In case you missed the last post, the one with the picture of the most handsome baby boy the world has ever seen (true), I had a baby! Again!! And it was still a boy!!! And we named him Noah!!!! Okay, enough exclamation points.
Thanks to my amazing powers of recollection, the technology of Facebook and text messaging , I have created a tiny record of my labor with Noah. Without further adieu, February 18, 2011 went something like this:
8:00am – I wake up and think, is today the day? Because I really don’t want to go to work. If I’m going to have the baby today I’d kind of like to know so I don’t waste my last day working. Well, I guess I feel okay so here we go, Day. Bring it.
11:00am – I get to work, it’s super busy. Everyone exclaims, “You’re here! I can’t believe you’re still pregnant!” I’m assigned to triage (boo, hiss, hiss) but this might be a good thing. Maybe sitting down in triage will ease my (now) aching lower back. I joke with the other nurses that I just need to make it to 7pm and finish my shift because I don’t want to waste any PTO before my maternity leave starts. (Ha ha HA).
12:00pm – I start to notice my belly becoming hard every now and then. Although I always have contractions at work, it’s a physically demanding and stressful job. I’m used to it. I have another nurse feel my stomach a few times. She swears I’m in labor. I am a stubborn nurse AT WORK IN A HOSPITAL and continue to deny it. Hey, I’ve got a job to do! And stuff to do this weekend!
1:55pm – I finally start jotting down start times here and there in between patients to monitor if my contractions are regular. My lower back still hurts. This is a new symptom that started this morning.
2:30pm – Shift change is coming up, and it’s almost time for my 30 minute lunch break. I agree to come back to triage after my break instead of changing assignments. My back still hurts and I tell the charge nurse, half jokingly, “I think I might be in labor but I don’t know. I should probably stay sitting down to see if these contractions go away.” A few of us feel around on my stomach again. “Girl you’re in labor!” they say. “No, I don’t think so,” I say. (Ha ha ha HA).
3:05pm – Lunch time. I make my way to the nurses station but don’t go to lunch.
“I’m afraid to go to lunch,” I say half smiling, half terrified, “I really think I might be in labor.”
“How far apart are they?!” they ask excitedly.
“About every 5 minutes.”
“For how long?!”
“I don’t know! I don’t have time to pay attention to that, I’ve been triaging! Probably at least two hours now. And my doctor said if they were at least 5 minutes for more than two hours I should go to the hospital.”
“Oh my gosh!” they say, “You’re totally in labor. You need to leave!”
“Yeah, I don’t know. What if this isn’t it?”
(Ha ha ha HAAAAAA)
3:10pm – I walk around my hospital, notice a little more discomfort with the contractions, call Kevin and ask if I should go to the hospital. “Um, I can’t really tell you since YOU’RE THE ONE WHO IS PREGNANT.” Oh, right. I go back to the unit and sit behind the nurses station. My boss is down here now. “You know if you leave now you’ll probably get stuck in traffic and have that baby in the car” he jokes, “so you might as well stick out your shift.” “Yeah!” the nurses cry, “We’ve got three sterile vag basins and an empty trauma room. We can deliver that baby right here!”
3:11pm – I DON’T THINK SO.
3:25pm – I tell the charge nurse that yeah, I think I need to leave. I pack up my stuff and leave for the hospital. They’ll probably send me home. (Ha ha ha ha HAAAAAA)
3:40pm – I start texting/FBing on my way out because I’ve got to have something to laugh about when they send me home and I left work for nothing, right? (Also, I’m super nervous. I was induced the first time, I have NO IDEA what real labor fees like and honestly I’m not hurting at all.) I’m going to feel like a total tool in about one hour is all I keep thinking.
3:49pm – FB: “I’m leaving work and heading to another hosptial for… Baby? Maybe?”
4:55pm – FB: “Being admitted. 4-5 cm, 90% effaced. Really need to go to the BR. Gross. Dammit. And my doc is OOT so delivering with Dr C, supposed hottie according to my sources. Greeeeeat.”
6:00pm – Kevin and Avelyn finally arrive. I have a sweet 20 minutes with my beautiful girl, my first born baby before she’s off to dinner and spend the night with the grandparents. I really want her to stay. I want her to be here for the birth. I miss her so much when she’s gone.
6:30pm – 5cm. Dr C breaks my water. A big gush of really hot water with every contraction or when baby moves. This is weird.
7:30pm – Contractions are finally starting to hurt. Ow. Now I remember what this is like. Why did I think it would be cool to do this without drugs? What is wrong with me?! There is nothing cool about being in pain and I want to enjoy this birth because I’M DOING ALL THE WORK DAMMIT!
8:01pm – Txt: “Just got epidural. Broke bag at 1830.” Blessed epidural, how I love thee. Look how happy I am! A baby is about to rip through my vagina again, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
8:42pm – FB: “I can’t feel my legs! I can’t feel my legs! Oh wait, there they are, buried beneath the wonderful effects of DRUGS. 7cm. Going to take a nap now.” (Of course the nap didn’t happen. I’m on my phone a lot. Who can sleep when you’re about to give birth!)
10:09pm – Txt: “9cm, +1 station. Almost go time!”
10:36pm – Nurse says I’m complete and it’s time! Had two practice pushes with my nurse and watched in the mirror as his head came all the way down. Was instructed to stop pushing so we could have an actual doctor present to deliver my unborn child. I’ve got drugs on board and I can’t feel or move the lower half of my body so you know, take your time. It’s cool.
10:45ish – Everyone in place, doc asks which one of us (Kevin or myself) wants to deliver the baby. Holy crap this is totally happening right now.
10:50pm – A few (maybe 4 or 5?) pushes and Dr C tells me to reach down, grab my baby and lay him on my chest.
10:53pm – I do. Noah James is here. And I’m in love.
See the whole set on flickr.
How is that possible? And how did it happen so quickly?
We got a late start but had a (mostly) enjoyable fun 4 hours together. Thank goodness for season passes so I don’t have to spend the whole damn day there. A few hours here and there is just enough time to enjoy ourselves and go home and prevent the inevitable comments by strangers that sound something like “look at that crazy mom over there! Why is she curled up in the fetal position rocking herself and singing that creepy song?” if I have to be there for more than a few hours at a time.
Amazingly Kevin had two green shirts to choose from while I had none, and he can pull off green even less than I can. Weird. Anyway, the highlight of the day was that Avelyn was sooooooo excited to ride the roller coaster. Her FIRST roller coaster. The S.eaworld Ride Nazi’s almost didn’t let her on after the ride height requirement chart said she was less than 38 inches. Funny, given how the doctors chart and our measurements at home have her at 39+ inches. Even the woman behind us agreed that she at least hit the 38″ mark so she should be allowed to ride with Kevin. Nazi let her, which is good for her because I would have taken her down, baby on my chest or not. My kid was ecstatic to ride a “rodda coaster” for the first time and there was no way we were leaving until she did. Unfortunately for picture purposes the adults have to ride on the outside of the coaster so most of the photos just show Kevin looking kind of weird riding a kids coaster by himself. I got a few glimpses of Avelyn, who did awesome (even had her hands in the air!! she doesn’t get that from me!) until the first drop. She had a death grip on Kevin’s knee and a terrified expression for the rest of the ride but SHE DID IT!! She rode a rodda coaster! And she’s not even three. I was so proud. Afterward she told me “It was scary, Mommy. I was scared a wot but I wode it!” My big girl. This parenting gig is pretty sweet.
