Birth Story

It started with a fortune cookie. Mom and Dad Boone got a fortune cookie on the Friday before stating "Next Tuesday will be one of success and pleasant surprises." 

I went to work Monday evening (April 4th) per usual. Around 7pm I started feeling some light cramping. I thought it was just the occasional light cramping I felt during the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy. After having light cramping for 40 minutes, I decided to start timing them. They were coming about every 5-10 minutes for an hour. During that same hour my water broke, though I didn't know it at the time. It wasn't a large gush or a constant trickle like we were told about in our birth classes; I had the occasional small gush after my contractions. After soaking through 3 ABD pads (we normally use those for dressing changes; I improvised as I couldn't locate a sanitary napkin), I decided to give the on-call OB a call. At this point it's about 8:40pm and Dr. Deasy tells me to go to the hospital to check if my water broke. I called Diane to come and relieve me (Thanks Diane!), then Trevor to come pick me up. When Trevor arrived at my work, he was anxious and excited while I calmly sat at the nurses station. I think at the time I was in denial that I was actually in labor. 

It was about 9:30pm when we arrived at the hospital. The hospital is literally across the street from my work, so I wasn't concerned about not making it in time. The labor and delivery nurse, Christa, confirmed that my water indeed broke. At 10pm I was dilated 2 cm and having regular, mild contractions. We were moved from triage into a room. During the contractions Trevor pressed on my lower back to help alleviate the pain from the contractions. That pressure helped to alleviate most of my pain making everything much more bearable. We took a short walk around the unit, stopping when I had a contraction. We did intermittent fetal monitoring, which was really nice. The fetal monitor was really annoying and I didn't like the additional weight on my belly during contractions. I didn't want IV pain medications because those can travel through the placenta and affect the baby, so Trevor helped me find different positions along and applied pressure to my back to help me through the contractions. I also did a lot of deep breathing and reminded myself several times to relax my body and muscles during the contractions (something I've learned from my job). 

At 3:00am Tuesday morning, the pain of the contractions was much stronger. Trevor says that when the nurse asked I rated my pain a 5 out of 10, but I don't remember this. I told the nurse that the the pain was bearable with Trevor applying pressure on my back, but the pressure I felt in my perineum and the strong urge to poop were very uncomfortable. At the time, I just really wanted to go to the bathroom and relieve myself and get my epidural.  We were told in our birth classes not to have your dilation checked often because you'll be disappointed by how little you've progressed, and because my water had broke they wanted to reduce the risk of infection by checking me as little as possible. Trevor and I both thought I would be something like 5 cm dilated. Christa decided to check me and lo and behold...I was COMPLETE! I panicked for a second, realizing that I was not going to be getting an epidural, but then I calmed down and got my breathing under control with the help of Trevor and Christa. Until the doctor arrived, I was not supposed to push. That is the hardest thing not to do!!! Your body is naturally telling you PUSH! and you can't (unless you want to deliver before the doctor arrives)! Once Dr. Kathy Deasy (she came in for her hubby who wasn't feeling well) arrived, I was allowed to push. It was hard work doing the controlled, breathless pushes. But after 7 big pushing contractions, our beautiful daughter was born and placed in my arms while Trevor cut the umbilical cord.

I have since forgotten the pain. I honestly feel I could do it 5 more times! It was all worth it to meet our beautiful bundle of joy!

UPDATE: When I was holding her, right after she delivered, she peed twice on me!