Saturday, February 4 at 7pm: Chris and I bundled up and headed to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate his birthday with the Hubert Family. I had been having contractions that evening, but nothing can keep me from Cheesecake Factory! We ate a ton of food and enjoyed the time with our *crazy* family :) It was the usual Hubert celebration extravaganza with plenty of awkward 'brotherly love' moments... except for the fact that I was a little bit distracted by the contractions. But I had my eye on the prize... to get the staff to sing Happy Birthday to Chris. SUCCESS!!!
11pm: I can't sleep. My contractions require a little bit more concentration and I tell Chris. We time them, and they are regular and 4 minutes apart. We both think this is it!!! We grab our bags and head to the hospital!
Sunday, February 5 at 1am: We arrive at Scott and White Labor and Delivery and we are happy and ready!!! 10 minutes later, we are told it is a false alarm. My contractions almost completely stopped and I had shown no progress or dilation. Performance anxiety, anyone? I was sent home with 2 Tylenol for the pain. How nice.
2am: I lay in bed awake and breathe through the contractions. I tell Chris to go in the other room because I felt bad to keep him awake.
4am: Still awake and the pain is getting harder to handle. Maybe the Tylenol is wearing off. I start having really bad lower back pain and tell Chris to come rub my lower back really, really hard. over. and over. and over. Can't believe he still has hands. We discover the shower gives great relief... Ahhh!
6am: I relieve Chris from his duties and tell him to go eat something. I feel bad that he is having to help me so much. What a man!
8am: I wake Chris. I need more lower back rubs! Shower, back rub, shower, back rub, shower, back rub... Notice a pattern?
10am: The contractions are still 4 minutes apart. Showers are no longer helping, and I can barely breathe through them. Chris suggests we go to the hospital. I can't imagine trying to get ready and out the door and to the hospital just to be sent home again.
11am: Chris calls the hospital and asks the nurse what to do. She tells us that if we want a drug free birth, we need stay home until the contractions are closer together. I am in the shower at the time, and I notice a strange urge to push. I get out of the shower and onto the floor on my hands and knees and push again. Chris tells me to get dressed because he is worried and wants to just take me in. It takes me forever to get dressed because I am in so much pain. No sooner do I get my pants on "SWOSH"... my water broke! Are you kidding me? I just got my pants on. Chris throws a towel my way, and I push again. My contractions are now 1 minute apart. So this is the real thing... I agree we need to go in. Chris calls the nurse again to tell her we are coming in. It takes me forever to get dressed between the pain and pushing. We make it out the door and down the first flight of stairs. I take a moment to get on my hands and knees once more and let out a nice dying cow impression. I'm sure the neighbors appreciated the performance.
12:30: Situated in the car, we speed off. Over speed bumps. And around sharp corners. I push again in the enclosed car. Don't worry, Chris did not loose all of his hearing. At the hospital, Chris pulls into the emergency driveway, opens my door, and runs in to get a wheel chair. I am pushing and screaming in the car. With the door still open. I guess it would be fun to remember the reactions of the people going in and out.
1pm: I get wheeled up to the L&D wing and save a really good, loud push for as soon as we reach the automatic doors. I figure these people won't be offended. I get wheeled straight into the room. The nurses swarm to my room, pull my pants down, put me on the bed, and check me. All systems go! Except the doctor is not there. I hear frantic calls to the doctor and pediatric doctor. I hear phrases like "moderate meconium" and "ready to push". They tell me I have to stop pushing and that they will help me breathe through the contractions. They can't be serious. Chris arrives, and is welcomed by the news. An eternity passes, and then the doctor arrives. The team of nurses and the doctor were amazing as they coached me through the whole process. My dear husband was at my side, holding my leg, and encouraging me the entire time.
February 5, 2012 at 2:02pm: Our precious daughter Claire is born. They take her away for a moment to make sure she did not swallow meconium and then bring her to me. We snuggle and look at Chris. Once we saw her beautiful face, we forgot everything else in the world. God is so good.
crazy girl! what a fun story to have! I can't believe you did all of that pushing right at home and then had to drive to the stinkin hospital :) Wish I could watched that one on halfway down to the car - good job girl!!! Way to go!! I cannot believe your story, so fun! ...and yes, i hate when they tell you not to push - i did anyway secretly ;)
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