On August 6th I went in for a doctor appointment and was told I was still at 2cm. Very frustrating! The doctor did strip my membranes and the rest of the day I was very crampy. That night I started having contractions that hurt pretty good, but they were only 6-10 minutes apart. We decided to go in at 3am, but deep down I knew it wasn’t time. I guess I was hoping that by the time we got there something would have started. They checked me and I was still 2cm. We had a really nice nurse named Shawna who was a year or two younger than me. She gave me a sleeping pill, just like I had with Will. This time I didn’t pass out like I did with Will though. I still felt a few contractions, but by the time I woke up they were gone.
Neil and my mom took Will to daycare so we had the a calm day on Tuesday. I went for a few walks, including with Neil to the mall, in the hopes to get something started. At the mall I had a few contractions that hurt pretty good. I think Neil was afraid I was going to have the baby right there at the mall!
By dinner time the contractions were getting stronger, but were still 6-9 minutes apart. Will was home by this point and it was hard to hide from him that I was in pain. At the dinner table he was asking me what was wrong and I told him my tummy hurt. Next thing I know he’s pretending to have a contraction and saying “my tummy hurts!”. It was so hard not to laugh. We knew at that point that it was best that Neil take him out of the house for a bit so he didn’t see me in pain.
I continued having contractions about 6 min. apart until 10pm. And then at 10pm they all of a sudden hit really hard at 3 min. apart. At one point I was laying on the bed having a bad one and when it was over I felt so sick I had to run to the bathroom where I came very close to throwing up. That’s when Neil decided it was time to go in. I didn’t want to go in too soon because I didn’t want to be sent home again but he insisted, and good thing he did!
We left at 10:30 with Neil speeding to the hospital. Each bump on the road brought on a new contraction. We got there and I got off the elevator in the middle of a bad one. The receptionist took one look at me and jumped up and grabbed a wheelchair for me. I didn’t want it because sitting didn’t feel good. She told me to walk to the labor rooms and when I walked through the doors I just started crying from the pain. All the nurses were looking at me with concern. One came up to me and started taking me to my room when Shawna, our nurse from the night before, saw me. She said “now that looks more like real labor!”. She was nice enough to switch with the nurse we had so that she could be with us. It was all I could do to get changed into my gown in between contractions. I was in a lot of pain.
Shawna checked me and I was 5 cm! She hurried to get the anesthesiologist so I could get my epidural and in the meantime the doctor came in to check me, about 15 minutes later. I was 8 cm! I wasn’t expecting that at all. I guess that explained the pain. I was progressing so fast. They got me the epidural just in time. Thirty minutes later and I wouldn’t have been able to get it. They were going to break my water after I got it but right after I received the drugs my water broke on my own. They checked me about, around 11:30 (forty five minutes after getting to the hospital), and I was 10 cm! I wasn’t at all prepared to have a baby that quickly. My mom wasn’t even there yet. Rhonda was heading to our house to be there with Will so she could come but I was going to fast that she wouldn’t make it in time. Around 12am they came in and could see that Gabby’s head was down about as far as it could go so I started pushing. Since I hadn’t had the epidural for very long I felt all the pressure and a lot of the stretching. It hurt a lot and I had a hard time pushing. I still only pushed for 15 min. before she came out, but it was a hard 15 min!
At 12:19 am she finally came out with a full head of hair. They put her on my chest and I just started smiling and laughing. I was so happy. She cried a couple of times then fell asleep on my chest. I got to hold her for a long time before they took her to weigh her or giver her a bath. Afterwards I felt great. I didn’t even feel like I had just given birth. I think partly because we had only been there 2 hours and because I didn’t have a lot of drugs. I recovered really quickly.
And now we are home and she is 6 days old. She sleeps a lot, eats a lot, and is just really, really cute! Big brother loves her and helps out a lot. He’s anxious for her to start being able to play with him though.
I haven’t told Neil, but I already have baby fever for number three! Ssshh!
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