Recap: Labor and Delivery

So, many people have been asking how labor and delivery actually went, I know I didn't say much in the blog after she was born.

So here goes:
The Saturday night before she was born (which was on a Tuesday), I felt a lot of pressure very frequently. I was asleep, so I just thought I had to pee a lot, because at first it didn't hurt that bad. Then I started contracting regularly, about every 7 minutes throughout Sunday. The contractions weren't that bad so I thought I would wait it out until they were closer together. Well, Sunday night/Monday morning I had bright red bleeding, and as we all know, they tell you to go in if that happens.

Well, I went in and described my symptoms, but my pain was dismissed by the nurses, stating that women can go around for weeks having Braxton Hicks contractions. I know these weren't those, because they were regular, and hello, did you see that I was bleeding? I even asked how I was supposed to be able to drive and function like this, it was dangerous! Anyway, they checked me and I was only dilated to 1, and Amelia's heartbeat was regular and she was in no sign of distress. So they sent me home to walk/rest, and told me to either come back in a few hours or call my doctor's office in the morning. I ended up taking a bath and was able to sleep in between contractions. I walked for an hour, and the contractions were still every 7 minutes. I called the doctor's office, and explained what had happened. The receptionist or whoever dismissed me too, saying that these were Braxton Hicks. She was just going to hang up the phone, but I was exhausted by this point, and I really didn't have the patience to deal with people. I actually got crappy with her (shocker, right?), and she ended up talking to the doctor.

So Monday, I ended up missing school and really big test that day. I was tempted to go take it, but Jacob was insistent that I stay home. I contracted all day, and I was pretty bummed, because I thought for sure that I would be having my baby in the hospital by that point. I contracted all through Monday night into Tuesday morning out on the couch. I was up every 7 minutes. Jacob kept saying, "let's go in." And all I said was that they would send me home. Well Tuesday morning about 6 am, I had had enough and we went to the hospital. I was bawling because I was exhausted. I also hadn't eaten anything since the night before, so I was in pretty bad shape emotionally and physically.

They admitted me, and the admitting nurse advocated for some therapeutic sleep for me. This means they give you a narcotic and try to let you get some rest. I really wanted to deliver all natural, but by that time I was too exhausted to think about it. Well, the idea was nice, but every time I would almost drift off to sleep, the machines would beep, and the nurses weren't bright enough to turn them down so they wouldn't disturb me. So, needless to say, I didn't get any sleep.

At 9 am I was at 2 cm, and my Doc came in and broke my water, and the nurse started pitocin. I asked for an epidural at 12, while the contractions were still bearable. I was told it would be an hour, but 2.5 hours later, after the contractions were horrible, I finally got one. When I got the epidural at 2:30, I was at 3 cm. I was able to relax enough, and I was at 10 cm and ready to push at 5:30. My mom and Jacob's mom were there to help me, and Jacob held my head. Then when she was right there, they told me to stop pushing, so that the doctor could come in and catch the baby. Here comes the doctor, rolling in in his 3 piece suit... he was great though. So, hence, our Amelia came at 7:03 pm. She didn't even cry at first, she just looked around. Amelia had a much better time during labor and delivery than I did, her heart rate stayed the same the entire time.

Like I said, Jacob didn't leave my side. He was wonderful.

*A note to add from the blog I posted last night: Mia made a liar out of me, she usually isn't fussy. But last night she screamed for 3 hours!! Yikes! She's sleeping now. Lucky her!*