The Birth Story - Part II

Okay where was I... so we left for the hospital at 6:10AM, having contractions along the way - in fact at one point I told J to be more gentle in his turns because he had to turn at the light during a contraction - really he was driving gently, but to me, just eeeekkkk! He said "but I have to turn the car!"

We made it through the car ride and pulled up to the hospital about 20 minutes later.

We got all checked in and hooked up in OB Triage (totally like Saturday night - great practice huh!), and then my OB came in to check me. Hallelujah! We had made it before the end of her shift but at least we got to see her - very reassuring.

She checked me and I was at 4CM! She said, "yep, we're gonna have a baby today!", and we both almost started crying and I said "okay, so we can call our parents now!?" - we had wanted to wait until we knew it was real labor. So we started making the calls - all the while me trying not to cry when I talked to my Mom - tears of joy and overcome with emotion that we'd finally get to meet our baby boy today!

I got all admitted and the nurse took me in a wheelchair over to our room in Labor & Delivery. A room where we'd stay for a long time. We got there around 7:00AM. So a quick trip in OB Triage! Yay!

We met our first (of 2 - ah, shift changes) nurses who was FABULOUS! She got me all hooked up to monitors and got my IV set up. We asked her TONS of questions (shocker) and chilled out with the 'relaxation channel' on tv, did some tweeting, and phone calling to family, and texting, and breathing through contractions - at this point not horrible but uncomfortable.

Anesthesia came in and went over epidural info (I knew I wanted one, was just a matter of when), and any emergency information we would need. I signed my consents and was told to just let them know when I was ready.

The doctor came in (the man dr who we saw at the beginning of the pregnancy - we really don't care for him, but at least he was a familiar face), and checked me - at which point I lost my filter and said "GOSH YOUR FINGERS ARE HUGE!" I swear I could feel every crinkle in his gloves! He laughed and said there was nothing he could do about the size of his fingers but once I get my epidural I wouldn't be as uncomfortable during exams.

He suggested breaking my water after he checked me - at which point I was like 'wait, what!' and J quickly told him that we needed a minute to discuss. Nothing like pressure on the outside AND the inside right!

I knew that when they broke the water that the pain and contractions would intensify a lot. So I figured, well, I'm between 4 and 5 cms, so I may as well go for it, I've hung in long enough and want to be comfortable. Then, once that has set in, I can have him break my water. Done deal.

Anesthesia was called and they came in almost right away - we got them at the right time because apparently after that they went into a surgery and had a lot of other requests.

Epidural didn't hurt a big going in - seriously, nothing. I got a few shocks down my leg but they said that would happen and when it did, I kept saying 'oh, there it is..again..AGAIN.. AGAIN' lol.

Btw, our attending anestheialogist was A-MAZING. Totally awesome dude, knew his stuff and had awesome bedside manner! I want to write him a thank you note and take him out for a nice meal with our new family lol :)

More to come....