Wow! I cant believe Its been almost a week already. My how time flies! Emma is doing great. She eats like a champ and as long as she is being held (preferrably by Mommy or Grandma) she sleeps great too! But… dont you dare put her in her bed… oh no! That just wont do for our princess 
So… the birthstory, its a funny one!
Alright, I drank my “labor milkshake” around 8:30 Sunday morning. According to Karen, things were supposed to “start happening” within 2-3 hours. But, I was waiting and nothing was happening. I started to get a sense of dread that maybe my fears were right. That my body just couldnt go into labor on its own. I was thinking that aside from some Braxton-Hicks, I had never had a contraction that wasnt from Pitocin.
Well, around 1:30-2:00 or so, I was thinking that I was having some contractions, but, as weird as it sounds, I just wasnt sure. So I went about my day. I cleaned up a bit, hung out with the kids, played some Yahoo games (man, I love Yahoo games), took a shower,did my hair and make-up (can you tell I was bored) and generally just waited for something to happen.
About 3:30 I got really hungry and I wanted some pasta. I was really going to go to the store by myself, but… thought that may not be the greatest idea. So, my wonderful hubby ran to the store to get me some cheese tortilinni. I cooked it up as soon as he got home and settled in my room with the girls to watch Elf (what a great movie!) Jake at this time was taking some freaky long nap, like 4 hours or something.
About 4 or so I started to realize I WAS having contractions and they were possibly coming at semi-regular intervals. Yippee! I started writing them down at after about 30 minutes saw that they were 7 minutes apart or so. I should note here that I wasnt sure when to leave for the hospital and I hadnt talked to Karen but once that day. She called me to see if I drank the shake and to see how I was doing. I think she may have been a little annoyed that I wasnt keeping her up to date, but thankfully she is a friend! LOL!!
These contractions were really mild to me. I was having to close my eyes and breath through them, but to me they just werent that big of a deal. Ok, so Karen calls and asks me whats going on. I explain to her that I am having contractions and they are about 7 minutes apart. but they are very mild. She asks me what my pain tollerance is like. I tell her, “I dont know, fairly high I guess” this is after I have to put the phone down a few times for contractions. So, She tells me in a very serious tone “I think its time to go to the hospital” Hmmm, really? are you sure? I so did not want to go to the hospital only to be told that I was only like 3cm and to go back home. Or having to walk for hours on end and put up with being poked and prodded. But, like a good little girl I listened to my Doula.
I walked upstairs to informed Marc that we need to start heading out to the hospital. I think he was a little shocked. I’m not sure if he knew I was contracting regularly at this point. LOL! I guess I wasnt keeping anyone informed. But, I have to tell you, I have never seen that man get off the computer that fast. LOL!!! You could tell by the look on his face that he was instantly excited! He asked if he had time to shower, but it was ok if we didnt. I was like “Sure, no problem. We have plenty of time”
Marc took his shower. I packed my bag (becuase why would I do that ahead of time?!). I called a friend to watch Jake, of course she wasnt home, but her wonderful husband said to go ahead and drop him off. The girls and I packed his bag and I made a few phone calls, including the midwife. I told her my contractions were every 7 minutes or so, but truthfully, I had no clue, it had been a while since I had been keeping track of them, but they were getting more frequent and a bit stronger.
Karen called again and was a bit frustrated that we hadnt left the house. So we hurried up and got our act together and took off. As were were leaving Marc told me to let him know when I was contracting so he could time them. He was a little freaked when we realized they were about 2-3 minutes apart. I told him no big deal as they still werent very strong. Not sure if he believed me.
We got Jake dropped off, rather quickly I might add and we were (finally) on our way to the hospital. You know, the hospital that is about 45 minutes away… lol!
Marc was speeding, of course and I was contracting and trying to direct him, as he had only been down there once and didnt remember how to get there. Karen was calling to check our progress and where we were and truthfully, I dont remember a word she said I do know she wanted Marc to drop me off at the front door of the hospital, but neither one of us knew where that was and I know she was trying to give us directions, but the contractions were coming so fast now (1-2 min apart) I couldnt remember what she was saying.
We parked in the parking garage and Karen met us there with a wheelchair, thank goodness! We made our way up to L&D stopping often for my contractions. Haley and Dave were on their way and Marc was talking with them on the phone as they were signing in with security.Karen said it would probably be another couple of hours.
Ok, so we get into our room at 6:59. I go potty and change into my lovely hospital gown. I get back out and am told I need to lay on my side, they are going to hook up the monitors and check the baby for about 20 minutes. Oh how funny that sounds now! So she hooks me up and I remember feeling so bad, like my skin was crawling. I so did not want to be laying there, it was driving me nuts! I had my first really good contraction and I remember thinking to myself that I wasnt sure I could deal with that kind of pain for a few more hours. The nurse then checked me and said I was 7cm. I then promptly told her I had to pee. Karen tried to encouage me to just go in the bed, but I was adament that I needed to get up and go back to the bathroom. I remember the nurse asking if I needed to push or pee. Pee. Definately ( I thought). So back into the bathroom we went. I sat down and nothing happened. As I was telling Karen that I “really thought I had to pee” I stood up and had a doozy of a contractions. She grabbed the birthing ball and tried to encourage me to sit and all I did yell “I HAVE TO PUSH” We ran, well… speed waddled, back to the bed. I collapsed on it and had another contraction and well, did what I was supposed to do. I started pushing. The nurse wsa telling me not to push (ummm…ok) and she was yelling “Get a resident in here!!!” Because of course, my midwife was not there yet… oops.
One strong push and I could feel the bag of waters start to come out and the splash and pop… was that just her head? Yep. Just then the resident and 4 more nurses came running in. I heard Karen telling Marc the head was out and then she told me one more push. Thankfully a nurse and the resident were there to catch her and lay her on the bed. I was propped up on my arms and remeber looking down and telling Marc, “yep… she looks just like rest of the kids” LOL! and then I told the girls “look!” They were amazed.
My 3 little girls
The doctor went to work on stopping the bleeding (us redheads have a tendency not to clot really well) and stictching me up a bit. I guess a baby coming out that fast is not that great on “that” area. The nurses went to work on getting my vital signs and all that stuff they are supposed to do before the baby comes, including me signing something called a “consent to deliver”
My midwife came about 10 minutes after she was born and was kind of laughing and felt bad that she missed it. She went on to tell me she wasnt sure what was going on when I called her. My contractions and breathing were saying one thing, but I was telling her another. I assured her it wasnt that big of a deal.
My midwife Titi
Karen, Marc and I then starting laughing about the fact that if we just took another 5 minutes or so to get down there, that baby may have been born in the parking garage or in the hallway. Crazy! Poor Dave and Haley missed it and I felt so bad. I know she really wanted to be there.
Uncle Dave being…well…Uncle Dave
So, thats it in a little more than a nutshell. The almost didnt make it birthstory of Baby Emma Kathleen.
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