went up to the OR. Daryn’s dad came just after I got back and visited for a few minutes before taking Daryn’s mom home and heading off to work! At 6:30, Daryn was asleep in the chair beside me and his alarm on his phone went off 6 times! I had to try and scoot myself to the edge of the bed so I could reach his foot and shook him until he woke up! We stayed in Labour and Delivery until about 8 when they finally moved us to a room on the other side. I didn’t sleep at all for the rest of the day, even though I tried, between visitors, and not having a bassinet at first to lay her down, I was afraid to drift off while holding her! We ended up going home that night about 10pm. Rashmi came and checked us out and because everything was going well, baby was latching on well, we were able to go home! I was so glad to go home, sleep in my own bed! Our first night at home was a little rough, we were both so tired, and she cried every time we laid her down. We even considered sleeping in shifts! The first couple nights I set my alarm for every 3 hours to check on her, but that didn’t last long! So here we are, 1 month later with a beautiful, healthy baby girl!!
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