Finally.....Baby B's Birth Story

Baby B's Birth Story
Born: Saturday, April 11, 2009
Weight: 8lbs, 15oz
Length: 21 inches long
Apgar: 9/9

Can two labor and delivery experiences be any more different?

My 40 week appointment was on Wednesday, April 8th. I was still 75% effaced and 3cm. Before I left Dr. B. said “See you this weekend!” Yeah right! He’s been saying that since the middle of March. I’ll believe it when I see it.  Well…he was right!

I had been having contractions on and off for about a week. The week before we even made a “practice trip”  to Labor & Delivery. That trip ended up being a false alarm so every time the contractions started up again that was always on the back of my mind. I really didn’t want to make another trip to L&D only to be sent home again.

Thursday night (April 9th) I woke up with contractions once again. They weren’t that bad and were only 5 minutes apart. After about four hours of this off and on I decided to get up and take a shower. That did the trick. The contractions quit so I went back to bed.

Friday (April 10th – my due date!) I spent the day at my parent’s house since My Hubby was working a double shift at the port. My mom and I went to the mall and walked around quite a bit. The rest of the day I spent napping or just hanging out. That night after dinner I started feeling nauseous but I didn’t really think anything of it. I had sporadic contractions but nothing out of the ordinary.
I went home that night and went to bed. About 11:45pm I woke up with a couple minor contractions.

I went back to sleep until I was woken again at 12:30am with very strong contractions. About this same time My Hubby arrived home from work. The contractions were coming every 3 – 4 minutes and I found myself having to breathe and sometimes even moan to get through them. I jumped in the shower to get some relief and to try to figure out if this was going to be another false alarm. The shower felt great but the contractions continued. I told My Hubby I thought this was going to be the real thing. I was still hesitant to head to labor and delivery because I was afraid they would just send me home again.

At 1:30am I told My Hubby if the contractions were still 3 minutes apart at 2:00 am we would head to town. 2:00am came and they were still 3 minutes apart and were starting to get very strong. This was it! We grabbed our bags and woke up “A” to take her to my parent’s house. I tried very hard to get through my contractions quietly while she was in the car. You could tell she knew something was up and I didn’t want to scare her.

We dropped “A” off and continued into town towards the hospital. Why is it that when you are in labor you feel every single bump in the road and you seem to hit every red light? During one contraction I could actually feel her drop lower in the birth canal. What a neat feeling! We arrived at the hospital at 2:45am. My Hubby’s Aunt Mary just happened to be on break from her nursing job and was in the parking lot. She was kind enough to get me a wheelchair and My Hubby wheeled me up to the maternity ward.

We got checked in and we were quickly settled into a labor and delivery room. I glanced at my watch after getting settled and it read 3:02am. My first thought – please let this be the real thing and not another false alarm. I was so glad my doctor, Dr. B., was on call this weekend! Dr. B. came in around 3:15am to check my progress. He announced I was definitely staying as I was 100% effaced, 7cm and she was at 0 station. I asked him if I could have an epidural and he said there was no time. No time! Yikes! He felt that I would be having the baby in an hour. An hour! No epidural! I expressed my concern to the nurse and to My Hubby. The both assured me that I could do it. I was given some stadol to help take the edge off the contractions. Looking back, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Maybe all those painful kidney stones prepared me for this. 

Around 4:15am I felt my membranes starting to leak. They broke completely around 4:30am. Around this time I felt like I had to push so I called the nurse in. She checked my progress once again. Sure enough I was 10cm and ready to have a baby!
I pushed for about 20 minutes. They kept saying “One more push and she’s here!” but I think I pushed several “one mores’” before she finally came. At one point her shoulders were stuck but it wasn’t long before Baby B was born at 4:57am! I ended up with a second-degree tear (can you say ouch!?). My Hubby was able to cut the cord. Once again, My Hubby was an awesome labor coach. I couldn’t have done it without him.

My Hubby started taking pictures and videotaping the nurse cleaning up and weighing Baby B. The nurse couldn’t believe how big she was! When they told me what she weighed I was speechless. I was expecting her to weigh close to what “A” weighed (7lbs 9oz). I guess not! She has huge feet too! They are so cute.

Looking back…..I still can’t believe I delivered an almost 9lb baby. Everything turned out great with no complaints. We are all healthy, the hospital staff was wonderful, and we are now a happy family of four!