I woke up Sunday, 12/12, with severe pain in my lower abdomen. I couldn't even get out of bed to walk to the bathroom -Sean had to help me. I remember saying to him that something was going to happen that day because I didn't feel quite right. Our plans for that day were to finish up Olivia's bedroom. (Good thing we did that!) I had been having contractions all day that were more intense than usual. Around 7pm that night, we decided that we should start timing them. They were coming pretty regularly at 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each time. I called my Doctor's office and spoke to the midwife, Wendy, on call. She suggested that I drink LOTS of water and get in a warm bath. She said that would make the contractions stop. Well, they didn't! They got more intense! Since I was induced with Sophia, I had no idea what labor felt like. Everyone always says that when you are in labor, you will know.....well, I had no idea. After all, I was only 37 weeks. I kind of felt like Wendy was brushing me off. This is when I thought it would be best to go ahead and call my sister to put her "on call"!
By this time, about an hour and a half had passed. After I got out of the bathtub, I tried to lie down and rest. The contractions were getting so strong that I couldn't talk through them. I even called a few of my friends to ask if they had experienced labor. Unforunately for me, they were both induced! My friend, K, heard me attempting to talk through a contraction and convinced me to call the midwife back because I was in labor! I did as she advised, and Wendy told me that she had reviewed my file. My doctor had noted that I could go at any time. Wendy told me to come to the hospital, and she would be waiting for me. As I was doing all of this, Sean decided to take a shower.
I had just packed my hospital bag two days before! Of course, Sean did not have his packed. He was running around like crazy trying to get his things together. We called our neighbors, the Grand Cs, to come stay with Sophia until Auntie could get here. We packed up and left for the hospital around 9pm.
We arrived at the hospital around 10pm. Auntie ended up meeting us at the hospital while we registered - I think she wanted to stay there with us....I wanted her to, as well! We went to my room, which Auntie pointed out was the same room that I gave birth to Sophia! Once we were all settled, we had to wait for the midwife, Wendy, to come tell us if we would be staying or going home. She checked me, and I was 3 cm dialated and 90% effaced - I was in labor and having this baby! A simultaneous feeling of relief and panic settled in! Sean went to get our bags out of the car, and we prepared to meet our newest angel.
I got my epidural and tried to get a little bit of sleep. Wendy checked me a little later and I was 5 cm dialated. Not long afterwards, the nurse came in to check me and said that I was still at 5 cm. I told her that I was starting to feel contractions. She said that she would "up" the medicine in my epidural, and it would work within 5-10 minutes. About 20 minutes later, I was feeling the contractions so badly that I was in tears. The contractions were about a minute apart. The anesthesiologist came back to help me. At that time, Wendy walked in. The nurse told her I was still at 5 cm. Wendy checked me and said, "Uh, no, honey. She is 10 cm dialated and the baby is crowning. We are about to have this baby!" They barely had enough time to change the bed. I pushed twice and Olivia Marie was in my arms!
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