Nadia's Birth (Really LONG

Nadia?s Birth Story

Monday- November 10^th 2008- 40 weeks, 3 days pregnant

I went to the dr on Monday. I was still barely a centimeter dialated and the baby was still floating and not engaged! The doctor told me anything was possible, but it didn?t look like she was going to come on her own. We scheduled an induction for the following Sunday, November 16.

Tuesday- November 11^th 2008- 40 weeks, 4 days pregnant

7:00pm- Started having bad period cramps. Pains were inconsistent ranging from 10 minutes to 20 minutes a part?The pains felt different from pains in the past, but I didn?t want to get excited since they were not getting closer together or increasing in pain. I didn?t even bother telling my husband since I didn?t want to get him excited for no reason. That night, I cried myself to sleep and prayed my body would go into labor on it?s own. I really wanted to avoid an induction and possible c-section.

November 12^th, 2008- 40 weeks, 5 days pregnant

Sometime after midnight- Pain was getting worse and actually waking me from my sleep. I went to the bathroom and had a bloody show. I put on a pad, changed my underwear and went back to bed. I debated waking my husband but decided to let him sleep. No sense in waking him up for nothing?

5:00am- The pain was growing in intensity and about 10-12 minutes apart. At this point, I knew something was different. I poked my husband and said, ?She is coming today.? He rolled over and mumbled- ?Who??? Who is coming?? I replied: ?The baby!? He said ?Okay,? and went back to sleep. I kept timing the contractions and wishing and hoping this was it.

6:00am- The alarm clock goes off. Hubby asked if I was having contractions and I said yes. He mentioned heading to the hospital and I replied I didn?t want to yet. I was really scared that this wasn?t the real thing and I would get there and they would send me home. I told him to go to work and I would call him if things got worse.

Between 7:00 am and 8:00am I was having contractions 6-7 minutes apart. I changed the sheets on our bed, picked up the house and finished packing the last minute things into our hospital bag. I put everything we needed by the door. I called my mom and then my doctor?s office. They told me to go to the hospital for a labor check. I filled up the bathtub and shaved my legs. By this point it?s about 9:00am. I called my husband and told him to come home and take me to the hospital. He was tied up at work and didn?t arrive until almost 10:00am. The pain was getting more intense. He took a shower and we were on our way.

11:00 am- Arrived at the hospital and headed to triage for my labor check. By this point I was convinced I was really in labor. When we arrive in triage, the nurse tells me that she is full and doesn?t have any beds right now. She sent me out to wait in the waiting room! The waiting room is full and I ended up sitting next to the security guard. I had two bad contractions while I was sitting next to him. He called the nurse in triage and said she NEEDED to see me. I was still calm and relaxed. The pain was getting worse, but nothing I couldn?t handle.

The nurse came to get me. They tell me to change into a gown and hook me up the machines to track my contractions and the baby?s heartbeat. She checked me and said I was 3 cm dialated! YAY for progress! She said she would be back in 20 minutes to check on the contractions. When she returned my contractions were 2-4 minutes a part and she said I was a KEEPER! She said she would call my doctor and get me set up in a labor and delivery room!

Finally, I am in the labor and delivery room. After a while the nurse comes back to ask me some questions. One of the questions is: ?Are you going to want an epidural?? My response: ?Do I have to make a decision right now? I?d rather see how it goes!? My husband comments that I should just take the epidural, the nurse comments I should just take the epidural. I stick to my decision about waiting it out. At this point, the pain is tolerable. I consider myself to be a tough girl?

By 2:30pm I am about 5 centimeters dialated. My doctor comes in to see me. He asks how it?s going. I told him the contractions were coming strong and good. He then says he is going to break my water so we can really get the show on the road, pulls out the hook stick thing and just does it! I didn?t have a chance to protest or get ready. The feeling of my water breaking is the ickiest most disgusting feeling I have ever felt in my life. The doctor walks out.

Fast forward a few minutes- The contractions are getting REALLY painful. I look at my husband and say: ?What am I trying to prove? Go get that nurse and tell her I will take that epidural!? My husband disappears and returns with the nurse who comes in with an IV bag. As she is putting the IV bag in, the epidural lady walks in ready to give me the epidural. She looks at the IV bag and says- ?Oh, they just put that in? We have to wait until you have had one full bag before I give you the epidural.? She turns around and walks out. The nurse leaves and I am left with the full IV bag and my husband. The pain is increasing and I am starting to feel REALLY uncomfortable. The bag was dripping REALLY slow.

FINALLY, the IV bag is finished. I tell my husband to ?GO GET ME THE EPI LADY!? The lady is now no where to be found.

3:30pm- No epi lady

4:00pm- No epi lady

4:30pm- No epi lady and I am in the worst pain I have EVER felt in my ENTIRE life.

5:00pm- I am SCREAMING for someone to HELP ME! (I know, a little dramatic). My poor husband doesn?t know what to do.

5:30pm- The nurse is apologizing. The epi lady had to go into an emergency surgery. They are trying to get someone else. They offer me NUBAIN. I say ?NO- I WANT MY EPIDURAL!? My husband says, ?YES- GIVE HER SOMETHING PLEASE!? I stick to not taking the nubain and insist on waiting for my epi.

10 minutes later, my epidural arrives (good thing I didn?t take the nubain). By 6:00pm I was back to my smiley happy self. My ENTIRE family arrives at this point and we visit, laugh and talk until about 8 or 9pm.

9:00pm- I am about 8 centimeters dialated and the baby is still really high. Everyone leaves the room except for my mom, husband and sisters.

For the next few hours, I am stuck at 8 centimeters. The nurse comes in and says that they will be administering pitocin to speed things along. She tells me to try laying on my left for a while in hopes changing positions will help me continue to dialate and the baby to get into position. (I forgot to mention that the baby was posterior!)

Sometime after, the nurse comes in with the pitocin bag. She hooks me up and leaves. I am back on my left side. After a while, I started feeling the contractions again. I start to panic that the pain is coming back. My entire left side was numb and my entire right side was feeling every contraction. I had to breathe through them because the nurse told me to stay in that position.

Finally- after what felt like forever, she let me flip onto my right side. The anesthesia started dripping into my right side and felt some relief.

Thursday, November 13^th, 2008- 12:00am- I am FINALLY 10 centimeters dialated and the baby has FLIPPED! YES! The nurse tells me we are going to wait for the contractions to push the baby down before we push.

I start to feel pressure and the ?urge? to push. She says we have to wait!

2:30ish am.- Nurse says we are going to do some ?practice? pushes and she is going to call the doctor. The baby has finally descended and is in position. She ?teaches? me to push. My mom is at my head- husband is holding one leg. My sisters are standing back watching from afar.

Dr is on his way?

I start pushing with the nurse. Around 2:50 am the doctor walks in and checks on progress. He walks out and I wonder: WHERE IS HE GOING???

He comes back shortly after and starts getting ready. The nurse tells me to hold it? I scream- I HAVE TO PUSH!!! (By the way, I am starving and haven?t eaten anything ALL DAY! I tell the doctor, get her out of me so I can EAT!?)

The doctor is setting up- he looks over his shoulder and calmly says: ?You have to push- then push!? So I do.

He sits in front of me and says with the next contraction, we are having a baby. I PUSHED and out she came! The first thing I looked at was that she was actually a girl! (Everyone told me I had a ?boy? belly and I was actually starting to wonder!) They laid her on me and I just stared at her in amazement. She was (and is) soooo beautiful and perfect! The nurse was wiping her down. At this point my sisters are standing at my side with my mom, everyone is crying! After a few minutes the nurse came to take her from my arms. I said ?NOT YET!?

Everyone was commenting on how BIG she was! She weighed in at 9lbs 1 ounce and 20 ? inches long. My doctor was even surprised! (I always measured on target and never had a growth untrasound at the end.) He says I really hid it well and commented that if he had known- we would have been hesitant to let me attempt a vaginal delivery.

Labor and delivery was the most amazing experience of my entire life and I would do it again today. I still can?t believe she is really mine and I get to keep her forever! I am absolutely in love and it is a love like no other I have ever felt.