Labor & Delivery

Okay, this is a super-long post, but I wanted to get all the details written down from Cole's birth so that I don't forget any of it! I've tried not to get too graphic or personal with any of the story, so hopefully it's not too much info...
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I had my 39-week check up at the doctor’s office at 3:30 on Thursday, February 19th. My doctor checked me & said that I was 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. She asked if I would like her to strip the membranes to see if that would get things going. (description I found online: The practitioner places her gloved finger through the cervix and sweeps the amniotic membranes free of their attachment to the lower part of the uterine cavity. This process is believed to release hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which help to ready your body for labor.) She let us know that it may not do anything, but that I might notice some more frequent contractions for the next few hours…or it could possibly induce labor. I was anxious for anything that could possibly put me into labor! It was a bit painful, but was over in less than a minute. Dave and I headed back home hoping that we’d just had our last appointment at the office, because my next scheduled appointment was after my due date, and I was (of course) really hoping that I wouldn’t go past my due date.
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That afternoon/evening, I noticed more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions (my belly would tighten up, but they weren’t painful at all). Dave headed back to the law school after dinner to get some studying done. I watched TV and painted some things I’d gotten from Michael’s to hang in the baby’s room. I stayed up until about 11:30 when Dave got home & then headed to bed totally exhausted.
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After only about an hour of sleep, I woke up at 12:45 am with really sharp pain in my lower back. Being 9 months pregnant, lower back pain had become a part of everyday life, so I wasn’t really surprised. It took me a minute to get out of bed because it was pretty intense, but I figured it was just a little muscle spasm. After going to the bathroom, (another common occurrence the last weeks of pregnancy!) my back was still hurting, so I decided to walk around out in the living room for a while. The pain would come and go, but was less intense as I walked around, so I stayed out there for about an hour. At 2:00 am, I went to check my email and sent out a little ‘update’ to Dave’s mom and my sisters-in-law since they had asked me to let them know about any progress after our appointment on Thursday. I filled them in & told them I was having some back pain—hence the middle-of-the-night email—but that I didn’t think it was anything major.
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By 2:30 the pain was really intense even if I was up walking around. I was having to stop and breathe each time my back would tighten up (still no pains in my belly or any noticeable tightening, so I assumed these were not contractions. Everything I had read and heard about contractions said that your belly would get really hard & tight.) So, at this point I went and woke Dave up and asked him to give me a blessing. I was exhausted and really hoped the pain would subside so I could get some sleep since I needed to work the next day. Dave was really confused at first, but once he was fully awake, he gave me a reassuring blessing and helped me breathe through the back pains. He had said in the blessing that I would be relieved of the pain and be able to rest—which sounded wonderful to me. And he also blessed me that I would be able to endure the pain. I was a little confused, thinking “but what about being relieved of the pain so I can rest?” But, the blessing gave me a calm, peaceful feeling and I am so grateful that he was able to give me the blessing as a worthy priesthood holder.
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By 3:00 am I was in tears from the back pains. They weren’t coming in regular intervals, or lasting a set amount of time. One would come and last for 30 seconds, and then it would be a while before the next one that would last maybe only 15 seconds, but would be followed by another one in about a minute or two. I kept feeling my stomach to see if it would get hard so I would know if contractions were starting—occasionally it would tighten a little across the top, but never my whole belly. So, at this point Dave convinced me to call my mom. It was 4:00 am her time, so I was hesitant to call, but we just weren’t sure what was going on. I explained the pains to her and that they weren’t regular and my belly wasn’t getting hard. She said it sounded like maybe labor was just getting started. She suggested that I take a shower and try to relax and see if they got more regular to where they were lasting about a minute and coming at fairly regular intervals. So, after I hung up the phone, I told Dave that he might as well get some sleep and I decided to get in the shower to try to relax.
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The shower did feel nice, but the pain continued as sporadic and intense as before. I went back out to the living room and turned on the TV for some distraction. It wasn’t long before I was laying on the living room floor trying to breathe through the pain. I had suddenly gotten really hot and my face was covered in perspiration. I went and laid on the cold linoleum in our bathroom and actually dozed off and on for a little while--I think it was sheer exhaustion from the pain. By then, it was so intense, that I really wasn’t thinking clearly. I no longer had a clear concept of how much time was passing or that I should probably go wake Dave up. I just tried to get through each contraction (which I still didn’t realize were full-on contractions, I assumed it was still the beginnings of labor). I was drenched with sweat and my wet hair from the shower had air-dried into a wavy, frizzy mess. I had grabbed a rubber band (not a hair elastic, but an office-use rubber band) that I saw on the counter, and had used that to get my hair out of my face, so it was just a big tangled mess!
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As I laid there on the bathroom floor, I remember having the distinct thought, ‘This is the worst night of my life—bar none.’ And, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was thinking about the blessing Dave gave me and I was angry that I had no relief from the pain and I wasn’t resting!! I was also upset because I knew there was no way I’d be able to work later in the day since I was getting no sleep, and I had been trying so hard to save up all my sick days for maternity leave. As all these thoughts were going through my mind, I started to feel a different, intense pressure lower in my pelvis. After it continued for a while, something suddenly clicked in my mind that I’d heard when the baby descends low enough & it’s time to start pushing, the pressure makes you feel like you need to push--which was exactly how I felt. Without another thought, I got up and grabbed my phone out in the living room and called my mom. I explained to her what I was feeling and I started having a contraction while I was on the phone with her. I was kneeling on all fours on our couch, squeezing the cushions while the contraction ran its course. I told her that I was worried about going into the hospital, because I didn’t want them to just send us back home if I wasn’t actually in labor. Nurse Carol adamantly said, “GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!” She knew exactly what the pressure I described was and she later told me that the sounds I was making during the contractions were the sounds a woman makes when she’s delivering a baby. Yikes!
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I tried yelling for Dave, but I didn’t have any energy left to yell loud enough to wake him up, and I was frozen in my all-fours position on the couch getting through the contractions. So, I called his cell phone and heard a very groggy and confused, “Hello?”. I said, “I think we need to go the hospital!” He was out in the living room in about 2 seconds with a panicked expression on his face. I told him to call the hospital, but of course we didn’t have the number handy. He said, ‘What do I do?” And I (not-so-kindly) said, “Go look it up on the internet!!” So, he talked to the nurse for a minute and explained that we thought I might be in labor, this was my first baby…” She asked to talk to me and I told her that I felt a lot of pressure & felt like I needed to push. Again, I started having a contraction on the phone and couldn’t finish talking to her. Dave took the phone again and she said that we should come in. (We later found out that the nurse had relayed my info to another nurse working and they didn’t think there was any way that I was actually in labor & needing to push. But, luckily they told us to come in anyway!)
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Of course I hadn’t packed anything for the hospital yet. I had the diaper bag all packed, and I’d made a packing list for myself, but I figured I would be jinxing myself if I had my bag all packed and waiting to go the hospital. I had planned to get everything together over the weekend, but now there was no time for that! I told Dave to grab my black velour sweatsuit, shoes & the camera (I had had several dreams that we forgot to take the camera when the baby was born, so there was NO way I was really going to forget it!). He quickly gathered the stuff, and asked from our bedroom, "Do you want your new black shoes?" 'SURE', I responded. The LAST thing I cared about was what shoes I was going to wear!! As I got dressed he went outside to pull the car up. There was so much pressure in my pelvis, and I just kind of waddled my way out to the car.
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It was now about 5:30 am. We’ve been having ‘freezing fog’ the last few weeks, and the entire car was iced over. So, as I got in the car, Dave hopped out and scraped two little holes on the windshield so we could see out. I had my eyes closed the whole time we were in the car, trying to breathe through the contractions. Luckily we only live 5 minutes from the hospital (huge blessing!) and there was no traffic. Also, during the night & early morning hours, all of the stop lights are flashing yellow, so we didn’t even have to make any stops. As we got to the hospital, neither of us thought about parking in the pull-through area right in front of the door. Instead, we just parked in the regular parking lot, which was quite full, so we ended up pretty far away. Dave held onto my arm so I didn’t slip on the iced-over asphalt and I waddled my way to the hospital entrance. Luckily, since we had called ahead, they had unlocked the door that goes right to Labor & Delivery (another huge blessing! Neither of us had known that the door was ever locked, so that would have meant we’d have to walk around to the emergency entrance on the other side of the hospital, and I’m not sure I could have made it)
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The nurse met us at the door as we walked in and she took us into the closest labor room. She helped me get on the bed and I remember Dave taking my shoes off. The nurses told Dave where to go to get me admitted, and luckily we had pre-registered with the hospital, so it was really quick. He was back in just a few minutes. Meanwhile, the nurse was trying to hook the monitor straps around my belly, but I was having another contraction and couldn’t lay still. I rolled over onto my side, and almost fell off the bed! They got some student nurses in there to pull up the side rails and keep me on the bed and she hooked up the monitor. I was pulling to get my zip-up top off as fast as I could because I was suddenly burning up & sweating again. She said was going to check me to see what my progress was. So, before I knew it, I was laying on the bed in just my garment top. She checked me and said {very calmly, I might add}, “Well, you’re complete--10 cm dilated and 100% effaced, and his head is right there. I asked, “Can I get an epidural?!” She looked at me like ‘oh, bless your heart!’ and said, “There isn’t any time.” Without even thinking I responded, “Can we try?!!” I’m sure she had to hold back a laugh as she said, “Honey, the doctor isn’t even going to make it in time.” I was freaking out and looked at Dave and said, “I can’t do this!!” I was completely panicked—a natural delivery?!?! He was holding my hand and looked at me and said, “Yes you can. You are so great and you can do it!!” He helped me take some deep breaths and convinced me that I really could do it. I got a little confidence back and tried to calm down. It was also a huge help to see how calm the nurses were. They knew exactly what they were doing and really put Dave and me at ease.
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During the next contraction I felt a really warm burst of fluid on my legs. Not realizing what had happened I asked the nurse what that was. And of course, it was my water breaking. I had completely forgotten about that happening. I’m just so grateful that it didn’t happen in the car! We hadn’t thought to bring any towels or anything—not thinking is the common theme of my labor!!
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Now it was ‘go time’! The two student nurses each grabbed a leg (they didn’t have time to pull the bed apart and bring out the stirrups), Dave was holding my hand, and our two nurses were at the end of the bed encouraging me to push and telling me that I was doing a good job. Luckily, the only thing that out-weighed the pain was the urge to push. I really can’t believe how strong the urge was! It completely took over any thoughts as the contractions came—all I could think of was pushing as hard as I could. Then, I felt the most intense burning—I don’t even know how to explain it. I asked, “What is that burning?!” And the nurse replied, ‘That’s the ring of fire’ (the baby’s head making its way through the birth canal). It was really painful and I asked her how much longer I had. She told me that I had already done all of the hard stuff, and he was pretty much here. Then, I realized that Dave didn’t have the camera. I turned to him and kind of yelled, “Where’s the camera?!” He ran and grabbed it, but set it down on the bed-side table. Then the nurse said that the baby was crowning and I needed just one more good push. I turned to Dave again and yelled, “Get out the camera!” So, he got the camera ready, and on about my 5th or 6th push from the time the nurses were all in there, out came his head and the rest of his little body . It was incredible to look down and see that our little boy had made it! They cut the cord and laid him on a blanket on my stomach. It was so great to hear his little cry and actually get to see him and all that dark hair! {the nurse that delivered him later said, "It's a good thing he had all that hair. I think that friction was the only thing keeping him in there!} All I could say over and over was, “You’re here! You’re here!” I got choked up, but surprisingly I didn’t cry—I think I was still so shocked that I had actually been in labor!
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I had been admitted at 5:41 am and Cole was born at 5:58—only 17 minutes later! I cannot get over that! I can’t believe we cut it so close! But I truly did not think I was having contractions since they weren’t at all what I’d heard or expected.
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They asked if we had a name for him, and Dave had said a few days before, “Well if he has lots of dark hair, we’ve got to name him Cole.” We looked at each other and said, "It's Cole." The nursery nurses took Cole over to the little warmer and cleaned him off, measured him, etc. I couldn't believe how pink he already was! It was great to see how healthy he looked. Then, Dr. Elsbury made it and checked Cole out and then came over to stitch me up. Luckily it wasn't too bad, but getting the injection of local anesthetic was about as painful as the actual delivery! WOW!
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It was so fun to see Dave’s face as he stood by little Cole while the doctor finished up with me. And then, when they brought him back over and handed him to me, it was so great to have our little family together! It truly was such a miracle and the most incredible experience of my life. As we sat there together I told Dave, “I am SO glad that that was labor, because all through the night I kept thinking, ‘If this isn’t labor, I don’t know how I will ever be able to handle it!”
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We're so happy Cole is here {& wasn't born in our bathroom or car!} & we're loving every minute with our little guy!