On Sunday, October 12, I was exactly 39 weeks, and I felt like I would be pregnant forever. I felt like the baby had dropped super low, and I told Omar that I needed to walk. We went to Target in the evening and walked around for a while. Standing in a kitchen aisle looking at kids' dishes, I had my first really strong contraction. We went home and had dinner and put the kids to bed. I continued to feel strong contractions, much stronger than any I'd been having, but it was only one or two in an hour, so I tried not to get my hopes up. But after tucking the kids in, I logged into my work site and cleaned up some loose ends...just in case.
Right after I got off the computer, the contractions suddenly picked up. At about 9pm, finally that magic moment: I had 6 contractions within half an hour! Thinking this was finally it, I grabbed my phone to start timing the contractions...and they immediately spaced back out to 15-20 minutes apart. Omar came out, and we spent the rest of the night watching 30 Rock. The contractions kept coming, strong enough that I had to breathe through them, and I found that the most comfortable position was on my knees leaning forward on my yoga ball. But they were still only every 15-20 minutes.
At 11pm, we decided to go to bed and try to get some rest. As we made our rounds checking on kids and doors, the contractions picked up, coming every few minutes and getting stronger. I was wearing a comfortable dress, so I didn't even bother to change, I just laid down on the bed. Once I relaxed on the bed, the contractions started to slow down, and I was able to breath and relax through them.
After a while, I heard Elijah wake up and sent Omar to check on him. When Omar came back in, I asked him to call the doctor and let them know we were going to head to the hospital. The contractions were irregular, but some were coming as close as every 4 minutes, and I knew it was time to go.
Omar called his dad to come over, and I stayed on the bed as I directed Omar with the last minute items to pack. I knew that as soon as I got up and started moving again that the contractions would start coming on stronger. I was surprised when I looked at the clock and realized it was already 1am; I didn't realize quite so much time had passed.
The hospital is only 5 minutes from our house, so we got there quickly. We had to sign in through the ER, and I just leaned on the desk breathing through contractions while Omar answered all their questions. As we waited for some one from L&D to come get us, I draped my arms around Omar's shoulders and leaned on his chest through every contraction. He was such a great support.
We got up to L&D triage and got checked. The nurse said I was 6-7cm dilated, but "stretchy" so she wanted another nurse to check. As soon as she walked out of the room, my water broke. She was back 2 minutes later, they agreed my water had broken, and the second nurse said I was good 8cm. They took me to a delivery room and paged the on call doctor.
This was the worst part of labor for me. As soon as I got into the bed, I started feeling the urge to push, but they needed to get an IV going for antibiotics, and the doctor wasn't there yet. Fighting my body's urge to push and trying to hold still through contractions was the worst ever. The first nurse tried to start an IV in both my hands, but blew both those veins. So she got the other nurse again who was able to get the IV going in my wrist. By the time the IV was in, the doctor had arrived. She checked, I was complete, and they FINALLY said I could push.
If you ask Omar, he'll tell you that the baby just shot out. It wasn't quite so easy from my perspective, but it was quick: 3 good pushes and baby Grace was out at 2:44am! They immediately placed her on my chest and rubbed her down, and she was just perfect. Omar cut the cord. They took over to the warming station briefly to check vitals then brought her back to me for skin to skin and nursing.
Once everything settled down, I was starving, and my supportive husband went out at 3:30am to buy me a breakfast sandwich from Whataburger. While he was gone, I finished answering all the admission questions for the nurse and signed the paperwork. Omar got back in time for Grace's first bath, and then we all moved over to a recovery room.
At 7lb 8.6oz, Grace is my biggest baby by almost a full pound, but recovery for me has been the easiest. I had no tearing or complications, and by a week post partum, I am feeling almost completely back to normal physically.
Grace is just perfect. She's such a sweet, quiet baby. She is nursing well and has passed her birth weight at 1 week old: 7lb 11oz. All her siblings are in love with her, and she is in danger of too much affection at times. We are all thrilled to have our newest family member with us finally.
Omar called his dad to come over, and I stayed on the bed as I directed Omar with the last minute items to pack. I knew that as soon as I got up and started moving again that the contractions would start coming on stronger. I was surprised when I looked at the clock and realized it was already 1am; I didn't realize quite so much time had passed.
The hospital is only 5 minutes from our house, so we got there quickly. We had to sign in through the ER, and I just leaned on the desk breathing through contractions while Omar answered all their questions. As we waited for some one from L&D to come get us, I draped my arms around Omar's shoulders and leaned on his chest through every contraction. He was such a great support.
We got up to L&D triage and got checked. The nurse said I was 6-7cm dilated, but "stretchy" so she wanted another nurse to check. As soon as she walked out of the room, my water broke. She was back 2 minutes later, they agreed my water had broken, and the second nurse said I was good 8cm. They took me to a delivery room and paged the on call doctor.
This was the worst part of labor for me. As soon as I got into the bed, I started feeling the urge to push, but they needed to get an IV going for antibiotics, and the doctor wasn't there yet. Fighting my body's urge to push and trying to hold still through contractions was the worst ever. The first nurse tried to start an IV in both my hands, but blew both those veins. So she got the other nurse again who was able to get the IV going in my wrist. By the time the IV was in, the doctor had arrived. She checked, I was complete, and they FINALLY said I could push.
If you ask Omar, he'll tell you that the baby just shot out. It wasn't quite so easy from my perspective, but it was quick: 3 good pushes and baby Grace was out at 2:44am! They immediately placed her on my chest and rubbed her down, and she was just perfect. Omar cut the cord. They took over to the warming station briefly to check vitals then brought her back to me for skin to skin and nursing.
Once everything settled down, I was starving, and my supportive husband went out at 3:30am to buy me a breakfast sandwich from Whataburger. While he was gone, I finished answering all the admission questions for the nurse and signed the paperwork. Omar got back in time for Grace's first bath, and then we all moved over to a recovery room.
At 7lb 8.6oz, Grace is my biggest baby by almost a full pound, but recovery for me has been the easiest. I had no tearing or complications, and by a week post partum, I am feeling almost completely back to normal physically.
Grace is just perfect. She's such a sweet, quiet baby. She is nursing well and has passed her birth weight at 1 week old: 7lb 11oz. All her siblings are in love with her, and she is in danger of too much affection at times. We are all thrilled to have our newest family member with us finally.
