At my last few doctors appointments, I had progressed very little. This being the case, my doctor thought that I might go past my due date. I was not happy to hear this, but like they say, "baby will come, when baby is ready". Unlike a lot of other pregnant women out there, I didn't try to hard to induce labor on my own. Some women will drink crazy things, walk a million miles, bounce on huge yoga balls, or have lots of sex. Honestly, I was too big & lazy at this point to do any of those things.
The Sunday before my due date, Mom & I went to the mall. I did end up walking for about 4 hours. After I thought about it, I did hope that it would help a little bit. Maybe give me a few strong contractions to help me dilate. But it didn't.
The 22nd came, & since doc said Id probably go past my due date, I wasn't expecting anything to happen. Guess I was wrong.
At 10:30pm, I started having contractions that were growing closer & closer together. The intensity wasn't so bad, but I called the triage nurse anyways. I was told to come into Labor & Delivery right away. I had been kind of slack the last few weeks so we really didn't have our "hospital" bag packed. So in a mad rush, I grabbed random items. A onesie, wipes, my inhaler, & t shirt. I guess the reality that baby could really be coming clouded my thinking & made me a little nutso.
Steve goes to tell his parents that "it's baby time" & Butch couldn't believe it. (at 10:20pm, Butch had made a comment that she only had a little more time to make it on her due date)
We drove in the Mini to the hospital & I was checked in right away. At this point, the contractions were still coming, but getting further & further apart. I was uncomfortable so they did give me an injection for pain. Mom, Jesse & Michellei had shown up, hoping that it was the real deal. But sadly, we were all a tad disappointed. After 4 hours of monitoring contractions & the baby, they ended up sending me home. I figured they would. So it was no big deal.
At home by 3am, I take a benadryl & hope to get some sleep. At 4am, I was woken up from severe cramping & back pain. I thought I may just have to use the bathroom, so I did. The pain was UNREAL & kept coming in waves. This was DEFINITELY the real thing. After 1 hour of sleep, I had to wake Steve up once again to take me back to L & D. I was moaning & groaning & could not believe how intense the pain was.
The same nurse was there when we got back & I'm sure she thought I was just overreacting, but I was in some serious pain. Back in room 204, I was told to strip down & was attached to the monitors. The contractions were coming on fast & painful. I felt like I was dying. I couldn't stop crying & trying to catch my breath was almost impossible. Steve did his best to comfort me but there was little to be done.
Dr. Salvemini, my OB, was not on call, so I had to see Dr. Craddock. I was still at 2cm (which I had been for 2 weeks) after another 4 hours of monitoring. He sent me home with sleeping pills & said to wait it out at home. He said that since I was so tense & could not let my body relax, I wouldn't be able to progress as he would like. I was unbelievably upset. I could not understand why a doctor would send me home in this much pain. He said there was nothing he could do & he had to send me home. I called him a very nasty name & got my clothes on. I later regretted being so harsh, but the pain took over.
Once we got home, I pretty much collapsed in the driveway during another painful contraction. My poor husband was pretty much exhausted from sleeping 1-3 hour stretches during these visits to the hospital, that it was all he could do to get me upstairs.
I finally made my way up to the bed & managed to fall asleep in between contractions. They were about 4 minutes apart, but the sleeping pills he gave me were pretty strong. Honestly, I had never made, nor heard, such awful sounds come from a human. I was screaming so loud during each contraction, that poor Taylor thought it was one of the dogs howling.
Mom had just made it to the house & up the stairs when my water broke. I felt such extreme pressure during that contraction that I couldn't help but push. It felt like I had just wet myself, not a huge gush. Steve had to lift my leg to check, & Mom said that my water had definitely broken. They tried to get me out of bed & I just couldn't move on my own. I was screaming for them to call 911, but Steve said he could get me to the hospital a lot faster.
Between contractions I made my way down the stairs, to the car. My water broke a little bit more in the car. Totally missing the towel Steve had laid out for me. I was so out of it from the sleeping pills, that between those awful contractions I was forgetting to breath. Mom kept tapping me on the shoulder to get my attention to breath. Of course, baby decides to be born on the day before Thanksgiving, so Steve is weaving in & out of Thanksgiving traffic on 485 to get us back tot he hospital, for the 3rd time! This time, they better not send me home or I will be liable to hurt someone.
When Mom called my doctor back, they told her to bring me to the actual doctor's office, not L & D, since my primary OB was there. They wheel me into the lobby, pants soaked from my water breaking, screaming! They strip me down & check my cervix. I could NOT believe it.... but I had gone from 2cm to 9cm in 1 hour. 1 HOUR! After she checked me, my water broke the rest of the way all over the exam table. Good thing the office was in the hospital, so they took me right over to L & D.
I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get an epidural since I was progressing so fast. Before they would administer the epidural, they had to start an IV in my hand & get fluids going. I have always had trouble with IVs in my hand since my veins are so small. I asked if she could put it in my right arm, but they said it wouldn't work with having to bend my arms. The anesthesiologist came into my room & said I was too far gone. I yelled a profanity & got the epidural! Still being affected by the drowsiness of the sleeping pills, it was easy for me to just close my eyes, focus on being really still so they could get this done. It did not hurt one bit, like a lot of women say it does. It felt like a normal shot, just in my spine.
No pain... there was no pain. I felt nothing for the first time in hours. I was so calm & quiet after the epidural kicked in, one of the nurses commented on how she wasn't sure how they were going to get this baby out with me being so relaxed. I couldn't believe how good I felt. Pat was there to rub my feet & hit some pressure points that are known to induce labor. Since my progression had stalled long enough for me to get the epidural & have time to kick in that I had a little down time before having to start that hard part.
Dr. Salvemini came in to check me & said that she is probably not going to deliver. It was her last day of work. It was her birthday & and her due date! I couldn't have expected her to stay even though I realllllly wanted her to be the one to deliver my baby. I had already offended 1 of the other 2 doctors who would be the ones to deliver. Sooo not thrilled about that idea. To my surprise, she decided to stay! I couldn't believe it. It's what I was hoping for this entire pregnancy! The few things on my birth plan were to have Dr. Sal deliver, to be able to get an epidural, have the lights down low, & to wear toe socks. Everything but the dim lights & toe socks happened. Apparently, my legs were too swollen to fit the socks, so that idea went out the window real quick. Oh well. & dim lights.. forget about it.
I couldn't feel the contractions when they came, so they had to tell me when to push. Trying to push, & feeling nothing, was extremely difficult. I couldn't tell if I was pushing too hard or not enough. Gayle was my main nurse & I could not be more thankful for her. She was calm, encouraging & patient with me. It took an hour or so but I finally got the hang of pushing the right way.
Steve & Mom were the only ones in the delivery room, besides the nurses & Dr. Sal. Steve was so supportive & an even better coach. Him, as well as Mom, held my legs & counted to 10 every time I pushed. Cheering me on each go 'round. He fed me ice chips & rubbed my face & neck with wet washcloths. My amazing husband. :) Mom held up so well. I told her that if she cried she'd have to leave, because then I'd bawl my eyes out too.
After 2 hours or so of pushing, they wanted to try suctioning. She was stuck in my pelvis for the better part of an hour & it was starting to be concerning. If suctioning didn't work, they would do an emergency C-Section. I always thought I wanted a C-Section... but a soon as I heard the words & the reality of it set in, I was devastated & couldn't stop crying. Steve whispered in my ear that I could do this. That her head was right there. That we would meet our baby girl soon... That's what gave me the courage to keep pushing until my baby was here. I'm so thankful for such a supportive & amazing husband. Mom kept saying that he head was right there, & that she could see her hair... and she had a lot of it. Dr. Sal suctioned multiple times & finally got her further down the birth canal, to make it easier for me to push her out.
At close to 4 hours of pushing, we met our baby girl. She was born sunny side up & the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Because of that, they had to get the cord cut quick, making Steve unable to cut the cord. They took her over to the incubator immediately to suction fluid from her lungs & get her to breathing. Steve was right by her side the whole time. I was being stitched up from a 2nd degree tear & all I could do was watch from the bed. After what seemed like hours, I finally hear a little whimper. That was our baby.
At 6:38pm November 23rd, 2011.... Our sweet baby Madison Elizabeth was born.
She weighed 6.8oz & was 20.5in long.
Here Maddie is... with her slightly red hair & her cone head. It didn't last but a few days.
After it was all said & done, we allowed visitors for just a little while. Lots of people came to visit... Mimi & Poppie, Nana, Papa & Taylor, Aunt Kristina & cousin Caleb, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Jesse & Michellei.
Poppie drove all the way from Birmingham Alabama as soon as he knew I was in labor. He missed the actual birth, but was there just a few short hours afterwards. He is so happy to be a grandpa! I am so glad he was able to be there & see her so soon. It really meant a lot to us & I know it meant the world to him.
Cousin Caleb
Mimi
Daddy, Papa & Maddie
Nana
That night...
After all the visitors left, we were left to relax a little bit. One of our favorite shows, American Horror Story was on... I tried to focus on it, but I just couldn't stop looking at my little girl. What a blessing. True Beauty. The after care nurse, Shelly, was really sweet. She gave Maddie her first bath & she did well. I was trying to breast feed but Maddie wasn't catching on very fast. When they tested her blood sugar level, she was a 49. 51 & above is considered normal. To bring up her glucose level, they went ahead & bottle fed her. That was totally fine with me because I was not too comfortable with the breast feeding thing. Might as well get her used to the bottle now. We soon learned that she prefers Nuk nipples instead of the round ones.
At around 11pm, they offered to take her to the nursery. I was so torn between keeping her at my bedside or letting her go off to the nursery. Steve & I were both so exhausted from the whole thing that we finally decided she could go. I did ask that they bring her back early in the morning so that I could feed her her morning bottle. So off she went.
From pushing as long & hard as I did, I was in pain after the epidural was removed. They gave me 2 Percocets. No sooner did that kick in, did I get extremely nauseated. I've never done well with pain pills. My legs were still numb & there was no way I could walk to the bathroom on my own. They placed a catheter during delivery so I decided to let them keep it in until I could make it to the bathroom on my own.
My first time holding Maddie.
Sleeping with my little Monkey.
Thanksgiving in L & D...
was not the best place to be. The "Holiday Menu" was not very appetizing, so we had "take out". Nanny & Pop came to visit & brought food from their house & boy was it good. Ham, Turkey, Candied Yams, Potato Salad, Dressing & Gravy. Yummmm.... A little later in the day, Aunt Jenny & Nana brought even MORE food. Included in that spread were some absolutely DELICIOUS brownies. I ate all of them! I was stuffed to say the least. Then that evening Mimi, Poppie, Uncle Jesse & Michellei, & Christy came back to visit, WITH EVEN MORE FOOD. What more could we ask for, really?
Maddie's Thanksgiving Dinner.
This was our last night in the hospital & we again decided to have Maddie go to the nursery for the night. They didn't open until 11pm, so we got to spend a lot of time with her. We were okay with this once again, as we spent most of the day just laying in bed holding her. There was a Newborn Photographer that came to each room to do a photo shoot. Man, were they some cute pictures... but a little too rich for my blood.
Leaving the Hospital...
Today was the day. It was time to take Maddie home. I was able to take a shower the morning & It was nice to get clean before heading home. It took a while for the discharge to take place. Had a lot of things to go over with nurse Gayle. We got Maddie strapped in her car seat & headed on out. The escort that we had to wheel me out was asking all about her. He asked her name & when we told him he said,
"Oh, I love Jennifer."
We were just a little confused since her name is Madison, but we knew eventually that he was talking about Jennifer, Steve's sister, who works on the 4th floor. Funny stuff.
On the ride home she did wonderfully. Didn't make a peep. Me on the other hand, I was in a lot of pain & every bump in the road was killing me. Once we got home & got you settled, we both laid on the couch. I just stared & stared at her. She is so beautiful. So much like the both of us, it's scary.
That day, we had a quite a few visitors.... Mimi, Poppie, Uncle Jesse & Michellei, & Uncle Chris!
"Oh, I love Jennifer."
We were just a little confused since her name is Madison, but we knew eventually that he was talking about Jennifer, Steve's sister, who works on the 4th floor. Funny stuff.
On the ride home she did wonderfully. Didn't make a peep. Me on the other hand, I was in a lot of pain & every bump in the road was killing me. Once we got home & got you settled, we both laid on the couch. I just stared & stared at her. She is so beautiful. So much like the both of us, it's scary.
That day, we had a quite a few visitors.... Mimi, Poppie, Uncle Jesse & Michellei, & Uncle Chris!
The whole family is oh so happy to welcome this new addition!
Steve & I couldn't be any happier with our little girl &
can't wait to document all the important things in her life.