After dinner we just hung out together and ended up watching Saturday Night Live that I had DVRed. Emma Stone was hosting and there were some really funny skits - during Weekend Update I ended up laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face. While we were watching, I was bouncing on my exercise ball, which had been a blessing.
We went up to bed by 9:30 and settled in for the night. Around 11:45, I got up for my first trip to the bathroom. As I tried to climb back into bed, I felt another gush of fluid. I thought I might have peed my pants, but then decided that was how most women say it starts so I went to the bathroom to assess the situation and decided to grab a towel and head downstairs to see if it continued.
Downstairs, I started watching another show I had DVRed - Glee. When I stood up again, I felt another gush and decided this was the real deal. It was now around 12:30 am. I figured I wouldn't be going into work the next day, so it would be ok for me to stay up late. And because the nurses at birthing class said you should eat something because once you go to the hospital you get nothing, I made myself a bowl of oatmeal.
I went upstairs to let Kevin know that my water broke but nothing was happening yet so he could stay up there and sleep. I figured that he would come downstairs and keep my company (I thought he would be excited and nervous, much like the reaction of dads on tv shows - think Ricky Ricardo) but he rolled over and went back to sleep.
I just hung out on the ball and relaxed, but I couldn't sleep - I was too riled up! I didn't want to call anyone yet, Kevin was sleeping and finally around 2am I was so bored I went back and woke Kevin up. I said "Get up! I am bored and nothing in happening - let's go for a walk." So he got dressed and we walked around the block a few times in the night, just chatting about how things would be and names and things.
We came back in because I had to go to the bathroom and Kevin went back to bed. I took a shower and shaved my legs (I don't know why this is something women care about, but it just seemed like something I've heard women say that they do, so I did it - it is NOT an easy task with a giant belly!). Around 3 am, I got into bed and fell asleep for a bit. A little after 4 am, I woke up because I was uncomfortable and I realized I was beginning to have contractions. I slipped back downstairs and spent some time hunched over my exercise ball. Kevin came down shortly after and offered to make me something to eat, so he made me some scrambled eggs and toast, but I was only able to eat about half of it (and it is not like me to turn away breakfast).
After I had been having contractions for a while, I decided it was time to call my family and let them know. They live about an hour away from us, so I wanted to make sure they would be able to get there, as my mom was planning on coming to the hospital and being with us in the delivery room. I called my mom at 5:30am and said "Good morning, I think we are having a baby today" and explained that my water had broke. So she woke up my dad and little sister and they set off for our house. Kevin called his parents to let them know the situation also - he wasn't supposed to call them until we were already at the hospital but he wanted to make sure they knew and they are difficult to contact once they are at work.
Once my family arrived, we watched my favorite movie - "Meet Me in St. Louis" and just visited. My mom started to write down when I was having contractions so we could keep track of how often they were coming. We played Rummy 500 and my mom kicked both Kevin's and my butt (Kevin insisted we were cheating, but we just have different rules than he normally plays with and it was 2 against 1).
At 11, my mother in law showed up at our house because she decided to call into work and was pacing around the house and decided to come up. Every once in a while, someone (my mother or mother in law) would announce "I think you should call the doctor." I had been putting it off for as long as I could because I didn't want to have to sit all day in the hospital I was going to the bathroom with every contraction and beginning to feel like I would throw up, so I finally caved.
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We waited until a little after 1 pm (the office closes for lunch from 12-1) and Kevin called the doctor and described how things were going. He told them my water broke a little before midnight, I was having contractions but they were not coming at regular times - sometimes it was 4 minutes, then 12, then 7 between contractions. I spoke with the nurse and she told us to come in to the office so I went and changed and off we went.
We arrived at the office around 1:45. As soon as we got into the car, something changed. My contractions got more frequent and I made a comment about this but Kevin replied "Well, YOU said if the ride to the hospital isn't torture then we didn't wait long enough" so I just kept quiet. We checked in at the doctors and I was having contractions every 1 or 2 minutes it seemed like. Finally a nurse came to get me - she had to wait until I was through my contraction until I could get up and follow her. Kevin came back with me. The nurse asked if I could "leave a sample" but I wasn't able to and then I had to wait until a break to get out of the bathroom.
Once I was put in a room, I took my bottoms off and waited for a doctor to come in. She had to wait for my contraction to break so I could get on the table, and then again for me to relax my legs so she could check me. She made an offhanded comment about how I was definitely in active labor, she could tell without inserting the speculum. Once she did, however, she looked at me and said "You are 10 cm and I can see hair - we need an ambulance!" and then ran out of the room.
Normally this is where I would panic, but I was so busy concentrating on the contractions that I couldn't worry about anything else. The doctor came back and apologized about running out of the room and explained that an ambulance would be coming right away to take me to the hospital. She brought back a nurse named Amy who was so amazing. She helped me breathe through the contractions and held my hands to help me focus.
All modesty flies out the window when you are having a baby - I was lying on the doctor's table with no bottoms on with 2 doctors and at least 3 nurses in the room and then came the 4 male EMTs who helped me get onto the gurney (while flashing them my giant ass) and wheeled me out of the office. Kevin rode in the front seat while a EMT, a doctor and the nurse Amy rode in the back with me. Amy held my hands and coached me with my breathing. The doctor asked the EMT "Have you ever delivered a baby en route to the hospital?" and when he answered that he had, the doctor replied, "Great, if she needs to push you come back here." Thanks a lot for instilling the confidence, dude.
We drove to the hospital with the lights and sirens on, while my mom came behind us and took my car. The driver asked "Are we taking her to L&D?" and the other EMT replied "No - right to the trauma bay, the team is waiting for us."
We made it right into the first room of the hospital ER and the L&D team was there. I moved off the gurney and onto the hospital bed I was sad that Amy the nurse left me because she had helped me SO much but the staff there was great - the room was PACKED with people but I didn't much care at the time. One nurse offered me some water and gave me an ice pack on my neck to cool me down - had I been able to, I would have hugged her. She held one leg and Kevin held the other and told me to push when I felt I needed to. Another nurse said my mom was there and was I intended for her to be in the room when I delivered and when I said yes, they brought her in. Someone else asked if I was planning on giving the baby the Hep B vaccine right away or if I wanted to wait until the dr visit (um, hello? I'm a little busy right now).
I pushed and pushed while the doctor, nurses, Kevin and my mom cheered me on - I didn't yell or swear or say "Get this thing out of me!" but I was feeling like I couldn't do that for much longer and I wasn't sure I was capable. I was having big doubts but I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want anyone to yell at me so I just kept up the pushing. Finally out came the head - this was so hard because the doctor then tells you to stop pushing or to give little pushes and it is hard to control at that point but I did my best and gave another push when I was told and finally the biggest relief - IT WAS OUT and the doctor said "It's a girl!!"
I was so surprised because I really was so sure she would be a boy. One of the first things I said was how I could get her the cute little pink penguin outfits I saw at Old Navy now. She was so beautiful and pink and amazing. We didn't have a name right away because Kevin and I hadn't agreed, but in the end I let Kevin have his name (if it had been a boy, I would have insisted on mine) - Charlotte. Charlotte Evelyn, which is for my grandmother. She was born at 3:18 pm after less than 40 minutes of pushing. 7 lbs 14 oz and 20.5 inches long.
All in all, the birth was the best possible outcome for me because it didn't give me any time to worry or get anxious about how things would play out - it was a "do or die" situation of sorts. Nothing felt like I expected it to feel. I found the repair work the doctor was doing to be worse than the delivery, perhaps due to the adrenaline rush. In a few hours I was on the phone with my best friend telling her I would do it again.
Charlotte is so amazing and I can't imagine how we lived without her - I am so thankful for having her in our life and I love her so much I don't know that I will ever be able to explain it. My darling girl <3
