Gracie's Birth 11/25/06 3:17 pm
I am a salary manager at a restaurant so that means I work 50+ hrs a week. And I didn't slow down once after I got pregnant. We had some former employees who were pregnant and always needed to sit, or throw up or complain about the aches and pains of pregnancy. I did not want to be one of those women. I don't think I complained once about being pregnant. I never missed a shift (with the exception of a kidney stone...ouch!). And other than peeing every 30 minutes I was enjoying working and being pregnant. And hey, working in a restaurant I got tons of free food :)
I did not throw up once during my pregnancy. I craved mac and cheese and french fries and I pushed myself to my limits. I even painted the nursery and our kitchen (and got yelled at by every co-worker!) I took a lot of naps and whined while at home, but when I was at work, I sometimes forgot I was even pregnant. And got in trouble again for putting dishes away, lifting boxes (not heavy ones, I promise!) and being constantly on the move.
The baby was due Saturday, November 25th - 2 days after Thanksgiving. I was going to take maternity leave the following Monday cause I assumed I would be late. Then I got to thinking if something happened I didn't want them to have to cover shifts for me so I took leave the Tuesday before. Wednesday I felt guilty for not being at work. Thursday (Thanksgiving) we didn't do anything. We didn't even have a turkey cause I thought if I went into labor I didn't want to have a whole meal being made and wasted. Friday was another boring day and again felt guilty for not working. Mike (hubby) went to work (we were working at the same restaurant) that night and I sat down to do some cross-stitching and watch some movies.
Around 5:30 I went upstairs to pee (again) and stopped to peek out the window. That's when my water broke. However, I didn't know that's what had happened right away. I felt wetter and thought "Well that's different". Soon as I sat down to pee I realized what had happened and started freaking out. I hadn't even had any contractions. I called Mike's cell and of course he didn't answer, so I called our work and asked to talk to him. I told the hostess that my water had broke and she ran back to get Mike. When she told him I was on the phone and that my water had broke he told her to shut up and quit kidding him. Then he realized she was serious. He was out of there so fast.
So there I am, sitting on the toilet wondering what in the hell I'm going to do with all this liquid running out of me. No one tells you it keeps coming! I called my mom and she told me to get to the hospital. So I called the hospital and asked if that's what I was supposed to do. I hadn't had any contractions! I thought I was supposed to wait until they were 10 minutes apart and then go. They told me to come on down. By that time Mike got home and started to grab thing. I had already had the bags packed so we grabbed them and a towel for me to sit on and got on our way. Mike was freaking out and I kept calming him down. I had to keep reminding him not to speed and that we had plenty of time before the baby got there.
Got to the hospital and went to L&D. Stubborn old me refused a wheelchair :) They hooked me up to the monitors and checked my cervix....which was at 1cm.
They called the doc (not my doc...he was on vacation) and then it was time to just wait. Peeing sucked cause you had to unhook all the monitors, drag the IV, be careful not to leak fluids everywhere, do your business and make it back to the bed, all while your bum hangs out of a hospital gown. My MIL showed up as did my FIL (divorced) and BIL. The doc came and said since my water broke they would wait to see how I went naturally dilating, but if I wasn't far enough along by midnight they were going to induce. The monitor showed I was having contractions, but all it felt like was slight pressure. They also did an ultrasound to see how the baby was facing. She was head down but face up and she needed to turn before she could deliver so her head was down. It was only the 3rd ultrasound we saw of her. We could see her sticking out her tongue and putting her hands to her mouth. I could feel her moving inside of me and see her moving on the screen. It was a beautiful thing.
Midnight came and I was dilated to 2 cm. Contractions were a little stronger, but not unbearable. So they came and induced me. About an hr later I could feel the contractions start to hurt. At 2 I was doubling over. They gave me some fentinal (sp?). I think I got 2 doses before they finally came and did the epidural. That was heavenly!! However, didn't realize that you can't feel anything from the waist down. So they put in a catheter. Fun!
So I am drifting off to sleep for about hour long intervals. The nurses keep coming in to check on me. Every time I have a contraction, the baby's heartbeat goes from 140 to 100. Sometimes down lower. The monitors keep losing her (she's really an active baby) so they insert an internal monitor. Hours go by and the nurses are starting to get worried about her heart beat. It takes a while for it to comeback up. Oh, and I forgot to mention that there was meconium in the fluid so they are worried that the baby is distressed. Now I did not want a C-section at all. I didn't even want induced, but had no choice there. The doc wouldn't go longer than 6 hrs after the water breaks before inducing to reduce risk of infection. So I start to get worried every time I see the heartbeat fall below 100. I remember praying that God saves my baby no matter what. They keep checking me and I'm slowly getting more dilated. The doc says if I don't get to a 10 by 2:00 they're most likely going to have to do a c-section because of the stress the baby is in. I do not want that, so now I am praying for God to watch over my baby and for me to get to a 10!
At 2 they come and check and low and behold I am at 10cm. The nurses come in and start changing my bed into a birthing bed. It was like a Transformer. They prop my legs into the stirrups and the nurse goes over how I will push. The doc checks and she is face down. I pushed for about an hour. I remember the doc saying if I kept pushing and nothing happened they would do a c-section. I pushed like there was no tomorrow. I could feel her head and it was an odd pressure feeling since I was numb. Then I couldn't feel her head anymore. The doc asked if I had one more push and the next thing I knew the doc had her in his hands. Mike said she slipped out like an eel!
I just started bawling. There she was, my beautiful baby girl. After checking that it was indeed a girl, I counted her toes while they cleaned her off. I couldn't hold her right away because they needed to clear her lungs of the meconium. Turns out the cord was wrapped around her head twice which was why her heartbeat was dropping. She was born 3:17 pm on November 25 --- her due date! She weighed in at 6lbs 15 oz and was 20" long. Right after they gave her to me I threw up :)
Doesn't that figure.
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