The day I actually went into labor....

Warning! LONG Journal entry below:

As you all know, I was to be induced the day of my due date, April 24th! Funny how things change. I subconsciously woke up thinking, wow, what an annoying pain I have and fell back asleep. About 3am I felt it again, still thinking it was annoying but was curious if it was a contraction. I convinced myself it wasn't and fell back asleep until about an hour later and I felt it AGAIN. I was thinking, I wish it was 6am so we could call the hospital and go in so if this really was the start of labor that I'd get in without problems. I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't coherent.

So about 4:50 I decide to get up and take a shower to see if these pains would go away. Certainly they did NOT. ha ha. I knew it was the start of something. I know sometimes early labor takes days and I wanted to go in that day so I was eager to talk to the hospital about the induction because I had EVERYTHING planned out with the kids. My plans weren't supposed to be messed up. That was the longest hour EVER.

I cleaned all the little messes from the kids and tried to keep myself busy until it was time to call. That's why I posted so early on the blog. So Wade came down about 5:55am to call the hospital. Couldn't get through until 6am anyway. So they said that they've had a very very busy night and to go back to bed, get your rest, eat some breakfast and they'll call back in the next couple of hours.

I was SO upset. I couldn't believe it. I was their ONLY induction of the day...isn't there room for me?? Pretty please?!!? Well, of course I was still having contractions and just plain worried about the day. Wade went back to bed with Jack and I stayed up dealing with my labor and worries! There's no way I can sleep like that. So the kids woke up at 7am and I was like, Wade what are we going to do? I'm having contractions. I tried to time them, etc. but I was just too upset. But by the time 8am rolled around, I knew I was in early labor. Wade called back to the hospital at 8 and they said, you can call as much as you want but a few more women came in and it's going to be a bit longer. Poo. I was like this isn't going to happen today but isn't it crazy I thought that cause HELLO I'M IN LABOR! ha ha ha.

I started timing my contractions at 8:11 (I have it written down, that's why I know the time) and stopped at 9:15. I had 11 even though I think 2 of them were together and lasted like 3 min. long. Hideous (I'm a wimp!). So we called the hospital and told them and they said, it's time to come to the hospital! And we said that we were the induction for the day and the hospital was like, isn't that funny?!! I was glad they didn't think I was a crazy liar or psycho. PHEW. I was SO excited. I didn't have to be induced and I get to go in earlier than I was thinking I would be able to.

I got to go and get checked in, they brought me to the room, got dressed down in those beautiful dressing gowns...you feel like such a lady in them. jk. The nurse checked me and I was at a 5+. Way to go ME. We were so impressed. We checked to make sure that I could indeed have an epidural. Oh yeah. I was at the right time to come in. So no worries there. The nurse put my I.V. in and Dr. Benedict came in to see me. He had a very very busy night. He was on call with another dr. but still a lot of women having babies. What a popular day! He went ahead and broke my water too. We asked how soon we could have the epidural and the nurse said that as soon as we fill out the healthy history, etc. on the computer, she'll get the anesthesiologist in and get started on the epidural. So that's what happened. The dr. came in and of course, I'm always nervous to get one even though I wouldn't go through this without an epidural. I knew what to expect but it still made me nervous. With Charlotte and Jack, everything went pretty smooth with the epidural even though Charlotte's had to be done twice. But this one took a long long time and he had to redo it so many times. Kept numbing me up. I wasn't outloud crying but I just had the waterworks going. It was so awful. He said I had a small epidural space. I was like, keep finding it. Tried to make small talk but you know how that goes...like it really really helps. But finally, he did it. I was thanking him profusely and he got me a nice helping of numbing medicine. The nurse this time (Jack's was like, make sure you let me know every time you push it) was like push as many times as you want. Oh believe you me. I had to make sure I wasn't feeling anything! ha ha. And I didn't. I love epidurals! No matter how much pain I was feeling getting it it was worth it. Seriously worth it.

About an hour after my epidural, they checked me again. I was at a 6+!! Yeah! I was so happy! Not long to go, I assumed. So for awhile (can't remember how long, it was awhile) Wade and I chatted and slept and worried about the kids. The nurse checked me again and I was still a 6+ so she checked to see if the dr. approved some Pitocin. And I was so she hooked me up. I think that was about 1:20pm. About 15 min. later Dr. Benedict came in with her and asked her if I had been checked and she said no, only because I've only been on the Pitocin a little bit. And he went ahead and checked me and he said, "10+3". Is there even such a thing?? he he. We were all so shocked I dialated so fast! But then again, my labors with Jack and Charlotte seemed to go rather quickly. so once again, go me! So lots and lots of preparations to get ready for me to push, getting all the supplies, dr. dressing up, etc. I started to push around 1:55. I pushed 3 to 4 times with my contractions. I think I only had to 3 contractions and then out she came! The nurse was curious if I felt any pressure before pushing and I was like, what kind of pressure since I had no idea what to think about that. She said it's like needing to go to the bathroom and I was like, oh yeah! I have to pee! ha ha ha ha. So that was my cue. I had so much control still even with the epidural to push. I felt like I was using all that strength I had! It was awesome.

The dr. placed Kate right on me. It was amazing. The nurse asked before I started to push if I wanted the baby placed on me or to be first cleaned up. I never had the baby on me and was a bit apprehensive about it for some reason. I hesitantly said clean her up but I don't think the dr. heard me and placed her on me. And you know what, I was so glad he did. It was amazing, I loved it. Kate had to be coaxed to turn around...just like Jack but she did it fine. Jack was so stubborn and didn't turn around til the last sec but not Kate. She also need oxygen too because she was so pale. Sometimes they are pale because of the cord being wrapped around the baby but Kate didn't have that problem and didn't know why she was pale. Of course, I was worried. But once she was cleaned up, given the shots, and weighed, etc. she didn't need it anymore. I was relieved about that. She was placed in my arms and she was just sooooooooo beautiful. I've got 3 gorgeous children. I love them so much. It's a feeling that no one can really comprehend until they're parents...am I right, parents??

Anywho, that was my labor and delivery. It was awesome. I am feeling so good, healing well and enjoying my baby.