Things started a couple of days before little Ruth made her appearance. Tuesday evening/night I was having horrible cramping and lower back pain for several hours off and on, and it got so bad that night that it woke me up. Wednesday was more of the same off and on all day, and by that night I had had enough, and even though I knew I was not in labor, I sent my kids to a friend's and went in to labor and delivery. I got exactly what I wanted-a sleep aid followed by a full nights sleep. I was very uncomfortable when I woke up, so Rich decided to stay home rather then go in late. We had a pretty pleasant day. Got some stuff around the house done, and even made a trip to my favorite consignment store so I could get a (very unneeded) special outfit for Ruth. By the end of the day, I was even more uncomfortable, and rather tired.
On Wednesday, Rich had called the midwives and basically told them what was going on with the cramping, back pain, and how tired I was from not sleeping in a week, as well as the concerns I had about waiting much longer. They said the earliest they would do an induction was Sunday (when I would be 39 weeks), but basically said they would probably do it. So I had my mind wrapped around making it until my appointment Friday when we would discuss everything, and was hoping that they really would induce. I was a tad disappointed that I was here again, planning on being induced, when I had wanted so badly to go into labor naturally this time. I was desperate to be done, though, so I was ok with it.
By the time we started getting ready for bed on Thursday, I was very tired and frustrated when nothing I did to get comfortable worked. We got in bed around 9pm, and within minutes the contractions started. These felt different, and I knew what was happening, but was not ready to believe it. I did tell Rich I didn't think he was going to work the next day, which was a tad funny as we'd gone to great lengths to think of the best way for him to get to work so we could both go to my midwife appointment. Half an hour later I knew I it was the real thing, and decided to call to figure out when they wanted me to leave, considering it was going to take us an hour to get there between dropping the kids off and driving out there. Unfortunately, I did not have the phone number for the oncall midwife, and when we tried to figure out who to call, I somehow got transfered to a consulting nurse. Lets just say she greatly aggravated me. She did tell me to go in, though, so we started rushing around getting last minute things ready, and got the kids in the car. I knew there was no way I would be going home as soon as I got up to get ready to leave, as I started bleeding. Who ever thought a person would be excited about bleeding?
We started the memory making on the way to drop off the kids, as I was in labor and we had two screaming kids in the car. Lets just say they were not at all happy about being woken up. We got to my friend's house and dropped the kids off. Tobiah finally stopped crying when Heather put a movie on for them. I later found out that Naomi refused to go back to sleep, and did nothing but scream in the play pen, and get up and play when put between the older kids on the bed on the floor to sleep.
As we drove to the hospital, I was thinking about how close I came to giving up on my hearts desire to go into labor naturally, and how different and exciting it was to not only to that, but to be having a baby early. This was also, out of my four labors, the only time I experienced waiting for labor to start, and going in when it did. Might seem like an unimportant little thing, but it was special to me, and something I wanted to experience.
We got to the hospital at about midnight, and were taken back to triage and I was hooked up to the monitors. The nurse checked me, and I was at a 4. I was very excited, as this would be my first labor that I did not need an IV for. After laying there for what seemed like an eternity, they came in and said they wanted the baby to wake up more, and had me drink a bunch of water. After sitting for even longer, they came in and explained that they were seeing some bad heart variations, where her heart rate dropped after every contraction. I was then told I needed an IV. So much for that one! I managed to talk her into using the back of my hand, which usually hurts way less, but for some reason she got it into my vein, but could not get the tube to go in. So I had to be stuck again. I had a horrific bruise that I actually managed to re-bruise part of a few days later. Needless to say that was probably one of the most painful IVs I have ever had.
The next time I saw anybody, it was about 3am, and I had done nothing but lay on that uncomfortable triage bed. Right before they came in, things had started to really pick up, and I could tell I was going into transition, but when she came in, I had only had maybe 3-4 of those contractions. When she came in, she checked me again, and much to my complete dismay, I was still at a 4. I was rather frustrated, knowing had I been able to walk around not only would I most likely have progressed more by that point, but I may not have needed the IV as laying down during labor has caused heart variations with all of my kids. The nurse left to go talk to the midwife to see what she wanted to have me do, and I was left waiting almost in tears from sheer frustration. When she came back, I was completely shocked at what she had to say-the midwife wanted to send me home! I was livid, and devastated, because nobody would listen to me. I knew if I went home, I would have to just turn right around, and would be risking having the baby on the side of the freeway, not to mention going through transition sitting in a car. She had offered me either morphine or a sleep aid like I had had the night before, and just the thought of being groggy going through labor was more than I could handle. I told her I did not want to go home, that I knew I was in labor, and that things were picking up, and finally just said that if they sent me home, I was not coming back, and would just have the baby there. That seemed to get her attention, and she talked to the midwife again and they agreed to let me walk around for a bit.
Walking was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was exhausted, and these were the really hard contractions that I usually wanted to be in the tub during. I was also upset that I had actually been contemplating an epidural, but had had that option taken away from me by being forced to stay in triage so long. I walked until I could no longer take it, probably about an hour. I went back to triage needing to pee really badly, and of course somebody was in the bathroom, so I stood waiting for probably 25 minutes. By the time I was done, it was getting close to 5am, and I was starting to feel more and more like I was going to need to push soon. I had Rich go and find the nurse, and she checked me and I was at an 8. I felt like rubbing her nose in it, but I knew it had not been her call to want to send me home. They finally decided to take me to a laboring room, and by the time I got in bed the horrible transition contractions were over. I had a couple more, and told them I was starting to feel like I needed to push, but when they checked me my bag of water was more or less slowing things way down by bobbing her back up after each contraction, so I agreed to let them break my water. She had managed to poop before they broke my water, so they had to call the pediatrician, and once again I heard them telling them to come fast. Second baby in a row the pediatrician had to rush in for the birth. She was born after I think 4-5 pushes about 10 minutes after I got to my room. Her apgar was 9/10, almost perfect. (Tobiah's was perfect ;) ) I got to hold her skin to skin while Rich cut the cord, and you know what? The stinker peed and pooped on me within minutes of birth.
After things had settled down, they moved me to a recovery room, which just so happened to be one room down. The hospital stay is kind of a blur after that, as I was completely exhausted after laboring all night, but it was a pleasant stay from there on out. We got left mostly alone, and greatly enjoyed our time alone to bond with our new baby. Because she was born at 5:24am, we had to stay another night and ended up leaving about noon the next day, but for the first time I was in no rush to get home after having a baby. I instead soaked up every moment of the quiet Rich and I got with her, knowing my life would be crazy when we got home-which it was.
So that is the (very long) story of my third beautiful daughter's birth. And it only took me three and a half weeks to finish writing it. :)
The next time I saw anybody, it was about 3am, and I had done nothing but lay on that uncomfortable triage bed. Right before they came in, things had started to really pick up, and I could tell I was going into transition, but when she came in, I had only had maybe 3-4 of those contractions. When she came in, she checked me again, and much to my complete dismay, I was still at a 4. I was rather frustrated, knowing had I been able to walk around not only would I most likely have progressed more by that point, but I may not have needed the IV as laying down during labor has caused heart variations with all of my kids. The nurse left to go talk to the midwife to see what she wanted to have me do, and I was left waiting almost in tears from sheer frustration. When she came back, I was completely shocked at what she had to say-the midwife wanted to send me home! I was livid, and devastated, because nobody would listen to me. I knew if I went home, I would have to just turn right around, and would be risking having the baby on the side of the freeway, not to mention going through transition sitting in a car. She had offered me either morphine or a sleep aid like I had had the night before, and just the thought of being groggy going through labor was more than I could handle. I told her I did not want to go home, that I knew I was in labor, and that things were picking up, and finally just said that if they sent me home, I was not coming back, and would just have the baby there. That seemed to get her attention, and she talked to the midwife again and they agreed to let me walk around for a bit.
Walking was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was exhausted, and these were the really hard contractions that I usually wanted to be in the tub during. I was also upset that I had actually been contemplating an epidural, but had had that option taken away from me by being forced to stay in triage so long. I walked until I could no longer take it, probably about an hour. I went back to triage needing to pee really badly, and of course somebody was in the bathroom, so I stood waiting for probably 25 minutes. By the time I was done, it was getting close to 5am, and I was starting to feel more and more like I was going to need to push soon. I had Rich go and find the nurse, and she checked me and I was at an 8. I felt like rubbing her nose in it, but I knew it had not been her call to want to send me home. They finally decided to take me to a laboring room, and by the time I got in bed the horrible transition contractions were over. I had a couple more, and told them I was starting to feel like I needed to push, but when they checked me my bag of water was more or less slowing things way down by bobbing her back up after each contraction, so I agreed to let them break my water. She had managed to poop before they broke my water, so they had to call the pediatrician, and once again I heard them telling them to come fast. Second baby in a row the pediatrician had to rush in for the birth. She was born after I think 4-5 pushes about 10 minutes after I got to my room. Her apgar was 9/10, almost perfect. (Tobiah's was perfect ;) ) I got to hold her skin to skin while Rich cut the cord, and you know what? The stinker peed and pooped on me within minutes of birth.
After things had settled down, they moved me to a recovery room, which just so happened to be one room down. The hospital stay is kind of a blur after that, as I was completely exhausted after laboring all night, but it was a pleasant stay from there on out. We got left mostly alone, and greatly enjoyed our time alone to bond with our new baby. Because she was born at 5:24am, we had to stay another night and ended up leaving about noon the next day, but for the first time I was in no rush to get home after having a baby. I instead soaked up every moment of the quiet Rich and I got with her, knowing my life would be crazy when we got home-which it was.
So that is the (very long) story of my third beautiful daughter's birth. And it only took me three and a half weeks to finish writing it. :)
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