How Isaac Arrived!

Okay, so you spend your first pregnancy in angst for nine months about what labor is all about and how it will happen to you. You can go to classes, you can ask friends, family members, and anyone passing by on the street about their pregnancies, labor, births but in the end it doesn’t really matter because what God dishes you out is a completely unique experience. Here are a few highlights from mine for those that are interested.

I should preface this story by saying there are a few things that I had been praying for over the last nine months. First, that if I went into labor on my own that my water might break so that I was CERTAIN to have to go to the hospital. I was hoping to bypass the “am I in labor or not?” question. Second, that I would be able to go into labor on my own instead of being induced. Third, that I might be able to go naturally. Fourth, that labor didn’t go on for several days.

So lets begin. . .As many of you already know, Tuesday, August 19th we had an early morning doctor’s appointment because my blood pressure had been high the last couple of visits. My doctor did an exam and we were 2 centimeters dialated and 80% effaced. I didn’t get too excited that this was a good sign as I have known many first time moms to be at that stage for week(s). However, in light of the high blood pressure she scheduled an induction for Friday morning (Aug 22). We were anxious but wanted to do what was best for our little one. So we came home and began mentally preparing for Friday’s arrival. And I was asking myself if I could stand to wait that long.

I had some mild tightening throughout the day. What you would call Braxton Hicks contractions but nothing out of the ordinary and nothing strong. In the evening I had a serious case of heartburn and the baby was going bonkers in my stomach. I couldn’t figure out if it was wiggling because of the heartburn or the heartburn was because of the wiggling. At any rate, Ben went to bed around 10 or 11 because he was really tired. I stayed up because of the heartburn and I wasn’t that tired yet. At about 12ish I decided that perhaps vomitting would help with the heartburn (I’ll leave out the details here). And then I headed to bed about 12:30ish.

At this point I couldn’t sleep but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. And then came another bout of vomiting. I returned to bed and this time couldn’t sleep because my stomach kept tightening. At one point in here Ben woke up and asked if I was okay. I speculated that the nausea and tightening could be adding up to labor. At this point things got a little stronger and Ben started timing how often. We were on the third contraction, each 4 minutes apart, when a serious contraction began with a “pop”. I started yelling that I thought my water broke and made for the bathroom as quickly as possible (no need to ruin the linens).

While Ben called the hospital and tried to help access whether the water did actually break I was now have seriously strong contractions every 2-3 minutes. So much for the “build up” period. So Ben packed the car and I tried to stay calm. It is now about 2 am.

We arrived at the hospital around 2:15 am amidst my water flooding the passenger seat in the car. . .nice! We went to labor delivery and I am not ashamed to admit that my first question to the nurse was “how long will it be until I can get an epidural?” Of course, you must keep in mind I went from being mildly uncomfortable to full labor in about 15 minutes. Needless to say it was awhile before I could get it.

Okay the story speeds up from here. . .I got the epidural at 4:00 am. Thank God for Ben and my sister who did a great job coaching me through the contractions and submitting their hands to abuse. At 4:00 am I was 4 centimeters. At 5 am I was 7 centimeters and my epidural was wearing off on my right side. So more drugs for me. At 5:30 am I was fully dialated and ready to start pushing. One problem, no doctor – so we began to wait. So mom and dad took a bit of a rest. I started pushing at 7:45 am, the doctor arrived at 8:00 am and we began pushing. Approximately 8:25 we did one last push with the assistance of a suction to Isaac’s head due to his dropping heart rate (I personally think that his shoulder was stuck on my right pelvic bone). At 8:29 am he arrived!

I likely would have had him around 6 if there had been a doctor. As it turned out we were in labor a whole 6 hours (might have easily been 4)! So back to the prayers, three out of four isn’t bad! I feel tremendously blessed. What an amazing experience! I think next time I will need to be at the hospital when I go into labor or schedule an at home delivery with labor that short!

Okay, sorry for the length of this post. . .check out the photos.