A Little of My Life

Part Two: The Adventure Continues

Me at the start of it all....still smiling!

Back to the hospital we go. I was really dreading going back there, as I knew they were just going to say the same thing. But at this point I didn't really care all that much. If I layed on my back and the contractions slowed down it was very welcome. I was tired...very tired. It's 3:00 pm......still 1 cm dilated . Wow...that sucked. They decided that they would send us home as nothing at all seemed to be happening and they thought that at the rate I was going nothing would happen until the morning at least. I thought that I would be upset to hear that, but I was okay with it. My mom has a big soaker tub, so we decided that we'd just go there and I'd soak for a while and see what happened. Back in the car for another hours drive. Got to moms, got settled in the tub and then it really began. 1 1/2-2minutes apart. The contractions up until this point now seemed rather enjoyable. Wes was sitting there timing them for me, and would prepare me a couple of seconds before the next one would come. The bath was nice and relaxing when I wasn't having the contractions! He would count down the seconds left during the contractions, which gave me some hope that they would be ending soon.....only to start again though. I was so proud of him.....he was such a good support. Once they started getting really bad I decided to get out and walk around for a bit. Still 2 minutes apart and getting stronger. During them, I would lean against something....whatever was in front of me at that point and Wes would put pressure on my lower back. And so it went for an hour or so. I went and layed down on moms bed, thinking I would get some relief that way. By then the whole family was pretty much there. Tasha's kids had shown up with Gary, and my dad was there also. The poor girls didn't know what to think about me laying there moaning and screaming and Tasha getting in my face telling me to breath. It's a good thing she was patient with me....I have a feeling that I was being pretty stubborn about breathing...it was easier just to hold my breath! At one point my dad came in the the room and was on the bed with all of us. It was sooo funny! Every time I would have a contraction he would hold his breath and wiggle his toes! Too cute! :) By 7:00 pm, I was in SO much pain...couldn't talk, couldn't walk, couldn't lay down...couldn't do anything. I got Tasha to call the midwife and tell her that we were on our way BACK to the hospital. Soo ...back in the car we go! That was the worst car ride I have ever ever ever had in my life! Every single little bump hurt SO back. I kept telling Wes to stop hitting the bumps.....poor guy. There was nothing he could do about it, but I was getting so mad at him! I think we made it to the hospital in about 20 minutes that time! :) He's trying to drive....I'm trying to squeeze his hand, getting mad about bumps, telling him to go faster, telling him to slow down, telling him to pull over because I'm going to be sick. Wow..he sure took a lot from me!
So we go thru the same routine again.....get hooked up to the monitors. Even on my back by this point the contractions were coming good and strong. They checked me and I had made it to 2.5 cm dilated. Grr...I wanted to hurt someone at that point! They decided that they weren't going to send me home again. They'd keep me over night, but would have to move me to a normal room in case more people came in during the night to have babies. By this point I didn't care where I was....I was so tired...all I wanted to do was sleep. So, they start moving me into a different room and the nurse tells me that Wes, mom and Tasha will have to go stay somewhere else for the night because there is no room for them. I just kind of sat there trying not to cry. I didn't want them to send everyone away and leave me there by myself!! Tasha saw my face and stood up for me. She told them that there is no way Wes was going to leave me. She really layed into the nurse! It was great!! So back to the big labour room we went so that Wes could stay with me. They told me that they would have to move me out of there in the middle of the night if anyone came in. (they have 2 more empty labour rooms as well!!) Mom and Tasha went and got a hotel room and Wes crashed on the big lazy boy chair that was in the room. They gave me some morphine to help with the pain so that I'd be able to sleep a bit. I couldn't care what they gave me at that point...as long as I got to sleep. Well...the morphine didn't do a thing. I think you can gather from the start of this story that Wes is a VERY deep sleeper, so I layed there all night in pain. Even my moaning and groaning didn't wake him up. The nurse came in a few times during the night to give me some more morphine, but to no avail. Even though I was in a severe amount of pain, the night actually went by pretty fast. Mom and Tasha were back by 6 the next morning....just in time to hear that I had only made it to 4 cm dilated. We came to the conclusion that it was time for an epidural. I had not slept since 2 am the morning before, and if I was going to have this baby today, I needed to get some sleep. Wow....to anyone that wants to have a "natural birth" you are crazy!! It was the best feeling in the world!! The best part was that they put a catheter in you, so I didn't even have to get up to go pee! From that point on, things become a little blurry. I was so exhausted, so once I had no pain, sleep took over. I could still hear what was going on around me, but my eyes would not open. I was so completely relaxed. At some point over the next couple of hours, they broke my water so see if that would help me dilate any more. All I remember about that is saying a little while after...."why am I still leaky?" I know....gross, but that was what was going thru my mind! I also remember the Gyno coming in a few times and checking things out. I was a little confused about this, as I was having a midwife deliver my baby, so wasn't sure why he was there. Didn't care though...too tired to care. I also remember a nurse coming in and getting mad at my sister because she was talking too loud and I was trying to sleep. I tried to tell her that I didn't mind....I liked laying there listening to everyone, but I couldn't gather the strength to speak my thoughts.
They Gyno came back in again...checked me and said something like "I'll be back at noon....if nothings changes we will go from there" Huh. Wonder what he's talking about....too tired to care.
By this point my dad, Wes's mom and Wes's son were all there waiting for the arrival of the baby. I remember seeing them for a bit, and being glad that they were there to meet the new little one when the time came.
Noon came and I was woken up and told that I was going in for a C-section. I was still only 4 cm dilated and they were getting concerned about the baby. Okay...no problem, just get it out of me. It's funny...I was not worried about it at all. You'd think you'd be a little concerned about being sliced open, but I wasn't. I was totally okay with it.

We must pause here as Abe is awake and hungry. Don't worry...there is more to come!