M's birth story - part 1

As I sit here typing this, in front of  me is a beautiful brown hair, blue eyed, 6 pound, 5 ounce baby girl fast asleep. Our gorgeous bundle of joy finally arrived at 38 weeks and we've just been over the moon since.

For as relaxed and easy as this pregnancy was, the last few weeks if you've been following along have been a bit more crazy. I guess it only made sense this pregnancy would wrap up in a bit of a crazy fashion!

It started on Sunday, July 19th with me just not feeling like myself. I had been dealing with all kinds of swelling the past 3 weeks, but every time we went in and took tests they always came back negative for preeclampsia.  That day, I was just checked out. Everything was swollen. My wrists, fingers, ankles, feet so much I could barely wear sandals... even the bags under my eyes were more swollen. So I went to the pharmacy to get my blood pressure taken and it was in the high 140's. If I was being smart, we would have gone straight to the hospital, but in a way, I wasn't ready to digest that baby was coming. I still had a checklist a mile long in my head, our bags weren't completely packed, the nursery needed a few last details... and so I called the clinic, made an appointment for first thing in the morning with the first free doctor, and parked my butt on the couch with ice bags and pillows the rest of the day.

Monday, I got up and got myself ready for the day, as well as picked up around the house - just in case. I packed a few more things in our hospital bags, double checked her's was good to go, and then stood there debating just throwing them in the car, to which I decided no. In all honesty, I had been praying since the 4th of July that my body was making progress, and got myself all hyped up that every appointment would be closer to baby day, and instead every appointment ended in tears that I still couldn't meet her.

E met me at the clinic, and we anxiously waited for the OB. I was already in tears over the weight gain, even though I knew it was all from the fluid and swelling of being 38 weeks. We didn't wait long before she came in, gave us a smile, and said, "Looks like we're having a baby tomorrow."  I don't know which of us was more in disbelief, but I was so, so relieved. She said everything I already knew; that my body was done and couldn't handle it anymore. Between the excessive weight gain over the last 2 weeks, the swelling, and my size, my body was starting to rebel. They sent us down to get blood work to make sure my levels were still okay, and then told us to come back up for the Non-stress test and get the details of the induction. The best part? My OB would be at the hospital to help deliver her!

During the non-stress test, E spent time emailing his work and trying to figure out what we still needed to do that night before the hospital tomorrow. We made it about 15 minutes into the test before the doctor and nurse came back in. We were eagerly awaiting to hear about the induction, but instead were told, "Change of plans, you need to get to the hospital now."   Some of my levels were off the chart, which meant baby could be in danger and we needed to be monitored right away. I stayed calm for the most part, until I mentioned running home to grab our bags and drop off Chunk at my Mom's. We live 40 minutes from the hospital, I figured there wasn't much harm in an hour and a half... until the doctor said that wasn't an option. E could run home, but I needed to be admitted immediately. Cue panic attack.

We headed off to the hospital, both of us rushing to make phone calls. E would drop me off and run home quick before meeting me back in our room. And we agreed I wouldn't let them start any part of the induction process until he got there. As we got closer however, I realized I did not want to be at the hospital alone and my Mom was kind enough to leave work early to spend the next 3 hours with me.

From the start of our stay, to the end of it almost a full week later, I can not say enough about how great the nurses, residents, and staff were. It was a crazy way to start, but they made me feel so calm through out the entire time. They took my vitals, drew more blood to see if there were any changes, and checked me to see if there was any progress so we could know our options. Of course, there was zero. The resident went through all the options with me and my Mom, and was understanding enough to let me wait until E came to make a decision. Can I just say, I was so glad we did not have a birth plan at this point?!

Once E returned that evening and my Mom left, we went with our first option, which was a pill they would place inside me to start to open up my cervix. The downside of this was it wasn't able to be removed, so whatever came with it, I'd have to deal with. It wasn't even an hour before the contractions started. At first, they weren't horrible, and to be honest, it wasn't the pain I even had a problem with the entire time, but the intensity of how close together they were. They kept coming every minute, minute and a half, and it got to the point where my body wasn't able to catch itself. Then came the first round of pain meds which thankfully knocked me right out!

After option 1, the resident came to check me and was so positive, along with the nurses, that I had some progress and we'd get this baby right out of there! Wrong. I hadn't made a single progression. It was the start of a long, long two nights.