I've noticed on other blogs people are writing about their birth stories. I think this is a neat way to share with friends and family that couldn't be there so I'm going to try my hand at it. If you have no interest in this, don't worry, I'll be back to my regularly scheduled cute kids programming soon. . .
The weeks leading up to Andi's birth I was having some pretty painful Braxton-Hicks contractions. It got bad enough that I went on maternity leave earlier than anticipated because it was starting to effect my work. Since my work can deal with, literally, life-and-death situations I didn't think it was fair to be there anymore. On July 26th (the day before the due date) the contractions were particularly strong, but still nowhere consistent in the frequency. Carli suggested I go for a long walk to speed things up.
Arlie and I went for a really long walk at Penrose which I did post about
here. The contractions completely stopped. I was soooo mad because I was soooo ready to have this kid! That night we went out for junky Chinese food to soothe my disappointment. Ha! While we were eating I had a really strong contraction. Like the type you have to stop and only concentrate on it. And then nothing. . .
We went home and went to sleep. I hadn't been sleeping in our bed for weeks due to discomfort, choosing instead to sleep sitting up on the couch with the soles of my feet touching. It doesn't sound that comfortable now, but it was AWESOMESAUCE then. I was woken up at 11 by another pretty strong contraction. And then another. I texted my mom that this might be it so she'd be prepared to meet us at the hospital when the time came. Poor Andrew hadn't been getting much sleep so I didn't bother him until it was almost time to go. The contractions were about 20 minutes apart at that point so I somehow fell back asleep which is good since I would need it. . .
I slept so well through some pretty painful contractions that by the time I woke up they were 3-5 minutes apart. Whoops! The midwives had specifically told me to call them when they were 5-7 minutes apart because baby #2 usually comes faster and after Arlie's rapid entrance into this world they didn't want to chance me having a baby on the side of the road on the way to the hospital. I told Andrew to pack it up because we were going to the hospital to have a baby. He woke Arlie up and got her ready. She was unfazed at being woken up at 4am and in a great mood. I love her so much!
We had to stop on the way to the hospital to get gas which is pretty hilarious. (I call driving around with an almost empty tank "riding Andrew-style" I love you Andrew! Mwah!) The contractions were really painful and really put my yogi breathing to the test. (Although maybe too good because this time, just like with Arlie, I was questioned why I was at the hospital even after telling them I was 9 months pregnant when I was checking in. Um, I heard the food was really good here?) They put me in a room where my mom and Don met us and laid in bed to answer a few questions and have my vitals taken. Then it was off to the birthing suite!
The midwife that would be with me throughout the birthing process, Emily Ghilarducci, came and checked on me to make sure everything was progressing. It was. I was dilated 4 cm and managing the pain of the contractions. They put me on a big exercise ball and I rolled back and forth and tried to concentrate on my breathing. The pain started getting so bad that I was shaking uncontrollably and moaning during the contractions. I was going through transition. I finally asked for an epidural. Emily asked me if I was sure since I was already 8 cm dilated I might as well keep going. I was sure.
The anesthesiologist came and put in the epidural and from the beginning I could tell it wasn't "taking" right. Still, it provided me with a little relief and allowed me to rest a little. Then it started to hurt again. A LOT. The contractions started feeling like I didn't have an epidural in. And then it was time to push. It hurt so bad I didn't want anyone touching me or looking at me. I know, sounds weird. Luckily Emily was patient and kept talking to me through the process. I know I yelled a lot of stuff and I remember being conscious of the fact that Arlie was in the room and I didn't want to scare her. Andrew leaned over and told me "You look sexy" which made me laugh. Trust Andrew to be so funny at inappropriate times.
We weren't sure of the sex of the baby so we had girl and boy names picked out. "Sydney Anne" or "Andi Lynn" if it was a girl, or "Bryce Edwin" if it was a boy. If it was a girl we just figured that we would know which name was right when we met her. I had just yelled that I had changed my mind about having a baby after 50 minutes of pushing when the baby came! Emily placed her on my stomach and Andrew, choked up with tears, whispered in my ear, "It's Andi" which is how I found out we had a girl! Emily explained to me while she was stitching me up that Andi had come into this world face-up which is the most painful way to make an entrance. I was feeling sorry for myself because it STILL hurt and I was mad about the epidural not taking when the nurse told me that a lot of women have to have c-sections when their baby is positioned that way. Or they end up pushing for hours until they have to have a c-section. Put into that perspective I was pretty grateful that my little Andi pandi bear was out and OK.
That's pretty much it. This being our second rodeo we couldn't get out of the hospital fast enough. The next day we bugged everyone until they released me. We didn't even stay for the goodie bag. We were ready to be home with our little bundle of joy and her sweet big sister!
