I get that question a lot these days. I think most (women) love a good labor & delivery story. Mine has a little more drama to it than I'd like... but it does make for a good story ;-). Plus a good friend and wonderful photographer captured it beautifully. So here is the story of our labor and delivery...
My pregnancy began as "high risk" since I unexpectedly delivered our first son at 30 weeks. In hopes of keeping this pregnancy until full-term, I received weekly injections of progesterone. When I reached 26 weeks, I began having regular contractions (3-5 minutes apart). I checked into the hospital a few times over the next two months to monitor contractions as they increased in strength. The contractions never went away. They would be stronger at times and more mild at others, but they kept coming. In hopes of holding my body off from delivering, I was put on bed rest. For 9 weeks I hung out at home, rested as much as possible, and let my amazing friends and family take care of me.
At 35 weeks and 2 days, my water broke at home. Since it was 9:30 pm, we called my mom to come stay at our house with our sleeping son. We made a few phone calls and sent out some texts, and we headed to the hospital to see if this was the day. Ironically, I had marked on our calendar that next day as my guess of when he would arrive! Jeremy and I checked in to Labor & Delivery at 11 pm... and it looked like my guess would be the day!
My sister, Emily, and a good friend, Giana (photographer), met us there. We all settled in for what we assumed would be a long night. I should have known that after 9 weeks of practice contractions, my body would move much faster than that!
Contractions became stronger and stronger.
About 12:30 am, my OB came in to quickly check the baby. I was concerned the baby was not yet in position for delivery... and unfortunately I was correct. That sweet little head that had been causing so much pain in my ribs with each contraction over the last few weeks was in the same place. Since baby was breach, we switched gears from thinking natural delivery and accepted the fact that a C-section was safer for both me and the baby.
I was disappointed, nervous, and yet relieved that soon the intense pain from contractions would be eased and then we would get to meet our baby boy. The OB said I would go to the operating room about an hour later.
Things changed quickly. My contractions became strong. Very strong. My pain level intensified. In just a few moments, I went from a 4 to fully dilated. My body took over and I couldn't stop it. The C-section they were preparing for was still half an hour away... and it became clear to the staff that it couldn't wait.
A rush of nurses entered the room. They unhooked me from the monitors. And off we went. On the run down the hallway they explained that I would be put under general anesthesia and would not be conscious for the birth. My husband would have to wait in the hall. All they needed was 10 minutes and baby would be born.
After a quick check in the NICU, they brought our baby out to meet daddy in the hallway. He stood there with our beautiful boy... I was in the OR just behind the double doors.
Daddy was able to go with baby to the nursery to be evaluated, weighed, and bathed. He stayed there for hours while I was in recovery. He knew I would not want him to leave that baby's side. He knew I would tell him I was fine... if I had been awake.
After about 3 or 4 hours, I woke up enough to finally meet my new little man. He was precious. He was perfect. He was worth every ache and pain. He was here, and we were both safe. I snuggled that sweet little one for hours.
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